Endicott, New York - July 16, 2001 - International Flex Technologies (IFT), a division of Sheldahl, Inc. (Nasdaq: SHEL), today announced its Longmont, Colorado facility has successfully completed a manufacturing upgrade that will enable it to produce the same highly reliable, two-metal adhesiveless Tape Ball Grid Array (TBGA) products produced in its Endicott, New York facility. These electronic packaging products, named AF bga, are used in high technology devices such as routers, computers, printers and medical equipment.

To ensure performance to exact industry requirements, IFT has completed extensive qualification testing following the process and material set upgrade. AF bga produced in Longmont is now capable of meeting all JEDEC (Joint Electronics Device Engineering Council) Level 3 conditions, including Pressure Cooker Test.

"This is a significant achievement which will allow us to offer highly reliable wire bond tape-based BGA products that are functionally and physically identical from our two separate production facilities," said Donald R. Friedman, CEO of Sheldahl, Inc. "Through dual sourcing we can significantly reduce lead times and substantially increase our capability to fill large-volume orders."

The Company said its Longmont facility underwent a number of process and material set improvements to facilitate the successful transition to AF bga . These include changes to a process called seed plating to enhance metal-to-polyimide adhesion. Wire bondability and reliability have been improved by implementing a patented selective nickel/gold plating process and changing the copper plating technology. As a result of these and other changes, AF bga offers increased dimensional stability, improved feature resolution, enhanced wirebond performance, and improved reliability over the previous TBGA products produced in Longmont.

In addition, the Company has qualified its Philippines facility to perform part extraction, assembly of tape to the stiffener and inspection ? for products produced in Endicott or Longmont. This change further facilitates capacity increases and lead time reductions by moving the end product closer to IFT's customer base.

Technical data and Prototype parts for qualification testing are now available from the company.

About International Flex Technologies International Flex Technologies, a division of Sheldahl, is a leading producer of fine-line high quality adhesiveless flexible circuits for sale to the computer, telecommunications and medical markets. The division has manufacturing and assembly facilities in Endicott, New York; Longmont, Colorado; and Rosario, Cavite, Philippines. Sales offices are located in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and various