Applied Robotics Announces New Meat Gripper Achieves USDA Certification


New Meat Gripper Adheres to all Food Production Cleaning Requirements and is Approved by the USDA

Glenville, New York - Jan 22, 2009 - Applied Robotics Inc., a leading global manufacturer of robotic end-of-arm tooling and connectivity solutions, announced today its newest gripper product designed specifically for handling meat and other fresh and frozen food products has been approved and certified by the USDA. The new Meat Gripper is the only gripper certified by the USDA and is manufactured from materials approved by both the FDA and USDA administrations. The gripper adheres to all production cleaning guidelines and allows sanitization to be performed quickly and easily.

"We are very excited to have the meat gripper certified as this approval acknowledges and confirms the grippers' qualifications to be used in the most stringent environments," said Jim Fitzgerald, vice president of Applied Robotics Inc. "Its design using low weight materials and its ability to handle non-uniform products make it ideal for any industry looking for high speed high performance automation."

The Applied Robotics Meat Gripper was specifically designed to handle all types of meat, fish and cheese in various fresh, cooked, frozen and sliced forms. The hygienic wash-down safe gripper features a unique pick up head that enables portions or groups of portions of product to be loaded gently, accurately and quickly into any packaging system or production process. More information and video of the new gripper can be found on the company's website at www.appliedrobotics.com/products/grippers/Pneumatic/meat_gripper.aspx.

Applied Robotics Inc., headquartered in Glenville, N.Y., is an ISO-9001 registered, employee-owned company serving the world's automation market. Founded in 1983, Applied Robotics designs and manufactures end-of-arm tooling and connectivity solutions intended to solve complex automation problems and improve efficiencies. Serving a wide spectrum of customers and industries ranging from large Fortune 500 companies to small privately-held businesses, the company's wrist-down solutions can be found in manufacturing, welding, assembly, material removal and material handling applications throughout the United States, Canada, Pacific Rim, Europe, Mexico, South America and Australia. More information can be found on the company's website at www.appliedrobotics.com.

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Joanne Brown

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518.384.1000 (voice)

518.384.1200 (fax)

jbrown@appliedrobotics.com

Applied Robotics

648 Saratoga Road

Glenville, NY 12302

800-309-3475

www.appliedrobotics.com

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