
Dipix
Technologies Restructures for Growth
Ottawa, Canada, May 23, 2007 – Dipix
Technologies Inc., a Tarquin Group company,
today announced several management changes as part
of its aggressive, market-focused growth strategy.
Don Gibbs, CEO of Tarquin Group, becomes Chairman
and acting CEO of Dipix in addition to his ongoing
role with the Tarquin Group. Paul Pearl will move
into the position of Executive Vice President Business
Development of Tarquin Group to provide assistance
in merger and acquisition activities. John Lawrence
will assume the position of President and COO of
Dipix. Laura Dierker joins the company as Director
of Marketing and Geoff Evans becomes Director of
Sales.
“Dipix is one of the most experienced and
innovative companies in Ottawa,” said Don
Gibbs, CEO of the Tarquin Group. “I
am thrilled to have the management team come together
to move Dipix forward aggressively. Dipix has succeeded
in dominating the inspection market in grain-based
food products where it continues to gain customers
and presence. This restructuring assures continued
success with accelerated growth and access to new
markets.”
John Lawrence, President and COO
As Dipix VP of Sales and Marketing for 8 years,
John guided the company’s sales to its largest
accounts, creating and cementing relationships with
customers such as General Mills, Sara Lee Bakery
Group, and Wendy’s. He has evolved strong
relationships with Dipix customers and positioned
Dipix as a trusted supplier to some of the largest
food processing organizations in the world, including
McDonald’s Corp. Reorienting the company’s
sales and product strategies, John actively led
a 10-fold increase in revenues, and drove the creation
of the company’s patented material handling
systems. John’s career has been marked by
successes in manufacturing and the test and measurement
industries where he has served the automotive, food
processing, and medical devices manufacturing industries.
John brings a wealth of experience and a unique
ability to interact with major clients to his role
as head of Dipix Technologies. He holds a Bachelor
of Applied Science (Engineering) from the University
of British Columbia.
Laura Dierker, Director of Marketing
Laura joins Dipix from test and measurement company
Sciemetric Instruments, where she opened the medical
devices manufacturing market. She brings an aggressive,
experienced approach to growing Dipix revenues.
Laura’s experience includes launching Canada’s
first internet VPN as director of Product Management
at iSTAR iNTERNET, acting as VP Sales and Marketing
for Nortel’s first affiliate Channelware,
and creating and managing the Advanced Network Products
business unit at Newbridge Networks. As President
of WaveCell International Corp, she added executive-level
sales experience which she continued as Sciemetric’s
lead in the medical devices market. Laura began
her professional career as a violinist in an orchestra
in Germany. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics
from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from
Richard Ivey School of Business at the University
of Western Ontario. She has been awarded the Canadian
Women in Communications Trailblazer of the Year
Award and the Nortel CORE Award in New Business
Starts.
Geoff Evans, Director of Sales
Geoff will be responsible for aggressively evolving
sales strategy to meet Dipix targets as the pillar
of Tarquin Group’s test and measurement segment.
Geoff has been with Dipix since 2005, when he was
responsible for the successful introduction of Dipix
technology to the tortilla (food wrap) market and
extending inspection from buns to bread loaf manufacturing
lines. Prior to joining Dipix he provided sales
development expertise to a number of Ottawa area
companies while establishing a business in the transportation
industry. Geoff has won top sales awards in domestic
and international business-to-business sales at
Nortel, Simware, and other Ottawa firms, and he
brings a wealth of direct sales and channel management
experience to his new role. Geoff’s background
is in marine biology and computer science but changed
to technical sales early in his career.
Dipix is the world leader in the design and implementation
of automated inspection solutions for processed
foods, including baked goods, snacks, confections,
tortillas, cookies, and biscuits. Dipix supports
over 200 installations of its systems with global
manufactured food companies such as Kellogg’s,
Kraft/Nabisco, McDonald's, Mission Foods, Sara Lee,
and Tyson Mexican Original.
Combining its unique knowledge of machine vision,
image analysis and material handling, Dipix fills
an important role between the end of the manufacturing
line and the beginning of the packaging line. Its
systems ensure that every food product is identified,
analyzed and, if necessary, individually removed
from the product stream. Full quality inspection
includes 3D shape, orientation and product colour
for full quality overview of baked goods including
breads, buns, muffins, tortillas, and cookies. Information
is used to manage inputs into the bakery line, adjust
line processes, avoid waste, and ensure a high revenue
stream from bakery lines.
About Tarquin Group
Tarquin Group Inc. (TSX VENTURE: TQN) is
a diversified industrial technology company providing
solutions to the global manufacturing market. Acting
strategically in desirable niche markets worldwide,
it is expected that Tarquin's structure and processes
will ensure superior product solutions for customers
while driving profitable growth for all its stakeholders.
Tarquin's target companies are niche market leaders
in the fields of laser applications and test, measure
and control solutions for manufacturing. For more
information, visit www.tarquingroup.com.
About Dipix
Dipix Technologies Inc. is the world leader
in delivery of automated inspection and quality
analysis systems for the on-line inspection of manufactured
food products. The company integrates leading-edge
optical inspection with mechanical handling and
management reporting to deliver the industry’s
best vision-based quality inspection systems. Dipix
systems are used by leading manufactured food companies
to reduce operating costs, pinpoint process errors,
reduce variability, and increase the volume of in-spec
delivered goods. Dipix has over 200 installations
in high-volume manufacturers of processed foods
– including many major international corporations.
The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered
in Ottawa, Canada. For more information, visit www.dipix.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking
information. These statements relate to future events
or future performance and reflect management's current
expectations and assumptions. A number of factors
could cause actual events, performance or results
to differ materially from the events, performance
and results discussed in the forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are made as of
the date hereof and Tarquin Group Inc. does not
assume any obligation to update or revise them to
reflect new events or circumstances.
The TSX-Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility
for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Media please contact:
Heather McCulligh
613-797-8949
heather@hbsmarketing.com
DIPIX corporate:
Laura Dierker
613-596-4942. ext. 107
ldierker@dipix.com
Investor relations:
Tarquin Group Inc.
Donald Gibbs, CEO
609-234-6010