AXIS FRANCE SETS NEW BOUNDARIES FOR INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS IN THE COSMETICS AND MEDICAL SECTORS

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AXIS FRANCE SETS NEW BOUNDARIES FOR INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS IN THE COSMETICS AND MEDICAL SECTORS
31 May 2003 - DSM Somos

New DSM Somos® ProtoFunctional® materials allow increased aesthetics and efficiency savings in the demanding arena of rapid prototyping

AXIS France, a rapid prototyping service bureau (Limoges, France), is setting new industry standards in the medical and cosmetics world through the use of innovative ProtoFunctional® technologies that allow greater time savings and esthetically functional prototypes, previously unavailable to the market. AXIS was the first company in France to begin using the new WaterShed™ resins by DSM Somos® for prototype development, and the benefits are rapidly helping to establish the young company as a superior solutions provider.

Commercialized by DSM Somos® in 2002, and running at AXIS since July of the same year, WaterShed™ is significantly more stable and resilient than previous stereolithography materials available on the market. Its long-term stability is due partially to its extremely low moisture absorption rate, which at 0.24% is approximately 80% lower than other commonly used stereolithography resins. The mechanical properties of WaterShed™ mimic those of the engineered thermoplastic PBT (Polybutylene Terephthalate) and ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene).

‘It is this combination of properties’, says AXIS General Manager, Patrick Cristoux, ‘which has enabled us to offer an increasing number of clients, particularly in the cosmetic and medical industries, significant improvements in technical product quality, efficiency and cost. The beauty of working with WaterShed™ is that we can now, for the first time, offer clients a single, accurate, aesthetically pleasing and stable prototype which can be used for both design approval and silicone molding.’

Extremely low rates of water absorption

Moisture absorption, through direct contact with water or exposure to humidity, is known to degrade mechanical properties and dimensional accuracy in stereolithography prototypes. Testing has shown that high humidity can decrease tensile and flexural properties by 80% in only one month and limit applications in long term studies.

‘This’ continues Patrick Cristoux, ‘is one of the main drawbacks of many stereolithography materials and the one great advantage of WaterShed™. As soon as we had made the initial test on WaterShed™ we were convinced the material would support the AXIS vision of providing customers with access to leading edge technologies, backed by a round-the-clock, round-the-year commitment to service and exceedingly fast response times.

With WaterShed™, we are now able to present clients with a one-stop solution in the form of a single SL prototype which permits cost savings in prototyping costs, but also significant time savings. The very same stereolithography model in WaterShed™, once approved for function and design can also be used for silicon molding. We really believe that, thanks to WaterShed™, AXIS is opening up the rapid-tooling possibilities for a wide-range of clients in the cosmetics, medical, electric, packaging, aerospace and automotive industries.’

http://www.dsmsomos.com

About: DSM Somos
DSM Somos is an unincorporated division of DSM Desotech—a world leader in the development of UV-curable materials—and a member of the global DSM family.

DSM Somos is currently the world's second largest materials supplier to the rapid prototyping industry, providing stereolithography liquids and
selective laser sintering powders used for the creation of three dimensional models and prototypes directly from digital data. Somos' patented ProtoFunctional materials are used by a variety of industries, including automotive, aerospace, medical and telecommunications.

DSM Somos has developed a full line of rapid prototyping materials that replicate the performance parameters of production materials, saving both time and money in new product development. From thermoplastic elastomers to polyethylene and polypropylene, DSM Somos has stereolithography and selective laser sintering technologies.

The Somos business has been actively involved in the development of rapid prototyping materials since the late 1980s, from the introduction of the first commercial Somos stereolithography resin in 1992.

DSM Somos is part of DSM Desotech, a leading innovative formulator and manufacturer of high quality ultraviolet and electron beam (UV/EB) curable materials.

DSM Desotech is a business unit of DSM - an international chemicals and materials group headquartered in The Netherlands, with annual sales of EUR 8.1 billion and a work force of approximately 22,000 employees at more than 200 sites worldwide.

DSM is active worldwide in life science and nutritional products, performance materials and industrial chemicals. The company specializes in innovative products and services that help improve the quality of life and DSM products are currently used in a wide range of end markets and applications such as human and animal nutrition and health, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, automotive and transport, coatings, housing and electrics & electronics (E&E). The group has annual sales (pro forma including the recent acquisition - renamed DSM Nutritional Products) of approximately EUR 8 billion and employs about 26,000 people around the world. Ranking among the global leaders in many of its fields, DSM is headquartered in the Netherlands, with locations in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

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