DSM FORMS GLOBAL TEAM TO DEVELOP FAST-GROWING MARKETS FOR MACHINED PLASTIC SHAPES
15 November 2000 - Quadrant EPP

Ben van Kooten, president of the DSM EPP business group, said, "In recent years, many markets for stock shapes have grown significantly. For example, the use of stock shapes in semiconductor manufacturing equipment has increased rapidly and will continue to do so. Other advanced equipment manufacturing sectors also represent opportunities for high performance stock shapes for machined parts. Nearly all of the OEMs in these markets are global manufacturers with global materials and application engineering needs, which DSM EPP is now uniquely positioned to meet."

Under the new organization, a Development and Marketing group has been formed to combine new product development, application development and new technology activities of its North American, European and Asian companies. Earl Wester is Global Director for the Development and Marketing Group.

The group has global market project leaders, who specialize in developing applications and products for new and high growth industries," said Wester. "The group's market development engineers, located in major industrial centers around the world, translate the applications for DSM's stock shapes to customers in their region." The Development and Marketing Group also manages DSM EPP's new product technology and marketing communications.

Stock shapes manufacturing also is now globally structured in the new DSM EPP organization. New process technology, raw material sourcing and investment planning, for all of DSM's global plants, use identical manufacturing guidelines to ensure consistent supply and high quality. The company's products range from acetals and nylons to advanced polyimides that resist temperatures over 400 °C.

DSM EPP's joint venture in Japan, Nippon Polypenco Ltd., will also adopt the new global business strategies to further its leading position in the stock-shapes markets it serves.

Describing the company's global Application Development and Marketing team, van Kooten said, "We are now ideally organized to work with OEM engineers to gain in-depth knowledge of their worldwide material performance requirements. This knowledge is essential to developing new, high performance, cost effective materials and design solutions for demanding global applications."

van Kooten also said, "We are fully committed to sustain DSM's leadership position in the basic engineering plastics shapes. We will ensure continued growth for DSM EPP, along with our distribution and machining partners, through our global Development and Marketing team, whose primary aim is to create new value-added applications for DSM EPP products with our customers." The new organization frees DSM EPP's regional sales and service units to focus on their area's core business of standard engineering plastic stock shapes, which are sold primarily through authorized distributors and fabricators. The units are based in Reading, PA, serving the NAFTA region; Tielt, Belgium, serving Europe; and Hong Kong, as the Asian headquarters, which also is supported by a major service center in Seoul, Korea. Overall sales strategy and policies are coordinated globally, but the teams are managed regionally for more effectiveness with the established local customer base. Michael Labonte is the Sales Manager for the NAFTA region.

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