
19 Feb 2004
Herman Miller’s New Mirra Chair Relies on DSM’s Arnitel
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (February 16, 2004) - Herman Miller, Inc., a pioneer and leader in the office furniture industry, has specified Arnitel® EM400 from DSM Engineering Plastics for the seat carrier on its new Mirra™ Chair. “Herman Miller needed a flexible solution for the latest offering in its groundbreaking line of task chairs,” said Dough Bosch of DSM, “and as with past chair programs, DSM was able to provide a functional solution with Arnitel®.”
Engineers at Dahti Technologies selected Arnitel® because of the material’s softness and flexibility. “Arnitel offers a unique combination of stiffness and elongation,” explained Tim Coffield of Dahti, “both of these properties are critical to the manufacturing and functionality of the mechanical zipper (an invention of Dahti’s which was applied to the Herman Miller design).” The Arnitel® seat carrier on the Mirra Chair is held in place by mechanically interlocking with the plastic.
DSM’s Akulon® is used by Herman Miller in their line of Equa® Chairs, and their Arnitel® material is used in the Herman Miller Aeron® chair. These innovations are just another example of why more and more people are agreeing that at DSM…
We Engineer Plastics So You Don’t Have To.™
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Notes for editors
DSM Engineering Plastics
DSM Engineering Plastics is a business group forming part of DSM’s Performance Materials cluster. DSM EP is a global supplier of Stanyl® PA46 and Akulon® 6 and 66 polyamides, Arnitel® TPE-E, Arnite® PBT and PET polyesters, Xantar® polycarbonate, Yparex® extrudable adhesive resins, and Stamylan® UH Ultra High Molecular Weight PE. These materials are used in technical components for electrical appliances, electronic equipment and cars, in barrier packaging films as well as in many mechanical and extrusion applications. The business group had annual sales of EUR 579 million in 2002. DSM Engineering Plastics has a market share of about 5% in the world market. With Stanyl®, it is the global market leader in high heat polyamides.
Herman Miller
Herman Miller helps create great places to work by researching, designing, manufacturing, and distributing innovative interior furnishings that support companies, organizations, and individuals all over the world. The company’s award-winning products, complemented by furniture-management and strategic consulting services, generated $1.34 billion in revenue during fiscal 2003. Herman Miller is widely recognized both for its innovative products and business practices, including the use of industry-leading, customer-focused technology. In 2003 Herman Miller was named recipient of the prestigious National Design Award for product design from the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. The company was once again included in Business Ethics magazine’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens," and also ranked among the top 50 "most innovative corporate users of information technology" by Information Week magazine. The company trades on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbol MLHR. For additional information about the company visit www.hermanmiller.com
Dahti Technologies
Located in Rockford, MI, Dahti Technologies is owned by Illinois Tool Works (ITW, Glenview IL) and serves customers across North America, Europe and Asia. Dahti designs, develops and manufactures seating components and products; the company brings over 30 years of seating experience to its customers. Dahti’s employees are listed as inventors in over 30 seating patents. www.dahti.com.
Arnitel®
Arnitel is a family of thermoplastic copolyester based Elastomers (TPE-E’s or COPE). These copolyesters combine the strength and processing characteristics of engineering plastics with the performance of thermoset Elastomers by providing benefits in processing and productivity. As thermoplastics, they do not require vulcanization to obtain their optimal properties, which often leads to substantial reduction in part cost. Relative to other Elastomers, polyester-based materials offer the most consistent performance over their entire operating temperature range since their properties vary little from low to high temperature extremes.
Editorial enquiries
Thea Trilsbeek
DSM Engineering Materials
Willem van de Velde
EMG