GE Plastics Boldly Imagines The Future In Europe

BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS – November 29, 2006 - GE Plastics is a global supplier of engineering thermoplastic resins widely used in automotive, healthcare, consumer electronics, transportation, performance packaging, building & construction, telecommunications, and optical media applications. The company manufactures and compounds PC, ABS, ASA, PPO, PC/ABS, PBT and PEI resins, as well as the LNP* line of high-performance specialty compounds. GE Plastics, Specialty Film & Sheet manufactures high-performance Lexan* sheet and film products used in thousands of demanding applications worldwide.

GE Plastics has its world headquarters in Pittsfield, Mass., U.S.A., and its European headquarters in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands. The company actively supports and works with its customers to invent, test, and validate new practical solutions to help them meet marketplace challenges, differentiate their products and grow their businesses. Towards this goal the company has organized itself around customers’ needs, providing a total solutions approach from materials selection to technology, design, and application testing support through its Global Application Technology (GApT) centers and Customer Innovation Centers (CIC) around the world.

GE sees Turkey as a key growth area for performance plastics. And, with a sales office in Istanbul GE Plastics is building a local presence and is well positioned to optimize growth by taking its broad product portfolio to OEMs and molders who are locating production and design to this area. GE can offer training in material knowledge and how to use Six Sigma methodologies to gain efficiencies, but also support with application development, testing and validation.

Capability And Service

The Global Application Technology (GApT) Center in Bergen op Zoom houses six separate Centers of Excellence. These include a Fluid Engineering Center; a Cosmetic Packaging Center; a Vertical Automotive Body Panel Center; a Horizontal Automotive Body Panel Center; an Automotive Glazing Center; and a Secondary Operations Center. Its mission is to support the growth of GE’s product portfolio though advanced application development and customer assistance. The GApT Center invents, validates, and translates applications and processes.

Investment in GApT in Europe is ongoing, most recently with the installation of a Twin-Sheet Thermoformer with high-pressure, hydraulic forming capability which became operational in April 2006. A second investment involves a 1600 ton, 2K injection molding machine which will be installed in the fourth quarter of 2006. The twin-sheet thermoformer will enable GE to create twin-wall, hollow parts for markets such as automotive, truck, RVs, and building and construction. These recent investments combined with the KM 2700 ton injection compression molding machine that was installed in December 2005, make GE's Centre of Excellence in

Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands a facility with state-of-the-art equipment to create and test high performance materials solutions that address customer needs.

Customer Innovation Center

The Customer Innovation Center (CIC) provides colour and special effects expertise and services across GE Plastics entire product spectrum. It is a global hub for GE’s Visualfx* resin portfolio, which can be customized with a host of special effects and colour variations. Visualfx resins offer a broad range of dynamic colour variants, loadings and derivatives, and 36 special effects.

GE Plastics’ Bergen op Zoom facility also operates a Custom Xpress Service Line, which is a new on-line, customer-directed manufacturing system that can dramatically compress the order-to-delivery time from 22 days to approximately six. The Custom Xpress service feature also ensures in-lot and lot-to-lot global colour consistency.

New Materials Pushing Back Boundaries

As a global leader in high-technology materials science, GE Plastics is investing to help customers solve some of their toughest environmental challenges today and for generations to come. This is manifested in a multi-disciplined campaign called ecomagination*. This is focused on applying GE technology to drive energy efficiency and improve environmental performance by providing materials that have the potential to be recycled, eliminate paint and halogenated materials, reduce weight and scrap and meet emerging regulatory standards like WEEE.

The following examples are ecomagination solutions at work.

Ultra-Thin-Wall Wire Coating

Millions of kilometers of electrical wire are manufactured each year. In the automotive industry alone, more than 96 million kilometers/60 million miles of coated wire are produced annually. However, current wire coating and insulation materials can pose environmental concerns. Halogenated materials generate dioxins when burned, and many non-halogenated types cannot be easily recycled.

GE is developing newer polymers that meet the requirements for halogen, lead, and cadmiumfree parts. Flame-retardant Flexible Noryl* resin is one example where GE innovation helps its customers comply with strict environmental labeling requirements of the European Union’s Eco-label and others. Moreover, Flexible Noryl resins enable ultra-thin-wall coatings for smaller cables, which may reduce a car’s wire/resin weight by up to 25 percent.

VOC-Free Paint Replacement On Auto Body Panels

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by paint have been shown to have a negative impact on air quality. By infusing plastic with pigment, GE Plastics is able to greatly reduce the use of paint in the automotive manufacturing process. Applying ecomagination initiatives, GE developed Lexan SLX resin, a material with super-high gloss, gorgeous metallic colors, excellent resistance to abrasion and chemicals, and outstanding weatherability. These resins are excellent candidates for automobile body panels that previously required primers and paint.

High Standards to meet Needs of Electro-technical and Lighting Industry

GE Plastics’ product portfolio has been developed to help fulfill the demanding requirements in the electro-technical and lighting industries, and its comprehensive range of property profiles offers designers more engineering flexibility than ever before, helping manufacturers to achieve an optimum balance of performance, productivity and quality.

GE Plastics also helps to realize its materials’ environmental as well as functional adaptibility in meeting tomorrow’s needs. Engineering thermoplastics are inherently re-usable which enables easy after-use recovery and reprocessing into second and even third use applications.

With regard to the specific regulations concerning flame retardant (FR) materials, it should be noted that GE – Plastics in Europe does not manufacture any materials containing Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs), Polybrominated Diphenylethers (PBDEs – Octa and Penta) or heavy metals to comply with RoHS (Restriction on Hazardous Substances) Directive 2002/95/EU and its amendments. In accordance with WEEE (Waste on Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive 2002/96/EU, all grades in Noryl modified PPO* resin and a wide range of FR (FlameRetardent) Cycoloy* resin PC/ABS blends, LNP Starflam* polyamide resins and FR Lexan polycarbonate resins can be called bromine free. Ultem* polyetherimide resins and Siltem* (Polyetherimide/ Siloxane copolymer) resins are inherently flame retardant.

Overcoming Design Barriers For Medical Devices

GE Plastics is also pushing back the limitations for medical and healthcare device designers whose goals are typically improving ease, speed, effectiveness, and safety of device use.

GE Plastics offers a full range of materials, such as Lexan resins and Ultem resins capable of meeting several stringent design criteria. These potentially bring weight and cost savings over metals traditionally used in many applications, while still satisfying typical medical device requirements, like gamma sterilization and steam autoclaving demands, as well as those of biocompatibility.

One of the most promising areas for metal replacement comes with the evolution of plastic compounds. Compounds can deliver very high performance, including mechanical strength, lubricity, wear resistance, and dimensional stability that facilitate tight tolerances of application specifications. For example, GE’s LNP Lubricomp* compounds are excellent candidates for applications where lubrication and wear resistance are required and the GE’s LNP Thermocomp* compounds are known for their inherent toughness. These materials, when coupled with the critical design elements of the OEM, facilitate the achievement of device design and performance goals.

Innovative Plastics For The Solar Energy Market

GE Plastics is aggressively driving new material developments in the emerging green industry. Solar energy is a particularly interesting industry for GE. Both photovoltaic cells and water heating applications are a good fit for its Lexan and Noryl resins due to their proven weatherability, electrical properties, and hydrolytic stability. They also help customers comply with WEEE standards.

The use of innovative materials from GE Plastics is helping to make solar energy systems more affordable and effective. This is exemplified by Norway’s Solarnor AS, which has developed the first high-temperature polymer collector using GE Plastics’ Noryl EN150SP resin. The company wanted to find a replacement for expensive and cumbersome copper and aluminum for the reservoir in its solar panels, creating a new optimal thermal system.

Advanced Material Solutions For Aircraft Interiors

GE Plastics’ high-performance Ultem resin and sheet materials have been designed to help aircraft OEMs in the development of next-generation aircraft interior components. Well established products include: Ultem 9075 and 9076 resin for injection molding that help meets stringent OSU requirements, and Ultem 2300 resin used for hinges in a range of aircraft designs.

Latest in these developments is Ultem 1668A sheet, which can be thermoformed, pressure-formed, twin-sheet formed, or used in flat or cold-formed applications. In aircraft interiors, this material is used to mold aircraft window reveals, air ducts, seating and flight deck components, galleys, stow bins, and sidewalls. Ultem 1668A sheet meets commercial aircraft interior requirements, including FAA smoke and flammability testing and toxicity standards BSS7239 and ABD0031.

Meet Key Needs Of Automotive Customers

For automotive manufacturers seeking to differentiate themselves to their customers with top technological advancements for automotive exteriors, GE Plastics’ Automotive division offers a variety of innovative weight-reducing and cost-out solutions by its Signature Surfaces* program comprised of body panels, glazing, and no-paint solutions.

In the body panels segment, advanced Lexan SLX film provides automakers with a ‘paint-free’ option that can deliver a Class A surface finish with deep gloss consumer appeal. Furthermore, the film has the ability to withstand prolonged exposure to UV rays with minimal fading, and it offers greater scratch and chemical resistance when compared to similar films.

For automotive engineers who require weight reduction, design flexibility, improved moldability, and impact protection for large body panels, GE Plastics has introduced two advanced, cost competitive materials, High Modulus Ductile (HMD) and High Performance ThermoPlastic Composites (HPPC).

Wrap-around glazing takes design to a new level, helping to give drivers and passengers a better all-round view, while offering outstanding impact resistance. The latest development combines Lexan polycarbonate resin with Exatec® 900 coating, from Exatec LLC, an innovative plasma coating system that offers long-term weathering and abrasion resistance at higher levels of performance compared to traditional hardcoats.

From bumper to bumper, GE Plastics offers a wide variety of high performance engineering thermoplastics and composites for exterior and interior component applications. Geloy* XTW resin, for example, is a game-changing material that may deliver three to five times better color and gloss retention than conventional acrylic-styrene-acrylonitriles (ASAs), and comes in a spectrum of molded-in colors.

The newest grade of Noryl resin can help manufacturers produce blow-molded spoilers with lower system costs by means of maximized efficiency in manufacturing via reduced sanding time. Thinner wall capability with equal performance along with higher heat performance, tensile and impact strength, and better coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) versus ABS also help manufacturers to reduce system costs.

Other new materials include high-heat, conductive Noryl GTX* resin, which enables on- and

in-line painting, while eliminating the need for a conductive primer. A new chrome plating grade of Cycoloy resin for exterior and interior door handles, running boards, wheel covers, grilles, roof racks and trim components.

Poised to respond to new trends, the new Cycoloy resin provides a strong and durable solution to fashionable metallic looks that give shine and gloss.

Automotive lighting systems made from GE Plastics’ resins have proven to be tough, stylish, and durable against the high heat of projector and fog lamps in millions of vehicles worldwide. The latest innovation is a broad new portfolio of high heat injection molding resins branded

Lexan XHT*. These offer a whole new level of heat and flow compared to earlier lighting resins.

A Clear Advantage To Shanghai South Railway Station Design

The newest, largest round roof of its kind in the world is that of the massive new Shanghai South Railway Station being constructed of GE’s clear, tough Lexan polycarbonate (PC) sheet. Much of the roof of the Shanghai South Railway Station covers the upper departure area of the station, which is around 300 meters in diameter and capable of holding up to 10,000 people. The custom-designed sheet is being manufactured using procedures developed specifically for this demanding project. GE Plastics is utilizing a global team of experts from GE China and GE Plastics, Specialty Film & Sheet business in France, Italy, India, and European headquarters in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands.

Conductive, Powder Coatable Noryl GTX Resins To Aid Furniture MakersGE’s Noryl GTX resins, a family of widely used conductive resins originally developed for European automotive manufacturers, are becoming equally successful in a new industry – office furniture. Specifically, Noryl GTX conductive resin is being used in powder-coated moulded plastic furniture, providing a host of design, aesthetic, environmental, and cost benefits compared to moulded-in colour, wet-painted parts, and even powder-coated metal. Among these are greater design freedom that helps enable part consolidation, lower weight than metal, and the elimination of paint solvents that can negatively impact the environment.

Committed To Partnership

Today’s plastics producing and converting industry is increasingly complex due to it’s intensive globalisation. To find new markets and applications is key to business success. Choosing the best material and converting processes for an application as well as selecting the most cost effective production locations has become a challenge. As a global material supplier, GE Plastics has world class plastics production locations in most geographies, as well as local commercial and technology teams to service customers’ needs. They can bring cutting edge ideas, new designs and products, processes and services to enable greater competitiveness in the marketplace in any part of the world. They also bring a commitment to develop and nurture long-term relationships.

Reader enquiries

GE Plastics

Plasticslaan 1
4600 AC Bergen op Zoom
Netherlands

+31 164 29 20 97

Helen.vandebovenkamp@​ge.com

www.geplastics.com