30 May 2006

GE Helps BMW Push the Design Envelope of Its Luxury 6 Series Cars with Plastic Fenders Featuring Aggressive Styling and Lower Weight

GE PlasticsThe 6 Series coupe and convertible from BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke), one of Europe’s top automakers, represent the ultimate in automotive luxury and performance. The company, headquartered in Munich, Germany, places a strong emphasis on weight savings combined with industry-leading design to differentiate its cars and comply with legislative mandates. BMW sought a way to expand the use of plastics in its 2004 6 Series vehicles and turned to GE - Plastics for solutions.

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26 May 2006

GE Plastics Boldly Imagines The Future In Europe

BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS – May 30, 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.

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24 May 2006

GE Introduces New White Ultem* Film Which Eliminates Opaque Topcoat for Bar Code Labels

GE – Plastics, working in conjunction with their global customers who requested an opaque, high-performance plastic film that would eliminate the need for surface treatments to achieve satisfactory print contrast in bar code labels, has developed a new white grade of its Ultem* polyetherimide (PEI) film. White Ultem WH217 film is pigmented for high opacity to ensure bar code labels can be read correctly – the film provides a print contrast ratio of 98 percent out of 100. In addition to helping saving label manufacturers the expense and time required to apply an opaque topcoat, Ultem WH217 film provides flame retardance that is lacking in competitive PEN films, and offers higher temperature resistance and better dimensional stability than polyvinyl fluoride films. GE’s Ultem WH217 film meets UL 94 VTMO flame requirements without the use of halogenated additives, enabling the material to comply with European RoHS standards, making it an excellent candidate for electronic applications such as printed circuit boards. BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — May 24, 2006 — Responding to customer requests for an opaque, high-performance plastic film that would eliminate the need for surface treatments to achieve satisfactory print contrast in bar code labels, GE – Plastics, working in conjunction with their global customers, has developed a new white grade of its Ultem* polyetherimide (PEI) film. White Ultem WH217 film is pigmented for high opacity to ensure bar code labels can be read correctly – the film provides a print contrast ratio of 98 percent out of 100. In addition to helping saving label manufacturers the expense and time required to apply an opaque topcoat, Ultem WH217 film provides flame retardance that is lacking in competitive PEN films, and offers higher temperature resistance and better dimensional stability than polyvinyl fluoride films. In developing this product, GE - Plastics worked closely with leading global manufacturers of pressure-sensitive films and adhesives to provide feedback on the development of the product.

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18 May 2006

GE’s Resin for High-Performance Textiles and Nonwovens Targets Key Trends in Aircraft Interior Applications

Upholstery, Kick Panel, and Carpet Applications from Lantal Textiles for the Aircraft Industry Lantal Textiles, a leader in the design, production, and distribution of textiles and services for the international community of operators of aircraft, buses, trains, and cruise ships, is working with GE Plastics’ to develop an aircraft interior kick panel that specifies fabric incorporating fibers made from Ultem* resin. The kick panel is the fabric in the above photo that comes up about eight inches from the floor. Not only does the GE resin provide inherent flame retardance without the use of brominated additives to meet regulatory requirements, but it also provides excellent UV resistance. Tests have shown that fiber made from Ultem resin resists UV degradation much more effectively than competitive materials. BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — April 4, 2006 — GE Plastics today announced a major breakthrough in fiber technologies made from the company’s high-performance Ultem* polyetherimide (PEI) resin with inherent flame retardance to help address a number of challenges facing the aircraft interiors industry. When converted into fibers for textiles and non-wovens, GE’s Ultem resin offers suppliers and OEMs new solutions for critical issues such as compliance with stricter flame, smoke, and toxicity regulations, system cost reduction, and greater design flexibility.

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10 May 2006

GE’s Lexan* EXL Resin Featured in New Cadillac DTS Instrument Panel

Lear Corporation’s Innovative Instrument Panel Using GE’s Lexan* EXL 1414H Resin To create an innovative instrument panel (IP) incorporating the passenger air bag system for GM’s upcoming Cadillac DTS model, Lear Corporation’s design, featuring an IP Active Upper, or “topper,” instead of the traditional air bag door, required several critical material properties: to enable the topper to rapidly lift up above the inflating air bag while avoiding the safety hazard of fragmentation, especially at low temperatures, the material had to be highly ductile; to prevent degradation from temperature extremes over the life of the vehicle, the material needed to resist environmental aging; and it had to offer design flexibility to accommodate the limited space offered by the Cadillac’s aggressive windshield rake angle. GM and Lear selected GE’s Lexan* EXL 1414H resin, a PC-siloxane copolymer, to produce a topper, offering seamless appearance for better interior appearance harmony, high performance, and consumer safety. As an added benefit, the GE material eliminated the need for the addition of several metal components through part consolidation.BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS. — May 10, 2006 — To create an innovative instrument panel (IP) incorporating the passenger air bag system for GM’s upcoming Cadillac DTS model, Lear Corporation, a Fortune 500 supplier of integrated automotive interiors, took an innovative approach. The company’s design, featuring an IP Active Upper, or “topper,” instead of the traditional air bag door, required several critical material properties. To enable the topper to rapidly lift up above the inflating air bag while avoiding the safety hazard of fragmentation, especially at low temperatures, the material had to be highly ductile. To prevent degradation from temperature extremes over the life of the vehicle, the material needed to resist environmental aging. Finally, it had to offer design flexibility to accommodate the limited space offered by the Cadillac’s aggressive windshield rake angle.

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10 May 2006

Innovation in New Components Technologies is focus of GE’s material developments

Sejin Running Board Blow Molded from GE’s Xenoy* X4000 BM Resin Sejin has selected GE’s high-performance Xenoy* X4000BM resin for blow-molded running boards on select vehicles. The resin offers superior hang strength and processing windows vs. competitive products, along with excellent regrind stability/usage. Xenoy X4000BM resin was developed to help global OEMs such as Sejin meet such critical design specifications as weight reduction, excellent impact and toughness, and cost savings via parts consolidation vs. conventional steel-beam systems utilized in many vehicles today. The new GE grade can also be used to mold recreational vehicle components. BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — May 10, 2006 — GE’s material innovations for components feature a full range of traditional applications such as mirror housings and spoilers, along with newer applications like roof racks, running boards, and wipers. The new material technologies being introduced are the latest grade of Noryl* BN9003G resin for blow-molding applications (i.e. spoilers); new Geloy* XTW resin for mirror housings, appliqués, trims, and grilles; Xenoy* X4000BM resin for running boards and step assists; Cycoloy* CP8930 resin, a chrome plating grade for exterior and interior door handles, running boards, wheel covers, grilles, roof racks, and trim components; as well as conductive Noryl GTX* resin for tank flaps allowing on-line electrostatic painting. GE’s Visualfx* special effects resin also helps automotive components stand out from the crowd with a designers’ paradise of over 34 different effects and over 33,000 dynamic color variants, loadings, and derivatives to contrast.

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10 May 2006

GE Plastics’ Automotive Business Accelerates Activities for Eastern European Booming Automotive Industry

GE’s New Flexible Noryl* Resin for Automotive Wiring As part of GE’s ecomagination* initiative, flame-retardant Flexible Noryl* resin may now offer the auto industry a new wire coating solution that provides superior properties compared to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE). Flexible Noryl resin is an excellent candidate for thin- and ultra-thin-wall wire/cable coatings that significantly reduce weight and size for potentially greater fuel efficiency and space availability and meets halogen-, chlorine-, and lead-free part requirements. BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — May 10, 2006 — GE Plastics is accelerating its market and application development activities for Eastern Europe’s rapidly expanding automotive industry. Leading this strategic offensive are:

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10 May 2006

GE and Royal College of Art name winning “auto design of the future” students

Vehicle designs for the emerging Chinese market and new ideas for the unique properties of plastics scooped the top awards on April 6 at the GE sponsored Royal College of Art PLASTicon competition. Judging was so tight that two winning teams consisting of a total of 8 different nationalities were announced. Each winning team was rewarded with a trip to New York and a meeting with the GE Design Council. Greg Adams, GE vice president and general manager of GE Plastics Automotive division presented the prizes to the winning teams. BERGEN OP ZOOM THE NETHERLANDS — April 11, 2006 — Vehicle designs for the emerging Chinese market and new ideas for the unique properties of plastics scooped the top awards on April 6 at the GE sponsored Royal College of Art PLASTicon competition.

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10 May 2006

Milestones: GE Plastics Continues to Drive Automotive Innovation After Nearly 50 Years of Service

For nearly half a century, GE Plastics has set standards for high-performance automotive polymers. Beginning in 1958 with the introduction of Lexan* resin, its first engineering plastic, GE has continued the tradition of developing advanced automotive materials, while delivering world-class technical support and unparalleled customer service.

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