Siemens Rewards Rhodia Engineering Plastics with Two Innovation Awards for it’s New TechnylStarTM Polyamide

At the ceremony organized in Paris to celebrate the presentation of the Siemens 2002 Innovation Awards on 19 June, 2002, Rhodia Engineering Plastics was allocated the Bronze Award for the creation of a new-generation polyamide: TechnylStarTM.

At the same time, the selection panel of the Siemens Innovation Awards distributed prizes to the most innovative companies in 2002. The jury also awarded Rhodia Engineering Plastics the first prize in the Manufacturing Industry-Energy category.

TechnylStarTM is a new-generation polyamide that boasts extremely high fluidity - ten times greater than that offered by traditional polyamide 6 (PA6). With exceptional tolerance to reinforcement and additives, TechnylStarTM offers all industrial sectors a major economic breakthrough and outstanding performance, while maintaining very good surface appearance.

The very high fluidity allows easy, fast and economical production of small parts, such as electrical connectors, very large single component parts such as vehicle engine covers, as well as pieces of very complex design such as grilles for ventilation systems. It can also be used to advantage to replace metal for applications where the parts are subject to considerable stress and strain, such as the structural parts for motor vehicles. The well-balanced properties of TechnylStarTM considerably enlarge the spectrum of plastics applications, and thus make it possible to design new products.

During the prize-giving ceremony, Jean-Claude Steinmetz, President of Rhodia Engineering Plastics, said: “Above and beyond the technological progress represented by TechnylStarTM, this innovation is based on the careful analysis and identification of our customers’ needs. The cross-fertilization of expertise and the sharing of skills within the Group will ultimately allow us to extend the advantages of this innovation to other markets. Thanks to the achievement of major energy savings and the optimization of production facilities, TechnylStarTM represents a real breakthrough in the manufacturing cost of plastic components and promises to provide our customers with significant productivity gains.”