
9 Mar 2005
BACKGROUNDER
GE Advanced Materials Drives “Bumper-to-Bumper” Solutions for Global Automotive Industry for Over 40 Years
BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — For over 40 years, GE Advanced Materials has earned the reputation as a leading global automotive supplier of bumper-to-bumper solutions in engineering resins, silicones, and silane materials. With 79 sites in 21 countries, GE’s dedicated Automotive organization is an experienced, world-wide competitor, fully committed to serving an industry that manufacturers products for the world’s most demanding customers.
Led by global general manager Greg Adams, GE has structured its Automotive business to develop advanced materials solutions to help serve its global customers, and to utilize its world-renown R&D and commercial resources to respond to the industry’s ever-evolving design and technical needs.
One key quality that has remained consistent over the years at GE is its ability to create best-in-class products to help address the growing consumer demand for automobiles that are ecologically optimized, in addition to being pedestrian and passenger safe.
Honored repeatedly with awards from across the globe, GE Advanced Materials, Automotive, offers leading plastics solutions for five key automotive segments: 1) body panels and glazing, 2) under the hood, 3) components, 4) structures and interiors, and 5) lighting. In the silicones and silanes segments, GE also offers a broad product portfolio of elastomers, coatings, adhesives, sealants, urethane additives, and room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) products for longer lasting, higher performance.
“GE Advanced Materials offers some of the most advanced global expertise, resources, and support available in today’s fiercely competitive automotive industry,” said Adams. “Only a select few global players in resin and silicone technologies can offer OEMs and tier 1 customers the wherewithal to address safety and environmental legislation, as well as consumer demands for additional features, sophisticated aesthetics, and design styling. We are committed to providing the automotive industry with the innovative tools necessary to help develop the highest value application solutions all over the vehicle,” Adams said.
The company sees its customer centricity and technology innovation as its key differentiators, and continues to invest heavily, both in the development of new, proprietary technology, and adding value through concept design and new application development. As a global industry leader in materials technology and support, GE’s Automotive business helps bring new concepts to market while contributing to reduced total system costs.
Underlying GE’s drive to innovate is more than $2.6 billion that the company invests in research and development at its Global Research Centers. Respected by the scientific and consumer communities alike, the centers are strategically located in the United States, China, India, and Europe, and are staffed with more than 2,500 world-class scientists and engineers. In addition to advancing its own technology, GE is committed to advancing the innovation of its automotive customers. Toward this end, the company provides outstanding application development, technical support, and customer service to OEMs and top tier suppliers across the globe. The active role GE plays in customers’ product development cycles continues to fuel emerging automotive needs relating to vehicle aesthetics, efficiency, and performance.
Reader enquiries
GE Plastics, Automotive
Plasticslaan 1
4600 AC Bergen op Zoom
Notes for editors
About GE Advanced Materials
GE Advanced Materials (www.geadvancedmaterials.com) is a world leader in providing materials solutions through engineering thermoplastics, silicon-based products and technology platforms, and fused quartz and ceramics. Among its businesses are:
• Plastics – which is a global plastics materials supplier and distributor, serving customers in a variety of industries including aerospace, appliances, automotive, building and construction, data storage and optical media, medical, electrical and electronics devices, telecommunications, computers and peripheral devices, outdoor vehicles and devices, and packaging (www.geplastics.com).
• Silicones – which includes GE Toshiba Silicones in the Pacific region and GE Bayer Silicones in Europe, offering silanes, specialty silicones, urethane additives, adhesives, sealants, resins, and elastomers for a variety of industries such as personal care, automotive, tire and rubber, construction, healthcare, electronics, household and institutional, agriculture, textiles, appliances, bedding and furnishings, foam control, and consumer (www.gesilicones.com).
• Quartz – which provides high-purity quartz and advanced ceramic materials for the semiconductor, telecommunications, lighting, electronics, personal care, water purification, and various other industries (www.gequartz.com).
GE (NYSE:GE) is a diversified technology, media, and financial services company dedicated to creating products that make life better. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, television programming, and plastics, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.
Editorial enquiries
Anne Clement
GE Plastics, Automotive
Folke Markestein
Marketing Solutions NV
fmarkestein@marketingsolutions.be
Jim Allison
AH&M Marketing Communications
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