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News Release
SOLIGEN'S PARTS NOW® DAZZLES CATERPILLAR WITH A NEW DIMENSION IN METAL PARTS MANUFACTURING
-- Functional engine component taken from drawing board to engine testing in 5 working days --NORTHRIDGE, CA, February 7, 1995 -- Soligen Technologies, Inc. (AMEX:SGT.EC) Yehoram Uziel, President and CEO of Soligen Technologies, Inc. ("Soligen" or the "Company"), today announced that its Parts Now unit has demonstrated what the Company believes is a new record in producing functional metal parts utilizing its proprietary Direct Shell Production Casting (DSPC®) technology. The Company's Parts Now service center is now in its pilot phase.
"Caterpillar challenged us with making a complex engine component within a week. Our Parts Now team accepted the challenge," said Mr. Uziel. "Caterpillar sent us their design file via a modem on Wednesday evening. By Friday, our DSPC systems completed two casting shells. They were cast in A356 aluminum on Monday, heat treated on Tuesday, and finish machined on Wednesday. On the same day, the fully functional parts were shipped overnight to Caterpillar for installation on an engine."
"Caterpillar is in the forefront of rapid manufacturing," said Mr. John Howarter of Caterpillar, Inc. ("Caterpillar"). "We are equipped with the most advanced manufacturing and prototyping equipment, and were very pleased that Parts Now could manufacture these parts for us within a week. Having Parts Now on our team, in addition to our in-house capabilities, will enable Caterpillar to bring new products to the market faster than ever before."
"Providing industrial companies with the ability to order functional metal parts via the telephone line, and to be able to receive a first article in a matter of weeks, instead of several months, will revolutionize the industry," continued Mr. Uziel. "Soligen's Parts NowTM unit delivered these functional engine components to Caterpillar faster than any traditional fabrication process would have allowed." Soligen is building production capacity to become the premier "one-stop shop" for functional cast metal parts produced directly from a CAD file, and with no need for pre-fabricated tooling to produce the first article. "We believe that 1995 will prove to be the flagship year for establishing our Parts Now service business," concluded Mr. Uziel.
Soligen's DSPC technology is a proprietary fabrication process for metal parts and tooling that produces ceramic molds for metal casting directly from a CAD file. Soligen's DSPC is based on Three Dimensional Printing (3DP®), a technology invented and patented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 3DP is licensed exclusively to Soligen on a worldwide basis for the field of metal casting.