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News Release
SOLIGEN AND WRIGHT-K SIGN AGREEMENT TO JOINTLY LAUNCH A PARTS NOW CENTER IN MICHIGAN
NORTHRIDGE, CA, June 7, 1999 -- Soligen Technologies, Inc. (AMEX:SGT.EC), today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Wright-K Technology, Inc., to pursue a joint venture that would eventually establish a Soligen Parts Now center in Saginaw, Michigan. Parts Now® is a cast metal part production service based on Soligen's proprietary Direct Shell Production Casting (DSPC ®) process.
Wright-K Technology, a 17-year-old company with annual revenues of $40 million, is headquartered in Saginaw, MI, with subsidiaries in Alabama and North Carolina. Wright-K is a recognized leader in providing a variety of industrial services from product design and development to production of specialty machinery.
"Our customers are driving us to move from design concept to production in less time with each project," said John Sivey, President of Wright-K. "Wright-K is impressed by the quality and efficiency that Soligen’s technology provides. We see a potentially large market for its Parts Now methodology, and believe that partnering with Soligen to establish a Parts Now center at Wright-K will give us a tremendous competitive advantage as we help our customers get their products to market quickly, providing them with more value."
The Memorandum of Understanding provides exclusivity for Wright-K and Soligen to together provide product development services to Delphi Saginaw, a major customer of Wright-K, while both Soligen and Wright-K explore the technical and commercial feasibility of opening a Parts Now center in Wright-K facilities. During this period, Wright-K will commit substantial resources to provide all of its customers with products based on cast metal parts made at Soligen’s Parts Now facility in Southern California. Subsequently, Soligen will train Wright-K personnel in the use of the DSPC process for the production of cast metal parts. Ultimately, a joint venture operated by Wright-K using Soligen’s technology will be established in Wright-K’s facility in Michigan. Soligen will realize income either as royalties or as part of the revenues from the products it makes.
Yehoram Uziel, President of Soligen, commented: "Parts Now is all about compressing the time to design and test a new metal casting. We are looking forward to expanding our penetration by partnering with companies that add value and have established business relationships with major customers. Wright-K fits this profile. Having a network of Parts Now centers, including one in Michigan, will make this service even more convenient for our customers in the Midwest."
Soligen's DSPC® technology is a proprietary fabrication process for metal parts that produces ceramic molds for metal casting directly from a CAD file. By using the DSPC technology, Soligen is able to produce a first article metal part bypassing the traditional need for tooling. Consequently it enables postponement of design and the fabrication of expensive and time consuming casting tooling until after the parts are functionally tested, thus increasing the probability of making such production tooling once and correctly on the first attempt. Additionally, Soligen produces production tooling for larger runs of metal castings from the same CAD file as the approved part. By combining three key production elements: DSPC technology, conventional casting methods, and Computerized Numerical Control (CNC) machine practices, the Company has created the first "one-stop-shop" for functional metal parts that are made directly from a CAD file and that are ready for assembly. This complete service, trademarked as Parts Now®, has become a single source for out-sourcing of metal parts.
DSPC® and Parts Now® are registered trademarks of Soligen Technologies Inc.
Except for the historical information herein, the matters discussed in this
news release include forward-looking statements that may involve a number of
risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary significantly based on a
number of factors, including, but not limited to, risks in product and
technology development, market acceptance of new products and continuing
product demand, the impact of competitive products and pricing, changing
economic conditions, both here and abroad, time development and release of
new products by strategic suppliers and customers, the effort of the Company's
accounting policies and other risk factors detailed in the Company's most
recent annual report and other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Contact:
Yehoram Uziel, Soligen Technologies, Inc., (818) 718-1221
Email:Yehoram@PartsNow.com or:
Steven Anreder, Anreder Hirschhorn Silver &Co., (212) 532-3232, (310) 278-8802 or:
John Sivey, Wright-K Technology, Inc., (517) 752-3103,
info@wright-k.com