48 new materials - Material ConneXion

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Material ConneXion ®
Cologne NEWS
Good news! According to IFO, the institute for
economic research, the motor of Germany’s
economy has fired up. Experts calculate a 1.5%
economic growth for 2006. And with high export
figures and an increase in domestic investment,
manufacturing industry is right at the forefront
of this development. German companies, among
the worldwide technological elite, are once
again making healthy profits. In recognition of
this fact, the stock market has reached record
levels.
The German branch of Material ConneXion, established
in March 2005 in Cologne’s design
center, is already profiting from this trend and
has registered an increase in demand. The consultancy
service in particular is showing satisfying
growth. Internationally renowned companies
from a wide variety of industries all figure in
Material ConneXion Cologne’s customer listing
and avail themselves of the library’s extensive
range of materials and services. These include
German automobile manufacturers, internationally
recognized fashion labels and textile
companies, producers of consumer goods, and
telecommunications suppliers, as well as many
companies and independent designers involved
in interior design.
Alongside the big names from business, many
small- and medium-sized suppliers are also
subscribers to Cologne’s library. Often these
are the real innovators, because today it is the
suppliers’ development teams who completely
manufacture the pre-assembly products used
in automobiles, furniture, consumer goods, etc.
Designers are developing new ideas on a daily
The Material ConneXion Cologne Team (left to right): Niki Vogiantzi, Anne Farken,
Karsten Bleymehl, Rolf Warda, Carsta Schauff and Sandra Wichtrup.
basis, experimenting with new materials and selecting
and combining these according to their
visual, haptic, and functional qualities. Material
ConneXion offers them a one-stop platform where
they can quickly find information that might otherwise
require hours of time-consuming research
on their part to obtain.
In response to the increase in demand, the team
at Material ConneXion Cologne has grown significantly
over the past year. In addition to Manager
Rolf Warda, five colleagues are employed in Cologne:
Karsten Bleymehl and Anne Farken (research),
Niki Vogiantzi (sales), Sandra Wichtrup
(management), and Carsta Schauff (office). Their
range of duties includes participation at industry
shows—from exhibition stand design through customer
care. In 2006 alone, Material ConneXion
Cologne attended six trade fairs including the biggest
industrial show in the world, the Hannover
Messe. At this and other such shows, the MCC
team has the chance to track down innovative materials
and processing methods and to introduce
itself to manufacturers. After all, at the end of the
day, the library is built on what it gives its customers:
a pool of innovative, cutting-edge materials.
Lichtstr. 43 G
50825 Cologne, Germany
T +49 221 99 22 28 0
F +49 221 99 22 28 11
E infogermany@materialconnexion.com
MATERIAL CONNEXION C OLOGNE
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