Medical Device Link.

Originally Published EMDM May/June 2002

INDUSTRY NEWS

The silicone supplier aims to provide its European customers with around-the-clock technical support from its new location near Nice, France

When Dow Corning Healthcare transferred its operations to Brussels from Sophia Antipolis, a high-tech business park near Nice, France, it left behind some valuable assets . . . like Patrick Peignot. He is one of several former Dow employees who declined to leave the dulcet climate of Provence for the austere Belgian capital. Le malheur des uns fait le bonheur des autres, to quote a French proverb, and the fortunate one in this case is silicone formulator Nusil Technology–Europe. It recruited Peignot to manage its recently inaugurated technical services centre in the sprawling business park.

Initially, it looked like Nusil might follow Dow Corning Healthcare's lead and also set up shop in Brussels. Seen from a US perspective—Nusil has its headquarters near Santa Barbara, CA—"Brussels looked like a central location," says general manager Greg Lee, whose base of operations continues to be the company's Anglet office in southwestern France. Lee and Peignot knew better.

"Our mission at Nusil has always been to respond quickly to the needs of our customers throughout Europe," says Lee, who notes that the Nice region, well served by the second-largest airport in France, meets those requirements. "You also have to consider that Patrick was here, along with other former Dow employees, and you just can't find that level of expertise in one place very easily. And the south of France is a place that people like to go to," he adds. Who would argue with that? The Provençal climate and life-style take on an even more idyllic allure when the impenetrable grey shield descends on much of the continent for weeks at a time. The magic certainly worked on me: Flying into Nice from a drizzly Stuttgart, I was greeted by an endless expanse of blue sky and azure water.

Although it is a business park, Sophia Antipolis does not break the spell. Unlike the dreary industrial estates that litter much of Europe, Sophia Antipolis was based on a master plan that preserved much of the natural beauty of the site. The buildings have been designed to blend into the hilly terrain, and it's easy to forget as you drive through the 6000-acre park that more than 1000 companies have a presence here.

Located just a few kilometres from Nice, France, Nusil Technology–Europe's technical centre provides customers with application support.

Nusil moved into its facility on the Route des Crêtes in 2000. "The physical space was perfect," recalls Lee, but the infrastructure required considerable work. A methodical approach that balanced worker safety and environmental standards with functionality is now nearing completion. The facility includes a 500-m² warehouse, a solvent storage room with grating on top of a recessed floor to safeguard workers and facilitate cleanup in case of spills, and a well-equipped laboratory. A 100-m² dispersion room is being built to withstand a 1-hour conflagration. State-of-the-art telecom and computer systems ensure a seamless link with the Anglet and US facilities.

The raison d'être of the Sophia Antipolis site, stress Lee and Peignot, is to provide Nusil's European customers with nearby around-the-clock technical support. "One thing that becomes very clear as you talk to trade show attendees is that they are looking for solutions," says Peignot, who has more than 20 years' experience in the silicone industry and was involved in the development of the Norplant contraceptive. "Patrick is passionate about providing customers with technical support," says Lee. It's a perfect fit, he adds: "At Nusil, we form partnerships with our customers to find solutions for their applications . . . we're not simply a materials supplier trying to sell them stuff."

The company has hundreds of fully characterized silicone formulations at its disposal that can be altered to achieve specific properties. The materials can be supplied in small, highly specialized amounts or large off-the-shelf quantities; they are always meticulously tested and certified to meet international quality and consistency standards. All three Nusil sites are registered to ISO 9001; and they will migrate, as a group, to the 2000 standard in the near future, says Lee.

For more information, contact Nusil Technology–Europe, Technical Services Centre, 2740 Route des Crêtes, BP 325, F-06906 Sophia Antipolis, CEDEX, France; phone: +33 492 969331; fax: +33 492 960637; Internet: www.nusil.com.

Norbert Sparrow

Copyright ©2002 European Medical Device Manufacturer