CASE STUDY
Novacel
THE COOPERATION
Novacel is a French company located in Château-Thierry, in the Hauts-de-France region. It was created in 1994 and it employs more than 600 people today. It is in third position on the ophthalmic lenses market in France.
The company increases its turnover by 20% every year. Even during the Covid crisis, the turnover increased thanks to the delivery of lenses straight to the opticians’.
TCN had a meeting with Lotfi Mouine, Tint Laboratory Manager, in order to get his feedback regarding his collaboration with TCN. Lotfi Mouine’s job became his passion: he has been working in the coloration field for 18 years.
NOVACEL’S NEED
Novacel tints 6000 lenses a day and creates different collections every year.
According to Lotfi Mouine, “Novacel needs to test, innovate, find new solutions and new ideas. TCN meets these needs by constantly improving the quality of its processes and always offering more choices thanks to its expertise in R&D”.
In addition, the Brexit made the purchase of organic lenses coloration products harder for Novacel. In these circumstances, Lotfi Mouine wanted to reinforce his relation with his long-time supplier TCN.
THE TCN SOLUTION
Lotfi Mouine says: “TCN products give me complete satisfaction because they are soluble and allow a consistent result.
Unlike other products on the market, they do not form a slick on the surface of the solution. Moreover, the tanks are easily cleaned after use, because TCN’s CRX range is in powder form. So, my team at Novacel’s laboratory wastes less time than with other suppliers for the equipment maintenance. Then, it is more productive with TCN products.
Another competitive advantage is that TCN products present a better solution for the environment because CRX coloring powders do not contain any CMR substance.
For all of these reasons, TCN is as for me one of the best suppliers of organic lenses coloration products in Europe. Besides, TCN powders are more economical than ophthalmic lenses liquid dyes. 1kg of powder is more profitable than 1L of liquid dye. Indeed, powders can be used for as long as liquids, and since powders are concentrated, they allow to make more baths. In addition, CRX powders are delivered in recyclable metallic pails.”
THE BENEFITS
Lotfi Mouine explains: “The proximity with the supplier is an important factor. I trust TCN and salute their availability, their engagement and their development. This relation is beneficial for both our companies. We can only move forward thanks to the expertise of our firms that progress together. Moreover, culture and language make this teamwork easier.”
TCN products allowNovacel to offer medical filters or therapeutic lenses for optical failures such as retinitis pigmentosa or AMD.
So, Novacel is proud to create new solutions to bring an additional comfort or a help in the daily life of the spectacle wearers.
Novacel’s values, which are complicity, innovation and authenticity are values shared with TCN. It’s working all together that moves us forward.
HOW DO YOU SEE THE EVOLUTION OF YOUR MARKET?
“Today, sunglasses have become a real fashion accessory. They exist in all the colors, we can see that a lot on social media. They are constantly evolving.”
Lotfi Mouine wants to share his point of view regarding the impact of current events on the way we work: “After the Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine, we have to learn from our mistakes to be able to reach out. We need to be strong, united and change codes.
These are exactly the purposes of the alliance between Novacel and TCN.”
CASE STUDY
Saint Gobain
THE COOPERATION
Saint-Gobain develops, produces and distributes materials and solutions designed for the well-being and the future of everyone.
Among the many sites in the group, TCN
worked for an innovative project with Saint- Gobain Sully and the Business Unit High Technologies specialized, among other things, in polymers.
TCN met with Julien Bretin, buyer at Saint- Gobain to collect his testimonial about this cooperation.
“Following different tests, several processes have not been successful. It was finally with the TCN dye that we managed to control the colouring process.”
THE NEED OF SAINT-GOBAIN
With regard to the colouring of organic glasses, Julien Bretin explains: “We wanted to stand out and offer a feature that allows gradually to master the intensity of light through the PMMA.
No existing solution on the market responded to the issue of our binding specification”.
“There are already dyes that exist on the market, but they are not stable over time.”
THE TCN SOLUTION
“TCN liquid dyes allow to color polymers by keeping their transparency and perfectly controlling the opacity degree.
TCN’s expertise makes it possible to industrialize such a process while respecting a requirement for specifications.
We have demonstrated through internal ageing tests (about 2000 hours), the efficiency in obtaining a stable and resistant UV product over time,” says Julien Bretin.
THE BENEFIT
“ There is a real benefit for the end user’s comfort. Indeed, this transparent product allows light to pass, while attenuating it in some configuration .”
« We would like to offer this feature to other existing programs.»
Julien Bretin, Saint Gobain Sully
CASE STUDY
Erpro 3D Factory
THE COOPERATION
ERPRO 3D Factory is part of the French company Erpro Group which specialises in 3D printing and plastic injection. It was founded in 1997.
The group comprises 6 subsidiaries including Erpro 3D Factory:
Among the many subsidiaries of the group, TCN worked with Erpro 3D Factory on a specific project to dye spectacle frame for Atol company.
“The TCN ‘s approach is what we called agnostic, technologically speaking. “
TCN met with Loïc Cliquennois, R&D Project Manager at Erpro 3D Factory, to collect his testimonial about this collaboration.
THE NEED OF ERPRO
“For many years Erpro Group has been working with TCN on many projects.
In this particular case, we had a request from Atol via the Abeye startup that manufactures electronic glasses.
The challenge was to achieve a color finish on a constraining raw material. Indeed, not only the shades could not be vivid but also it was rough to the touch.
We finally managed to develop a product with a final aspect that matches the expectations of the mass-market.”
“The challenge was to achieve a color finish on a constraining raw material.”
THE TCN SOLUTION
“The TCN solution has multiple advantages:
For Epro 3D Factory
-The dye penetrates everywhere because of its application process and its liquid form. Quite the opposite as with a manuel spray application.
-The mass processing doesn’t require major investment in cumbersome equipment.
For the final client
-A product binded in the mass has a better resistance to external agressions such as scratching, peeling off and abrasion reaction,
-Time and environmental resistance (skin contact, UV and sweat resistance),
. Oeko-Tex certification because the products are worn by the general public. “
THE BENEFITS
From the very beginning of our collaboration with TCN, we have identified several benefits which are unique on the market.
1 – The open system of the TCN coloring process
TCN’s process is very open because we can use dye solutions which are compatible with a lot of systems. We can dye any type of plastic material with what we want and as we wish.
Then, the personalized support set up by TCN is definitively their great strength.
2 – The personalised assistance
We highly appreciate, the advices and recommendations which are directly made by the TCN’s chemical experts.
A real follow-up and a shades tailor-made conceptual work in the development of our projects is actually put into place.
There is a process with TCN that we call “Agnostics”, technologically speaking. I mean, there is no preconceived idea about how to proceed. They are open-minded. We are developing the process together so that it fits the project. »
To illustrate this support, there is a concrete example of Atol company. When we collaborated with Atol spectacle frames, we wanted to use a specific range of TCN products.
However, we quickly realized that the roadmap, and mainly the mixing method, should be reviewed.
« We rely on TCN’s experts when we look for a specific dye and face complexity in products regulatory compatibility. »
Loïc Cliquennois, Erpro 3D Factory
Finally, thanks to the follow-up and advices of the TCN ‘s experts, we were able to develop a dyeing protocol. We got exactly the expected result.
Another benefit with TCN is the different packaging sizes. The one litre jerry can is ideal for testing.
For our current use, we really appreciate the 10 litres jerry can. It presents several practical advantages such as the transport, the storage and facility to shake the product before use.»
CASE STUDY
Schmitt Ultraschalltechnik
THE COOPERATION
SUT exists since 25 years and is based near Frankfurt in Germany.
The major focus was the development of ultrasound based systems for cleaning metal, plastics and ceramics.
About 10 years ago SUT entered the 3D printing market by offering system solutions for removing support material from printed FDM-, Polyjet- and wax based parts.
SUT developed a special technology which applies ultrasound and a turbulent flow to the material in a 1-minute interval, which significantly improved the speed and quality of the cleaning.
SUT and TCN join forces and create a well-balanced partnership based on their complementarity.
TCN met with Heinz Röttig and Stephan Jessberger from SUT GmbH to collect their testimonial about this cooperation.
“Since working with TCN, we have only positive feedback regarding the performance and quality of their dyes! »
THE NEED OF SUT GmbH
“SUT became aware of the market demand to dye 3D parts by customer feedbacks.
We investigated and quickly found out that our interval technology of ultrasound plus turbulent flow significantly supports the adhesion of the dyeing pigments to the parts surfaces by destroying smallest air bubbles from the parts which also removes remaining dust or powder residue.
We also learned that we did (and do) not have the required dyeing experience and knowledge for professionally advising our customers and prospects.
“TCN is a very supportive partner with a lot of experience in developing dyeing solutions.”
THE TCN SOLUTION
“We chose TCN as our skilled and very supportive partner with a lot of experience in developing dyeing solutions.
Since working with TCN, we had only positive feedback regarding the performance and quality of their dyes!
« SUT GmbH and TCN join forces and create a well-balanced partnership based on complementarity.»
Heinz Roettig, SUT GmbH
THE BENEFITS
“We believe that the benefits are mutual. We, in many cases, are asked which dyeing solution we recommend. We always recommend TCN and point out the good results and the TCN portfolio of dyes – even on our German and English WEB sites.
https://www.schmitt-ultrasound.com/dyeing/
https://www.schmitt-ultraschall.de/faerben/
We offer our customers a broad range of systems which are available with different basket volumes from 20 to 1000 liters.
So, we also very much appreciate the fact that TCN recommends our solutions to their customers. »
