Royal DSM N.V., the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company headquartered in the Netherlands, announces today that claryl picture glass was awarded the 2009 ICIS Innovation Award for Best Business Innovation.
claryl picture glass makes framed pictures clearer, emphasizes colors better and reduces the amount of reflection. It is produced in an energy-preserving coating process. claryl is the first commercial product in DSM's Functional Coating program that focuses on applying DSM's proprietary anti-reflective coating technology in various applications. DSM recently also introduced KhepriCoat anti-reflective coating on solar glass as the second commercial product in DSM's Functional Coatings program.
Nicolaas Viets, platform director Functional Coatings, gave the following comment: "Having invented a one-step optical anti-reflective coating for float glass, we decided that instead of marketing the coating, we would enter the market ourselves with a branded mid-priced picture-framing glass to capture more of the value from the innovation. With claryl on sale in 1,500 framing shops in 15 European countries and preparations for a US market launch for 2010, this approach has proven to be successful".
It took only three years for DSM to develop claryl picture glass from a research concept into a successfully introduced new brand in the picture framing market. In 2008, within a year after its launch, DSM announced a production capacity expansion by 50%.
The second product from DSM's Functional Coating program, KhepriCoat, recently contributed to the world record for most efficient full-size commercial solar module. Application of this anti-reflective coating on solar glass has shown an increase in light transmission of around 4%, a significant step forward in solar module efficiency. DSM is also working on other applications within its Functional Coating program.
The ICIS Innovation Awards, now in their sixth year, are designed to recognize those companies that have made significant steps forward through R&D, with tangible results emerging during 2008 and the early part of 2009. ICIS is the chemical publishing arm of Reed Business Information, part of global publishing group Reed Elsevier.