NineSigma Matches Avery Dennison With Two Adhesive Technology Companies For Joint Development Agreements

CLEVELAND, OH - May 11, 2004 - NineSigma, Inc., a Cleveland, Ohio-based innovation sourcing firm, announced today that its client, the Fasson Roll North America division of Avery Dennison signed joint development agreements with two solution providers identified through NineSigma’s Managed Exchange (M:X™) process. The Fasson Roll North America division of Avery Dennison, a global leader in pressure-sensitive technology and self-adhesive solutions for consumer products and label materials, will work with these technology providers to develop new adhesive systems for use in automotive, building and construction, electronics, and medical device applications.

"These development agreements reflect Avery Dennison’s continued emphasis on providing innovation that creates value for our customers," said Patrick Goss, Director of New Business Development for Fasson Roll North America. "The NineSigma process was very successful in uncovering companies and technologies that we would not have identified otherwise," said James Macuga, New Business Development Leader for Fasson Roll North America. NineSigma solicited thousands of companies, universities, and private research labs to find solution providers to meet the specific needs of the Fasson Roll North America division. This represents NineSigma’s third project with Avery Dennison.

Avery Dennison is a global leader in pressure-sensitive technology and innovative self-adhesive solutions for consumer products and label materials. Based in Pasadena, California, the Company had 2003 sales of $4.8 billion. Fasson-brand pressure-sensitive and non-adhesive coated papers, films and foils in roll form are widely used in brand identity, bar-code labeling systems, product identification and other applications by label converters and consumer products package designers and manufacturers. For more information on Fasson Roll North America, visit www.fasson.com.

NineSigma serves the global research and development industry by facilitating open innovation strategies for clients seeking to acquire technical innovations developed outside their organization. Clients engage NineSigma on projects across the innovation value chain including upstream research, design and development, process improvements, finished products, and new applications and markets for existing technologies. Through its proprietary Managed Exchange (M:X™) process that utilizes Ph.D.-level program managers, web-based tools, and a database of global solution providers, NineSigma matches technology seekers with unobvious or disruptive innovations faster, more effectively, and at a lower cost than conventional means. For more information on NineSigma, visit www.ninesigma.com .

NineSigma Contact:

  Bronwyn Monroe 
  (216) 295-4822
  Marketing Manager