Hyphen Heralds New Era for Local Manufacturers Seeking to Compete on the World Stage

Christie Enterprise Will Help Ontario Manufacturers and Product Designers Get to Market Faster  

KITCHENER, ON, Oct. 4, 2012 /CNW/ - Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc. today announced the launch of a new enterprise - Hyphen - to address a growing demand among local manufacturers, universities and design teams for proven, state-of-the-art, and conveniently located prototyping and environmental testing services. Over the past eight years, Christie has invested millions of dollars in advanced rapid prototyping technologies and environmental testing equipment to help shorten lead time and design cycles in the development of its own advanced projectors and visual displays. With the advent of Hyphen, this world-class infrastructure is now available for firms across southern Ontario and beyond to assist them in increasing the efficiency of their own product development and time-to-market capabilities.

"Anyone who has an idea that needs to exist in a tangible form in order to promote from concept to physical reality will find a first-class partner in Hyphen, which will help them to realize their dreams," said Jennifer Smith, Christie vice president of Global Engineering. "Although manufacturers immediately springs to mind, Hyphen's appeal won't be restricted solely to them, as anyone who wants to introduce a new 'good' or concept to the world, can leverage Hyphen. For example, academic institutions and think tanks don't manufacture goods per se, but most certainly have a need to create and physically test their ideas/research. And that's where Hyphen can accelerate their progress."

Smith added that the global competitiveness of Ontario's manufacturing sector is a critical factor in ensuring prosperity for its citizens and Christie is proud to aid firms across this sector, as well as entities looking to enhance their commercialization efforts beyond southern Ontario. "Investments in high-end capital equipment have often been out of the reach of the small-to-medium manufacturing base that characterizes this sector, but now with Hyphen they can access the best that the world has to offer, at a very competitive usage fee, to turn ideas into reality," said Smith.

Located at Christie's worldwide engineering and manufacturing center in Kitchener, Ontario, Hyphen is a professional, customer-service oriented center backed by a team of accredited professionals.  The company offers easy access to multiple prototyping and testing capabilities under one roof - a true "one-stop-shop" for these services - with unparalleled testing equipment and instrumentation for achieving accurate results, quickly.  And as a Christie enterprise, Hyphen stands by the same quality standards that have a proven track record of success in the world of business and cinema projectors, digital signage and visualization and simulation technologies.

Mark Barfoot, Managing Director of Hyphen, said "What makes Hyphen unique is that we have successfully combined top-of-the-line prototyping and environmental testing capabilities to allow for quick optimization of designs.  Hyphen's skilled professionals draw upon a long and distinguished history of bringing innovative products to market and we're looking forward to fostering innovation beyond our core products.   We can help Ontario manufacturers through all stages of product development, whether their goal is to test the performance of a design concept, reduce overall development time, improve quality, or a combination of all-of-the above."

Impressive Facilities, People and Equipment
Hyphen resides in a certified ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 facility; one which follows the world-leading Kaizen Lean Manufacturing methodology, which focuses on a continuous improvement process and the 5S methodology:  orderliness, tidiness, cleanliness, discipline, and standardized clean-up.

Located in the heart of Canada's Technology Triangle, the Hyphen testing laboratory boasts the latest top-of-the-line technologies for testing (vibration, thermal, tensile and compression, sound, drop testing and electromagnetic compatibility), a full suite of additive manufacturing technologies (FDM, SLS, Objet, SLA), and computer numerical control (CNC) machining centers - under one roof.

With easy access to world-class technologies including one of the largest vibration tables of its kind in Canada,  local manufacturers will find new ways of designing components to be more efficient to manufacture and new processes to reduce costs, leveraging the firsthand experience of the team that developed the world's most advanced projectors and visual displays.

About Christie®
Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc. is a global visual technologies company and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ushio, Inc., Japan, (JP:6925). Consistently setting the standards by being the first to market some of the world's most advanced projectors and complete system displays, Christie is recognized as one of the most innovative visual technology companies in the world. From retail displays to Hollywood, mission critical command centers to classrooms and training simulators, Christie display solutions and projectors capture the attention of audiences around the world with dynamic and stunning images. Visit www.christiedigital.com. 

Christie" is a trademark of Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc., registered in the United States of America and certain other countries.

SOURCE: Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc.

Dave Paolini
519-749-3127
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Kevin Lennon
Trillium Corporate Communications Inc.
416-322-3030 Ext 223
416-315-1351 (mobile)
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