DULUTH, Minn., Feb. 7, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IKONICS Corporation (Nasdaq:IKNX), a Duluth-based imaging technology company, announced today that it has entered into a Distribution Partnership with Tri-D Technologies Inc., makers of ExactFlat. The leader in the emerging space of flexible materials 3D-to-2D flattening software, ExactFlat enables manufacturers to reduce the time it takes to convert any complex 3D model into production-worthy 2D technical patterns.
IKONICS, a leader in imaging solutions with particular expertise in screen printing, abrasive etching, digital-texturing and micro-machining, saw an opportunity to bring this business-changing innovation to the market by combining their market expertise with ExactFlat's proprietary 3D-to-2D algorithms. The result is a new product for the mold texturing industry with its highest concentration in the automotive and aeronautics industries that guarantees superior resolution, improved image stability, greatly reduced production time and lower cost over traditional digital texture engraving methods.
"This partnership and reseller agreement will allow IKONICS to provide advanced features that drive meaningful competitive advantage for our customers," said Karl Shaw, Director of New Technologies at IKONICS. "The ability to place images onto 3D surfaces with a higher level of accuracy, bend patterns along contours, align features with greater precision and extend imaging capabilities to all product lines at considerably lower cost will redefine what was possible in 3D decorative textures."
Steve McLendon, Executive Vice President of ExactFlat, also commented: "Our engineers collaborated with the IKONICS team to adapt our proprietary flattening algorithms to produce extremely high resolution (9600 dpi), large print (up to 5 meters square or more) outputs, with a simple user interface. Simply put, this product is the fastest, most accurate and cost effective way for manufacturers to apply decorative textures to a 3D mold."
The first industry application of this product for IKONICS will be in the automotive & aerospace fields, empowering them to produce seamless textures on dashboards, pillars and other interior components.
About ExactFlat
ExactFlat, developed by Tri-D Technologies Inc., develops products to save manufacturers time, money and effort when converting 3D CAD models into 2D cut patterns for manufacturers working with industrial fabrics, recognizing that faster time to market equates to more time in the market. ExactFlat, integrated with leading 3D CAD platforms, is an advanced 3D-to-2D automatic pattern part generation system for industrial fabrics and digital texturing. Engineers and designers across a wide range of industries -- including automotive, marine, architecture, tent, awning, pool liners, furniture, and fashion -- incorporate ExactFlat into their design to production workflow to get fast, accurate results every time. ExactFlat was founded in 2008 and is based in Toronto, Canada. For more information, visit www.exactflat.com.
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This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding sales, gross profits, net earnings, and new products and businesses that involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially as a result of domestic and global economic conditions, competitive market conditions, acceptance of new products, availability of equipment sold by the Company or for use with its products, raw materials costs, the ability to identify and make suitable acquisitions, the ability to control costs without impacting growth as well as the factors described in the Company's Forms 10-K, and 10-Q, and other reports on file with the SEC.