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M4 Sciences Signs International Distribution Agreement

West Lafayette, Indiana
Jul 21, 2010

Officials of M4 Sciences LLC announced Wednesday (July 21) that they have signed an international product distribution agreement in Japan, after introducing their first product for precision machining in December 2009.

M4 Sciences' executive management team and officials from Fukuda Corp., a mechanical technology firm in Tokyo, signed a product distribution agreement to provide M4 Sciences' Modulation Assisted Machining (MAM)® technology to the Japanese market.

Fukuda, a provider of accessory parts and precision equipment to the original equipment manufacturers of machine tools and machine tool end-users, will market M4 Sciences' TriboMAM™ precision drilling system in Japan.

Japan represents nearly one-fifth of the world market for TriboMAM and is the home to several major manufacturers of computer-controlled machine tools.

"Fukuda is an excellent distributor for M4 Sciences' TriboMAM product and MAM technology," said James Mann, CEO of M4 Sciences. "They have a passion for mechanical technology, they have solid relationships with the machine tool manufacturers in Japan, and Fukuda is a respected business partner in precision accessories and high-performance machine tool related products."

He added that M4 Sciences has similar distribution agreements already under development with firms in Western Europe and the United States.

"With the U.S. and international distribution agreements in place, M4 Sciences will have access to more than 80 percent of the world market for MAM technology," Mann said. "As a result of these agreements, we expect to meet our 2010 sales forecast of $1.5 million and exceed $3 million in sales next year as we pursue sustainable growth on product sales and new product introduction."

According to the Global Industry Analysts Inc., the world machine tools market may reach $68 billion in 2010.

The technology developed by M4 Sciences was discovered at Purdue University's School of Industrial Engineering and licensed through the Purdue Research Foundation's Office of Technology Commercialization. In 2009 two separate patents covering MAM technology were granted from the U.S. patent office and are now under international filings. Mann, also a co-author of the patents, co-founded M4 Sciences in 2005 at the Purdue Research Park.

"M4 Sciences is another excellent example of how the state is supporting innovations developed at Indiana universities," said Mitch Roob, Indiana Secretary of Commerce and CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. "The fact that M4 Sciences is entering the international market at such a fast pace is a testament to the discoveries and development of new technologies in our state."

M4 Sciences' MAM technology is the first of its kind in the machining industry. The technology has been integrated by M4 Sciences into a transferrable machine tool accessory, called TriboMAM, which holds drill tools and superimposes a low-frequency oscillation onto the drilling process. MAM technology allows up to a 500 percent increase in drilling productivity and reduces manufacturing cost in high value-added precision drilling operations in computer-controlled machines. M4 Sciences' first TriboMAM product is compatible with computer-controlled lathes used in automotive, hydraulics and orthopedics industries to manufacture precision components with drilled holes ranging from 0.2 mm to 5 mm in diameter.

"M4 Sciences' agreement with one of the world's leading distributors of mechanical technology demonstrates well the impact that Indiana is having on the global economy," said Joseph B. Hornett, senior vice president, treasurer and COO of the Purdue Research Foundation, which manages the Purdue Research Park. "This agreement is the result of the support that the company has received at the state and national level to develop this Purdue University discovery."

In 2006 M4 Sciences received a Small Business Technology Transfer Research Award from the National Science Foundation to support MAM drilling research, a program that has now entered into a Phase IIB award through 2012 and has provided total funding of $1.3 million. In 2007 the state of Indiana awarded M4 Sciences a $1.5 million grant from the 21st Century Research and Technology Fund to promote commercialization of the precision drilling technology. The state provided additional follow-on and matching grants of $500,000. M4 Sciences also has successfully commercialized MAM technology with more than $2 million invested in research and product development from private investment and commercial sales.



Source:  Purdue Research Park