Uvex FitLogic(tm) Safety Eyewear From Uvex Wins BusinessWeek IDEA Award

Smithfield, RI — Uvex FitLogic(tm) Safety Eyewear from Uvex is among the winners of this year’s coveted Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) announced in the June 24th issue of BusinessWeek and BusinessWeek Online. Taking an award in the 2005 Business & Industrial Products category, Uvex FitLogic is a new safety eyewear style that provides virtually infinite adjustments for face, cheekbone, ear and nose profiles. Making the cover of BusinessWeek for the first time, the annual IDEA awards competition is co-sponsored by BusinessWeek and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).

According to the BusinessWeek Online citation, which credits Uvex and designer Altitude, Inc., Uvex FitLogic’s “revolutionary frame adjusts to any face shape, and the pioneering nosepiece rotates, pivots and slants to provide face-contouring comfort all day. The designers also recognized the need for appealing aesthetics. They understood that customers are wearing protective eyewear eight to ten hours a day and would be less inclined to wear clunky and unappealing glasses even if they provided superior adjustability.”

Uvex FitLogic incorporates an innovative frame design with a cushioned, lightweight browbar that adjusts to fit faces comfortably. Soft and flexible with spring-like action, it has enough tension to fit comfortably on wide faces and securely on narrow faces. A pioneering nosepiece design rotates 360 degrees, pivots, and slants in and out to provide a precise fit for almost any nose bridge. In addition, the temple arms ratchet up and down, then click securely in place to provide a contour fit for cheek profiles. The soft temple tips lengthen with a precise sliding action to provide better behind-the-ear comfort and virtually infinite adjustment possibilities.

The Industrial Design Excellence Awards are dedicated to fostering business and public understanding of the importance of industrial design excellence to the quality of life and the economy. The Uvex FitLogic joined 6 winners in the Business category. Some 1380 overall entries were considered, including 423 international entries from 29 countries outside the US. Other design winners include: Hewlett Packard, Nike, Philips Design of the Netherlands and Motorola.

Said Jury Chair Tucker Viemeister, IDSA, President of Springtime-USA, a design firm located in New York City, Never before has good design been acknowledged as being so essential to good business. By connecting with the consumers, winning designers created outstanding products that people both desire and need. This years extraordinary IDEA jury selected a slew of winners that are beautiful, valuable and ecologically responsible, demonstrating that good design is more than the sum of form and function. Industrial design makes our dreams come true!”

“Meeting technical specifications for eye protection can never be enough if workers are not comfortable wearing the product,” said Erica L. Osley, Senior Product Manager for Uvex, a Bacou-Dalloz brand. “But if you can even go beyond that and develop a product workers actually want to wear, then you’ve fulfilled your mission and more. This award validates our objectives in developing Uvex FitLogic, and we are delighted to receive it.”

The world’s top-selling protective eyewear brand, Uvex has been an acknowledged leader in safety eyewear innovation for over fifty years. The pioneer of many groundbreaking innovations such as a silicone goggle body and Multi-Material Technology(r), Uvex is a leading brand of the Bacou-Dalloz Group, the world leader in the design, manufacturing and sale of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The company employs about 6,700 people and operates 48 production facilities. Bacou-Dalloz provides unmatched head-to-toe protection through three strategic business segments: head protection (eye, hearing and respiratory), body protection (gloves, clothes and shoes) and fall protection. Bacou-Dalloz offers a full product range aimed at the manufacturing, construction, telecommunications, medical, public services and other sectors. Its products are available from its distributor partners worldwide.

— Awards competition is BusinessWeek cover story
— Silver Award winner provides face-contouring comfort all day

— To download electronic copy or HI-RES 300 dpi JPG, go to:
http://www.trankin.com/releases/uvex/uvex7895.htm

— To view BusinessWeek Award go to: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/05/06/idea2005/source/6.htm

For additional information on Uvex products, contact:
Erica L. Osley
Bacou-Dalloz Eye & Face Protection, Inc.
10 Thurber Boulevard
Smithfield, RI 02917-1858
Tel: 401-757-2220
Fax: 401-757-2912
http://www.uvex.com

Contact:
Bacou-Dalloz Eye & Face Protection, Inc.
10 Thurber Boulevard
Smithfield, RI 02917-1858
USA

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THOMAS RANKIN ASSOCIATES
Thomas R. Rankin, APR
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email: tomr@trankin.com