Henkel celebrates 100 years of Adhesive Technologies

100 years ago, Henkel began producing adhesives for its own use and for neighboring companies. Over the years, this has developed into the world's largest manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and functional coatings.

Exactly 100 years ago, Henkel sold its first adhesives to neighboring companies. From the development of adhesives for detergent packaging for its own use to the advanced solutions in more than 800 industrial segments today, the company's world-leading adhesives, sealants and functional coatings have become integral to countless consumer and industrial products. Henkel Adhesive Technologies shares its customers' visions and enables the development of breakthrough innovations in areas such as sustainability, mobility and digitalization.

"With our pioneering spirit and innovative strength, we have become the world's largest manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and functional coatings over the past 100 years, creating value for more than 100,000 industrial customers and millions of consumers. By developing sustainable solutions that enable a circular economy and reduce CO2, we aim to reach the next level of value creation in our industries around the world," explains Mark Dorn, Henkel Management Board member responsible for the Adhesive Technologies business sector. "Then, as now, we work closely with our customers to turn challenges into opportunities and jointly develop innovative products and solutions."

The success story of Henkel Adhesive Technologies began 100 years ago because the company made a virtue out of necessity. After the end of the First World War, the occupation of the Rhine and Ruhr threatened to cause a shortage of adhesives at the company's home base in Düsseldorf, which were needed to seal the company's own product packaging, for example for detergents. In 1922, Henkel therefore started to develop and produce paper, cardboard and package adhesives for its own use. With the construction and start-up of its own glue factory, the company also began selling adhesive products to neighboring companies on June 26, 1923. The first products included the painter's glue Mala and the wallpaper paste Tapa, both based on potato flour.

Adhesive Technologies has pioneered worldwide through patented inventions, innovation and strategic acquisitions. Famous inventions include, for example, the first Pritt glue stick in 1969, which was inspired by the twist mechanism of lipstick and revolutionized paper crafting. In 2001, Pritt received the 'Space-Proof' seal of quality and was transported to the International Space Station (ISS).

In the industrial sector, Henkel's adhesive solutions have transformed production processes and product designs in a wide range of sectors including automotive, electronics and packaging. The technologies offer tailored functionalities such as strong hold, sealing, coating, conductivity of heat and electricity, recyclability and more. With the acquisition of Loctite Corporation in 1997, Adhesive Technologies took its business to a new level by successfully integrating new capabilities. Today, Loctite is the largest adhesives brand in the world.

Over the past 100 years, Henkel has demonstrated the performance of its solutions in a variety of ways. In 1987, for example, Ceresit products were used in the renovation of the Great Wall of China. And in 2015, Henkel developed a customized adhesive to professionally reattach the broken beard of Tutankhamun's famous death mask. "We are very proud of our 100-year success story at Henkel Adhesive Technologies. A look at the last 100 years impressively shows the continuous development of our technological know-how and market competence. Based on this strong history of innovation and remarkable successes, we want to continue making history with Adhesive Technologies in the future and develop the solutions of tomorrow," says Mark Dorn.

The central focus of Adhesive Technologies' innovation activities is on developing sustainable solutions for its customers. The business sector is consistently working on products that enable resource efficiency in production and during use throughout the entire life cycle and that are based on natural formulations or recyclates. In addition, Henkel offers a growing portfolio for the recyclability of packaging or consumer goods, for example, and the reparability of everyday products. To take its innovative strength to a new level, Adhesive Technologies has commissioned the Inspiration Center Düsseldorf at its home site in 2022. In this modern innovation center with more than 30 laboratories, over 650 Henkel experts work on highly effective and sustainable solutions in adhesives, sealants and functional coatings. At the same time, the state-of-the-art building serves as a global customer center where Adhesive Technologies presents its entire technology portfolio and intensifies cooperation with its customers from over 800 industry segments. In 2023, the business unit will gradually open another global innovation center in Shanghai (OM-07/23)