Reinforcing innovative adhesive solutions

Pioneering bio-degradable, sustainable fabrics

H.B. Fuller is a leading global adhesives provider, focused on creating innovative adhesive solutions for a broad range of manufacturing industries. The company has seen consistent growth for more than 130 years. Philip Yorke reports on its latest innovative products, recent acquisitions and continuing global expansion.

H.B. Fuller was founded in 1887 by Harvey Benjamin Fuller as a one-man wallpaper paste shop. Initially incorporated as the Fuller manufacturing company, in 1915 the company was reincorporated as the H.B. Fuller Company. Elmer Anderson, who would later become the governor of Minnesota, served as the company’s CEO in the 1940s and finally stepped down as chairperson in 1992. H.B. Fuller became a publicly held company in 1968 and was listed on the NYSE. Today the company is headquartered in Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, USA, and in 2016 recorded sales of more than $2.28 billion.

Strengthening core business

As a global leader in speciality chemicals, H.B. Fuller continues to strengthen its focus on innovative industrial adhesives. Since 2004 the company has adopted a strategy that involved a period of rationalisation where it dispensed with low-profit product lines and removed unprofitable markets from its portfolio in order to focus on higher, more value-added speciality market segments. This has continued to pay dividends in terms of both profitability and efficiency. In Europe the company is investing heavily in highly qualified people and new technologies to enhance its reputation for safety, product consistency and service.

The Fuller Group’s EIMEA Packaging business also continues to expand globally and currently represents more than 25 per cent of total sales, which are primarily generated from adhesive applications in container packaging applications. New developments are focused on trouble-free adhesive solutions that often involve innovative new products and ground-breaking delivery systems. One of the most notable new products to emerge from the company’s R&D laboratories is its Sesame High Modulous Tape, used for the reinforcement of boxes, trays and bins.

Strategic acquisitions

In July this year, H.B. Fuller agreed to purchase Adecol Ind. Quimica Limitada, a highly respected manufacturer of quality adhesive technologies based in Brazil. Adecol works closely with its broad base of customers to develop new, high quality hot-melt reactive and polymer-based adhesive solutions for customers in the packaging, converting and assembly markets. Headquartered in Guarulhos, Brazil, in 2016 it generated revenues of more than $40 million. Adecol is the largest manufacturer of industrial adhesives in Brazil and has developed a broad and flexible product portfolio capable of serving many of the world’s growing niche markets. This includes everything from automobile manufacturing to the packaging sector, where the company produces over 1.5 thousand tonnes of adhesives per month.

“With this acquisition we will further enhance our business in Brazil by partnering with customers to produce new and better durable goods in this dynamic region,” said Jim Owens, H.B. Fuller’s president and CEO. “H.B. Fuller has a strategic focus on growing our business in emerging markets, and the Adecol team has deep marketing knowledge and local manufacturing capabilities that will enable us to partner more closely with customers and to grow in Brazil and across Latin America. We look forward to welcoming employees of Adecol to the H.B. Fuller team.”

Accelerating strategic objectives

On 5 September this year, the H.B. Fuller company accelerated its strategic objectives yet further for the year 2020 with

a major acquisition that will significantly enhance shareholder value and growth in the high-value speciality adhesives sector. The major $1.575 billion acquisition of the Royal Adhesives and Sealants Company will generate an additional $650 million in revenue and $138 million in adjusted EBITDA for H.B. Fuller’s fiscal year in 2017. Currently Royal Adhesives operates 19 manufacturing facilities in 5 countries and employs more than 1500 people worldwide.

The company is a leading supplier of industrial adhesives in a diverse range of markets including aerospace, transportation, commercial roofing, insulating glass, solar, packaging and flooring applications. This range of products complements those already included in Fuller’s broad portfolio of industrial adhesive products that cover everything from construction and personal hygiene to packaging, automotive, woodworking and electronics among many others. With this significant, strategic acquisition the company will gain new production technologies and add people skills that will result in a more capable and dynamic company for customers and employees.

leadership in ethical practices

The H.B. Fuller Company has been recognised by the Ethisphere Institute for many years as one of the world’s most ethical companies.

This leading international organisation is dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, governance, anti-corruption and sustainability. H.B. Fuller is honoured to be recognised alongside other renowned and respected industry leaders from all over the world.

“Acting with integrity and doing the right thing in all of our business practices is fundamental to H.B. Fuller’s philosophy of winning the right way. I am very pleased to receive this recognition of our business principles and practices,” said Owen. “Being named one of the world’s most ethical companies by Ethisphere affirms H.B. Fuller’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of ethics, citizenship, corporate responsibility and governance.”

Alex Bingham, executive director of Ethisphere, added, “We are excited to see the world’s most ethical companies take these leadership positions and embrace the correlation between ethical behaviour and improved financial performance.”