Ground-breaking, sustainable adhesive technology HB Fuller

HB Fuller is a company familiar to everyone in the packaging industry and wherever adhesives play a key role in manufacturing. As a global innovator and champion of sustainability it ranks as one of the world’s most dynamic and successful companies in its field. Philip Yorke reports on some of HB Fuller’s latest ground-breaking achievements and industry trends.

GROUND-BREAKING, SUSTAINABLE, ADHESIVE TECHNOLOGY

The company’s founder, Harvey Benjamin Fuller, had a vision more than a century ago to formulate innovative, convenient and economical adhesives. That spirit still resonates today in everything the company does as a global leader in adhesive technology.

HB Fuller was founded in 1887 when it introduced Fuller’s Premium Liquid Fish Glue, which was known to “cement everything” from tin cans for mechanics to barrels for factories. Fuelled by the success of his first adhesive, Harvey Fuller formulated more specialised adhesives, including Fuller’s Premium Wet Paste Adhesive used for gluing shoes, hanging wallpaper, mending books, attaching labels and manufacturing boxes.

H.B. Fuller’s success is built upon its unrivalled knowledge and commitment to continual innovation. From the first hot pick-up “gum” to being one of the first companies in the world to specialise in waterproof adhesives, H.B. Fuller has paved the way for adhesives to improve products and lives across the globe.

Next-generation solutions

Earlier this year, HB Fuller launched a set of new, more sustainable adhesive solutions at a major international trade fair ‘Ligna 2019’ in Hannover, Germany. This is one of the world’s most important trade fairs for all segments of the woodworking industry sector.

H.B. Fuller showcased specifically designed next-generation adhesive solutions to address the growing demand from wood furniture and flooring manufacturers for materials that help reduce hazardous emissions from their finished goods. These new products include Rakoll® 4933, a formaldehyde-free, water-based adhesive; Rakoll® 5010, a low monomer emission reactive hot melt adhesive; and a range of NEP-free primers for edge-banding applications.

The company’s high-quality adhesive solutions and process innovations also support its customers’ requirements to lower costs, increase efficiency, and improve production output while strengthening product experience. In fact, the adhesive used may be a relatively small component in furniture and flooring but it can play a powerful role in business performance.

“We continuously listen to our customers and understand today’s challenges to both maintain efficient manufacturing processes and meet consumer demand for more environment-friendly goods,” says Johannes Christiani, business development manager, H.B. Fuller EIMEA - Durable Assembly. “We are launching exciting adhesive solutions for woodworking with the most recent innovative additions to our trusted Rakoll range that offer customers the potential to gain a competitive advantage by obtaining low hazard certification for their high-performance finished products.”

Emerging solar-power trends

Solar power manufacturers continue to look for a collaborative partner who can give them the competitive edge and provide key insights and solutions into the industry’s emerging trends. HB Fuller’s Engineering Adhesives operating division identifies and leverages

trends in this fast-growing and ever-changing market, and it partners closely with customers in order to address their specific needs.

Some of the more recent trends to emerge in the solar industry include a focus on durability, as manufacturers are interested in creating longer-lasting modules that can be in the field for 40 years or more. Additionally, there continues to be the development of lighter and thinner materials in order to lessen both transportation and shipping costs, putting HBF in the ideal position to provide stronger materials and to offer a broader range of chemistries to help manufacturers adapt to market trends and meet the latest industry demands.

Adhesives solutions in this market space are generally highly engineered and are designed to solve difficult problems, as well as to perform well in harsh conditions and, in general, meet very demanding performance specifications. H.B. Fuller offers the most comprehensive set of materials to solar manufacturers and installers. Typical customers include manufacturers of solar modules, companies that install solar panels, and companies that manufacture components incorporated into the solar value chain.

Pioneering a zero-defects process

Aiming for a zero-defects process, packaging manufacturers are currently using quality control technologies such as integrated sensors and camera detection mechanisms, to track and adjust adhesive application in real time, via UV detection systems. However, optical brighteners added to make boards appear white also fluoresce under blue UV light, thus reducing the efficiency of the adhesive detection system, especially when it comes to recycled boards.

The challenge therefore became how to make the adhesive visible when brighteners added to boards are fluorescing at the same UV length. The company’s detection system experts selected the green/yellow UV wavelength, and achieved HB Fuller’s goal to keep adhesives identifiable in any context, while complying with all international regulations.

Greater supply-chain visibility.

Today packaging manufacturers need a strong partner with technical expertise that understands today’s market and supply chain challenges, and to help them solve their unique specifications and still meet all regulatory requirements. A major milestone in achieving greater supply chain efficiency has been HB Fuller’s on-going research into increasing supply-chain visibility. This resulted in a groundbreaking technical development. HB Fuller is now able to gain a single view of data using its unique Ascential solutions software to tap into disparate inventories and complex customer information sources.

For further details of HB Fuller’s latest innovative adhesive solutions and technologies visit: www.hbfuller.com n