High-tech Adhesives for Europe

 

 

The production facility has a start-up capacity of 30'000 tons per annum. In a second construction phase this capacity will be increased to 60'000 tons per annum. "The entire European market can be served with polyurethane adhesives from here," says Bruno Fritsche, member of Sika Group Management and Head of the Industry Division.

 

 

The new factory works with a new, highly automated production process. "The new technology will reduce production costs considerably," Fritsche expects. "Technologically we've taken an enormous step, which will open additional application fields for our adhesives."

 

European automobile manufacturers are the most important customers for the adhesives from Düdingen. In vehicle construction today, more and more plastics and composite materials are being used to reduce the weight of vehicles and so lower their energy consumption. Bonding with steel, however, is only possible with adhesives. Bruno Fritsche also sees great growth potential for polyurethane adhesives in the fabrication of busses, commercial vehicles and railcars. Furthermore there is substantial business in the construction sector, primarily in the areas of window and façade construction.

 

The products will leave the factory gates in an environmentally friendly manner via rail. The factory uses the railway siding from SikaSarnafil Manufacturing AG, already located in Düdingen. Additional railway sidings were laid during factory construction to cope with the increased freight train traffic on the company grounds. More than one thousand railcars per year will sustainably boost freight traffic on the rails.

 

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Sika AG, located in Baar, Switzerland, is a globally active company supplying the specialty chemicals markets. It is a leader in processing materials used in sealing, bonding, damping, reinforcing and protecting load-bearing structures in construction (buildings and infrastructure construction) and in industry (vehicle, building component and equipment production).

Sika's product lines feature high-quality concrete admixtures, specialty mortars, sealants and adhesives, damping and reinforcing materials, structural strengthening systems, industrial flooring and membranes. Subsidiaries in more than 70 countries worldwide and approximately 11,700 employees link customers directly to Sika and guarantee the success of all of its business relationships. With this business structure Sika generates annual sales of CHF 4.6 billion. Visit our website at www.sika.com.