HENKEL, a leading adhesive manufacturer and innovation driver, showcased its products for the furniture industry at Ligna 2023. With the theme “Get Inspired”, Henkel aimed to excite customers and partners through a comprehensive portfolio of innovative and sustainable adhesives, processes and digital tools. Visitors were invited to explore Henkel’s Customer Experience Area to interact, discover and discuss the latest product solutions and experience Henkel’s digital service offerings.
“We are excited to welcome our customers and partners at Ligna 2023 and inspire them with our innovations for the furniture industry. Henkel stands for superior performance and service offering and we continue to support our customers in improving their processes in terms of cost performance. Going beyond performance, we have strengthened our sustainable adhesives portfolio and digital services offering significantly to ensure our customers stay ahead of the curve,” said Kathrin Hein, global director of furniture and building components at Henkel, speaking before Ligna 2023 took place.
At Ligna, Henkel showcased its expertise in ensuring occupational safety with PUR Micro Emission hotmelts and demonstrated the new generation of high-performing hotmelt adhesives. Henkel’s sales and application experts were available at the booth to discuss and explain these innovations.
With PUR Micro Emission hotmelts, Henkel demonstrated its expertise and know-how gained over many years of leadership in this field. For two decades, Henkel has been offering PUR Micro Emission hotmelts guaranteed to contain less than 0.1% diisocyanate. With this pioneering work Henkel has been helping its customers to optimally prepare for stricter occupational safety standards and to meet upcoming regulatory requirements such as REACH Annex XVII. Henkels’ sales and application technology experts were available to show the next generation of PUR ME products.
Henkel’s new generation of thermoplastic hotmelt adhesives offers maximum performance including exceptional heat resistance. In addition, Henkel demonstrated its dedication to material efficiency and improved sustainability by ensuring that these adhesives require significantly lower application weight. Customers and partners were invited to discover innovative, resource-saving applications for edge banding, profile wrapping and lamination. Additionally, Henkel provides its customers with cleaning solutions tailored to their specific needs. Visitors could find out more about this holistic service at the booth.
Sustainability and circularity are becoming core topics in the furniture industry. For improving the CO2 footprint of adhesive products, one effective approach is to formulate adhesives using bio-based or mass balance certified raw materials.
To date, more than 30 Henkel adhesives sites worldwide are ISCC+ certified, which is an important prerequisite. To ensure supply of sustainable raw materials, Henkel is fostering close collaboration along the value chain.
At Ligna, Henkel showcased the latest innovation and developments including the new bio-based PUR Micro Emission hotmelt. Furthermore, visitors could experience an interactive feature — a CO2 calculator. Henkel experts used it to analyse the customer’s carbon footprint and reveal potential opportunities to reduce their carbon emissions.
“Going beyond top performance, Henkel’s product solutions always offer additional added value and service for the customer. We pay special attention to sustainable processes, such as the efficient use of raw materials and energy. Therefore, we continuously reduce the carbon footprint both in the formulation of our products and when our customers use them in their production,” explained Moritz Ultsch, head of market strategy for furniture & building components at Henkel.
In addition to manufacturing high-quality adhesives, Henkel also supports it customers in achieving the best results through services and application know-how. With its Inspiration Centre in Düsseldorf (ICD), believed to be unique in the industry, Henkel is driving innovation and digital transformation for its customers. Henkel has been investing for its customers to create a place that offers new dimensions of collaboration and digital innovation. An environment that fosters joint problem solving and co-creation. Visitors to Ligna were offered opportunities to visit this innovation hub of over 47,000 m2.
The Technology Centre for furniture and building components is part of the ICD. It is designed to simulate state-of-the-art application processes used within the industry. In this laboratory, Henkel helps its customers to identify optimal process parameters and the right adhesive technologies for their needs.
In collaboration with machine manufacturers and partners, Henkel offers digital process optimisation tools that deliver excellent results quickly.
One example for innovative digital tools is the 3D Edge Scanner, presented for the first time at the trade show. It analyses the application pattern of the adhesive and provides guidance for adjustment within the recommended range of application weight — for an optimised and reliable results. Visitors to the trade show were able to learn more about the new digital solution and try it out live at the Henkel booth.
For contact details, see page 13 of our June/July 2023 issue on our Back Issues page.
