Welcome to the 2022 ASI Top 20! To develop our annual listing of the leading worldwide manufacturers of adhesives, sealants, and related products (e.g., tapes, labels, films), we reached out to manufacturers and requested details such as sales figures pertaining specifically to their adhesives and sealants-related businesses. We also pored over secondary sources such as annual reports and press releases to collect relevant supplementary information.

Dispensing technologies for the automotive industry play a central role beyond the production of engines, transmissions, and airbags. Even in the production of headlights for cars, commercial vehicles, and heavy-duty transport systems, nothing works without the precise dispensing of 1- or 2-component adhesives and sealants.

Every year, we study the leading worldwide manufacturers of adhesives and sealants to compile the ASI Top 20. In considering the rankings, we focus on sales figures (and other details) for finished adhesives and sealants, as well as related products such as tapes and labels.

Thanks so much to the executives at Henkel, 3M, H.B. Fuller, Bostik, and Jowat who participated in this year’s Voices from the Top series. Here you can discover what they are thinking about subjects such as their companies’ strategies for success, supply chain issues and other challenges, and what opportunities they anticipate for the adhesives and sealants industry.

One key theme at the 2022 World Adhesive and Sealant Conference was the industry’s ongoing commitment to innovation. It’s a topic that’s near and dear to my heart, and we’re exploring research and development activities in this issue with a discussion focusing on R&D-related challenges, opportunities, and digitalization strategies.

Homeowners, DIYers, renovators, house flippers, contractors, and all building and construction pros alike can benefit from the properties of pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) tape. Tape is effective for a broad range of applications.

The European Commission’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) could fundamentally change the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation by extending the application of the generic approach to risk management to professional uses and new hazard classes. This extension of the generic approach to cover not only consumers but also professional workers, including those in the construction sector, will have a significant impact.

If you’re a process engineer, manufacturer, or health and safety officer, you know that oxygen detection plays a key role in process safety and product quality. This is especially true when deployed in the production processes for adhesives and sealants manufacturing. Having too much oxygen in solvent storage tanks poses a significant risk of fire and explosion. In addition, too much oxygen within mixing vessels creates a risk of fire and explosion while also posing a risk to product quality.

Self-adhering flashing tapes work in concert with products like roof underlayment and water-resistive barriers (commonly called housewrap) to help ensure that a structure’s building envelope can maintain the desired interior environment while providing protection from elements outside. To that end, flashing tapes effectively serve as gaskets that are used around the fenestration, air vents, and pipe penetrations that are common culprits for moisture ingress and air movement.

A metering and mixing system is integrated into the production line for the individual solar modules used to create a retractable solar roof. The system meters and mixes a dual-component adhesive that is used to bond the thin plastic photovoltaic modules to a metal frame.