Two keynotes have been announced for the Adhesive and Sealant Council’s (ASC) Fall Convention and Expo, scheduled to take place October 17-19 in Indianapolis, Ind. Robert Fry, chief economist with Robert Fry Economics LLC, and Nat Brooks, a principal with Strategy Shapers LLC, will share their insights with attendees.

More than 700 delegates from the global adhesives and sealants community are expected to meet October 26-28 at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo for the World Adhesive & Sealant Conference 2016 (WAC2016).

Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world, due to its versatility, durability and ease of use. But it is also predisposed to developing random cracks, which quickly become arteries for water, salts, chemicals and other foreign materials to seep in.

Adhesives & Sealants Industry magazine brings the ASI Top 25, our exclusive ranking of the leading 25 worldwide manufacturers of adhesives and sealants.

To say that the state of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the adhesives and sealants industry is “strong” or “robust” would be misleading. In actuality, the M&A markets may have never been stronger.

When manufacturing electronic components, it is important to protect the workpieces against future external influences; most manufacturers use potting or filling to do this. Vacuum dispensing is often the method of choice, especially for high-performance applications.

A large electronics manufacturer did all the staking and potting of electronic components at one of its U.S. plants. The company had been mixing adhesives in-house for over 10 years using a legacy custom adhesive mixing machine. When the machine broke down, the company initiated an internal review of its adhesive mixing process, with the main goal of determining alternatives to mixing in-house, as the cost to replace the mixing machine was significant.

Rapid change has become common in today’s marketplace. With it comes even greater pressure for new technologies to accommodate manufacturing needs to fulfill the consumer demand, both now and in the future.

This year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is expected to engage in a series of far-reaching regulatory changes from increased fines to stepped-up inspections that could affect countless numbers of companies of all sizes. Businesses that don’t prepare for them now could be facing increased scrutiny, as well as extra expenses.

The ChemQuest Group estimates the global adhesive and sealant industry to be approximately $53 billion at the end of 2015, comprised of $46.3 million in adhesives and $6.5 billion in sealants. This figure represents an increase of 3.5% in 2015.