Company type | Public |
---|---|
NYSE: FUL S&P 600 component | |
Industry | Adhesives |
Founded | 1887 |
Founder | Harvey B. Fuller |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Celeste Mastin (President and CEO) John J. Corkrean (CFO) |
Services | Manufacturing |
Revenue | US$2.790 billion (2020) [1] |
US$406.809 million (2020) [1] | |
US$123.788 million (2020) [1] | |
Total assets | US$4.037 billion (2020) [1] |
Total equity | US$1.381 billion (2020) [1] |
Number of employees | 6,428 (2020) [1] |
Website | hbfuller |
H.B. Fuller Company is a major American adhesives manufacturing company supplying industrial adhesives worldwide. The company has long received praise in ethical investment circles for such things as careful handling of toxic waste and the nature reserve built around its headquarters. [2] [3] Despite this image, it faced a controversy over glue-sniffing in Latin America in the 1990s. [4]
As of 2018, the company ranks 873 on the Fortune 1000. [5]
The company was founded in 1887 by Harvey Benjamin Fuller as a one-man wallpaper-paste shop. Initially incorporated as the Fuller Manufacturing Company, in 1915 the company reincorporated as the H.B. Fuller Company. Elmer Andersen, who later became governor of Minnesota, served as the company's CEO in the 1940s. [6] [7] After beginning his political career, he became a part-time company president, though Andersen remained involved with the company for many years, stepping down as chairperson in 1992. H.B. Fuller became a publicly held company in 1968. [8] In 2022 the company won an Adhesives and Sealants Council Innovation Award for "Low Monomer/Emission Reactive Hot Melt Adhesives." [9]
In the 1990s, the company faced controversy over the glue-sniffing epidemic among street children in Latin America. A Fuller company brand, Resistol glue, was abused among these children to a sufficient extent that glue-sniffing children were called "resistoleros" regardless of the brand of glue being abused. [7] A lawsuit filed against the company over the death of a Guatemalan teenager from sniffing glue was dismissed in 1996 due to lack of jurisdiction. [10] The controversy eventually led to the company's withdrawal from the Latin American market. [4]
Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation.
Blu Tack is a reusable putty-like pressure-sensitive adhesive produced by Bostik, commonly used to attach lightweight objects to walls, doors or other dry surfaces. Traditionally blue, it is also available in other colours. Generic versions of the product are also available from other manufacturers. The spelling now used is without a hyphen.
Inhalants are a broad range of household and industrial chemicals whose volatile vapors or pressurized gases can be concentrated and breathed in via the nose or mouth to produce intoxication, in a manner not intended by the manufacturer. They are inhaled at room temperature through volatilization or from a pressurized container, and do not include drugs that are sniffed after burning or heating. For example, amyl nitrite (poppers), gasoline, nitrous oxide and toluene – a solvent widely used in contact cement, permanent markers, and certain types of glue – are considered inhalants, but smoking tobacco, cannabis, and crack cocaine are not, even though these drugs are inhaled as smoke or vapor.
Cyanoacrylates are a family of strong fast-acting adhesives with industrial, medical, and household uses. They are derived from ethyl cyanoacrylate and related esters. The cyanoacrylate group in the monomer rapidly polymerizes in the presence of water to form long, strong chains.
Elmer Lee Andersen was an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who built a successful business career with the H. B. Fuller Company. Andersen was most notably the 30th governor of Minnesota. A self-described progressive Republican, he was a well-regarded politician who passed many social and environmental regulations during his time as governor.
Accenture plc is a US multinational professional services company based in Dublin, specializing in information technology (IT) services and consulting. A Fortune Global 500 company, it reported revenues of $64.1 billion in 2023. Accenture's current clients include 91 of the Fortune Global 100 and more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500. As of 2022, Accenture is considered the largest consulting firm in the world by number of employees.
Bostik is a manufacturer and distributor of adhesives and sealants for the construction, industrial and consumer markets. With annual sales of €2.1 billion, the company employs 6,000 people and has a presence in more than 40 countries. Bostik is part of the French-based Arkema group.
PPG Industries, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 company and global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 70 countries around the globe. By revenue it is the largest coatings company in the world followed by AkzoNobel. It is headquartered in PPG Place, an office and retail complex in downtown Pittsburgh, and is known for its glass facade designed by Postmodern architect Philip Johnson.
Araldite is a registered trademark of Huntsman Advanced Materials referring to their range of engineering and structural epoxy, acrylic, and polyurethane adhesives. Swiss manufacturers originally launched Araldite DIY adhesive products in 1946. The first batches of Araldite epoxy resins, for which the brand is best known, were made in Duxford, England in 1950.
Avery Dennison Corporation is a multinational manufacturer and distributor of pressure-sensitive adhesive materials, apparel branding labels and tags, RFID inlays, and specialty medical products. The company is a member of the Fortune 500 and is headquartered in Mentor, Ohio.
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Henkel, is a German multinational chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Elmer's Products, Inc. or simply Elmer's, is an American-based company that has a line of adhesive, craft, home repair, and office supply products. It is best known as the manufacturer of Elmer's Glue-All, a popular PVA-based synthetic glue, in addition to other brands including Krazy Glue, ProBond and CraftBond adhesives, and X-Acto cutting tools.
Loctite is a German brand of adhesives, sealants, surface treatments, and other industrial chemicals that include acrylic, anaerobic, cyanoacrylate, epoxy, hot melt, silicone, urethane, and UV/light curing technologies. Loctite products are sold globally and are used in a variety of industrial and hobbyist applications.
Pidilite Industries Limited is an Indian adhesives manufacturing company based in Andheri (East), Mumbai. The company is the dominant and leading adhesives company in India. Pidilite also manufactures products across verticals such as art materials and stationery; food and fabric care; car products, adhesives, and sealants; and speciality industrial products like adhesives, pigments; textile resins, leather chemicals, and construction chemicals.
Arkema S.A. is a publicly listed, multi-national manufacturer of specialty materials, headquartered in Colombes, near Paris, France. It has three specialty materials segments ; adhesives, advanced materials and coatings. A further segment covers chemical intermediates.
DAP Products, Inc. is a manufacturer of latex caulks, silicone sealants, adhesives, insulating foams, and patch & repair products. DAP has been made in the USA since 1864 and headquartered in Baltimore, MD since 1998.
Rugby boys are a collective term for gangs of street children found in the Philippines. They are one of the most well-known poverty-afflicted people found in the slums of the Philippines. They are known for using and being addicted to a contact cement known as "Rugby" brand manufactured by Bostik and other aromatic solvents to alleviate their hunger, and resulting in crime to fund their addiction.
Sunstar is a Japanese global oral care, health and beauty, chemicals, indoor air quality and motorcycle parts conglomerate with international affiliates. The corporation has two main wings, healthcare and engineering. The current CEO is Hiroo Kaneda. Its main businesses are the development, manufacturing and sale of oral care products as well as of chemical formulations for industrial applications and motorcycle parts. In recent years it has been expanding into the area of Cosmetics and Health Food.
Chemence is a speciality chemical and medical device manufacturer which products include cyanoacrylate adhesives, anaerobic adhesives, impregnation sealants, adhesive activators, epoxy resins, UV adhesives, photopolymer resins, custom printer ink cartridges, Gas pipe sealants, and soak off nail polishes. Chemence is a supplier of photopolymer and commercial printers to the flexographic industry in the US and Europe, as well as the primary sealant supplier to British Gas, and a primary supplier of private-label adhesives to companies including Tesco, 3M, Bostik, and Bondo. The company's catalogue of patents includes processes, packaging devices, and chemical combinations.
Impact glue, contact glue, contact cement, or neoprene glue is a type of solvent-based adhesive which may be used to bond materials such as plastics, laminates, and metal or wood veneers. The term "contact glue" come from the practice of applying adhesive to both surfaces to be bonded; the surfaces are joined once the solvent in the adhesive evaporates, leaving a bond with high shear resistance. Contact adhesives do not exclusively designate neoprene adhesives; all adhesives characterized by high instant adhesion may be considered contact adhesives, but the most common among them are solutions of neoprene or rubber.