Lyndhurst, New Jersey-Sika Corp. is to invest $17.8 million over the next two years to increase capacity for polyurethane sealant and adhesives at its US headquarters facility in New Jersey.
Sika plans "to transform the factory into a focused polyurethane factory with up to 100- percent more capacity," said William Loven, president & chief executive officer, in an 18 May announcement.
Loven also said that Sika "will begin upgrading our equipment in order to increase manufacturing efficiencies and reduce costs." He said these moves will allow more efficiency and benefit current customers in replacement automotive aftermarket glass. The moves will also put Sika in a better position to supply the automotive OEM direct glazing market in North America with new technology, Loven added.
The move follows an announcement earlier this year that Sika was spending $79 million to expand capacity for its one-component polyurethane sealants and adhesives at its plant in Düdingen, Switzerland.
Sika added that its existing manufacturing operations for powders and mortars in Lyndhurst will be moved to other locations or to Sika's alliance partners. These high-performance mortars and grouts still represent a large portion of Sika Construction division sales, and are an important business for the group, Sika points out. Such products are used to repair and refurbish concrete structures such as interstate highways and building facades.
Sika Corp.'s Industry Division, headquartered in Madison Heights, Michigan, supplies adhesives and sealants to the automotive aftermarket, automotive OES, industrial, marine, and transport markets. As well as polyurethane adhesives and sealants, the unit supplies hot-melt adhesives, epoxies, acrylics, silicones and butyl sealants.
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