It promotes unity and support for UK manufacturers, suppliers and distributors and reinforces the current social and economic climate as the UK exits Europe and experiences the global COVID pandemic.
Bondloc UK, based in Worcestershire, has manufactured and supplied adhesives and sealants to the industrial, engineering and automotive sectors for over 28 years. With an international distribution network and product approvals within major OEMs like JCB, Black & Decker, Honda, Bosch, Bombardier and Princess Yachts, it has over 150 adhesive formulations and over 300 active SKU’s sold across 32 countries. This includes a wide range of adhesive chemistries: anaerobic, cyanoacrylates, sealants and structural epoxies, PUs and MMAs.
Warren Wilkinson, managing director of Bondloc said: “Our focus continues to be within the engineering market, with our metal bonding anaerobic products used extensively in this sector. We have an established network of distributors with core competencies within pneumatics, seals, bearings, transmission, pumps and gearboxes, and we continue to supply and support many OEMs directly.”
With continued pressure around sustainability and manufacturers investing in greener and more fuel-efficient solutions, the overall demand for high-performance adhesives to bond synthetic materials is increasing. The evolution of new substrates and composites coming onto the market is also spurring additional technical challenges.
Wilkinson continues: “Traditionally, we’ve supplied structural adhesives for carbon fibre bonding to F1 motorsports, but it now has wider applications across the automotive, construction, aerospace, wind turbine, marine and military sectors. Distributors and OEMs need to be able to work closely with their suppliers to tackle production challenges surrounding new complex substrates and increasing processing costs. Having in-house production means we have the flexibility to tweak our formulations and bespoke manufacture products to the customer’s exact requirements.”
Improved productivity and financial benefits after reviewing and switching products outweigh the time and costs involved, according to the company, which says it has developed and modified more adhesives in the past 24 months than in the previous 25 years.
With the onset of Brexit and various supply issues with imported goods, more and more OEMs are looking to switch their adhesive products for UK made, high-quality but lower-cost local alternatives.
The environmental contribution is also key to the ethos of the business. Recycling programmes, plastic packaging reduction initiatives, reduction in the use of hazardous chemicals and plans to extend the Safer Product range of non-hazardous anaerobic products across the next 12 months are key initiatives.