The ChemQuest Group, Inc. was invited to undertake an active role in the 2016 ASC Fall Convention & Expo, which was held October 17, 2016 through October 19, 2016, by presenting three papers on topics of special interest to ASC members.

In his presentation, The Next Generation of Epoxy Adhesives Technology for Transportation Assembly: Low Bake One-Component Epoxies, Dan Daley, senior consultant, discussed the long-awaited, emerging low bake 1K epoxy technology that is being developed to address an unmet need in OEM assembly operations. Commercial vehicle body manufacturers that are unable to justify the capital equipment expense of a full immersion e-coat system are not afforded the processing and performance benefits of a 1K epoxy system.

According to Daley, automotive and truck body manufacturing plants routinely specify 1K epoxy structural adhesives for their superior bonding performance and manufacturing-friendly properties. Adhesives are co-cured in an electro-coat (e-coat) epoxy prime system at high temperatures (175ºC). Reportedly, the emerging low bake 1K epoxy technology will feature the same high performance properties of 1K epoxy adhesives – and thus will provide assembly operations lacking the capital and infrastructure to invest in high bake systems with an ability to leverage the key advantages of technology commonly used in automotive and aircraft assembly.

During Q&A, Dan Daley was asked the question, “What temperature adjustments would be required when using bake-hardenable steel and other curable materials, if e-coat temperatures are lowered?”  Dan’s response was, “Changes to some materials, applications and designs may be needed over time. Materials like bake hardening steel can be worked around in the short-term with local/part heating off-press or by other methods.”

Dan Murad, president/CEO, presented the highlights of two industry reports prepared by ChemQuest for ASC members: 

• 2015-2019 Water Based Adhesives in North America Market Report
• 2015-2019 Hot Melt Adhesives in North America Market Report

The Water Based Adhesives Market Report, which is slated for release in January 2017, will feature deep-dive qualitative interviews with key end users, influencers, specifiers, and C-level executives to uncover mega trends and market drivers throughout the value chain, as well as growth opportunities, unmet market needs, channel/distribution strategies, performance requirements and environmental/sustainability influences and regulatory drivers. 

The report will demonstrate the current role of water-based adhesives in the packaging, transportation, building & construction, flooring, woodworking & joinery and the assembly operations market segments.

In his second conference presentation, Dan Murad was pleased to announce that the newest addition to the ASC library of market intelligence – the ASC 2015-2019 Hot Melt Adhesives in North America Market Report – can be purchased online at the ASC Store. The Hot Melt Adhesives Market Report is the seventh market report that ASC has published over the past 36 months. This report provides purchasers with a snapshot of unmet market needs (according to end users), competitive bonding solutions like ultrasonic welding with a threat assessment, market insights for the fast moving consumer goods and hygiene markets as well as the transportation and woodworking markets. The report provides an historical look at key merger and acquisition activity in the hot melt arena, including adhesive and sealant transactions from 2012 to 2016. The report provides overall HMA market size for North America (and four-year growth rates through 2019) by market segment.