by Mark M. Douglas, North American Region General Manager, Adhesives and Sealants

The origin of the old proverb, "Don't ask the doctor, ask the patient," is long lost in history. But it's an empowering way to view one's business, and at Rohm and Haas we apply it in ways that we believe are most meaningful to our customers today.

We've been in this business of providing adhesives and sealants to customers throughout the world for over 60 years, and it would be easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking that 'we know it all'. What a mistake that would be! To be a truly successful operating partner for our customers, our commercial and technical service people are trained to listen carefully to the individual needs of the customers they work with, and then seek ways to bring them uniquely differentiated products that solve their most challenging problems. I can assure you that you'll find several good examples of what this means in this issue of power@work E-magazine. But right now, I'd like to preview several exciting technologies we're exploring that may very soon be available to you. All of these advancements are coming to life because the 'patient' was allowed to speak.

Eliminating Lead in Rubber-to-Metal Bonding

"We need to get the lead out of rubber-to-metal bonding." Time and again, customers in North America shared with us their mounting problems associated with lead - pollution and safety issues that are not only costly, but made even more difficult by a lack of true, high-performance replacement products. Our research and development specialists were able to meet the challenge and deliver rubber-to-metal bonding solutions under our Megum™ product portfolio that deliver the needed performance today and have virtually eliminated lead from any products we sell for these applications in North America. We see signs of interest from customers wishing to do the same in other areas of the world, too.

Minimizing environmental headaches for our customers is an ongoing development effort at Rohm and Haas. To that point, we strive to be the leading proponent for reducing solvent-based products and replacing them with top-performing water-based solutions that meet stringent regulations throughout the world.

Sustainable Raw Materials

The packaging industry is one of the most dynamic global market segments of our adhesives and sealants business. Because packaging is so pervasive, worldwide environmental concerns could collide with it in the future. We are currently developing technologies that hold promise for renewable, sustainable raw materials for a commercially viable biomass-based product suitable for adhesives in packaging applications. We have great hope that our sustainable technologies will soon meet environmental concerns and economic requirements for serious sustainable development in packaging. The technology could replace over 100 million pounds of petrochemical-based materials with those derived from sustainable resources, and eliminate nearly 140 million pounds of greenhouse gases yearly.

For our customers who produce pressure sensitive materials and caulks for the construction industry, several new and quite novel acrylic technologies hold promise to expand the use of water-based acrylic caulks and sealants for high-performance construction requirements. The need has been for performance that equals or exceeds traditional solvent-based adhesives. Our commercial and technical service managers are currently working with customers on some very promising products, all to ensure that the performance requirements are met.

True Product Differentiation

Predicting what the future holds is always a game of chance. At Rohm and Haas we're focusing on a number of breakout areas and spending research and development funds at the very highest sustainable levels to bring true product differentiation to our customers and their products. In return, we expect our adhesives and sealants business will grow handsomely on a portfolio of highly reliable, highly differentiated technologies that consistently deliver superior performance.

Thanks and enjoy the new power@work E-magazine!

Mark M. Douglas
North American Region General Manager, Adhesives and Sealants
Rohm and Haas Company
Adhesives and Sealants Business