Sekisui Fuller Company, Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Sekisui Fuller,” the president and representative director is Ichiro Arai), a joint venture between SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (the president and representative director is Teiji Koge) and H.B. Fuller Company (headquartered in Minnesota, USA, the president and CEO is Jim Owens), and NAGASE & CO., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as NAGASE, the president and representative director is Kenji Asakura) have jointly developed “StretchMelt™ ” a highly-stretchable hot melt material that can be coated using a general purpose applicator, for the first time in Japan.*1 While stretch materials are used in many products, such as clothing and hygiene products, the demand for harmonization of coating performance, texture, and the handling ability of the material, has been growing. In response to this situation, both NAGASE, having knowledge of market needs and manufacturing processes, and Sekisui Fuller, with its hot melt formulation technology it has cultivated over the years in a variety of sectors, have developed a material with higher stretchability and value that brings freedom to product designs. We will commence mass-production and sales at the beginning of 2019 and will expand its application to the clothing and hygiene product sectors, including disposable diapers and masks, as well as other industry sectors, taking advantage of its features, such as coatability and high stretchability.
*1 According to research by Sekisui Fuller
1. Hot Melt Material
A hot melt material is a solventless petrochemical product which is widely used in the world mainly as an industrial adhesive. Sekisui Fuller has the top market share for hot melt adhesives in Japan.*2
*2 According to research by Sekisui Fuller in FY2017
2. Features/applications of StretchMelt™
StretchMelt™ is an innovative stretch material developed by using Sekisui Fuller’s ingenious hot melt design and formulation technologies, based on the concept of coatable stretch material that can be used for a variety of applications.
StretchMelt™ is a coatable stretch material whose shape, coating position and coating pattern can be freely determined, and its future use in a variety of applications and sectors can be expected. Especially in the hygiene product sector, such as disposable diapers and masks, stretchable products can easily be created with non-woven fabric, using the technological capabilities we have cultivated over the years. We believe that the range of applications in other sectors is wide as well, because it can be processed into any shape you want.
(The photo below is when StretchMelt™ is applied to a non-woven fabric) 2
Reference
■Outline of Sekisui Fuller
Headquarters: 2-16-2 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Ichiro Arai, president and representative director
Paid-in capital: 400 million yen
Business description: Manufacture and sale of adhesives and chemical products
Investment ratio: SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (50%), H.B. Fuller Company (50%)
■Outline of NAGASE
Headquarters: (Tokyo Headquarters) 5-1 Nihonbashi-Kobunacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Kenji Asakura, president and representative director
Paid-in capital: 9,699 million yen
Business description: Import/export and domestic sale of chemicals, plastics, electronics materials, cosmetics and health foods
Contacts regarding this article
| Media relations customers | Mainstream customers regarding the performance, applications etc. of StretchMelt™ |
Mainstream customers regarding purchases etc. of StretchMelt™ |
|---|---|---|
| SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD., Management Strategy Department, Public Relations Group, TEL: 03-5521-0522 FAX: 03-5521-0510 Nakamura |
Sekisui Fuller, Engineering Division TEL: 053-425-5179 FAX: 053-425-5003 Someya |
NAGASE, Colors & Advanced Processing Department, Polymer Products Group TEL: 03-3665-3146 FAX: 03-3665-3653 Hashimoto |
PDF of this announcement can be downloaded from the link below.
Developing the Coatable and Highly-Stretchable Hot Melt Material “StretchMelt™”