Research & Development
Innovation is the key to success
The capacity to innovate is a key factor for success in rapidly changing markets. Sika continuously takes the pulse of customers, investing consistently in new and advanced development of solutions. These should protect people and the environment, fulfill the highest safety requirements and at the same time generate value added for customers. This strategy bore fruit also in 2007.
R&D strategy
Innovation is the key to growth and sustainable increase in profitability. Sika is conscious of the significance of research and development and has always undertaken great efforts to attain firstclass results. The budget has risen continuously during recent years, which is reflected in a large number of patents and new products. The research and development (R&D) strategy adopted in 2000 and modified in 2005 within the framework of the general enterprise strategy revision has proven highly successful.
R&D strategy includes centralized and decentralized components that complement each other perfectly. The centrally organized research handles long term research programs, delivers analytical services and establishes R&D management for the entire Sika Group. These responsibilities are bundled in the subsidiary Sika Technology AG. The objective of a long term research program is, for example, to analyze, explain and optimize the interaction between components of concrete and Sika admixtures. Improvements in product properties and progress in the manufacturing of admixtures are based on this. Sika works similarly in the area of sealants and adhesives. The Group places its focus on the development of new binding materials and innovative additives. Furthermore, new binding material technologies are developed for use in highly structured adhesives and structural reinforcements for automotive construction.
The second component in R&D strategy is the regional adaptation of products, solutions and applications. Nine technology centers in America, Europe and Asia take on this challenge. In collaboration with regional support centers proximal to customers the technology centers additionally adapt Sika products to local conditions and the individual needs of customers. In this way the support centers can adjust for example concrete admixtures from the Sika® ViscoCrete® assortment better and more quickly to local climatic conditions or to locally sourced aggregates such as gravel and sand. The support centers are also responsible for finding suitable local raw materials to cost-optimize onsite product manufacturing. In the year under review Sika generated 34% (33%) of net sales with products launched within the last five years.
R&D management
Spending for research and development in the Group amounted to CHF 62.3 million in the year under review (2006: CHF 52 million) or some 1.4% of sales (2006: 1.4%). The R&D budget was apportioned in accordance with strategic priorities. So as in previous years roughly three-fourths of the budget went into product development and maintenance.
The Sika Group’s R&D organization was adapted in 2005 to the requirements of the revised enterprise strategy and since then concentrates increasingly on research in technology platforms and strategically important R&D projects. The product development process is now uniform worldwide in order to be as quick as possible to market with new and patented products. Sika does not want to be only quick, but also especially efficient, and therefore strives for cost leadership for its products in all target markets.
In collaboration with corporate operations the R&D organization also works to tighten the comprehensive product assortment and thereby to simplify processes in marketing, production and distribution and lower costs.
As also in previous years Sika participated in the reporting year in various international projects and was active in the NanoCem Consortium among other organizations. This European research network studies phenomena occurring in nano and micro dimensions that can influence the performance of cementitious materials and products and structures made from them. Sika Technology AG also actively took part in various projects sponsored by the European Union, listed here as follows.
– FUTURA: modular concept for automotive construction of the future
– MUST: interactive pigments for adhesives and sealants as well as coatings
– I-SBB: safe and intelligent construction for earthquakeendangered areas
– TunnelConstruct: new tunnel concepts for urban areas
Since this reporting period Sika Technology AG is also active within the United Nations Sustainable Building & Construction Initiative.
Because Sika has limited capacity for basic research, the company collaborates with first-class universities, among others in Switzerland, the USA, in Germany, Spain, France, China and India. Professional and geographic proximity often lead to fruitful cooperation offering unbureaucratic solutions that are quickly found, bringing advantages for both parties. In addition Sika attempts through its engagement to counteract the prevalent shortage of engineers and chemists in some countries by attracting candidates suitable for the company.
Product development and market introduction process
On the way from an initial idea to market introduction new developments traverse a clearly defined, seven-stage “Product Creation Process“ (PCP), and must thereby repeatedly fulfill very stringent standards for cost-effectiveness and environmental, health and safety protection. The PCP has the objectives of reducing risks, minimizing costs, shortening time-to-market (TTM) and continuously improving product quality.
Due to the great significance of the PCP for the innovation capability of Sika AG, the responsible employees in the regional companies are regularly schooled in the application of the process. In addition an interactive training program is available for all Sika employees; this is actively used and thus sensitizes all participants for Sika’s high standards.
The regional technology support centers are responsible for observance of the PCP in their region and review the quality of processes regularly with the help of PCP audits. It is thereby ensured that employees’ standard of knowledge is always current and correspondsto the Sika norm. Local chemists are made conversant with the newest technologies while in parallel innovative ideas from the regions are recorded and leveraged for the Group’s benefit. In the year under review PCP audits were conducted in a number of European countries as well as in the regions Asia/Pacific and Latin America.
The revised PCP 2007, binding for all Sika employees, was introduced in all departments during the reporting period following the principle “Train the Trainer.” PCP workshops took place in China, South America and Europe
Patents and market introductions
Sika filed for 60 patents in 2007 (2006: 52). The number of invention disclosures rose from 59 in the previous year to 90 in the reporting year. As in the previous year both divisions introduced numerous new, promising products into the market. Some examples of these follow:
Innovations for the Construction Division
In 2007 Sika focused on the formulation of cost-optimized products for volume business and brought the first of an entire series of new polymers to market in China. Sika® ViscoCrete® flakes and various polymer powders were sold or made ready for market, including Sika® ViscoCrete® 225 powder, targeted for use in the area of dry mortar. The powder provides for shorter mixing times and reduces the sensitivity of the mix as compared with cement properties. The Sika® ViscoCrete® technology is also the basis for new grinding aids, with which cement manufacturers can lower the energy consumption of their production processes while simultaneously improving cement quality.
Within the European research initiative Eureka, Sika has worked during recent years on the development of a new generation of concrete. With Ceracem, an ultra-high performance, fiber-reinforced concrete introduced in 2007, a great advancement has been made. Use of Ceracem offers architects and engineers new possibilities for very slender but durable structures. Among other things, elegant, light, broadly-strained beams can be manufactured with Ceracem, giving enhanced significance to constructive design. Sika is one of five European industry partners, through whose collaboration the project was realized. Ceracem is not only especially resistant to chemicals, water and fire, but also withstands extreme mechanical strain. In addition, considerably less concrete is required for construction than is the case with conventional building materials. Although this new material was originally developed foremost for construction of bridges, tunnels and buildings, it is in the meantime also favored among furniture designers and interior decorators.
The successful product palette for wood floor bonding was supplemented in the period under review with the silane-terminated adhesives SikaBond® AT-82 and SikaBond® AT-84. Sikaflex®-650 WT-1A is a new polyurethane-based (PUR) adhesive for bonding glass panes into window frames. The product is compatible with SikaGlaze® IG-50, used for production of insulating glass panes. Sika can thus now offer the window industry a complete PUR-based package.
In the market segment flooring Sika introduced a number of new flooring systems, among others for parking decks, for the electronic industry and for the automotive industry. With the integration of the protective coatings business unit from DuPont in Germany, Sika was in position to supplement its own product line and to develop a sprayable, flame-retardant liquid membrane.
Sika also presented new products in the market segment roofing during the reporting year, among them two new membranes for gabled roofs and a self-adhesive membrane with a foamed backside for roof gardens.
Innovations for the Industry Divison
In the year under review the company succeeded in winning over various automobile manufacturers as new customers, and brought new applications to market for automotive construction as well as the aftermarket. Following a one year test phase with two large, German manufacturers a new generation of adhesives for direct glazing was introduced which measurably shortens processing times and thereby reduces manufacturing costs.
In the area of hot-melt adhesives, SikaMelt® was developed, a new, reactive polyolefin for the bonding of laminates in automobile construction.
In water-based bonding systems the mono-component (1K) SikaTherm® technology entered the market in 2007, also for bonding of laminates. Sika won a technology prize in Germany with this innovation: in the wake of the symposium “Bonding in Manufacturing Technology” 2007, organized among others by the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research, a Sika Automotive GmbH employee won first prize in a young talent competition with a contribution to the new, isocyanate-free, monocomponent lamination technology. Evaluated in the competition among other criteria were the degree of innovation of the technologies presented and their significance for the bonding technology as a whole. With the newly patented 1K SikaTherm® product family, Sika sets new standards in the area of lamination technology and thereby for bonding technology.
Sika brought a second generation of structural adhesives (SikaPower®) on the market in the year under review which was required beforehand to prove its performance in comprehensive crash tests. SikaForce® for bonding of mounted parts not only for automobiles but also in the busses, trucks and railcar segment entered the marked in advanced quality.
The reinforcer technology is a promising, structural reinforcement system for automobile construction. The lightweight construction elements serve the stiffening of automotive bodies and contribute essentially to the fulfillment of increasing requirements placed on vehicles regarding economy, safety and driving comfort. SikaReinforcer® was further developed in 2007 and worldwide product introduction was continued.
In Aftermarket Glass Repair (AGR), Sika® Aktivator PRO was developed. With this activating agent the bond for an auto glass reaches a high strength within the shortest length of time, including in winter at very low temperatures. A customer can thus leave the body shop with the vehicle already after just a few minutes.
The modernization of the product palette for pre-treatment made further progress in the year under review. The new bonding agent Sika® Primer-209 thus replaces two older products in the area of plastics and coatings. A new bonding agent was also introduced for wood applications, used in the installation of teak decks in ship construction.
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