The business unit Adhesive Technologies has officially opened today its new production plant for applications in the aerospace industry at Henkel's facilities in Montornes del Valles (Barcelona). With an investment of around 35 million euros, the company will respond to the increase in demand for high performance solutions, supporting key trends in the global aerospace industry such as lightening weighing, fuel efficiency and automation.

During the opening ceremony, Henkel had the presence of the Mayor of Montornes del Valles, the German Consul General and his clients, and presented his new state-of-the-art facilities that meet the highest sustainability standards.

"The aerospace sector is a growing and attractive market for us, as global demand for new passenger aircraft is expected to double in the next 20 years," said Jan-Dirk Auris, Executive Vice President of Adhesive Technologies at Henkel. "With these new high-tech facilities, we significantly expanded the capabilities for our industry-leading high-impact solutions, which are specific to large aircraft maintenance platforms and increase our ability to develop state-of-the-art materials for future programs. At the same time, we expanded our global production and distribution network and improved proximity to our strong customer base in Europe. "

Henkel Adhesive Technologies is developing and supplying engineering materials, such as structural adhesives and surface treatment technologies, for aircraft manufacturers worldwide and first-tier suppliers in the industry for more than 40 years. Through close collaboration and participation of the client from the design phase, the company offers added value throughout the value chain, from the development and qualification of materials to the assembly and manufacturing processes in the production plants. the clients. The high impact solutions of the companies respond to some of the main trends in the industry, achieving more modern and lighter constructions for greater efficiency in fuel consumption and greater comfort. Further,

The highest standards of quality and sustainability

The new aerospace plant in Montornes expands the factory for the production of adhesives for the automotive industry. It has facilities for production, laboratories, offices and warehouse and extends over an area of more than 14,000 square meters, of which the factory occupies almost 3,000 m2 and the warehouse about 4,500 m2. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies to guarantee traceability and transparency for customers and to meet and exceed the high quality and safety standards in the industry. It is designed as a state-of-the-art plant that uses the latest 4.0 industry technologies for collaborative engineering and excellent manufacturing execution. In addition to offering excellent logistical connections, It is ideally located to supply different productive clusters for the key leaders of the aerospace industry. "The new plant becomes Henkel's European hub for the aerospace industry and allows us to increase capabilities for global customers. In addition, Henkel's new European hub for the aerospace industry will be the first production plant in Spain to obtain the Gold DGNB certification and expand the Henkel Group's reference center in the Iberian peninsula that is more than 50 years old, "says Jaume Anguera, head of the new European Hub of Henkel.

The first deliveries to customers from the new facility are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2019.

Montornes del Valles (Barcelona), a global reference center in constant growth

The production center of Henkel de Montornes del Valles, with more than 50 years of activity, produces more than 200,000 tons a year of detergents, liquid detergent and adhesives, employing more than 500 people and exporting to more than 60 countries.

Henkel is betting heavily on this productive center and has made investments of more than 50 million euros in its center in Montornes del Valles in recent years, since in addition to this new hub for the aerospace industry, the production capacity of detergents with a new high-speed packaging line and is building a new state-of-the-art automatic warehouse, which will be the Southern European logistics center for the Laundry & Home Care division.

It is one of the best detergent factories and the second of adhesives worldwide within Henkel. It is also a leading factory in sustainability that has been reducing water, energy and waste consumption for years. It has the most relevant certifications ISO 50001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, IATF 16949, ISO 9001 and EN 9100.