Innovation News

Sika's successful integration of Hamatite, a market leader in Japan, offering adhesives and sealants to the automotive and construction industries, demonstrates the immense power of collaboration in R&D.

Sika is now a member of the Open Hybrid LabFactory e. V. (OHLF), a joint platform of TU Braunschweig and Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Germany, for industrial partners and participating public institutions to accelerate research and development projects.

Sika's first Sustainable Packaging Challenge for North America was launched in March 2023 with the goal of working with current and potential suppliers to find innovative sustainable packaging solutions that can help Sika achieve its sustainability goals in the near future. The North American challenge included five different packaging solutions: Corrugated boxes, valve bags, plastic cartridges, plastic buckets, and tinplate buckets.

Sika supports the Swiss Chemical Society (SCS) and is sponsoring the DPCI PhD Student Award in the area of polymers, colloids, and interfaces within Switzerland.

Sika and Saeki Robotics AG, Switzerland, have been cooperating for two years. The cooperation focuses on sustainable solutions for digital manufacturing.

Sika supports its customers with innovative, eco-efficient solutions. In the so-called biomass balance approach, renewable raw materials like bio-based naphtha and biomethane from organic waste are used as raw materials when manufacturing primary chemical products and are fed into the production. The proportion of bio-based raw materials is then arithmetically assigned to certain products according to a certified method. This attribution model is comparable with the principle of green electricity. An independent certification confirms that the initiator of the bio-mass balanced approach has replaced the quantities of fossil resources required for the biomass-balanced product sold with renewable raw materials. In addition, the certification provides the additional benefit of ensuring that sustainably sourced raw materials were used.

To expand its capabilities and facilities for additive manufacturing of thermoplastic systems, Sika has strengthened its partnership with Yizumi Germany, a machine manufacturer that covers all areas of high-pressure prototyping and additive manufacturing.

Sika has signed an agreement with the University of Cádiz (UCA) to cooperate in the domains of concrete protection, building facades, and industrial processes. The cooperation results from a successful partnership focusing on innovative techniques for the preservation of concrete structures. Now, the UCA and Sika bundle their knowledge to expand these technologies to further areas of application and to open new market potential.

Innovation and sustainability permeate the entire organization and have a long-standing tradition within Sika. Herbert Ackermann, Global Innovation Manager, focuses in his work on facilitating the cross-functional combination of sustainability and innovation and therefore on developing answers to changing customer needs and market conditions. In 2022, a company-wide innovation exploration process has been developed.

Measured by the number of new patent applications filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) per million inhabitants, Switzerland is once again the absolute leader with 1,031 applications in 2022. Sweden (482), Denmark (453), the Netherlands (387) and Finland (386) follow far behind.

Digitalizing R&D means using digital technologies to streamline and optimize research and development processes. It is becoming increasingly important in today's fast-paced and data-driven world. Sika has been digitalizing R&D processes to support and focus on efficiency, collaboration, data analysis, risk management, and innovation.

Together with the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland, Sika started a project for developing a modular green wall system. The project is funded by the Swiss Innovation Agency, Innosuisse.

In today's fast-paced world, we need innovative solutions to tackle some of the most pressing challenges. That's why organizations like Swissloop Tunneling are working hard to create a better world with cutting-edge technology.

SikaRapid® 22AU –an example of an innovative approach, increased efficiency and excellent team effort

The first major solo exhibition of renowned architect Ole Scheeren has been opened in Karlsruhe, Germany, and presents a spatial experience of his sculptural architecture in large-scale installations in the museum’s tall atria spaces. Sika did support the exhibition with in-kind sponsoring and has delivered a substantial amount of SikaBlock® M450 and SikaBlock® M700N to facilitate the implementation of the exhibition infrastructure.

Sika has made an investment together with PERI – one of the world’s largest manufacturers of formwork and scaffolding – in the Swiss startup Mesh AG, which created the world’s first robot-assisted technology that produces complex reinforced concrete structures without formwork. This investment is yet another example of how Sika is helping to enable automation and digitalization in the construction industry in addition to technology for 3D concrete print and solutions for modular building.

Conservation of the 20th Century Concrete-based Cultural Heritage: Innovative Materials, Procedures and Awareness.

Sika has joined the Association for the Decarbonization of Industry in Zug, Switzerland, founded in June 2022, as a member. The aim of the association is to develop holistic approaches to CO2 reduction in industrial applications. The focus is on improving the economic viability of hydrogen technologies and integrating them into an ecosystem that will holistically and sustainably reduce CO2 emissions in high-temperature industrial processes and logistics with a secure energy supply. In conjunction with new manufacturing processes for hydrogen production, solid, powdered carbon is also being produced, which is to be further developed into a sustainable resource for construction and agriculture.

Sika supported as Platinum Sponsor the scientific conference "Calcined Clays for Sustainable Concrete 2022". With this partnership and the input delivered by the Sika team, the company gave the proof that it is leading the developments in this domain. The conference was hosted by the renowned Technical University of Lausanne (EPFL) and took place from July 5-7, 2022.

Developing future innovation leaders and embracing key change drivers

Sika has joined Alumobility, a non-profit organization focused on proven innovative solutions to advance the adoption of aluminum automotive body sheet, as new member. Together with experts in a variety of joining techniques for aluminum and other metals, Sika will contribute know-how in bonding, sealing, damping and reinforcing for car body structures and components.

In the fourth Technology Outlook of the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences SATW, experts assess the potential of 45 promising technologies and application areas with a time horizon of three to five years. The top technologies from an economic point of view are the Internet of Things and Connected Machines, but also new ways of mobility.

Urs Burckhardt is appointed as an individual member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW), the most important network of experts for engineering sciences in Switzerland. The membership is awarded to outstanding experts from the fields of education, research, commerce and industry and politics. They are appointed for life.

Is there a fast way to fix fatigue damaged steel bridges?

To comply with the global trend of sustainability Sika is investigating into sustainable options for adhesives and sealants. Sustainable adhesives combine reduced environmental impact, durability and a formulation, which complies with the most stringent global VOC (volatile organic compounds) requirements, where the claim is to get the VOC emission reduced to the minimum.

Sika innovation to replace teak - The new cool-deck technology of SikaFloor® Marine 595 stands for more comfort and sustainability. Sika developed a polyurethane based floor, which comes with the benefit of being a sustainable product as its resins are bio-sourced. At the same time the solution mimics a teak deck.

The world is running out of sand. However, Sika has the solutions to solve this problem in the construction industry. Sand covers much of the earth’s surface, but sand isn’t just sand. In the industrial world, it’s an “aggregate,” a category that includes gravel, crushed stone, and various recycled materials. Natural aggregate is the world’s second most heavily exploited natural resource after water, and for many uses the right kind is scarce or inaccessible.

In the Chinese market, there is an increasing demand for flat roof refurbishment. The reason might be the replacement of old PVC roofs or the refurbishment of old metal roofs.

Sika has launched the new Sikalastic®-701, the latest generation of Polyurethane Liquid Applied Membranes for roofing applications. Sikalastic®-701 has been already presented at various roofing venues and it has been successfully field tested in Spain, Greece, Dubai and Malaysia.

Hybrid construction, combining wood with concrete and/or steel, has become a promising opportunity for sustainable architecture.

High Performance Toughening Agent: The SmartCore Technology provides exceptional impact resistance designed to withstand dynamic stresses. It allows Sika to formulate SikaPower® two component cold curing epoxies. This bridges the performance gap to one component heat curing epoxy systems traditionally used to bond automotive lightweight structures and the cold curing 2C-epoxy systems used in construction. Markets: Transportation, Wind, General Industry, Agricultural and Construction Vehicles

Highspeed 3-D Printing has become reality: Automated technologies such as 3-D printing, extrusion, the use of artificial intelligence and virtual reality will revolutionize the construction industry - in particular 3-D printing technology is considered a driver for a paradigm shift in concrete industrialization.

Luz Granizo, Core Technology Head Cementitious Systems, and Michael Danzinger, Core Technology Head Concrete Systems, both are working for different kinds of markets and are explaining the Sika approach to generate, steer and develop innovations from a technological and from a market point of view.

Global Trend: Structural Glazing Facades Ulli Müller, Head of Corporate Marketfield Engineering, and Manuel Friedel, Head of Research and Development of Sika’s Silicone adhesives and sealants, are giving insights into the world of Sika high-strength solutions for facades.

Sika is committed to providing reliable watertight solutions for even the most challenging requirements. The vision was to come up with an innovative product that promotes adhesion to fresh concrete without the need for a fleece backing.

In the Sika Acoustic Test facilities Sika Engineers and application experts perform virtual and physical testing, analyze the results and propose solutions that deliver optimal weight-to-performance ratio for each specific application. The Sika Technology Centers have been designed to support the development, validation, and optimization of sealing, damping, bonding and reinforcing products and solutions.

One proof of Sika's successful strategy is the fact, that resources of acquired companies and brands are used as growth platforms. Two excellent examples are the build up of two Global Technology Centers. Following the acquisition of Liquid Plastics and Incorez in the UK in 2009, Sika has continued to invest in its Preston facilities and into the further development of roof waterproofing and internal floor coatings. Sika's aim is to produce technically advanced and environmentally friendly liquid roofing membranes, positioning Sika as a global leader within this field.