At the service of high-flying adhesives
What are your respective jobs, in a nutshell?
Vincent Palluault: I have been working for Bostik for almost four years in the “Hygiene, Paper and Cardboard” (formerly "Non-Woven") BU. Our Smart Adhesives solutions dedicated to non-woven textiles ensure in particular that disposable hygiene products (baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, etc.) fulfil their functions in terms of everyday requirements. In particular, they allow a perfect bonding of the components and guarantee their performance.
I am directly in charge of the Procter & Gamble key account, and I am the technical manager in charge of the overall coordination of developments of new products and applications with this major customer. I work with a team of development engineers across the world who act as the interface with the customer to ensure local and central coverage in managing projects with this key account.
Does this represent a major business challenge for Bostik?
V.P.: Yes, it does, the volumes that can be achieved in the non-woven market are significant. These are projects that are really on the Bostik radar.
You too, Helena, are working at Bostik's headquarters in Wauwatosa near Milwaukee, in the north of the United States. What’s your job there?
Helena Cheminet: After working for Arkema for 7 years, I joined Bostik in the US at the end of 2018. I work for the Durable Goods BU. Our ranges of adhesive solutions are used to manufacture and assemble components in countless industrial sectors including aerospace, automotive, textile lamination, construction... I am in charge of the Research & Development and technical assistance teams in the region, with a further remit, this time worldwide, in the assembly market, as guarantor of the R&D projects portfolio. In particular, I have to ensure that these projects are defined and implemented in the regions in a way that is fully aligned with the BU’s strategy.
The issue of sustainable development has become unavoidable.
What role does innovation play?
H.C.: It is very significant, and we pursue this a great deal to offer our customers the most comprehensive range of highly technical adhesives possible. It is the case, for example, with those we are developing for the electric vehicle battery market. Sustainable development is also increasingly guiding our research to develop safer adhesives and facilitate, for example, recycling or eco-design by jointly developing systems in partnership with our customers.
V.P.: Regarding what we call “disposable” articles, our business is sometimes close to commodity products, but we also develop plenty of applications in the world of hygiene that come under the specialty sphere. This is particularly the case with superabsorbent immobilization processes, a technology that is critical for the quality of the final product and is virtually exclusive to this customer Procter & Gamble for whom the technical prerequisites are extremely stringent. The same applies to applications in which Bostik has well-known expertise, such as the elastic attachment adhesive used to maintain optimum “hermeticity” of the layer. Sustainable development is also a key issue. There is for example increasing talk of the lifecycle of our products, and our level of expertise in this regard is high. We engage in a great deal of R&D to find raw materials that allow us to offer bio-based or compostable products. This is clearly a very substantial part of our project portfolio. I would also add that in addition to our renowned ability to offer a range of high-performance products, we put a lot of emphasis on optimizing our customer approach. The idea is to create maximum technical understanding with our customers.
What has been the impact of the Covid pandemic on your respective businesses?
H.C.: Our business has certainly been affected, particularly in terms of our supply chain, and regarding the soaring prices of raw materials and the problems in procuring them. But the “Durable Goods” market has been impacted in different ways. If, for example, the situation in aerospace proved more complicated during this period, we focused on the construction sector. Over the past two years, Bostik has in fact completed several acquisitions that have complemented our product range and offered a mix of applications that make the business less sensitive to market fluctuations.
V.P.: Demand for baby diapers and feminine hygiene products is steady, which makes us relatively immune to this type of event. Of course, the pandemic has made things more complicated, but it has also allowed us to optimize our supply chain by building on our strengths. In particular, the fact that Bostik is a global company with local production sites, which has allowed us to locate certain grades much closer to our customers. In terms of development and support for our customers in their specific regions, it has really made us stand out.
You are both passionate about parachuting, or rather skydiving. Tell us about it.
H.C.: Skydiving refers to the period of time from jumping from a plane to deploying your parachute. This covers a number of disciplines. The best known of these probably consists in descending in static mode flat-flying in a prone position while trying to grab partners in a grip sequence: this is relative work or formation skydiving. Then, you can try “free flight” to seek new thrills in the air by performing figures that are not flat-flying as in formation skydiving but rather free-falling straight down at various speeds. Another example of free flight consists in drifting and travelling a greater distance, exploiting the angle of fall,... My preference is free flying in a group for its unique thrills!
V.P.: Mine is a slightly more specialized discipline, wingsuit flying, which is a type of jump you perform wearing a flexible wing-shaped suit. It allows you to alter the flow of air over your body in order to increase the lift. These suits inflate with air as soon as you jump out of the plane, reducing the descent speed by converting it into horizontal speed. This means you can fly or rather glide like a bird!
H.C.: But before getting there, the first step is to learn how to control a stable position to open your parachute safely, to be aware of the altitude and duration of the jump, to learn to move in the air using the aerodynamic downforce provided by the rate of descent. You use the parts of your body as rudders to move around in three dimensions. Tilting one arm slightly, for example, makes it possible to initiate a rotation like a propeller. You can also drift (“slide” on the air), or have a go at acrobatics in the air, called freestyle! You also need to learn a code and a whole new language because when skydiving through the air, just as in scuba diving, it is impossible to communicate through speech. One example is placing our hands in a cross to signal separation in a group jump.
How did you get started?
V.P.: We started together with a tandem jump hooked up to an instructor. This is a low-stress way of approaching skydiving. Jumping out of a moving plane is not a very natural thing to do for the human brain, and so, doing it in tandem allows you to test your unease, and confirm that you are ready to take the next step, which is training to jump on your own. This unease usually disappears after about twenty jumps, and from then on fun and passion take over.
Does this discipline tend to be reserved for men, or not?
H.C.: Skydiving in all its forms remains a predominantly male discipline, especially since there are many military personnel in this environment, but there are more and more of us women in the drop zones – especially since nothing predisposes men to be better at this sport!
Is it a high-risk sport?
V.P.: I do not consider it a dangerous sport as long as the risk is strictly assessed and controlled. Accidents today are very rare. That's why an expert instructor accompanies you in your first jumps. On the ground, in the aircraft or during the descent, safety measures must absolutely be observed. For example, you need to make sure there is enough distance between you and the others when opening your parachute to avoid any collision. The equipment is checked regularly for quality and sturdiness. You need to be vigilant at all times because even for an experienced parachutist, you can overlook a detail, or fail to make the right adjustment to an item of equipment, and the whole point is to look after your own safety and that of others. Goodwill is essential in our sport.
So, it's a sport?
H.C.: Yes, it’s a genuine sport. Your body is subjected to a fairly intense experience (difference in temperature, pressure, stress...) that will require energy. It can be demanding from a physical point of view especially when you do several jumps in one day. Practising muscle strengthening and cardio exercises at the same time allows you to focus only on the technical demands of the jump by building up your core strength effectively. As with most sports, you can validate your progress through different levels, with certificates, which open the door to jumps with other people, free flight jumps, wingsuit flying, being an aircraft coordinator for dropping the parachutists of different levels, or obtaining an authorization to land outside the traditional landing zone like during jumps from special aircraft, for example a balloon where it is less easy to anticipate its eventual landing point!
How fast do you fall?
V.P.: Free fall speed is estimated at around 200 km/h. In comparison, when the parachute is deployed, the rate of descent falls to barely around 20 km/h! The speed varies based on a number of parameters. When “belly flying” or “flat flying”, the speed is between 180 and 200 km/h. In “free flying”, where you adopt a much more vertical position with therefore less lift, this can go up to 300 km/h. And for “wingsuit flying”, this is highly variable based on the stature and weight of the person, and the equipment, but you can descend at 90 km/h on average with a horizontal speed of about 100 to 150 km/h.
How long does the descent last?
H.C.: Free fall time lasts between 40 seconds (free flying) and 2 minutes (wingsuit flying) on average. This may not seem like much, but these are very intense seconds. You can also train in a wind tunnel. This simulator helps you optimize your free fall without having to worry about exiting a plane, the weather conditions, safety issues with the other parachutists on the plane, etc.
V.P.: That said, it’s no substitute for the pleasure of jumping because our passion is really to jumping out of a plane and literally taking the plunge in this incredible free fall.
What are you looking for, the big thrill?
V.P.: A mixture of adrenaline and control. Once you have taken all safety notions fully on board, and you have stabilized your descent, then is the time to open your eyes wide, take in the view around you, and enjoy the thrills!
Has any particular jump made a special impression on you?
H.C.: I have a lot of memorable moments. Jumping at an altitude of 4000 m above the Bay of Arcachon, the Bay of Morbihan or the Normandy beaches, falling through the clouds, 10 of us jumping out of a place at sunset, accompanying and taking pictures of our loved ones during their first tandem jump... We have all these moments engraved in our minds for life! After your first jump in the morning, you just want to do one thing, and that’s getting back up there as soon as possible.
V.P.: We have had the opportunity to test various types of aircraft, including those that open from the rear where you can run and leap into the void. Quite a feeling. We also had a chance to jump from a helicopter and a hot air balloon, and here the conditions are very different. In a “wingsuit”, you are as close as you can ever be to a bird, you can enjoy the scenery, whereas in “free flying” you tend to focus on the people jumping with you. But the jump in my dreams is always the next one. And I’d love to be able to leap out in a wingsuit over Mount Fuji in Japan or the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt!
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