Q&A: How Bostik's Portfolio Can Help Achieve Your Automotive Goals

Learn how Bostik’s adhesive and sealant portfolio supports automotive manufacturers in achieving performance, production efficiency and sustainability goals. Read about solutions for interior and exterior applications, including structural adhesives, hot melt adhesives and thermal management technologies.

In automotive manufacturing, relying on different adhesive and sealant suppliers across interior and exterior automotive applications can make it challenging to focus on achieving performance, production and sustainability goals due to managing logistics needs.

However, at Bostik, we consider ourselves to be a “one stop shop” supplier with a broad adhesive and sealant portfolio across applications to help reduce those issues. Read this Q&A with our experts to find out how we can help you accomplish your goals.

Q: How does Bostik's adhesive and sealant portfolio help automotive manufacturers meet performance goals across applications?

A: In automotive manufacturing, you may want an adhesive that possesses performance capabilities for specific application needs such as high heat resistance for headliners. Our large portfolio helps you quickly find a solution that can be right for you, because we have options that fit general to specific performance requirements. For example:

Our Aquagrip® water-based adhesive for trim wrapping offers good creep resistance, which means it maintains its bond strength and shape over time under stress or load, helping prevent deformation and providing long-term durability.
Our hot melt adhesives for headliners offer high heat resistance (60°C – 125°C), which can prevent delamination, sagging or adhesive failure over time, including in hot temperatures or vehicles exposed to prolonged sunlight.

Q: How does Bostik's adhesive and sealant portfolio help automotive manufacturers streamline production?

A: Our portfolio is comprised of products that can help make it easy for you to streamline production; for example, our portfolio can:

Reduce production complexities

Our silyl modified polymer (SMP) products, which can be used for glass and fixed back glass bonding and glazing, can eliminate the need for primers and combine multiple functions (i.e. bonding and sealing) into a hybrid, single solution. In doing so, this helps you reduce processing steps, SKU volume, error likelihood and potential downtime.

Additionally, our solvent-based adhesives for trim wrapping applications are one-component, meaning no mixing is needed.

Increase line speeds

Our PLIOGRIP™ structural adhesives for panel-to-panel bonding offer fast strength build and can do so at room temperature, allowing for increased production speeds while minimizing energy usage.

Our thermally conductive gap fillers (one-component non-reactive and two-component SMP) from Polytec PT offer silicone-free protection for electronic components and radar applications with fast processing speeds, including automated bead application (one-component) and injection (two-component).

Our Thermelt® solutions can help with efficiencies for the following:

Low pressure molding (LPM) encapsulation processes: Using LPM in electronic applications can provide fast cycle times while also eliminating mixing steps, helping to speed up processes compared to potting while decreasing energy usage.
Paint masking processes: Our innovation for bond line preservation helps replace traditional masking processes that require manual application. Instead, our solution is designed for robotic dispensing, helping provide consistent application that can reduce error likelihood and streamline production steps.

Offer production flexibility

Adhesives that bond to a wide range of materials, such as metals, plastics, composites and glass, can make it easy to rely on one solution across production lines. For example:

As previously mentioned, our hybrid SMP offers excellent multi-surface adhesion without the need for primers, making them suitable for sealing and bonding in both interior and exterior vehicle assemblies for glass bonding or EV battery components. This simplifies inventory management and enhances manufacturing flexibility.
Our specialty hot melt adhesives for headliners, seating, flooring and acoustics are available in Fixatti powder, web or film form and offer versatile application methods, such as swirl spray, bead or robot. This means you can use application techniques based on your specific production line setups; further, specialty hot melt adhesives offer fast setting times to increase throughput.
Our hot melt polyolefin adhesives for interior applications such as flooring and headliner can offer long open times to help ensure you have sufficient time to finish assembly before the adhesive cures.

We also think it’s helpful to note that our portfolio allows you to use equipment you already own. This helps you reduce training required for operators and maintenance teams, helping to ensure a fast and smooth implementation in addition to minimized investment costs.

Q: How does Bostik's adhesive and sealant portfolio help automotive manufacturers improve sustainability?

A: Sustainability is a growing priority for automotive manufacturers, both in the vehicles themselves and in the production processes used to build them. To support your goals, we offer a range of adhesive and sealant solutions that can provide more sustainable solutions in:

The Vehicle:

Overall, our large portfolio helps you replace mechanical fasteners to reduce vehicle weight, which can improve fuel efficiency and range while increasing vehicle power. This is because you can use our products in places instead of mechanical fasteners, reducing weak spots and allowing for uniform coverage and consistent performance throughout the application by comparison.

Our portfolio also offers ways to enhance recycling and improve carbon emissions per adhesive solution. For example:

With Bostik's paint masking solution, which serves as an alternative to traditional tape masking processes, workers add adhesive to an automated system rather than masking off the part with tape themselves. After the painting process, workers can rapidly peel off the adhesive and recycle it if desired, helping minimize material waste with traditional masking processes. Further, our paint masking solution is a bio-sourced formulation that’s VOC-free, helping to reduce hazardous materials, carbon emissions and ease end-of-life breakdown.

Thermal management adhesives, such as our Polytec PT thermally conductive adhesives (TCAs) and silicone-free gap fillers, help EV batteries dissipate energy more efficiently to extend longevity. Additionally, our silicone-free gap fillers are designed for removability to address repair needs and end-of-life disassembly; this makes it easier to reuse metal parts later on.

The Production Facility:

Our portfolio helps you reduce adhesive-related carbon emissions and energy use in your facility. For example:

Our hybrid SMP is isocyanate and solvent free, helping to eliminate hazardous materials and reduce carbon emissions while also enhancing worker safety. Additionally, with gravity feed capabilities, SMP allows you to use your entire supply and reduce overall material waste.

Our specialty hot melt adhesives, which include webs, films and powders, can work across numerous applications or substrates, allowing for less adhesive changeovers. This can result in decreased cycle times and minimized overall energy consumption.

Q: In addition to a large portfolio, how else can Bostik help automotive manufacturers?

A: We understand that while a large portfolio can help you accomplish your goals, it is the people who develop that large portfolio who can really make the difference. That’s why we value understanding your needs, helping you make the decisions that are right for you and making sure the products work properly on your production lines.

Specifically, we offer extensive testing and evaluations on our in-house labs. With technical centers in vicinity to your facilities, you can be involved in the testing phase to see trials and prototypes close-up. Further, with a team of adhesive and sealant subject matter experts, you have a reliable resource for each automotive application you’re working on.   

Our technical experts can use your specific materials to determine firsthand how our adhesive technologies perform on a small scale before implementing the solution into your large-scale productions. This allows you to continue operations and maintain your production schedule while finding the right option.  Additionally, our testing equipment is designed for bonding, aging and cycling, adhesive strength and mechanical properties to help ensure the switch from a small-scale trial to a large-scale production goes smoothly. This equipment includes: 

Roll coaters
Hot melt tanks  
Spray booths
Foam melt unit s
XYZ robots
Profile pullers

We also provide local manufacturing capabilities. With quick access to products when and where you need them, working with us allows you to reduce lead times and minimize challenges that can arise with international orders.

Additionally, we provide assistance with troubleshooting needs. Whether you’re adjusting to a new product on your lines or trying to address processing issues, we assess recent process changes, materials and environmental conditions to identify causes and recommend improvements. This approach often leads to cost savings, reduced processing steps and innovative, new solutions.  