Afera, the European Adhesive Tape Association recently held the 11th edition of its biennial Tape College, to deconstruct the complexity of adhesive tapes by teaching the fundamentals and current technical essentials of adhesive tape technology.
Hosted and taught by the best and brightest of the field of adhesive tape to professionals relatively new to the market, the three day working sold out programme consisted of 21 technical, sustainability and legislative lectures, as well as important biannual Afera committee and working group meetings, at Le Méridien in Munich, Germany.
Lectures given by field experts focussed on the selection, manufacture, conversion, application, testing, sustainability and E.U regulation of tapes, included those entitled ‘Why tapes?’, ‘Tapes deconstructed’, ‘Tape production’, as well as ‘Tape use and testing.’
‘Why tapes?’ focused on a general introduction to adhesive tapes from Afera President Evert Smit. “We don’t need more solutions for tapes, we need better solutions for solving future needs,” he emphasised. “Tapes, because of their versatility, help enable the (sustainable) future more than any other bonding technology.”
Caroline Sperling, manager of tesa SE’s customer solution centre in Europe, introduced Tape College attendees to Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA) technology, providing a survey of the most important relationships between physical performance and application properties. She aligned adhesive tape technology available with the demands of today and tomorrow´s industrial processes.
Participant Christian Hermann, global director innovation, engingeered films at Loparex commented: “I have been working in the field of pressure-sensitive materials for over 25 years, and the Tape College allowed me to brush up on my knowledge of the business and to network with other tech players along the entire supply chain.”
As well as people who have been working in the tape industry for a long time, the Tape Collage was also open for newcomers to tape technology. These included Hema Nikhitha Uddaraju, process engineer, extrusion, pilot centre and new processing tesa (Germany). “The Tape College was a great place for newcomers like me to network with experts about various companies, their products and their expertise in the field. I now know who to contact if there is a certain requirement at tesa. With a lot of interesting chemistry, I also learned about how the idea of a tape begins and how it is formulated, processed and then converted into the final product. As a process engineer in hotmelt technology, I have a good idea of all things involved in processing, but I learned a lot about the previous and post stages, such as polymerisation, water and solvent-based adhesives, converting and testing – basically the entire process.”
Having spent a decade in the fastener industry experiencing every facet – from steel mills, fastener manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, as well as machinery builders and plating + coating companies, Claire has developed an in-depth knowledge of all things fasteners.
Alongside visiting numerous companies, exhibitions and conferences around the world, Claire has also interviewed high profile figures – focusing on key topics impacting the sector and making sure readers stay up to date with the latest developments within the industry.
