SMT & Inspection |
Henkel expands UK facility
Following the opening of its Research and Applications Center in Irvine, California, Henkel has announced completion of its Hemel Hempstead facility expansion in the United Kingdom.
Long a center of research and development for the company’s Multicore® line of solder products for the SMT assembly and semiconductor packaging industries, the Hemel Hempstead facility is now also home to several other complementary Henkel businesses. In addition to the Multicore® solder products staff, the new facility will also house the company’s automotive electronics, industrial and automotive adhesives and sealants businesses.
“Combining all of these complementary Henkel businesses under one roof has tremendous benefits for our customers,” says Stuart Rowe, Henkel facility manager for the Hemel Hempstead location. “Product development cycles can be accelerated, applications teams from the various business units can work together on complementary projects and our customers have access to a variety of experienced technical personnel.”
The addition to the Hemel Hempstead facility encompasses 900 square meters and includes several new laboratories: an applications lab for adhesives and sealants, a metal pre-treatment and coatings lab, analytical laboratories, an equipment assembly area long enough for a complete automotive vehicle and a long term corrosion testing area. The newly improved location also boasts a training room that can accommodate 24 trainees and where the Henkel staff expects to conduct product training courses for customers, distributors and sales staff.
To study material behavior and obtain analytical data, the laboratory facilities are equipped with equipment and analysis tools including a scanning electron microscope, atomic absorption equipment, several tensiometers, a seven axis robot, a UV curing conveyor and environmental cyclic chambers that control humidity and temperature from -30°C to +150°C.
“We have spared no expense to provide our customers with the tools that will enable them to anticipate changing technical requirements and remain competitive,” says Patrick Trippel, president of the electronics group of Henkel. “Henkel has made a commitment to provide customers with access to local, state-of-the-art technical resources on a global scale and we are delivering on that promise.”
The Hemel Hempstead facility is now one of the largest European sites for the electronics group of Henkel and accommodates over 200 employees.
