Adhesives & Bonding Expo 2022

The Adhesives & Bonding Expo in Novi, Michigan is a fascinating event that everyone who is connected to this group of innovators should attend. Novi is about thirty minutes from Detroit. The conference is held each year to give companies the opportunity to network, buy or potentially sell and see what the new market trends are. That's why the Setex team attended.

The main industries in focus are automotive & transportation, aerospace construction, furniture, electronics, medical devices & supplies, fashion, sports, and the list continues. The event has grown over time, and this year there were about 150 exhibitors and over 900 visitors. 

“It is pretty interesting to watch the flow of traffic come in the door,” Holiday, the security guard checking in exhibitors and visitors said. “Lots of different prospects come through the door. I am retired, actually I do this for fun.”

I agree with Holiday. This event is exciting; and it's amazing to see all of the various  representations of the adhesives & bonding market. In attendance, there were people from all over the country and Canada. The event even had exhibitors and visitors from abroad. Companies from Brazil, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Russia, and more were there. Some of the big brands present were Bostik, Henkel, Mitsubishi, and PPG.

“I traveled on an airplane for 22 hours to come to this trade show,” our booth neighbor, Gottfried, representing Weicon, a German company, stated. “It was a long trip but we are happy to be here.”

Weicon is an adhesives and sealants company based in Münster, Germany. Their product line includes technical sprays, high-performance assembly pastes, and greases. The booths were very impressive at this conference. There were many booths with heavy machinery and high-tech displays. 

Because of the large volume of people in attendance and the heavy machinery, there were WiFi connection issues. “Are you having any issues with your WiFi?” Steve and Steven, running the lead retrieval booth, asked us. “People have been resorting to using their personal hotspots on their devices for connection.”

We considered his advice. WiFi was the only challenge at this event. At our booth we displayed our reusable, gecko-inspired tape, handle grips, and swag. The main attraction to our booth was the fact that our dry adhesive gecko tape leaves no residue, is reusable and can be applied on different surfaces. 

Bio-mimicry has played a large role in the development process of Setex products. Our gecko-inspired adhesives bio-mimic the microstructures of a gecko’s toe hairs, called setae. The production of Setex Tape and Grips was inspired by a gecko’s ability to defy gravity. In nature, geckos are able to grip onto any surface, whether it be oily or dry. Nature is our greatest influencer. 

One of the many keynote speakers, Tony McConnell, from Coastal Automotive, discussed how nature’s ability to protect life inspires the creation of safety materials and consumer products. Some other topics discussed included structural material development, shock absorption applications, and thermal management solutions.

Manufacturers and buyers coming together to network and check out the latest technologies was quite an inspiring business experience. Will you be there next year? We will.