NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / January 31, 2025 / Henkel
#AViewFrom Henkel North America series
Did you know that Henkel North America employs approximately 8,000 employees in more than 70 sites across the U.S. and Canada? Collectively, these sites support two business units: Adhesive Technologies and Consumer Brands.
Our #AViewFrom series features select locations, sharing information and facts about our sites across Henkel North America.
Tightly sealed windows, flooring that stays put, and element-resistant siding that looks beautiful are all made possible with the sealants and adhesives produced at Henkel Adhesives Technologies' Mentor, Ohio facility. This is a site on the move, running seven days a week, powered by a dedicated team working to manufacture the products construction pros and do-it-yourselfers depend on. Learn more in this #AViewFrom segment.
Near the shores of Lake Erie, one of the United States' Great lakes, sits Henkel's 196,000 sq. ft. Mentor, OH site, where about 140 employees manufacture construction adhesives and sealants for the company's Consumers & Craftsmen (ACC) business. Marketed under the LOCTITE®, OSI®, and LEPAGE® brands, among others, this facility produces over 44 million cartridges of solvent-free and solvent-based adhesives and sealants annually to support North American professional and retail customers. The products are used for various kitchen and bath, window, door, flooring, and siding applications and are essential for preventing air and moisture ingress, securing flooring materials, and protecting against water damage on exterior siding.
"Our operation is highly complex and requires extreme precision," explains Plant Operations Director Joseph Perdue. "Unlike facilities serving industrial customers, where the material is filled into large drums, we produce point-of-sale cartridges in more than 20 different bulk formulations for 5 different brands. Consumers expect each 9.5 oz-tube of material to look and perform the same - every time."
Our team of operators, quality control professionals, maintenance and engineering specialists, and product development experts are dedicated to making sure every formulation is mixed, filled, and packaged to exacting standards and that product consistency is bar none. Our exceptional reputation depends on it.
Like its water-based sealant and adhesives sister plant in LaGrange, GA, the Mentor, OH site has been in existence since 1984 and joined the Henkel manufacturing footprint in the early 2000s following the company's acquisition of OSI Sealants. The high-volume operation runs 24 hours a day Monday through Friday, with partial weekend production as well. Mentor was recognized in 2013 as Henkel's best global plant and, in 2019, was the recipient of significant capital investment to upgrade equipment and drive manufacturing efficiency. This year, two new high-speed filling lines were installed, helping to increase capacity, and freeing valuable resources for high-changeover production, such as Mentor's color-matched sealant lines.
Protecting natural resources is a hallmark of the Henkel Mentor plant, which is a carbon-neutral operation and a zero-waste-to-landfill site. No water is used in production processes here, and the team strives to significantly reduce manufacturing waste. With its color-matched line, for example, changing over the sealant colors means the first several tubes post-changeover will result in a mixture of the previous color and the new color. Instead of scrapping this material, the company sells its ‘rainbow caulk' at a reduced price compared to its color-specific varieties. For applications where the sealant will not be visible, this is a perfect solution for waste reduction and consumer cost savings.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Mentor facility manufactures products that are specifically designed to color match various construction and design materials such as paints, windows and doors. More specifically, the plant produces hundreds of color-matched OSI® brand sealants for color-coded products made by well-known construction material and supply manufacturers with a Color ID system to help find the perfect color match.
The Mentor plant's color matching capability and Color ID system gives customers and consumers options to match to existing building materials and supplies from well-known suppliers.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Engagement with the local community is central to Mentor's success and demonstrates its commitment to supporting area initiatives. Recently, the plant's focus has been to create awareness of the types of jobs available at the manufacturing facility and in various support functions. In September, a team of employees attended a career fair at the Case Western Reserve University to promote Henkel jobs and internships. In October, as part of the Mentor plant's Manufacturing Day activities, employees participated in the local high school's "Think Manufacturing" career fair where Senior Manufacturing Engineer Scott Schwickerath, Administrative Assistant Amia Martorana, and Packaging Operator Katy Shaffer, connected with students to discuss the variety of career opportunities at Henkel. The Gen Z crowd was all ears and had plenty of questions. Hopefully, some of them are inspired to take the next step!
CULTURE AND CAREER "Opportunity is everywhere at this site," shares Amia Martorana, who worked as a machine operator for two years before becoming the administrative assistant.
If you want to learn, if you're curious, and have a passion for the business, there are multiple avenues for advancement. And management's support is extraordinary. I'm also a college student and appreciate being able to simultaneously pursue two goals - education and professional development.
Recognizing and valuing employees has been vital to building Mentor's unique culture.
When you operate a multi-shift site, traditional all-staff events are difficult to organize. Instead, we do shift-specific appreciation events like summer cookouts and holiday parties, which occur between shifts so that everyone can participate.
