We wanted 1 formula suitable for all our lines, from hot-packing cans @ 160F down to flash freeze packaging @ -30F and many types in-between. We have dozens of lines doing such a wide variety of end-loaded, wrap-around, bliss trays, RSC boxes and others, so it was not in our best interest to have 2, 3 or 4 adhesives, which could be easily mixed up.
So we challenged Northwest that we’d let them trial on our most difficult hot pack line where 160F cans would intermittently fail with our current National grade. This was a real quirky issue because the heat in the cans would take hours to migrate into the glue line, soften and pop open the glued boxes hours after they were filled, sometimes on the truck.
Northwest Adhesives did an audit of our lines and went back to work on our challenge and within 1 week they had brought us in a new, custom formula, A836, which they had thoroughly tested in their lab. I think they were scared if they failed they might not get a second chance. We had invited other suppliers to help us also, so they did their homework.
They sent in their General Manager, Technical Service engineer and VP of California division. They were here onsite to help with initial trials, make machine adjustments, monitor the adhesive mileage and provide us the technical service they had promised.
Bottom line is that they did what they promised, their product worked beautifully, it is a stronger glue bond, even though we use less. It has saved us a lot of glue costs.
Frankly, we were pleasantly surprised to find a local adhesive company who knew their stuff and they could prove it, turns out, beyond our expectations.
We are in the process of spreading their A836 Lyons glue across all our lines, and we have been convinced that we found our answer to the glue challenge, and it happened real fast.
We don’t even worry about glue issues any longer; everyone here really likes the new glue.
So if you have your own "quirky" glue issue and need a customized hotmelt adhesive developed for you, Northwest Adhesives could be an excellent choice. We recommend them as being both competent and responsive.
Thank you,
Nathan Lev, Packaging Engineer, Lyons Magnus, Fresno, CA
In spring of 2004, I needed to fix that persistent "noise" in our pillow top, Englander mattresses. The assembly hotmelt adhesive we were using was good for foam bonding and encasement, but it remained "too sticky," and so pillow tops had this residual "velcro" sound, not desirable when the consumer laid or rolled on the pillow top.
So I looked around the internet and found there was a local hotmelt adhesive company on the web at www.northwestadhesives.com, which was located in Vancouver, Washington. I learned they developed and manufactured their own specialty hotmelt adhesives and the principal, Chuck Asbury, was a long time chemist and engineer at HB Fuller who had been intimately inside the hotmelt adhesive business for 30+ years.
So when I asked if they had a "quiet" hotmelt adhesive (and after they realized I was quite serious), Bryan Asbury came right over to investigate my "noise" problem. He asked a lot of questions, took some notes and laid his 6-foot-7-inch frame on our pillowtop mattress to hear the noise for himself.
Bryan left here with foam and fabric samples and a challenge for his dad to develop "quiet" hotmelt with a delayed "crystallization" feature, which also kept the long assembly time we needed, up to 45 seconds for some of our constructions.
The noise test in their lab must have been good because both Bryan and Chuck soon came back over with a 50-pound box of experimental hotmelt, which we promptly tested. We were pretty impressed that the noise was almost 100% gone and that they had responded so quickly. They said they would adjust it a little more and be back again soon.
A few days later the final formula was tested as A-999 "Englander," which has become our "quiet, fast bonding, long open time" hotmelt ever since 2004 and is also used in our California operation to fix the same "noise" issue.
On top of everything else, A-999 offered us a reduced price and better heat stability, which meant almost no char in the melter (char causes plugged spray guns), and best of all, A-999 fixed my "noise" problem, and I'm pleased that Northwest helped us pretty darn fast.
So if you have your own "quirky" adhesive issue and need a customized adhesive developed for your use, Northwest Adhesives may be able to help you. Their direct phone is (360)-260-1227 and ask for either Chuck or Bryan.
