Did you know that Henkel was the first company to invent the glue stick concept? After this new invention we launched Pritt, a unique brand that manufactures adhesives using potato starch. This type of applicator has proven to be an easy and convenient way to glue, and is the best gluing solution for children: Easy, clean and safe. Discover how our products are manufactured, distributed and capped, and how we've improved our production process since almost 50 years ago.
Did you know that Henkel invented the very first Glue Stick in 1969? This idea came by studying a lipstick tube and the convienience it provided when applied. This type of applicator has proven to be an easy and convenient way to glue, and is the best gluing solution for children: Easy, clean and safe. Great ideas can come from anywhere!
Today, Henkel has many scientists who develop new products and test their ideas in laboratories. We use the idea of cooking for making glue sticks. Scientists create a glue "recipe" that we then apply to produce our products. Click here if you would like to make your own glue!
This is where production begins - in the Henkel Pritt Stick "kitchen". A large tank is used to mix all the glue ingredients together, which are then cooked following our special "glue recipe".
After the glue is mixed, it is pumped down to the floor below to the filling line.
Almost 50 years ago computers were not used to produce glue sticks. Today, our factory runs more efficiently and the entire process can be monitored closely by computer, even though some steps still have to be supervised by our scientists.
The filling process begins when empty glue stick tubes are transported from a large holding bin up a moving ramp and onto the filling line conveyor.
Henkel produces three sizes of glue sticks: 11, 22 and 43g. Although we have different filling lines for each size, they all run basically the same way in our factories all over the world.
The automatic machinery helps to line up the empty glue stick tubes neatly and upright. They travel along the conveyor line on their way to their first stop, the filling station.
Here you can see our 11g glue stick tubes enter the filling station. Our lines are able to fill more than 200,000 sticks per day. At this stage, the glue must be in liquid form in order to fill the tubes, so it is very hot.
The automatic machine "hand" can cap much faster than human hands. After the glue sticks are capped, they are placed onto packing trays - automatically of course - and put through a second cooler to make sure that the warm glue turns into a stick ready for you to use.
The glue sticks are shipped to stores and are ready to help you with all your "sticky" projects at home, school or in the office - cleanly, quickly and accurately.