Greco adapts to automated footwear manufacturing
14/02/2018
Around 90% of the adhesives Greco makes are used in the footwear industry. It is an important supplier to brands like Nike, Adidas, Clarks and Columbia. The company has said close cooperation with these brands is important if it is to stay at the forefront of shoe manufacturing and keep up with industry trends and technology.
Automation is increasing in importance in footwear manufacturing, so Greco is exploring how to optimise machine-use adhesives so that they offer maximum performance.
“For the footwear manufacturing sector, the factories of top shoe brands are all subjected to reconstruct production processes, equipment and raw materials in order to fulfill the requirements of automation,” explained Ken Ho, Greco business director. “Automation implies a number of alternations from the raw material provider. We have thus formulated different options of adhesives to make them adjustable in machine and spray applications.”
Its latest product is Geo1H, a single component water-based PU adhesive for spray application. The company has said it can be used to assemble rubber, PU foam, EVA, leather and synthetic materials. It adds that this adhesive helps to enhance raw material performance, optimise labour use, and reduce resource and energy waste.
The company has said GE01H eliminates the need for additional hardener and demonstrates better cementing performance via automatic spraying due to a narrow viscosity range and double filtration.
Greco intends to continue exploring adhesives with properties that allow them to fit into automated production lines. It also plans to establish new distribution channels in central China, Southeast Asia and Southern India to continue to serve the Asian factories of its main customers.
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