Multinational chemical and consumer goods company Henkel marks its 50th anniversary in Thailand this year. The company will continue to drive purposeful growth in the Adhesive Technologies and Beauty Care markets with its trusted brands and high-impact solutions.
“As we celebrate this milestone, I would like to extend my deep appreciation for the hard work and commitment of our Henkel teams, and the trust that our partners and customers have placed in us. Energized by this achievement, we reinforce our commitment to deliver greater sustainable value to our stakeholders,” said Andrianto Jayapurna, President of Henkel Thailand.
Established in 1972, Henkel Thailand operates the Adhesive Technologies and Beauty Care business units and has approximately 520 employees across four sites in the country. These include an office in Bangkok, two plants and a smart factory in the Eastern Economic Corridor.
For the Adhesive Technologies business, Henkel Thailand offers customers a competitive advantage through its integrated, total value-chain solutions of adhesives, sealants, and functional coatings for a wide and growing range of industries, including automotive engineering, electronics, food and beverage, furniture, sports and fashion and medical technologies. Its key brands include Loctite, Bonderite, Technomelt, Teroson and Aquence.
With decades of experience in the automotive industry, Henkel’s technical experts work with OEMs, suppliers and business partners on light-weighting and thermal management of electric vehicles, while developing sustainable solutions that help lower energy consumption of these automobiles. In the packaging industry, Henkel works closely with its customers to develop innovative food-safe adhesives which comply with food contact legislations internationally. Solutions from Henkel’s Loctite and Aquence brands are used for food contact and retort packaging applications such as baby food, ready meals and pet food. They are also used in the production of paper straws and paper packaging for products such as sandwich wraps.
Meanwhile, Henkel Thailand’s Beauty Care business includes both Professional and Consumer segments, where it leads with innovations in the fields of hair colorants, hair styling and hair care. The Schwarzkopf brand, which is among the world’s three leading suppliers of Professional hair products, is familiar to Thai consumers as its products have been available since 1956.
The recent acquisition of Shiseido’s Hair Professional business in Asia-Pacific is an expansion of Henkel’s portfolio of established brands, which include Igora Royal, Osis, Syoss, Freshlight and got2b. Globally, Henkel will merge its Beauty Care and Laundry & Home Care business units by the beginning of 2023 to form Henkel Consumer Brands, a multi-category platform with around 10 billion euros in sales.
Pioneering sustainability in operations, solutions and society
Mr. Jayapurna noted that sustainability is a central element of Henkel’s business strategy, and is embedded in its purpose, “Pioneers at heart for the good of generations”. The company has long been committed to leadership in sustainability and has launched a new 2030+ Sustainability Ambition Framework this year. To support achieving climate-positive operations by 2030, Henkel Thailand has installed solar panels on the roofs of its plant in Chonburi, and continually explores ways to reduce energy and water consumption and waste generation at all its sites.
At the same time, Henkel Thailand promotes circularity by developing sustainable packaging solutions. For example, packaging innovations for Schwarzkopf and Syoss products include recycled paper boxes, and new bottle and cap designs that require less plastic. In collaboration with its hair salon partners, Henkel Thailand has launched an initiative to collect used bottles of hair coloration products for recycling.
Over the years, Henkel Thailand has been actively contributing to the community. In March this year, the company donated approximately 2.3 million baht (64,000 euros) to Taksin Hospital Foundation through the Fritz Henkel Stiftung charity foundation. The funds helped to build two Respiratory Care Units and obtain medical equipment to treat Covid-19 patients. Henkel Thailand employees also donate blood twice yearly to the Thai Red Cross Society and donated more than 10,000 euros (395,000 baht) to the Thai Red Cross Society to support medical workers in 2020.
Driving digital transformation through innovations and technologies
By investing in smart technologies and systems, Henkel Thailand is leveraging digitalization and Industry 4.0 technologies to strengthen its manufacturing excellence and create added value for its partners, customers, and consumers. For example, at the adhesive smart factory in Bangpakong, automated and robotic systems, intelligent scanners and data analytics help to manage the production value chain from raw material to finished goods. Agile processes and smart systems have improved decision-making, productivity, safety and sustainability.
In both the Adhesive Technologies and Beauty Care businesses, Henkel Thailand is strengthening its engagement with channel partners, customers and consumers through virtual collaboration, e-commerce and social media platforms. Henkel Beauty Care has developed mobile apps such as ‘House of Color’ and ‘Essential Looks’ to equip hair salon partners with training materials and stock management to ultimately strengthen their competitive advantage and provide better services to consumers.
Shaping the company of tomorrow
Building on its 50-year history, Henkel Thailand is committed to strengthening its culture of collaboration and empowerment. One focal area is diversity, equity and inclusion, which complements Henkel’s global aim to achieve gender parity by 2025. In Thailand, female employees comprise 50 percent of Henkel’s workforce, and the management team is also made up of approximately 50 percent women.
Since the pandemic, many companies have begun to explore flexible work arrangements for the long term. Henkel has embraced the changes and launched a Smart Work concept for employees to work remotely and stay in touch virtually with their teams and customers. The concept also focuses on making its offices valuable spaces that promote collaboration, innovation and knowledge exchange, while creating a sense of belonging.
To equip its employees with critical skills for the future, Henkel creates a culture of continuous learning and invests in people development. Through the Henkel Learning Hub, employees can access more than 9,000 learning materials, as well as external platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, TED Talks and CrossKnowledge. With these development opportunities, Henkel encourages its employees to continuously learn and upskill themselves, unleash their full potential and grow with the company.
