Sika AG

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Sika AG, founded by Kaspar Winkler in 1910, is a globally active specialty chemical company headquartered in Baar, Switzerland manufacturing and supplying products for:

  • Construction (products related to the construction sector for contractors, engineers and construction workers as well as concrete producers) and
  • Industry (products for the manufacturing industry, mainly for the automotive, transportation and shipbuilding business).

Sika has today subsidiaries in 80 countries and employs 15233 employees (2012) and achieved annual sales of CHF 4828.9 million (2012).

Besides the brand Sika, more than 600 brands are in use including Sikaflex®, SikaTack®, Sika ViscoCrete®, SikaBond®, Sikafloor®, Sika CarboDur® Sikagard®, Sikaplan®, Sikament®, Sikadur®, SikaLastic®, SikaRoof® MTC, Sika Unitherm® and Sika Sarnafil®. Sika AG is the legal entity for the holding company, which includes the Sika organisations worldwide, Sika Technology AG (Research and Development) and Sika Services AG (Corporate functions supporting all organizations worldwide).

Sika Group
Type Public
Industry Chemical Industry
Founded 1910, Switzerland
Founder(s) Kaspar Winkler
Headquarters Baar, Zug, Switzerland
Area served Fully owned subsidiaries in 80 countries
Key people Jan Jenisch (CEO)
Johann Paul Hälg (President of the Board)
Revenue Increase CHF 4828.9 million (2012)
Net income Increase CHF 281.1 million (2012)
Employees 15 233 (2012)
Divisions Construction
Industry
Website sika.com

Products & application fields [1]

Sika’s product range includes concrete admixtures, concrete repair & protection systems, specialty mortars, grouting and anchoring systems, sealants and adhesives, damping and reinforcing materials, structural strengthening systems, steel corrosion protection systems, flooring and wall coating systems, fire protection systems as well as roofing and waterproofing systems.

Waterproofing [2]

Waterproofing incorporates either the infiltration of water into structures or the escape of water out of structures. Waterproofing solutions are used for basements, tunnels, water-retaining structures, bridge decks and other types of civil infrastructure. Sika's product range includes watertight concrete and mortar and waterproofing membranes.

Concrete [3]

One of Sika's main market segment are admixtures and additives for the concrete industry. Concrete admixtures include water reducers, set retarders, accelerators, durability enhancers, mold release agents, curing compounds and surface retarders. Main application fields are bridges and buildings. Concrete admixtures are used for shotcrete, self-leveling concrete, precast concrete, ready-mix concrete or the water reduction in concrete. Additives are used for the gypsum fabrication and specialty mortars and as Plasticizers for concrete recycling.

Roofing [4]

Sika is a supplier of roofing membranes and coatings. Roof coatings are mainly used for flat roofs including green roofs, light-reflective cool roofs, solar roofs[5] or roof decks. Roof membranes consist of TPO or PVC.[6]

Flooring & coatings

Sika supplies flooring products based on epoxy, polyurethane, cement and hybrids. Main application fields are floors in production, processing, logistic and storage facilities, cleanrooms, car parks and floors with ESD protection. Coatings are used for tank linings, water treatment facilities, Fire protection and corrosion protection for steel structures.

Sealing & Bonding [7]

Sealing and bonding has the aim to reduce the infiltration of gases and liquids through Voids, Cavities, transmission, Spread or loss of heat. Adhesive solutions are an alternative to technologies such as bolting, riveting and welding.

Sika's sealing and bonding solutions are used for building envelopes, floor joints, wood floor bonding and interior finishings in kitchen and bathrooms.

Refurbishment

In the market field refurbishment Sika supplies products for concrete protection and repair solutions such as repair mortars, protective coatings, structural strengthening, tiling, anchoring and hydrophobic impregnation.

Industrial manufacturing & automotive

Sika supplies products for the automotive market, for example custom solutions for automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and suppliers (OES) and windscreen adhesives for the automotive aftermarket, for improved safe drive away time (SDAT). Sealing and bonding products are also used for commercial vehicles (e.g. buses), shipbuilding, facades, fenestration manufacturing and for renewable energies (e.g. bonding solutions for wind mill blades and solar panels).

Automotive aftermarket

In the automotive aftermarket Sika is global market leader for windscreen adhesives in windscreen replacement applications.[8] From the beginning highest safety for the car owners as well as simple to use systems were the key factors that made Sika successful. Sika has done more than 60 car crash tests to verify the safety of the system.[9] In addition to this Sika is also offering a wide range of products for collision repair and provides solutions to applications such as seam sealing, sprayable sealing, underbody coating, stone chip protection, gasketing, structural bonding etc. Sika aftermarket products are available under the brand names of Sikaflex, SikaTack and SikaTitan for polyurethane adhesives and sealants, Sikasil for gasketing, SikaGard for protective coatings and SikaPower for structural repair solutions.[10]

History [11]

1910 - 1950

  • 1910: Kaspar Winkler founded Sika: Winkler’s first inventions were agents to protect and clean granite (Conservado, Purigo) and a waterproofing agent for mortars. This waterproofing agent named Sika-1 is still sold today. His construction chemicals were not successful especially not during World War I.
  • 1912: Subsidiary founded: In Southern Germany a subsidiary with its own, small-scale manufacturing facility was founded. Leadership capacity and connections were insufficient for determined expansion. By hiring a Director for Foreign Operations who cared about the Sika operations, more subsidiaries were founded in England, Italy, and France.
  • 1918: The Swiss Federal Railways ran successful trials: The Swiss Federal Railways ran successful trials using Sika to waterproof the tunnels of the Gotthard section. This became necessary so that electric trains could be used as well. The Swiss National Railways waterproofed 67 tunnels with Sika during the following years, which was Sika’s breakthrough, as it represented Sika’s first big reference project, a true landmark.
  • 1935: Worldwide Presence: Before World War II Fritz Schenker, Winkler’s son-in-law pushed the expansion in Europe, North- and South America and in Asia.

1950 - 2000

  • 1971: Second generation change: Romuald Burkard took over the leadership of the group of companies which by 1968 had become a single integral corporate structure with Sika Finanz AG. Subsequently, Sika was listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange.
  • 1990: Weak Profitability: 1990s were not an easy decade for Sika AG. The solution to survive the difficult times was achieved by withdrawing from less lucrative, non-core businesses, such as the building of robots used to restore sewer lines. Sika also abandoned the manufacture of road building products. Sika cam close to selling its sealing membranes business to Sarnafil.
  • 2000: Core competencies: Sika summarizes its core competencies as follows: sealing, bonding, damping, reinforcing and protecting.

2000 - present

  • 2009: Dubai Metro’s first line: The Dubai Metro’s first line was inaugurated. The second line is scheduled to begin by operating in 2011. There are 58.7 km of overground track in tunnels clad with 53000 prefabricated tubbing elements.
  • 2010: 100-year anniversary: Worldwide celebrations at the different subsidiaries with the attendance of the owner family, active and retired Senior Managers, and others. On the threshold of its 100-year anniversary, Sika starts running the platform Sika Experiences which promotes internships and enables students and young professionals insights into this industry.
  • 2012: A new president for the Board of Directors and a new CEO: Paul Hälg, CEO of the Dätwyler Gruppe, is elected as president of the Board of Directors of Sika AG. Jan Jenisch takes over the CEO position from Ernst Bärtschi upon his retirement on January 1, 2012.
  • 2013: Target Markets & Regions: Sika defines its target markets as concrete, waterproofing, roofing, flooring, sealing and bonding, refurbishment and industry. The geographical regions are reduced from six to four: EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), North America, Latin America and Asia/Pacific. The former regions Europe South and Europe North are incorporated in the new region EMEA. The region IMEA is dissolved and India is included in the region Asia/Pacific. The regional distinction is based on unified economic areas and supply chain structures.
  • June 2013: Acquisition of Everbuild: Sika acquired Everbuild, the UK leading manufacturer of sealants and Adhesives.[12]
  • July 2013: Acquisition of membrane manufacturers: Sika acquired JMTexsa, S.A. de C.V. of Mexico and Texsa India Ltd. They are leading manufacturers of waterproofing membranes and will complement Sika's roofing product range.[13]

Group Management [14]

Jan Jenisch is Sika's CEO
  • Chief Executive Officer: Jan Jenisch, born 1966
  • Deputy CEO, Building Systems & Industry: Silvio Ponti, born 1953
  • Concrete & Waterproofing: Ernesto Schümperli, born 1955
  • Chief Financial Officer: Ronald Trächsel, born 1959
  • Chief Technology Officer: Urs Mäder, born 1955
  • Region Asia/Pacific: Heinz Gisel, born 1965
  • Region North America: Christoph Ganz, born 1969
  • Region EMEA: Paul Schuler, born 1955
  • Region Latin America: José Luis Vazquez, born 1947

Board of Directors [15]

  • Paul Johann Hälg, Chairman - CEO Dätwyler Group, Altdorf
  • Thomas W. Bechtler, Vice Chairman - CEO, Hesta AG, Zug
  • Urs F. Burkard - Principal, Burkard Office Design GmbH, Rotkreuz
  • Frits van Dijk - Nestlé SA Executive Board (till 2011)
  • Willi K. Leimer - Partner, WMPartners, Zurich
  • Monika Ribar - CEO, Panalpina AG, Basel
  • Daniel J. Sauter - CEO and delegate of Board of Directors, Xstrata AG, Zug (till 2001)
  • Ulrich W. Suter - Vice President for Research, ETH Zurich (till 2005)
  • Christoph Tobler - CEO, Sefar Holding AG

Critics

Disorientation because of diverse company names [16]

Numerous acquisitions and growth complicate keeping track of the Sika group. More concise and clear information had become necessary. The name Sika Finanz AG leads to a continuous misunderstanding, getting continuously mixed up with a financial institute.

  • 2002: Renaming of „Sika Finanz AG“ to „Sika AG“
  • 2002: „Sika Technology AG“ incorporates the research and development department
  • 2002: „Sika Services AG“ provides support for marketing, production and logistics for its subsidiaries.

Negatively, these adaptions cut the cord that had been holding together the headquarters and the group. Sika Switzerland AG became a regular subsidiary without any special functions..

Case of fraud in Taiwan [17]

Sika Taiwan is suspected of failing to inform the Taipei City Government of a product recall in January by the manufacturer’s US Sika USA in 2002. As a consequence Walter Grüebler (CEO between 2000 and 2004) decided that Sika subsidiaries have to pay superfluous resources to the holding company.

Industrial Flooring Claim in Germany

A newly developed flooring product was not performing as expected and created a massive claim in Germany in 1990. Besides the image damage Sika was confronted with claims for millions of Swiss Francs. This triggered the introduction of a structured development and roll-out process.

Competitors [18]

Sika's main competitors are:

References

  1. ↑ Annual Report, 2011
  2. ↑ Target Market Waterproofing
  3. ↑ Target Market Concrete
  4. ↑ Target Market Roofing
  5. ↑ Optimistic Outlook in the Solar Thermal Energy Sector
  6. ↑ Flat Roofing Market Report - UK 2013-2017 Analysis
  7. ↑ Target Market Sealing & Bonding
  8. ↑ http://www.sika.com/en/solutions_products/Sika%20Industry%20Business/01a001.html
  9. ↑ http://chn.sika.com/zh/solutions_products/01/01a001/info/agrhistory.html
  10. ↑ http://chn.sika.com/afm
  11. ↑ Sika's Company History
  12. ↑ Sika Press Release: Sika acquires leading UK manufacturer of sealants and adhesives
  13. ↑ Reuters Press Release: SIKA ACQUIRES LEADING MANUFACTURERS OF WATERPROOFING MEMBRANES IN MEXICO AND INDIA
  14. ↑ Management of Sika AG
  15. ↑ Board of Directors of Sika AG
  16. ↑ Dry but never tedious. 100 years of Sika
  17. ↑ Article at Taipei Times, August 12th, 2009
  18. ↑ hoovers Company Information Sika, Retrieved 2013-02-12
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