Sika AG

Sika Group

Type	Public
Industry	Chemical & Construction Industry
Founded	1910, Switzerland
Founder	Kaspar Winkler
Headquarters	Baar, Zug, Switzerland
Area served	Fully owned subsidiaries in 98 countries
Key people	Paul Schuler (CEO) Johann Paul Hälg (President of the Board)
Brands	Sikaflex Sikalatex, etc.
Revenue	CHF 5,747.7 million (2016)
Number of employees	17,419 (2016)
Website	www.sika.com

Sika AG is a specialty chemical company headquartered in Baar, Switzerland and manufactures and supplies products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing and protecting in the building sector and the motor vehicle industry. The company has a leading market position in both the buildng sector and the automotive industry. Business activities focus on the seven target markets.

Sika was founded in 1910 when Kaspar Winkler laid the cornerstone for the firm. Winkler worked himself up from poverty to become a successful entrepreneur, and by the 1920s he was already engaged in founding subsidiaries abroad. Today the company has more than 17,000 employees, subsidiaries in 98 countries, and an annual sales turnover of CHF 5.75 billion (2016).

Besides the brand Sika, more than 600 product brands are in use including Sikaflex®, SikaTack®, Sika ViscoCrete®, SikaBond®, Sikafloor®, Sika CarboDur® Sikagard®, Sika MaxTack®, 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).

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 segments 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.
• 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 came 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]
• 2014: Further global growth: Six new subsidiaries opened in Sri Lanka, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria, and eight new factories opened worldwide. Sustainability Reporting: Sika becomes one of the first companies in Switzerland to introduce Global Reporting Initiative G4 Standard Collaboration: Sika establishes a research group on Management in Emerging Markets with the University of Fribourg (Switzerland)
• 2015: Continuation of growth strategy: Acquisitions of Mozambique-based Douro-Moza, BMI Products of Northern California Inc., Axson technologies, Construction Technologies Australia Pty Ltd (CTA) and Addiment Italia. Establishment of national subsidiaries in Ethiopia and Tanzania. The mortar business - a core component of Sika's Strategy 2018- exhibited an above average performance, with sales growth of 12.9%

Group Management ^[14]

Paul Schuler is Sika's CEO

• Chief Executive Officer: Paul Schuler, born 1955
• Head Construction: Yumi Kan, born 1970
• Chief Financial Officer: Adrian Widmer, born 1968
• Head Industry: Thomas Hasler, born 1965
• Chief Technology Officer: Frank Höfflin, born 1964
• Region Asia/Pacific: Mike Campion, born 1965
• Region North America: Christoph Ganz, born 1969
• Region EMEA: Ivo Schädler, born 1966
• Region Latin America: José Luis Vazquez, born 1947

Board of Directors ^[15]

• Paul Johann Hälg, Chairman - CEO Dätwyler Group, Altdorf
• 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 (till 2013)
• 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)
• Jürgen Tinggren - CEO Schindler Group, Ebikon (till 2013)
• Christoph Tobler - CEO, Sefar Holding AG

References

External links

• Sika Worldwide Website
• Sika UK Website