Nordson Corporation
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| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: NDSN | |
| Founded | 1954  |
| Founder | Walter G. Nord |
| Headquarters | Westlake, Ohio , United States |
Area served | Global |
Key people | Michael F. Hilton, President & CEO and Gregory A. Thaxton, Vice |
| Products | Precision Dispensing Equipment,Testing and Inspection Equipment, Surface Preparation and Curing Equipment |
| Revenue | US $819.2 million (2009) |
Number of employees | 3,681 (2009) |
| Website | http://www.nordson.com/ |
Nordson Corporation is an American multinational corporation that designs and manufactures dispensing equipment for consumer and industrial adhesives, sealants and coatings. The company also manufactures equipment used in the testing and inspection of electronic components as well as technology-based systems for curing and surface treatment processes. The company is headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, and has direct operations and sales-support offices in approximately 30 countries.
Business Profile
Nordson is organized into three segments:
Adhesive Dispensing Systems
This segment delivers precision dispensing technology to diverse industries. Products produced by this segment include hot melt equipment and hot melt applicators which are supported through a variety of adhesive equipment programs. This segment is also a supplier of hot melt replacement parts.
The Nordson Adhesive Dispensing Systems segment consists of the following lines of business:
- Nonwoven Systems: Produces equipment for applying adhesives, lotions, liquids and fibers to disposable products. Specific applications include adult incontinence products, baby diapers and child-training pants, feminine hygiene products and surgical drapes, gowns, shoe covers and face masks.
- Packaging Systems: Produces automated adhesive dispensing systems used in the food and beverage and packaged goods industries. Specific applications include food packages and wrappers and drink containers.
- Paper and Paperboard Converting Systems: Produces hot melt and cold glue adhesive dispensing systems for the paper and paperboard converting industries. Specific applications include bag and sack manufacturing, bookbinding, envelope manufacturing and folding carton manufacturing.
- Product Assembly: Produces adhesive and sealant dispensing systems for bonding or sealing plastic, metal and wood products. Specific applications include appliances, automotive components, building and construction materials, electronics, furniture and solar energy.
- Web Coating Systems: Produces laminating and coating systems used to manufacture continuous-roll goods in the nonwovens, textile, paper and flexible-packaging industries. Specific applications include carpet, labels, tapes and textiles.
Advanced Technology Systems
This segment develops and sells products which are used in production processes, such as surface preparation, dispensing of material, curing of dispensed material, bond testing and X-ray inspection. This segment primarily serves electronic and related high-tech industries.
The Nordson Advanced Technology Systems segment consists of the following lines of business:
- Dispensing Systems — Manual and automated fluid dispensers and systems for applying materials in customer processes typically requiring high precision and material conservation. These systems include piezoelectric and motionless two-component mixing dispensing systems. Specific applications include aerospace, electronics (cell phones, liquid crystal displays, micro hard drives, microprocessors, printed circuit boards, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, CDs and DVDs), general industrial, life sciences (dental and medical devices, including pacemakers and stents), light emitting diodes (LED) and solar energy.
- These dispensing systems and related equipment are produced by the Nordson EFD division, which manufactures dispensing needles, dispensing nozzles, dispensing tips, solder paste and precision fluid dispensers, and the Nordson ASYMTEK division, which manufactures conformal coating equipment, automated fluid dispensing equipment and fluid dispensing systems.
- Surface Preparation — The Nordson MARCH division manufactures automated gas plasma cleaning systems used to clean and condition surfaces for the semiconductor, medical and printed circuit board industries. Specific applications include contact lenses, electronics, medical instruments and devices, printed circuit boards and semiconductors.
- Bond Testing and Inspection Systems — The Nordson DAGE division manufactures bond testing equipment and high resolution x-ray inspection systems. The Nordson YESTECH division also manufactures x-ray inspection equipment along with automated optical inspection equipment (AOI). These products are used mainly in the semiconductor and printed circuit board industries with additional applications in the LED and solar energy markets.
- Curing and Drying Systems — Nordson ultraviolet UV curing equipment is used primarily in curing and drying operations for adhesives, coatings, semiconductor materials and paints. Specific applications include electronics, plastic containers, packaging, semiconductor equipment, general product assembly and wood and medium-density fiberboard (MDF).
Industrial Coating Systems
This segment provides both standard and highly-customized equipment used primarily for applying coatings, paint, finishes, sealants and other materials. This segment primarily serves the consumer durables market. Product divisions include the following:
The Nordson Industrial Coating Systems segment consists of the following lines of business:
- Powder Coating Systems — Produces automated and manual dispensing systems used to apply powder paints and coatings to a variety of metal, plastic and wood products. Specific applications include agriculture and construction equipment, appliances, automotive components, home and office furniture, lawn and garden equipment and wood and metal shelving.
- Container Coating and Curing Systems — Automated and manual dispensing and curing systems used to coat and cure containers. Specific applications include aluminum can coating for beverages and food.
- Automotive Systems — Automated and manual dispensing systems used to apply materials in the automotive, heavy truck and recreational vehicle manufacturing industries. Specific applications include powertrain components, body assembly and final trim applications.
- Liquid Finishing Systems — Automated and manual dispensing systems used to apply liquid paints and coatings to consumer and industrial products. Specific applications include automotive components, construction, metal shelving and drums.
History[1]
Nordson Corporation was started in 1954 in Amherst, Ohio, by brothers Eric and Evan Nord. However, the company’s roots trace back to the U.S. Automatic Company, which was started in 1909.
Initially, the U.S. Automatic Company specialized in high-volume, low-cost screw machine parts for the then emerging automotive industry. In 1935, under the direction of Walter G. Nord, the company shifted its production emphasis to lower-volume, high-precision parts that were critical in supporting the United States' defense effort during World War II.
In the years following the war, Mr. Nord, along with his sons Eric and Evan, searched for a proprietary product to serve as a basis for future growth. This product was found in 1954 with the acquisition of patents covering the "hot airless" method of spraying paint and other coating materials. With the patents in hand, Nordson was started as a division of U.S. Automatic Corporation to produce and market airless spray equipment.
In the mid 1960s, Nordson worked on heated coatings technology, which led to the development of equipment to apply thermoplastic adhesives, commonly called hot melts, for case sealing, carton manufacturing and product assembly operations. In 1966, the entire U.S. Automatic operation was merged into the subsidiary, Nordson Corporation. Later, the company added air-atomized spray painting systems, and incorporated efficient electrostatics in airless, air-atomized and rotary-atomized painting processes.
Beginning in the late 1960s, Nordson developed a way to apply powder coatings with compact and efficient cartridge-type recovery/recycle systems. Recent advances include specialized equipment for applying environmentally friendly liquid coatings such as waterborne and super-critical fluid coatings.
In the late 1980s, Nordson began to acquire companies to give it a stronger position in new technology, product quality and customer service. The first was the 1989 purchase of Industriell Coating Aktiebolag, which specialized in Tribo-charged powder spray technology.
Acquisitions
Nordson expanded its hot melt adhesive dispensing business with the acquisitions of Meltex in 1989 and Slautterback Corporation in 1992, incorporating recent technological advancements in heating, dispensing and electronic controls. By acquiring VeriTec Technologies in 1999, a manufacturer of cold-adhesive dispensing equipment, Nordson was able to sell products for a larger range of applications for product assembly, packaging and converting applications worldwide.
In the nonwovens market, in 1998, Nordson acquired J&M Laboratories Inc, a manufacturer of melt-blowing systems used to produce synthetic nonwoven fabrics and adhesive dispensing equipment for the assembly of diapers, medical disposables and feminine hygiene products. The acquisition merged J&M's meltblown and spun-bond technologies with Nordson's existing nonwovens capabilities.
In the late 1990s, Nordson focused its acquisition efforts on companies with histories of above-average financial performance that would expand its presence in emerging high-technology markets. From 1996 to 2000, the company made strategic acquisitions in this segment, adding ultraviolet (UV) curing capabilities from Spectral Technology Group in 1996 and Horizon Lamps Inc. in 1999; gas plasma technologies from Advanced Plasma Systems in 1996 and March Instruments Inc. in 1999 – merged and renamed to March Plasma Systems (2002); and precision dispensing equipment for the electronics, medical and fiber optics industries with the acquisitions of Asymtek in 1996 and EFD Inc. in 2000.
The acquisition in 2004 of W. Puffe Technologies, a manufacturer of hot melt adhesive dispensing systems, expanded Nordson’s technology base in adhesive systems, while also providing increased access to European markets. The company restructured its adhesives segment to focus on the core businesses when it divested the Fiber Systems Group in 2006.
Throughout the 2007 fiscal year, Nordson made a number of new acquisitions, beginning with the purchase of Dage Holdings in December 2006. This acquisition entered Nordson into a new line of business – test and measurement. Shortly after the purchase of Dage, Nordson strengthened its position in test and measurement with the acquisition of YESTech Industries (April 2007). Also in April, Nordson announced the acquisition of PICODOSTEC, which specialized in piezoelectric actuation technology.
Notable Industry Awards and Innovations
The Nordson manufacturing facility located in Dawsonville, Georgia, USA was been named one of the ten best manufacturing plants in North America as a winner in Industry Week magazine’s 2009 Best Manufacturing Plants competition.[2]. It is the second year in a row a Nordson plant has been named a winner, as the company’s Swainsboro, Georgia facility earned the same honor in 2008.[3]
Nordson EFD was named a winner of the 2010 SMT Vision Award for its UltimusTM V High-precision Dispenser. The SMT Vision Awards honor products and technologies that have shaped the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturing industry.[4].Products are judged on innovation, cost-effectiveness, speed/throughput improvements, quality, ease of use, and environmental responsibility.
Nordson ASYMTEK has been recognized as a recipient of Intel Corporation’s Preferred Quality Supplier (PQS) award for their performance in 2009 [5]. Nordson ASYMTEK supplies Intel with precision dispensing equipment. The PQS award is part of Intel’s Supplier Continuous Quality Improvement (SCQI) program that encourages suppliers to strive for excellence and continuous improvement.
References
- ^ "History". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ Industry Week, Best Plants Profile 2009
- ^ Industry Week, Best Plants Profile 2008
- ^ SMT Magazine
- ^ Intel Press Room