Record viscosity, solids and bond strength for every adhesive batch and the pails it filled.

Adhesives are judged by whether they hold. A carton maker wants a glue that sets at line speed, a footwear factory wants a bond that survives flexing, and a woodworker wants an open time that fits the press. Each need leads to a different formulation. None is interchangeable.

The record of those choices is usually thin. Recipes are in a technical manager’s folder, viscosity readings are in a lab notebook, and the filling line writes lot codes by hand on pails. A customer reports a joint that failed after a few weeks, and the plant tries to find the batch, the resin lot and the test result that match that pail. The search is slow. Meanwhile the shelf life clock keeps running on every other pail from that batch, and stock in the warehouse and at the customer’s site may be affected too.

Resins, polymers, solvents or water, fillers and additives are weighed into a mixing kettle according to the recipe for each grade. The operator controls temperature and mixing speed, adds ingredients in order, and takes a sample for the laboratory. The laboratory measures viscosity, solids content, pH and, for some grades, pot life, open time and peel or shear strength on a test bond.

Approved adhesive is filled into pails, drums, tubes or cartridges on a packing line. Each container carries a batch code, a fill weight and a use-by date. Lines are changed over by grade. Sales teams book orders, often as repeat orders from converters, labellers and furniture makers, and dispatch ships with a technical data sheet. Slow grades are watched for expiry.