PLANATOL chronicle
Press release 13.06.2007
PLANATOL celebrates its 75th birthday party this year. In 1932, the company - which now has its site in Rohrdorf near Rosenheim - was founded by Willy Hesselmann in München and was called “PLANATOLWERK W. Hesselmann, Chemische und Maschinenfabrik für Klebetechnik”.
The focus of the company from the beginning was the combination of gluing products with the appropriate gluing machines. Synthetic-resin glues and emulsions for paper coating were produced in the chemical department. To provide the most suitable use of the chemical department’s products, gluing appliances and machines were developed and produced in the engineering department.
At that time, the basic chemistry for synthetic resins was also in its initial stages and the raw materials for the production of synthetic-resin cold glues themselves were produced in experimental plants so that they were only available in very small amounts for the production process. This situation continued until about 1936 when raw materials based on synthetic resin were available in sufficient quantities so that a profitable production was possible. Chronologically, Planatol counts as one of the oldest manufacturers of synthetic-resin cold glues in the world market.
From 1932 onwards, the engineering department has developed appliances and machines for paper coating with synthetic resin and glues, using their own patents. Particularly well-known are the special machines for the production of self-adhesive post cards with natural fast drying which were further developed after the Second World War to fully automatic rotary presses.
Due to air war damage, the company moved from Munich to Dietmannsried in the Allgäu in 1943. There, far away from the focal points of a large city, the company successfully developed its chemical products. After the end of the war, production started again at the beginning of May 1945 as the American occupying army needed almost the entire production, gave early permission for manufacture and also made sure that the raw materials could be obtained.
After the currency reform, the company developed so rapidly that the factory area in Dietramsried became too cramped. In 1952, a site was bought in Thansau near Rosenheim (South Bavaria) and production was transferred there.
In the 60s, the company’s synthetic-resin glue, the mixed glue and starch and latex glue products for all areas in trade and industry were regarded as top products due to their high quality. Along with dispersion adhesives, the company then started to develop and manufacture hotmelts (in 1985 the portfolio was supplemented by the development and production of PUR). The products were already exported worldwide at that time. The same applied and still applies to the products of the engineering department in gluing and adhesive binding machines for records offices, book-binders and paper converting plants, particularly for modern threadless adhesive binding processes and in automatic glue coating devices for many types of paper converting machines.
In 1966, following the death of the company’s founder Willy Hesselmann, his 3 sons Karlheinz, Peter and Theodor Hesselmann took over the management. In machine construction, the production area OPIMATIC was consistently extended as a system supplier of fold gluing aggregates in offset printing machines. The rotary press fold gluing technology - both longitudinal and cross-web gluing – was definitely driven forward by Planatol. Today, the OPIMATIC area is an important mainstay of the company group. The enterprise not only supplies fold glues but also the relevant consumer materials. The strategy of 1932, whereby adhesives and machines are manufactured in one area, continues to be successful.
This also applies to another part of the company. In the early 70s, the PLANAX department invented binding with thermo-binding strips. Since then, the original Thermomatic Binder and the further developed PLANAX Copy Binder have made documentation binding much easier - for in-house printers, administration and copy shops. The hotmelt-coated binding strips needed for this binding process are also a PLANATOL product.
Following the resignation of his brothers, from 2003 Theodor Hesselmann has had the full responsibility for the management of the company. Since the spring of 2007 the management has been shared with Michael Böddeker. At the end of this year – after 51 years as a member of the company -Theodor Hesselmann will move to become a member of the supervisory board. In the graphic industry PLANATOL is regarded as a specialist for gluing technology. As Theodor Hesselmann said: „We will consolidate and extend this competence in our key market. At the same time, we will use our extensive gluing know-how to enter new markets.“ In the year 2000 the PLANATOL company group invested in the adhesive tape manufacturer BIOLINK in Geretsried, and in 2005 it took over the PLANATOL Milker Adhesive in Horhausen, a manufacturer of coating adhesives. Today, the company group covers a wide spectrum in the gluing technology segment, is very specialised and supplies new markets, such as automotive, construction, furniture and textile industry. PLANATOL has 200 employees, and in 2006 it made a turnover of € 40m. The enterprise has 3 production sites in Germany and a sales office in France as well as a worldwide trade and agency structure.