It was in 1886 when Harvey Benjamin Fuller began dabbling in glue, figuring that the world needed a convenient, economical, strong adhesive--an adhesive so versatile that both homemakers and manufacturers could use it. By 1887, Fuller had settled in St. Paul, Minn., founded the company that is his namesake, and continued to seek new opportunities for his adhesives.
Convenient, economic, effective, and versatile products that meet customer needs. A hundred years later, H.B. Fuller is sticking with that philosophy and using today’s technology to leverage what we’ve learned along the way.
Here are some of the highlights:
• Fuller, working in an iron kettle on the family’s wood-burning kitchen stove, creates a flour-based wet wallpaper paste. St. Paul paperhangers who, until that time were forced to make their own, are delighted with the convenience.
• “Why pay freight on water?” Wet paste was a heavy commodity, expensive to ship. With his usual ingenuity, Fuller creates and markets a dry paste that can be sent more cheaply to distant customers. By 1905, customers in England, Germany, and Australia are willing to pay the cost of shipping to purchase Fuller’s premium dry paste and new wall cleaner.
• Fuller anticipates the needs of feeding the troops fighting World War I, and begins manufacturing glue used by the canning industry as it packaged rations for soldiers overseas. This market becomes a major source of company business years later.
• Custom concoctions are created for discriminating customers during the 1920s: Special Tin Paste for the Northwest Metalware Company of Minneapolis; Special Bottle Labeling Gum for the Rex Company of Duluth, Minn.; Cold Pick-up Gum for the Gedney Company of St. Paul.
• H.B. Fuller celebrates its 50th anniversary in 1937 with a virtual monopoly on Twin Cities glue production and customers in 38 states.
• During World War II, Fuller introduces a new product that protects labels on supplies dumped into the South Pacific and floated to Allied troops onshore.
• In 1946, the company surpasses the $1 million mark in sales. And by 1947, H.B. Fuller ranks sixth in production among the 30 largest adhesives manufacturers in the United States. Three years later, total sales jump to $2.5 million, improving the company's standing two notches to become the fourth largest adhesives manufacturer in the country.
• The 1950s are a time of rapid growth. Among the most innovative introductions are ResiweldŽ epoxy resin adhesive. Touted as the “strongest glue in the world,” it is resistant to water, solvents and chemicals, and can be used in aircraft manufacturing, electronics, and highway and bridge repairs. Along with product development, the company begins to expand its borders beyond the United States--where sales now total $8 million annually--forming H.B. Fuller Company Ltd. in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1958.
• “Sell more glue in ’62.” And they do. Company sales total $14.2 million, up 19 percent. The company’s original wallpaper paste--”scientifically revised and ‘re-perfected’” many times over--is still in the product line. So too are a myriad of new products that will “glue anything from astronautical vehicles to atomic-powered submarines--or anything in between.” That includes more than 1,000 products designed to bond aircraft parts, seal concrete bridges and highways, and glue boxes and labels.
• The company goes public in 1968 and by the end of the decade is operating and selling products in cities around the world: Lippstadt, Lima, Beirut, Buenos Aires, Montreal, Manila, Copenhagen, Santiago, Saskatoon, Taipei, Toronto, and Tocumen. Latin American operations are established that same year.
• By the 1970s, sales exceed $100 million, and the company launches operations in Europe and Asia/Pacific.
• As the ’80s approach, research becomes a focus. The company purchases 180 acres in Vadnais Heights, Minn., north of St. Paul, to build a new research laboratory. A large portion is preserved as a wetland and wildlife habitat.
• In 1984, H.B. Fuller joins the Fortune 500 list. That same year, the company is named one of the best 100 companies to work for in America.
• Worldwide sales of $1.1 billion are reached in 1994.
• H.B. Fuller enters the new millennium as a $1.353 billion company with 5,200 employees, manufacturing thousands of products for customers in more than 100 countries. An industry leader in e-business strategy, a large portion of buying and selling transactions are converted to e-stores.
