Sika AG
Encyclopedia
Introduction
Sika AG is a company headquartered in BaarBaar
-Places:* Baar, Switzerland, a municipality in the Canton of Zug, Switzerland* Baar, Swabia, a town in western Bavaria, Germany* Baar, Rhineland-Palatinate, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. The company operates in two business areas:
- ConstructionConstructionIn the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
(with products related to the construction sector) and - IndustryIndustryIndustry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
(with products for the manufacturing industry, mainly for the automotive, transportation and shipbuilding business).
Sika has today subsidiaries in 74 countries and employs 13.482 employees (2010) and achieved annual sales of CHF 4.4 billion (2010). Besides the brand Sika, more than 600 brands are in use: Sikaflex, Sika Visco Crete oder SikaBond. Sika AG is the legal entity for the holding company, which includes the Sika organizations worldwide, Sika Technology AG (Research and Development) and Sika Services AG (Corporate functions supporting the all organizations worldwide).
Sika Group Management
- Chief Executive Officer: Ernst Bärtschi, born 1952
- Deputy CEO, Region Europe North: Silvio Ponti, born 1953
- Chief Financial Officer: Ronald Trächsel, born 1959
- Research and Development: Urs Mäder, born 1955
- Operations: Peter Krebser, born 1951
- Region IMEA: Iven Chadwick, born 1960
- Region Asia Pacific: Jan Jenisch, born 1966
- Region Europe South: Hubert Perrin de Brichambaut, born 1957
- Region North America: Paul Schuler, born 1955
- Region Latin America: José Luis Vazquez, born 1947
- Business Unit Contractors: Alexander Bleibler, born 1953
- Business Unit Industry: Bruno Fritsche, born 1952
- Business Unit Distribution: Christoph Ganz, born 1969
- Business Unit Concrete: Ernesto Schümperli, born 1955
Core Competencies
Sika is active in processing materials used in sealing, bonding, dampingDamping
In physics, damping is any effect that tends to reduce the amplitude of oscillations in an oscillatory system, particularly the harmonic oscillator.In mechanics, friction is one such damping effect...
, reinforcing and protecting load-bearing structures. Sika’s product range includes concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
admixtures, specialty mortars, sealants and adhesives, damping
Damping
In physics, damping is any effect that tends to reduce the amplitude of oscillations in an oscillatory system, particularly the harmonic oscillator.In mechanics, friction is one such damping effect...
and reinforcing materials, structural strengthening systems, industrial flooring
Flooring
Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface...
as well as roofing and waterproofing
Waterproofing
Waterproof or water-resistant describes objects relatively unaffected by water or resisting the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet environments or under water to specified depths...
systems. Sika’s adhesive solutions replace older technologies such as bolting
Bolting
Bolting is the growth of an elongated stalk with flowers grown from within the main stem of a plant. This condition occurs in plants that are grown for their leaves, such as cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and other leafy greens. Bolting is induced by plant hormones of the gibberellin family.Bolting...
, riveting and welding
Welding
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
.
| Competencies | |
|---|---|
| Sealing/Bonding | Reduction of the infiltration of gases and liquids through
Resistance to temperature fluctuations Fluctuations Fluctuations may refer to:* Quantum fluctuations arising from the uncertainty principle* Primordial fluctuations, density variations in the early universe* Statistical fluctuations, very important in statistics, statistical mechanics, and thermodynamics... , aging and vibration Vibration Vibration refers to mechanical oscillations about an equilibrium point. The oscillations may be periodic such as the motion of a pendulum or random such as the movement of a tire on a gravel road.Vibration is occasionally "desirable"... for
Coverage of permanent, elastic and structurally continuous connection of different materials. The processes are used to bond
|
| Damping | Reduction of vibration of all frequencies in fixed and moving objects as
CARS Cars, or automobiles, motor cars, are wheeled motor vehicles used for transporting passengers.Cars or CARS may also refer to:-Entertainment:* Cars , a Disney/Pixar film series... , |
| Reinforcing | Improvement of the resistance to static and dynamic loads. Applications range from
|
| Protective elements increase the durability of load-bearing structures and help to preserve new and renovated facilities. |
History
- 1910: Kaspar Winkler founded Sika
Winkler’s first inventions were agents to protect and clean granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
(Conservado, Purigo) and a waterproofing agent for mortars. This waterproofing agent named Sika-1 is still sold today. His construction chemicals were not successful especially not during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
- 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
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan 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
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
.
- 1935: Worldwide Presence
Before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Fritz Schenker, Winkler’s son-in-law pushed the expansion in Europe, North- and South America and in Asia.
- 1971: Second generation change
Romuald Burkardtook 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. And Sika almost sold its sealing membranes business to Sarna.
- 2000: Core competencies
Sika summarizes its core competencies as follows: sealing, bonding, damping
Damping
In physics, damping is any effect that tends to reduce the amplitude of oscillations in an oscillatory system, particularly the harmonic oscillator.In mechanics, friction is one such damping effect...
, reinforcing and protecting.
- 2009: Dubai MetroDubai MetroThe Dubai Metro is a driverless, fully automated metro network in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai. The Red Line and Green Line are operational, with three further lines are planned. These first two lines run underground in the city centre and on elevated viaducts elsewhere...
’s first line
The Dubai Metro’s first line was inaugurated. The second line is scheduled to begin by operating in 2011. There are 58.7km 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.
- 2011: A new president for the Board of Directors at Sika AG
Paul Hälg, CEO of the Dätwyler Gruppe, is nominated for president for the Board of Directors at Sika AG. Jan Jenisch is going to take over the CEO position from Ernst Bärtschi as per January 1, 2012.
Disorientation because of diverse company names
Numerous acquisitions and growth complicate to keep track of the Sika group. More concise and clear information had become necessary. The name Sika Finanz AG leads to a continuous misunderstanding, getting continuously mixed up with a financial institute.- 2002: Renaming of „Sika Finanz AG“ to „Sika AG“
- 2002: „Sika Technology AG“ incorporates the research and development department
- 2002: „Sika Services AG“ provides support for marketing, production and logistics for its subsidiaries.
Negatively, these adaptions cut the cord that had been holding together the headquarters and the group. Sika Switzerland AG became a regular subsidiary without any special functions..