The packaging industry is being rewritten. New sustainability regulations, rising demand for circular solutions, and the shift to digitalized manufacturing are raising the bar, requiring faster innovation and closer collaboration. Henkel Adhesive Technologies is answering that call with the inauguration of its extensively modernized Packaging Competence Center in Düsseldorf: a single hub where hands-on collaboration turns ideas into industrial reality.
“The choice of adhesive or coating made today are defining the packages that will reach the shelves tomorrow,” says Dirk Martin, Head of Henkel Packaging Adhesives and Coatings in Europe. “With our Packaging Competence Center, we are making sure those choices are the right ones by giving our customers and partners a unique environment to develop, test, and scale the solutions that will shape the future of packaging: faster, smarter and more sustainably than ever before."
The comprehensive modernization of the Packaging Competence Center builds on Henkel’s strategic partnership with Nordmeccanica that was announced in May 2025 and is focused on driving innovation and sustainability in the flexible packaging industry. The center boasts new, cutting-edge machinery, creating a practical testing environment that replicates state-of-the-art production conditions. This gives customers the ability to test adhesive and coating solutions under realistic conditions and validate for industrial use and scale up.
“A strategic partnership only creates value when it delivers results in practice,” says Nordmeccanica Vice President Vincenzo Cerciello. “With our machinery now at the core of the modernized Packaging Competence Center, we are turning shared ambition into concrete capabilities, enabling the packaging industry to test, refine, and scale solutions with a level of precision and speed that simply wasn't possible before.”
A site built for future-readinessTwo new machines from Nordmeccanica, the Super Combi 5000 and Super Simplex SL e800, enable all standard lamination and coating processes used across the industry. Combined with five flexible application trolleys with a unique gearless flexo coating technology, and expanded digitalization for systematic data collection, the Henkel Packaging Competence Center now meets the most advanced industrial standards.
“The site is built for where the industry is heading: recyclable solutions and fewer chemicals of concern,” says Kai Ethner, Director of Application Engineering for Henkel Packaging Adhesives and Coatings in Europe. "For example, coatings are essential to this transition, enabling the functional mono-material packaging designs the market increasingly demands. With a particular focus on gravure and flexographic coating applications for plastic and paper substrates, we are helping our customers test faster, scale sooner, and bring recyclable solutions to market with greater impact. Henkel is covering its complete product portfolio, ranging from solvent-free, water-based, solvent-based adhesive systems as well as coatings solutions.”
In parallel, Henkel has also invested in its testing area for pressure sensitive adhesive applications in the same building. Modern coating systems as well as UV activation and measurement systems complement the equipment in this laboratory area. With these additions, Henkel collaborates closely with its customers to create the latest solutions for the Specialty Tapes and Labels industry.
With the modernized Packaging Competence Center, Henkel Adhesive Technologies is adding a new dimension to its seamless, integrated customer journey by connecting it with the neighboring Inspiration Center Düsseldorf. From chemistry development to application testing, industrial validation, and training, all key steps of the product life cycle are mapped – from the design phase through to recycling with the company’s in-house recyclability testing lab. Henkel also supports companies with offerings such as the Converter’s Academy, the PSA Academy and additional customer training, helping them better understand current application technologies, master them reliably and transfer them into production faster.
“Achieving our number one target, true sustainability in packaging, demands strong collaboration across the value chain,” says Ethner. “This is not just about new machines or buildings: It’s about bringing experience and expertise together to move the industry forward with our customers and our partners.”