ADHESIVE MANUFACTURING (FEVICOL TYPE)

An adhesive is a material used for holding two surfaces together. An adhesive must wet the surfaces, adhere to the surfaces, develop strength after it has been applied, and remain stable. Adhesion is a specific interfacial phenomenon. There are three main theories of adhesion: adsorption, electrical and diffusion. All probably apply to most adhesives. Surface preparation before applying the adhesive is of prime importance. The raw materials for adhesives are mainly polymeric materials, both naturally occurring and synthetic. A useful way to classify adhesives is by the way they react chemically after they have been applied to the surfaces to be joined. There is a huge range of adhesives, and one appropriate for the materials being joined must be chosen.

For a material to perform as an adhesive it must have four main requirements:

• It must “wet” the surfaces – that is it must flow out over the surfaces that are being bonded, displacing all air and other contaminates that are present.

• It must adhere to the surfaces – That is after flowing over the whole surface area it must start to adhere and stay in position and become “tacky”.

• It must develop strength – The material must now change its structure to become strong or non-tacky but still adherent.

• It must remain stable – The material must remain unaffected by age, environmental conditions and other factors as long as the bond is required.

The adhesion phenomenon is relevant to many scientific and technological areas and has become in recentyearsavery important field of study.Themain applicationofadhesion is bonding by adhesives, this technique replacing, at least partially,and more classical mechanical attachment techniques such as bolting or riveting. It is considered to be competitive primarily because it allows us to save weight, to ensure a better stress distribution, and offers better aesthetics since the glue line is practically invisible.

Applications of bonding by adhesives can be found in many industries, particularly in such advanced technical domains as the aeronautical and space industry, automobilemanufacture, and electronics. Adhesives have also been introduced in such areas as dentistry and surgery.

Adhesive joints are not, however, the only applications of adhesion. Adhesion is involvedwhenever solids are brought into contact, as in coatings, paints, and varnishes; multilayered sandwiches; polymer blends; filled polymers; and composite materials. Since the final performance of these multicomponent materials depends significantly on the quality of the interface that is formed between the solids, it is understandable that a better knowledge of the adhesion phenomenon is required for practical applications.

Thehistory of adhesives and sealants is closely related to thehistoryofhumankind.Some ofwhat are thought of as relatively ‘‘new’’ uses of adhesives have their origins in ancient times, and althoughmostof thesematerialshavebeen subject to vast changes,othershave been changed very littleover time.Asnewmaterials aredeveloped, a reviewof thehistory of uses can lead one to seewhere theymight be applied to improve old applications, and sometimes to satisfy requirements of entirely new applications.

In nearly all fields of application in processing industries, adhesives can substitute or supplementthe traditional joining processes such as welding, riveting or screwing. More than any otherprocess, adhesive bonding technology can make it possible to fix the most dissimilar materialstogether permanently, without damaging the joining parts and thus impairing their stability.

As a result of rising production demands and high environmental awareness, adhesives havebecome high-tech products, which have for a long time been accepted in highly sensitiveindustries such as aviation and space technology. Advantages such as weight reduction, fasterassembly and more cost effective production, through short contact times and ease of applicationwith state-of-the art measuring technology, are constantly opening up new application fields forthis innovative method of fixing.

Fevicol:- The King of Adhesive Marketis a brand of adhesive manufactured & marketed by Pidilite& synonymous with the word adhesives in India. This is a commendable feat considering it is a brand in a low involvement category such as adhesives which, rarely gets free & earned media. Fevicol currently has around 70 percent market share. The rest of the market share is captured by its competitors – Falcofix, Bluecoat, Vamicol & Araldite, part from many local brands in the unorganized segment.

It was first launched & marketed in India in 1959 and was promoted as easy to use glue for carpenters, as an alternative to fat & collagen based adhesive which had to be boiled before application. Today, Fevicol is a generic name in the adhesive category sold in over 50 countries & a familiar sight in most of the Indian households. During the time of its launch, it was primarily meant to be used as glue for woodworking while secondary applications included uses in flooring, footwear & upholstery.

The adhesive brand, which is immediately identifiable to most Indians, has been so popular that it has become a part of the popular culture. So much so that it is now synonymous for any kind of adhesives and people use the word “fevicol” to indicate adhesive irrespective of the real brand. It has to be agreed that Fevicol has reached this stage by offering quality products continuously over five decades. But the credit for its success also goes to the innovative, award winning commercials of fevicol which have been immensely popular among the masses. In this brief study, an effort is being made to explore the branding process of fevicol in the Indian market through an analysis of the advertisements created by it.

While advertising used to be very simplistic in India till a decade ago, the global trends are now fast catching up. The audience is more sophisticated and demanding now that they were ever before. They not only expect to get useful information, but also want to get entertained through the ads since they are spending their precious time watching them. But at the same time there are linguistic, cultural and traditional values and expectations that drive the buying decisions in India. So, “Honesty” can be considered a prerequisite for selling a product in India. The there has to be a constant and credible advertising effort all the time. Recall value as well as persuasion are important differentiators in the Indian market.

International advertising basically involves dissemination of commercial information to the target audiences in multiple markets. But these target audiences differ from country to country based on the cultural impacts that dictate how they perceive certain symbols, interpret certain stimuli and respond to humorous or emotional appeals. India is also a unique culture that has a very different taste from the western audience and despite a larger exposure to foreign media in recent decades these deep rooted cultural differences will not vanish in the near future.