(July 8, 2008) IRVINE, CA — As part of its expansion strategy into established and emerging electronics manufacturing regions, the electronics group of Henkel announced a distribution partnership with PEM Technologies in South Africa to represent its line of Loctite brand electronics adhesives.
South Africa is reportedly one of the fastest growing regions for certain market sectors such as automotive, military/aerospace and contract manufacturing. Henkel anticipates that this will only continue for the foreseeable future, according to a press release.
Richard Boyle, regional technical service manager for Henkel, says there has been a trend among automotive and military/aerospace manufacturers of either transferring production from Europe, or setting up additional dedicated production sites in South Africa. Additionally, he sas growth in contract manufacturing for telecom, IT, and entertainment products is even more rapid and represents the largest area of expansion for Henkel. “Establishing a partnership with a strong regional distributor like PEM Technologies is critical to our strategy for growth in this promising region,” states Boyle.
Steve Eglinton, managing director of PEM, says he is confident about the company’s relationship with Henkel, and is enthusiastic about representing Henkel materials throughout South Africa. “Henkel’s philosophy of supporting the customer through top-notch applications expertise, technical service and materials-based productivity enhancing tools is completely in line with PEM’s approach,” he said. PEM Technologies has been selling to the electronics production sector for over ten years with a presence in the South African manufacturing community.