German chemicals and consumer goods group Henkel has moved its Singapore operations to Geneo at Singapore Science Park, combining its supply chain, digital operations, electronics engineering and professional training teams in one location.
"By establishing our hub at Geneo Singapore Science Park, our Singapore setup has taken the next step to become a critical control tower for our businesses – where supply chain, innovation and digital capabilities come together. This will enable us to serve customers across multiple industries more effectively, accelerate new solutions from idea to market and continue to strengthen Henkel's growth platform in Asia Pacific," says Thomas Holenia, corporate vice president Procurement Henkel Adhesive Technologies and president of Henkel Singapore.
The new site houses Henkel's Adhesives Application Engineering Laboratory, Global Supply Chain Hub, Adhesive Operations Digital Lab and the Academy of Hair, which offers professional training programmes for hairdressers.
Electronics manufacturing is a major focus, with the Henkel SEA Electronic Adhesives Technical Centre supporting customers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, particularly in semiconductors and consumer electronics. As the largest electronic adhesives application engineering laboratory in Southeast Asia, it has recorded consistent year-on-year growth.
At the new site, the centre offers full material characterisation and failure analysis capabilities and can replicate customer production processes, such as dispensing, die attach, lamination, printing, and dicing, enabling more representative testing and faster problem-solving.
While it remains application-engineering-focused, Henkel says it is expanding its involvement in advanced development projects and working more closely with product development teams to tailor solutions to regional needs.
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As part of Henkel's sustainability ambitions, the centre is benchmarking PFAS alternatives against legacy products to support new product launches with reduced environmental impact, while reducing its own footprint through measures such as automatic nitrogen gas shutoff valves and water-usage timers.
It is also participating in a photonics chiplets consortium led by A*STAR's Institute of Microelectronics, contributing underfill and moulding materials expertise for next-generation computing systems.
Beyond engineering, Henkel's Global Supply Chain Hub in Singapore supports planning and logistics across regions, while its Adhesive Operations Digital team develops cloud-based systems to connect manufacturing plants and enable data-driven operations. With these teams now co-located, Henkel expects faster decision-making, quicker deployment of Industry 4.0 systems and more integrated support for customers from product testing through to manufacturing and delivery.
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Henkel has operated in Singapore for more than 40 years and says the new hub will be used to deepen collaboration with customers and partners, accelerate innovation and develop more sustainable solutions for Asia Pacific and global markets.
“Henkel’s new office will build capabilities in digital operations, supply chain management, advanced electronics packaging, and greener materials, and will also create new opportunities for Singapore talent. We look forward to deepening our partnership with Henkel to grow our innovation ecosystem for speciality chemicals and advanced materials,” says Lim Wey-Len, executive vice president of the Singapore Economic Development Board.
