tesa Site Sparta, more sustainable solvent-free adhesive manufacturing facility, opens its doors for customers and partners following $40 million expansion

With over 179,000 square feet of total space and a production area of 105,000 square feet, tesa Site Sparta in the state of Michigan is now ready for take-off. After more than two years of construction, tesa, international manufacturer of innovative adhesive tapes, has completed its expansion project in Kent County. The Sparta facility, established in 1982, was tesa's first manufacturing site outside of Europe. With this expansion, customers in the automotive, transportation and logistics, electronics, construction, corrugated paper, appliance, building, and printing industries can now access solvent-free adhesive tapes. This investment marks a significant step for tesa in achieving its ambitious sustainability agenda, which includes transitioning to solvent-free production in all of its facilities and using bio-based and recycled raw materials.

tesa site Sparta elevates presence in North America and sustainability efforts

tesa's Sparta facility is pursuing a comprehensive strategy. In addition to solvent-free production, the site now features an expanded Product and Technology Development Lab and a Customer Solution Center where partners can collaborate with tesa to test and develop more sustainable solutions. This step aims to strengthen tesa's partnerships with customers and partners in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, offering comprehensive solutions from a single source. "This is a special day for us," says Tobias Banik, President and Regional Manager of tesa tape North America. "The completion of the site expansion, including the new equipment and the Customer Solution Center, represents a significant milestone for tesa, enhancing our presence in North America and our sustainability efforts. Our main work begins now, and we look forward to utilizing our new space to develop better, more sustainable products for and with our customers."

"North America is an important region for us in which we want to grow strongly,” adds Dr Jörg Diesfeld, Chief Financial Officer of tesa. Thanks to the expansion, tesa tape is adding 25 new jobs in Michigan. "To underscore this and align it with our sustainability goals, we have taken a strategic step in this direction with this major investment,” Diesfeld adds. “We have the right experts on site and the necessary facilities to achieve sustainable success. The expansion is not only about strengthening our presence in North America, but also about strengthening our global footprint, emphasizing our technical development focus, and driving innovation forward.”

Increased production space and new machinery for more sustainable products

With the completion of the construction work, the facility now boasts an additional 28,000 square feet of manufacturing space, increasing the total area to over 40,000 square feet. This new area houses production equipment designed with a "zero waste" concept, which is expected to reduce natural gas consumption by approximately 40% once the older machinery is permanently decommissioned later this year. The facility also includes a large product development area, in addition to the new Customer Solution Center. While this phase of construction is complete, another phase is set to begin, which will include the construction of a warehouse.

Jason Kirk, Head of Industry Sales and Marketing at tesa tape, says: " We celebrated the 40^th anniversary of tesa Site Sparta last year. We are now able to provide our customers with our more sustainable, solvent-free products. In addition, we can go into extensive testing with them on site and become even better and more accurate with the solutions we offer. This expansion continues to solidify our presence in Michigan, and we’re excited to continue growing that presence with our new Grand Rapids corporate office. The best is yet to come for tesa tape in North America!”

The expansion of the tesa site in Sparta, Michigan was celebrated on September 28 with a grand opening ceremony. In addition to tesa employees from the site and headquarters in Germany, close partners and customers, as well as local Michigan organizations, are expected to attend the event.

About tesa

As a multinational company, tesa develops innovative adhesive tapes and self-adhesive product solutions for various industries, commercial customers, and end consumers. There are already more than 7,000 tesa adhesive solutions that help improve the work, products or lives of our customers. Today, the focus is on sustainability and energy-saving processes. tesa invests in the development of environmentally friendly products and solvent-free manufacturing processes, as well as in the use of renewable energy sources at its locations.

tesa is active in 100 countries and operates plants in Germany, Italy, China, the USA, and soon in Vietnam. Around three quarters of the tesa Group’s sales are generated by applications for industries. Together with its international clients, tesa develops innovations that are customized at product and process levels. More than 130 tesa tapes may be installed in an electric car and over 70 in a smartphone. In the printing and construction industries, too, tesa is constantly penetrating new segments and countries with its special adhesive tapes. tesa counts among the world’s leading manufacturers of adhesive solutions. Since 2001, tesa SE is an independent 100% affiliate of Beiersdorf AG (maker of NIVEA, Eucerin, la prairie) with approximately 5,000 employees worlwide.