Lisa Rouh10.11.22
www.appliedmolecules.com
www.appliedmolecules.com
At first glance, Applied Molecules in Dexter, MI, is a manufacturing company that has earned its reputation as a top industry expert in high-quality adhesives, coatings, and other specialty products designed to protect, bond, seal, and decorate. Its diverse capabilities encompass the full spectrum of UV/electron beam, LED, silicone, and water-based formulations, as well as additional chemistries.
Scratch the surface just a little deeper, though, and you’ll quickly find the company’s special sauce: proven leadership in custom formulation, design, application, tolling, and technical support.
“We see ourselves as an engineering company,” says Bob Stoebe, vice president, national sales. “Not only do we offer coatings and adhesives, but we also offer a high level of customized technical service for helping create and establish products and helping customers across a broad spectrum of markets solve technical issues and other problems. We’ll collaborate to modify a product, either chemically or technically, to get it to work, and then we’ll manufacture it as well.”
The Applied Molecules team is uniquely equipped to deliver innovation in both products and services. Stoebe and Paul Snowwhite, vice president, technology, met in the 1990s while they were colleagues at Northwest Coatings. Snowwhite was a technical manager, and Stoebe handled business development. Eventually they went their separate ways but kept in touch, and when Snowwhite founded Applied Molecules in 2013, he recruited Stoebe to join the team.
“Paul is one of the best chemists engineering-wise and chemistry-wise, and he started the company to formulate unique chemistries and products for automotive, plastics, and industrial customers,” Stoebe explains. “However, we soon realized that a lot of these chemistries could offer competitive advantages such as speed and performance for the graphic arts industry and the label and narrow web market. Snowwhite and I both have label and narrow web backgrounds, and customers we knew well were asking us to get involved and develop better products for the industry. I remember one major original equipment manufacturer asked us to develop a specialty product, and that kicked off our program on the digital side. We got more involved in the graphics industry, which led to our entering the label and narrow web industry about six years ago.”
The label and narrow web product line at Applied Molecules includes coatings and adhesives for standard pressure sensitive labels, scratch-resistant coatings for films, water-resistant coatings for paper, and digital primers, as well as digital laminating adhesives and overprint varnishes. The company is involved in coatings and adhesives for the in-mold label market, as well as converting and composite repair and sealing. The team has also ventured into new areas such as anti-fog materials.
Its largest product involves UV hot-melt chemistry. In fact, the company is one of North America’s leading UV hot-melt manufacturers.
“We named our company Applied Molecules because without the application solution, you just have another interesting technical paper,” Snowwhite says. “Our products offer high-value visual appearance, as well as functionalities such as durability, abrasion resistance, high or low gloss, and specialty needs.”
Stoebe recalls one customer who needed to laminate over digital printing, but the chemistry prevented the film from adhering to the print.
“Our customer’s customer wouldn’t purchase the product until it was protected by lamination,” Stoebe says. “We were able to develop a viable adhesive, and now we’re selling that product on the market. The business started out small, but it’s ramping up very nicely now. I love to help people and build strong relationships. It’s fun seeing our customers grow and knowing that we’ve helped them solve their problems and thrive.”
Snowwhite especially enjoys the research and development side of the business.
“One of our newest technologies involves composite materials to create and repair lightweight materials for electric vehicles,” says Snowwhite, who has 21 US patents, 35 US patent applications, and 32 foreign patents – so far. “Our technology is fast, efficient, green, safe to work with, and we’re qualified and have parts with several major automotive manufacturers, including helping Ford’s supplier design the hard tops of the Ford Bronco.”
He and his team are also developing materials for 3D printing that have strong potential for the label and narrow web market.
“We’re working on a dome or a lens coating to give labels a beveled look,” Snowwhite says. “We took something from the 3D printing lab that I knew would work, dropped it into that application, and in a couple of hours, we had a viable coating. I’m a materials scientist, and this work challenges me technically – and it’s even more fun with 3D printing. But the really cool thing is that we are doing cutting-edge science, and then we can sprinkle that science and new technology throughout the work we do with our other customers.”
That 3D printing work is also taking the Applied Molecules team into medical research around materials development and optimization to print life-changing products such as dental prosthetics, hearing aids, and a support material customized to help patients receiving radiation treatments.
“We’ve been helping people our entire careers, which feels great,” Snowwhite says, “But in addition to helping people solve a problem that makes money, it’s gratifying to help people solve problems in more personal ways.”
The success of all that innovation is also a credit to the Applied Molecules team at the Michigan headquarters, as well as the new lab that just opened in Florida.
“Our experienced team develops and formulates all our products in-house,” Snowwhite says. “As a small company, we’re trying to help them grow with us. For example, our employees are deeply engaged in the training and implementation required for us to achieve ISO 9001 certification, which we expect to happen early next year. Our culture keeps our employees involved, informed, and rewarded with everything from profit-sharing to opportunities for advancement to a supportive environment and a schedule respecting work-life balance. Our attitude is, there are times when you’re going to have to work hard, but there are also times when you need to go home to your kids’ soccer games or go on vacation. We’re setting up a culture of teamwork, where our team members rely on each other to solve whatever problems might come up.”
That company-wide commitment to problem-solving has been critical to continuing to help customers – in both expected and unexpected ways – throughout the pandemic.
“In 2020, the FDA approved us as an essential service so we could use our allocation of alcohol to supply local businesses and emergency agencies with free hand sanitizer,” Snowwhite explains. “We were proud to do be able to give back to the community. In addition, we also bought our employees lunches from local restaurants to help keep them in business. We had a running joke that we couldn’t let the two Mexican restaurants that delivered to us go out of business.”
While the biggest challenge in that community service might have been choosing between tacos and burritos, sourcing materials more integral to the business took a bit more ingenuity.
“Since 2021, products we need simply haven’t been available to buy, and the shortages have been painful,” Snowwhite notes. “We’re investing our time, resources, and creativity to make sure we can continue serving our customers. For example, I know more about imports than I ever wanted to know. Now we’re directly sourcing raw materials in containers.
“We started a joint venture that will give us some international capabilities in raw materials sourcing,” he adds. “We’re also partnering with suppliers and customers even more closely for extensive, meticulous advance planning. Like so many businesses today, our prices have risen, but we have remained extremely competitive in the market. I’m proud that we’re overcoming these challenges, that we’re keeping our customers supplied and happy, and that, as a result of our success, we are getting back to spending more time on the fun, technical parts of the job.”
www.appliedmolecules.com
At first glance, Applied Molecules in Dexter, MI, is a manufacturing company that has earned its reputation as a top industry expert in high-quality adhesives, coatings, and other specialty products designed to protect, bond, seal, and decorate. Its diverse capabilities encompass the full spectrum of UV/electron beam, LED, silicone, and water-based formulations, as well as additional chemistries.
Scratch the surface just a little deeper, though, and you’ll quickly find the company’s special sauce: proven leadership in custom formulation, design, application, tolling, and technical support.
“We see ourselves as an engineering company,” says Bob Stoebe, vice president, national sales. “Not only do we offer coatings and adhesives, but we also offer a high level of customized technical service for helping create and establish products and helping customers across a broad spectrum of markets solve technical issues and other problems. We’ll collaborate to modify a product, either chemically or technically, to get it to work, and then we’ll manufacture it as well.”
The Applied Molecules team is uniquely equipped to deliver innovation in both products and services. Stoebe and Paul Snowwhite, vice president, technology, met in the 1990s while they were colleagues at Northwest Coatings. Snowwhite was a technical manager, and Stoebe handled business development. Eventually they went their separate ways but kept in touch, and when Snowwhite founded Applied Molecules in 2013, he recruited Stoebe to join the team.
“Paul is one of the best chemists engineering-wise and chemistry-wise, and he started the company to formulate unique chemistries and products for automotive, plastics, and industrial customers,” Stoebe explains. “However, we soon realized that a lot of these chemistries could offer competitive advantages such as speed and performance for the graphic arts industry and the label and narrow web market. Snowwhite and I both have label and narrow web backgrounds, and customers we knew well were asking us to get involved and develop better products for the industry. I remember one major original equipment manufacturer asked us to develop a specialty product, and that kicked off our program on the digital side. We got more involved in the graphics industry, which led to our entering the label and narrow web industry about six years ago.”
The label and narrow web product line at Applied Molecules includes coatings and adhesives for standard pressure sensitive labels, scratch-resistant coatings for films, water-resistant coatings for paper, and digital primers, as well as digital laminating adhesives and overprint varnishes. The company is involved in coatings and adhesives for the in-mold label market, as well as converting and composite repair and sealing. The team has also ventured into new areas such as anti-fog materials.
Its largest product involves UV hot-melt chemistry. In fact, the company is one of North America’s leading UV hot-melt manufacturers.
“We named our company Applied Molecules because without the application solution, you just have another interesting technical paper,” Snowwhite says. “Our products offer high-value visual appearance, as well as functionalities such as durability, abrasion resistance, high or low gloss, and specialty needs.”
Stoebe recalls one customer who needed to laminate over digital printing, but the chemistry prevented the film from adhering to the print.
“Our customer’s customer wouldn’t purchase the product until it was protected by lamination,” Stoebe says. “We were able to develop a viable adhesive, and now we’re selling that product on the market. The business started out small, but it’s ramping up very nicely now. I love to help people and build strong relationships. It’s fun seeing our customers grow and knowing that we’ve helped them solve their problems and thrive.”
Snowwhite especially enjoys the research and development side of the business.
“One of our newest technologies involves composite materials to create and repair lightweight materials for electric vehicles,” says Snowwhite, who has 21 US patents, 35 US patent applications, and 32 foreign patents – so far. “Our technology is fast, efficient, green, safe to work with, and we’re qualified and have parts with several major automotive manufacturers, including helping Ford’s supplier design the hard tops of the Ford Bronco.”
He and his team are also developing materials for 3D printing that have strong potential for the label and narrow web market.
“We’re working on a dome or a lens coating to give labels a beveled look,” Snowwhite says. “We took something from the 3D printing lab that I knew would work, dropped it into that application, and in a couple of hours, we had a viable coating. I’m a materials scientist, and this work challenges me technically – and it’s even more fun with 3D printing. But the really cool thing is that we are doing cutting-edge science, and then we can sprinkle that science and new technology throughout the work we do with our other customers.”
That 3D printing work is also taking the Applied Molecules team into medical research around materials development and optimization to print life-changing products such as dental prosthetics, hearing aids, and a support material customized to help patients receiving radiation treatments.
“We’ve been helping people our entire careers, which feels great,” Snowwhite says, “But in addition to helping people solve a problem that makes money, it’s gratifying to help people solve problems in more personal ways.”
The success of all that innovation is also a credit to the Applied Molecules team at the Michigan headquarters, as well as the new lab that just opened in Florida.
“Our experienced team develops and formulates all our products in-house,” Snowwhite says. “As a small company, we’re trying to help them grow with us. For example, our employees are deeply engaged in the training and implementation required for us to achieve ISO 9001 certification, which we expect to happen early next year. Our culture keeps our employees involved, informed, and rewarded with everything from profit-sharing to opportunities for advancement to a supportive environment and a schedule respecting work-life balance. Our attitude is, there are times when you’re going to have to work hard, but there are also times when you need to go home to your kids’ soccer games or go on vacation. We’re setting up a culture of teamwork, where our team members rely on each other to solve whatever problems might come up.”
That company-wide commitment to problem-solving has been critical to continuing to help customers – in both expected and unexpected ways – throughout the pandemic.
“In 2020, the FDA approved us as an essential service so we could use our allocation of alcohol to supply local businesses and emergency agencies with free hand sanitizer,” Snowwhite explains. “We were proud to do be able to give back to the community. In addition, we also bought our employees lunches from local restaurants to help keep them in business. We had a running joke that we couldn’t let the two Mexican restaurants that delivered to us go out of business.”
While the biggest challenge in that community service might have been choosing between tacos and burritos, sourcing materials more integral to the business took a bit more ingenuity.
“Since 2021, products we need simply haven’t been available to buy, and the shortages have been painful,” Snowwhite notes. “We’re investing our time, resources, and creativity to make sure we can continue serving our customers. For example, I know more about imports than I ever wanted to know. Now we’re directly sourcing raw materials in containers.
“We started a joint venture that will give us some international capabilities in raw materials sourcing,” he adds. “We’re also partnering with suppliers and customers even more closely for extensive, meticulous advance planning. Like so many businesses today, our prices have risen, but we have remained extremely competitive in the market. I’m proud that we’re overcoming these challenges, that we’re keeping our customers supplied and happy, and that, as a result of our success, we are getting back to spending more time on the fun, technical parts of the job.”