Flexible Packaging Converters’ Academy – North America & Mexico

Special educational program covering coating solutions, lamination technologies and the practical applications for your unique production

Introduction

Our brand LOCTITE Liofol stands for high-quality laminating adhesives and coatings solutions. Whether its flexible packaging for food, medicines, medical supplies, cosmetics or in textile and technical lamination, this product range delivers adhesive and coating solutions to meet your current and future needs.

Our packaging adhesive experts have developed a special educational program to offer trainings on a variety of flexible packaging topics. This knowledge transfer contributes greatly to the quality, reliability and efficiency of your flexible packaging production processes.

If you are new to the industry, exploring new technologies, or need a refresher on how to solve in-line problems, Henkel’s technical team is here for you! Benefit and learn about the newest application technologies and latest trends in flexible packaging.

Join the Henkel Converters’ Academy to increase your expertise in flexible packaging. Learn everything about lamination techniques, coating solutions, modern technologies, and the practical options for your production. This practical knowledge and acquired skills will help you to improve your production and increase business performance.

Our program is designed to give attendees a mix of technical presentations and hands-on experience in the lab. The goal is to provide a balance of training and working with the materials. Content includes:

Adhesive Chemistry 101
Introduction to Coatings
Adhesive Handling
Web Handling
Substrates and Surface Energy
Troubleshooting adhesives and coatings
Sustainability/Circular Economy
Innovation
Lamination Workshop
Interactive laboratory testing

With extensive knowledge, Henkel’s technical experts are here to guide you through the world of adhesives and coatings.

Brian St John – Principal Applications Engineer
Brian St John has 24 years experience in flexible packaging applications. He has a BS in Chemistry from NC State University, an MS in Packaging from Michigan State University, and is a veteran of the US Navy. At Henkel, his focus areas are technical customer service, specializing in web handling and LioScan applications.
LinkedIn: Brian St John

Kerri Mayone – Senior Applications Engineer
Kerri Mayone has been with Henkel in the Flexible Packaging group for 10 years, working with both laminating adhesives and coatings, with several years spent with a focus on cold seal coatings. Ms. Mayone graduated from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington with a bachelors degree in Chemistry.
LinkedIn: Kerri Mayone

Jonathon H. Lopez Garcia – Expert TCS Flexible Packaging
Mr. Lopez has been in the industry for +10 years with 8 years at Henkel serving customers as Technical Service Representative for North America and Latin America region. His expertise areas include lamination troubleshooting and kaizen events. Mr. Lopez holds a Master in Engineering Sciences with focus on Technology Management from Instituto Tecnologico de Queretaro, Mexico.
LinkedIn: Jonathan Lopez Garcia

Meranda Karlskin – Senior Applications Engineer
Meranda Karlskin has been with Henkel’s Flexible Packaging team for 7 years. Her primary focus has been applications engineering for solventless, solvent-based, and water-based wet bond laminating adhesives, along with exposure to functional coatings as well. Ms. Karlskin graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with a degree in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Music.
LinkedIn: Meranda Karlskin

Curtis Beaton – Senior Applications Engineer
Curtis Beaton has over 30 years of experience in the adhesives and coatings industry. He specializes in coatings, elastomeric adhesives and quality systems. He has been with Henkel for 17 years and works in Quality, Product Development and Technical Service. His focus areas include development of cold Seal product line, coatings for paper foils and films.

Nicholas Enders – Lead Applications Engineer
Nicholas Enders, TCS Representative, works with the flexible packaging laminating applications for converters, He works converters to improve their processes and performs lab analysis on flexible packaging samples. He has extensive experience in solvent-less and solvent-based urethane flexible packaging lamination applications.
LinkedIn: Nicholas Enders

Mahum Ahmed – Associate Application Engineer
Mahum Ahmed graduated NJIT in 2021 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and joined Henkel in July 2021. She participated in a rotational program with Tapes & Labels and Packaging & Labeling divisions where she gained exposure to pressure sensitive adhesives and surface energy technology. In February 2022, she joined the Flexible Packaging application engineering team.
LinkedIn: Mahum Ahmed

Colleen Zielske – Director of Application Engineering
Colleen Zielske has over 25 years of experience in the adhesives industry, including two years at Henkel. Colleen has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management. Colleen sits on the Films committee of the Association of Plastics Recyclers, helping drive the development of adhesives and coating that are compatible with polyethylene recycling.

Henkel’s training is designed to be an asset to participants of all levels of experience and areas of operation. Experienced laminators can learn more about the factors governing the creation of a quality lamination or how to troubleshoot most effectively. New operators have the opportunity to use Henkel equipment to test different substrates and techniques. Business managers find new technologies, process techniques, and solutions to bring back to their unique manufacturing situations. Henkel’s Flexible Packaging Converters’ Academy provides the ideal platform for trial and error experimenting – without endangering your customer relationships or incurring excessive costs.

Our past participants include:
Operators
Quality control personnel
Project engineers
Process engineers
Product development engineers
Manufacturing supervisors
Business owners
Technical sales
Plant Managers
Technical Directors
Directors of Innovation
Sustainability Ambassadors

"Our sealant film supplier was winding the rolls of material too tightly, and the problem was never apparent until the structures were laminated. We had learned about tunneling and winding tensions at Henkel’s Converter Academy and noticed that samples at room temperature started to curl and have tunnels. After investigating our own process, as well as undergoing a full investigation with our supplier, we were able to uncover the root cause and save our company thousands of dollars.

Without Henkel’s Converters’ Academy, we would never have thought about the tension of the raw materials being the root cause of our lamination defects."

Henkel's Converters' Academy Participant

Register for Henkel’s Flexible Packaging Converters’ Academy and benefit from the knowledge of our Henkel experts

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Flexible Packaging Converters’ Academy – North America & Mexico

Introduction

Content and Topics

Meet our Experts

Why Henkel’s Academy

Register for Henkel’s Flexible Packaging Converters’ Academy and benefit from the knowledge of our Henkel experts