Avery Dennison Vietnam Co. Ltd

Avery Dennison began with an innovation that launched an industry. In 1935, a struggling clerk named Stan Avery conceived a smarter way for stores to price their products. Combining used machine parts with a saber saw—and financing it all with a hundred-dollar loan—he created and patented the first self-adhesive, die-cut labeling machine. With Stan Avery’s invention, the pressure-sensitive label industry was born.

Shaping Our Industry Through Innovation—Spotlight on 
Emulsion Adhesives

1980s: First with Emulsion Adhesives. In response to the recognition that moving away from solvent-based adhesives could enable manufacturers to reduce their emissions of volatile organic compounds—and in response to European regulations levied as a result—we intensely pursued the development of water-based emulsion polymer adhesives. The main hurdle: solving the foaming that occurred when the less-viscous emulsion adhesives were applied to paper. We quickly learned that emulsion adhesives had advantages in addition to their lower environmental impact. They enabled faster conversion for our customers, and worked with a wider range of facestocks.

Our commitment to developing emulsion adhesives paid off—we were the first label-maker to offer them on a large scale.