H.B. Fuller Company announced the release of a new high-performance bookbinding adhesive, Swift®lock 8500, designed for improved spine gluing and gluing-off operations, on soft and hard cover books that are subject to intense wear and tear. Recent research indicates that, despite the rise in digital communications, print still remains the most popular format within the book market. Behind this dominance are trends, such as the growing relationship between science fiction books and the film industry, the progression of independent bookstores, and the demand for customized and paper-to-digital user experiences, as well as for adult coloring books. With this in mind, H.B. Fuller set out to address the rise in print and the demand for highly versatile adhesives solutions by the graphic arts market. Swift®lock 8500 is a new polyurethane, reactive hot melt adhesive that connects consistency with versatility. It delivers outstanding page pull values across a wide variety of paper qualities, even under challenging transport and weather conditions, such as high and low temperatures or humid climates. Plus, it delivers fast strength development on many difficult-to-bond paper stocks, such as wood free, glossy, high weight and matt-coated papers. Typical uses for Swift®lock 8500 include the perfect binding and gluing-off of book blocks for soft and hard cover books. Besides its long-term consistent performance on brochures and books, the fast formation of the adhesive film delivers excellent book finishing with clean, straight-edged spines, making it suitable for specific aesthetic needs. Judith Liddle, marketing manager, converting solutions, H.B. Fuller, comments, “We’re a company that aims to change lives for the better. Our commitment to innovation brings together people, products and processes that solve many of the bookbinding industry’s adhesion challenges. Swift®lock 8500 responds to these challenges, providing a technology breakthrough in formulation, flexibility and performance.” Whether creating corporate brochures, branded notebooks or textbooks, Swift®lock 8500 delivers tough, yet flexible, properties that enable the versatile and consistent performance manufacturers need and the high quality experience modern readers demand.