Quilosa Selena Iberia’s strong relationships with customers and suppliers have helped it weather the storm of the financial crisis 2007-2008. As the rain falls even in Spain, raw materials help make Selena products more weather-resistant.
As the Spanish construction industry recovers from the deepest recession in a generation, Quilosa Selena Iberia is looking to the future with two new innovative products – a silicone sealant to be applied as a liquid waterproof coating that can be applied to wet surfaces, and a more user-friendly cyanoacrylate adhesive. These new formulations have been developed in-house and the company is confident that they will be popular and win market shares. The company says it has a winning formula for staying ahead of its competitors.
“Our strategy is clear – stay closer to the user. The professionals that use our products are the ones who know them and the market best. The fact that we have our own local factory and R&D department here in Spain allows us to react faster to the requirements of the users. Our customers expect products that make their daily lives and work easier, safer and quicker,” says Alfonso Pastor, Marketing Director for Quilosa Selena Iberia, which is one of the largest producers of adhesives and sealants in the Iberian Peninsula and a member of the Selena Group, one of the three largest manufacturers of polyurethane foam in the world.
Pastor has been with the company since January 2014 and is today responsible for all the marketing and communications activities of Quilosa Selena Iberia.
In order to develop successful products, the company has also forged close links with its suppliers, among them Nynas. The collaboration between the Spanish firm and Nynas was initiated in 2003, and the partnership has so far proved to be very productive.
“I think it is safe to say that both parties are happy when, as in our case, the partnership has lasted for 12 years. As a company, we have an excellent relationship with Nynas at all levels and whenever we have requested any kind of technical assistance, Nynas has been keen to help us straight away,” Pastor says.
Nynas products are used in several of Selena Iberia’s sealants. “We have used oils from other suppliers in the past. However, Nynas offers quality naphthenic oil that is compatible with our products. To make a long story short, we have obtained better performance in our final products since we started to use naphthenic oil from Nynas,” says Pastor.
In 2014, Nynas was one of Quilosa Selena Iberia’s key suppliers of raw materials. The cooperation is going well and is expected to go even better, which might signal a welcome, albeit still slight, upturn for the troubled Spanish construction industry.
“We hope to grow steadily in the years to come. Over the past few years, the silicone sealants market has decreased, mainly due to the construction crisis in Spain. It is now beginning to recover, but the market is still far from where it was years ago,” explains Pastor.
Although the professional construction market is the primary target for the company’s products, Pastor is keen to point out that Quilosa Selena Iberia also serves non-professionals. “Our main mission is to provide construction and industry professionals with a range of products and services that they can rely on and we collaborate closely with these professionals to identify and satisfy their needs,“ he says.
“Having said that, if our products and solutions are good for professionals why shouldn’t they also be good for do-it-yourself customers? Our solutions can also assist the daily activities of these types of clients,” he concludes.
75 years in the market
Production methods
Proud to celebrate 75 years in the market in 2015, Quilosa Selena Iberia is today one of the largest producers of sealants and adhesives on the Iberian Peninsula. All production methods used at the Spanish factory are of the highest quality standards in the market, fully adapted to the technical parameters of each of the product formulations and features, and then backed up by ISO 9001 certification.
Innovative products
The company relies on its R&D department to develop customised solutions for professional clients and collaborates with different suppliers in research, development and innovation projects to achieve this. Recently, the company’s R&D efforts have yielded two new products, one of which is the Liquid MS Silicone that takes advantage of a special resin, enabling it to be applied on wet surfaces. Underpinned by an innovative formulation, the new instant adhesive, recently launched under the Betamex brand, doesn’t irritate the user and is flexible enough to be applied to almost any material, including Porex.
Adapting to regulations
As a manufacturer of chemical products, the company has to adapt to legislation and regulations that are forever changing. For instance, during 2014 the company had to adapt its sealants to the CE mark, and in 2015 all products will be affected by the new European CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging) regulation.
Quilosa Selena Iberia
Since it was founded in 1940, Quilosa has become a well-established brand in Spain and Portugal. In 2009, Quilosa joined the international Group Selena, whose distribution network made the extensive product range available also in Africa, Latin America and some other European countries. With corporate headquarters in Madrid, the company has its main production facility in Guadalajara, where the factory makes mainly sealants but also adhesives and hot melts, as well as other products.
The Selena Group
One of three largest manufacturers of polyurethane foam in the world, the Selena Group has 16 manufacturing plants worldwide and distributes its products to more than 70 countries. The group’s 30 companies across 17 countries successfully compete with global corporations of long-standing presence in the international markets for construction chemicals. The group, which employs around 1,700 people worldwide, has a clear mission statement: Together we deliver better building performance.
