180 Years of Growth: From Oil Mill to High-Chem Enterprise.
1828 Franz Heinrich Boley establishes the first oil mills in St. Tonis near Krefeld.
Today's (r)evolutionary "state of the art" in the coating sector was preceded by a long history of product and corporate development. Alberdingk Boley's origins date back to the third decade of the 19th century - thus making the company over 180 years old today. But until the outbreak of the Second World War, we focussed on industrial extraction of linseed oil and production of linseed oil varnish, technologies that had already been known to the ancient Egyptians 5000 years ago.
Increasingly, we evolved into a manufacturer of specialty products. We built new systems to refine and enhance imported linseed oil, applying processes that we steadily improved on. The drying properties of this natural raw material ideally meet the prerequisites for use as a binder in coatings, paints, and inks. lts applications have changed over the years, however. Linseed varnish used to primarily go into oil-based paints and inks, but in the 1960s it gave way to modern water-based technologies.
Our mill is now the only one of its kind in Europe for extracting oil from castor beans; and companies in the paint, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries continue to be our main customers for this product. Castor oil has such outstanding properties that there seems to be no end to its potential uses.
Over the years, Alberdingk Boley acquired a reputation for reliably supplying top-quality binders for paints and inks. Another move that proved to be right on the money was the decision to research and develop aqueous products. Encouraged by customers, the company began producing water-based polymer emulsions for house paints.
Across all product categories, for generations Alberdingk Boley has proven itself to be a competent partner to industry.
From Oil to Water.
On track with Eco-High-Tech
Today aqueous systems routinely match and frequently outperform solvent-based ones. We therefore focus our research and development efforts on these systems, which have often provided the key for solving knotty problems. And whereas in the past it was difficult or impossible to create custom-tailored products to meet special requirements without imposing undesirable burdens on the environment, today we have the means at our disposal to adjust and fine-tune their properties to comply with virtually any need.
And in fact, new markets, new customers, and new requirements are the dominant themes of today's economy. Researchers thus face a plethora of challenges in meeting these challenges and in coming to terms with the escalating complexity of technologies and applications. But we are committed to blazing new trails and demonstrating flexibility in our relentless pursuit of innovative solutions.
Our strategy is to deploy the best available technologies to meet your needs while minimizing the time to market of new products. Our declared goal is to work closely with you, as our customer, to enhance your business success.
