When we talk about anti-slip coatings, there are usually two possibilities to refer to: pedestrian traffic or vehicular traffic. You won’t hear people talk about the traffic of big plastic bottles in that context very often.

However, that’s the exact slippery traffic that Henkel’s detergent production facility in Vienna had problems with.

Due to high inclination, low friction and high speed of the conveyor belt, the bottles of Weisser Riese detergent were slipping off the belt. This was causing frequent line stops, scrapping costs and additional handling time. Different coatings were tested to prevent this, but usually wore off the belt in just a few days and had to be reapplied.

Finally, Loctite PC 6261 YL was tested. This product is normally used to cover slippery walking surfaces in the industrial environment to prevent accidents and isn’t not usually used on conveyor belts. Still, it proved to be more than effective. Not only does it prevent slipping of the bottles off the belt, but its yellow colour makes it very easily detectable when it wears out in some places and needs to be re-touched. Which won’t be any time soon because the product itself was designed to withstand much more impact than it’s subjected to on the conveyor belt.