#AViewFrom Henkel North America: Chanhassen, MN

Anything that’s electronic generates heat. Laptops, electric vehicle batteries, data center servers, and industrial factory equipment all see temperature increases during operation. Managing the thermal intensity by dissipating heat helps these systems run more efficiently and reliably. At the Henkel Chanhassen, Minnesota facility, scientists are formulating and testing cutting-edge thermal interface materials to enable optimum performance of electronic devices. Learn more in this segment of #AViewFrom: Chanhassen, MN.

Henkel’s Chanhassen, MN site is the North American hub for the development of thermal interface materials – also called TIMs – that fill voids and accelerate heat transfer between a heat-generating device and a heat sink or housing. The facility serves the company’s industrial, automotive, and electronics businesses, supported by nearly 90 employees across multiple functions, including product development, application engineering, customer service, sales, warehouse and facilities management, and administration. The materials developed here enable the dependable performance of everything from data center transceivers to 5G base stations to electric vehicle battery modules to power generation and conversion technologies.

Senior Product Development Manager Radesh Jewram, who has worked at the Chanhassen facility for over 25 years says: “There is never a dull day; people across departments and responsibilities collaborate and get along, and together we’re doing work that has incredible impact. People depend on electronics. We develop products that help make electronics more dependable.”

The Bergquist Company, which Henkel acquired in 2014, took ownership of the Chanhassen site in 2000. Within the 97,000 sq. ft. building are several Research and Development ‏(R&D) lab spaces, a state-of-the-art application area equipped with leading-edge material characterization and analysis tools, a dedicated sample preparation space, and a sizeable warehouse. The work done at Chanhassen and the critical raw materials stored in the site’s warehouse support the Cannon Falls, MN and Brandon, SD operations where TIM products are manufactured. With corporate investment over the last few years, Chanhassen has added advanced UL testing capability, is building a studio with sophisticated video technology for teardown analysis and collaborative customer New Product Introduction ‏(NPI) work, and the training area is in the midst of a cosmetic renovation.

Like most Henkel operations, Chanhassen is also focused on sustainability endeavors, as Facility Manager Josh Pestel explains: “Throughout the building, we are installing LED lighting and motion sensors to reduce energy consumption,” he says.
 

TEAM BUILDING AND COMMUNITY COMMITMENT:

Camaraderie is foundational to Chanhassen’s culture, and the team goes the extra mile to nourish it. The Chanhassen team recently formed a local chapter of the Henkel Women’s Network to network and discuss topics specific to careers in Science, Technology Engineering and Math. With site-wide events like summertime ice cream socials, celebrations of cultural holidays, BBQs, and pumpkin carving contests, Chanhassen employees have many opportunities to share some downtime. Administrative Assistant Louise Rislove coordinates many of these activities.

Louise also spearheads the site’s charitable endeavors. Over the years, employees have participated in food and clothing drives and trash clean ups and offered financial support to local nonprofits including Feed My Staving Children, which has an office across the street from the Chanhassen facility. Chanhassen staff also took part in MATTERbox Madness at Mall of America®. The friendly competition pits local company teams against each other in a race to pack as many healthy snacks as possible. The snacks are then distributed to kids all over the country. Henkel’s Chanhassen team was one of sixteen teams competing and had a great time for a worthy cause.