Product: Solar Control Window Films Developers: Eitan Zait, Danny Eisenstadt, Avigail Matalon, Svetlana Mosheyev Company: Avery Dennison Hanita (Formerly: Hanita Coatings) Start of Development: 1988
Hanita Coatings was founded in 1983 by Kibbutz Hanita. The company started out as the manufacturer of polyester films used in food packaging. The company’s founders, Michael Sasson and Haggai Sitri, aspired to transform Hanita Coatings into an industry leader by virtue of its high technological capabilities. The company management took care to ensure that approximately 10 percent of personnel were engaged in research and development, and employed scientists from the chemistry, materials engineering and physics disciplines.
Over time, the kibbutz company developed advanced technologies in the field of vacuum evaporation of metals and alloys, and in coatings and adhesives for thin polymer films. These technologies constituted a breakthrough on the way to manufacturing optic filters that enable light regulation, blockage of UV radiation and reflection of sunlight. It was on the basis of these filters that the company began developing window coatings intended for installation in buildings and cars.
The investment in R&D paid dividends when the company’s innovative products propelled it into a strong position in the window film market. Among the products developed were thin transparent polyester films of extremely high optical quality, on one side of which is adhesive material for adhesion to glass, while the other side is covered with an easy-to-clean and durable coating that protects against scratches. The sheets’ multi-layer structure enables the filtering of sunlight, allowing for the passage of between 5 to 85 percent visible light.
The company’s optical filtering technology lowers the heat stress in the car or room and reduces the glare and harmful UV rays. These solar control films give the building a uniform and enhanced appearance and facilitate a long-term saving in energy and air-conditioning expenses.
In 2017, Hanita Coatings was purchased by Avery Dennison, a global corporation that develops adhesives, functional materials and labelling solutions. Avery Dennison, with an estimated value in excess of 6 billion dollars, operates in more than 50 countries and employs 25 thousand people worldwide. The production plant and local R&D facilities remain on the kibbutz and continue their operation from Israel.
