The image of the blue tram also features prominently on the Croatian capital’s official website. The TMK 2200 is the first image you see when accessing the site. This clearly shows that the tram has become a landmark of Zagreb, a modern complement to the historical sights that have defined the city for centuries.

A means of public transportation which inspires this kind of enthusiasm deserves a closer look. Cities in Finland, Bulgaria, Serbia and Australia are currently considering the purchase of the TMK2200. The tram is produced in Zagreb and Henkel was allowed to take a glimpse behind the scenes.

Končar Electric Vehicles board member Igor Jagodić explains: “We at Končar have a long tradition in the production of locomotives, trams and, as of late, trains.”Still, Končar needs partners, and Henkel is an important one. “Our co-operation with Loctite engineers has intensified in the past five years, as we were developing our newest product in the tram programme, the TMK 2200,” Jagodić says.

The modern low-floor tram is a point of pride in patriotic Croatia because more than 70% of the parts are manufactured in the country, especially the sophisticated electronics.

The identification with one of modern Zagreb’s landmarks does not stop there, however. Mirjana Fulir, Henkel marketing communication manager for Central and Eastern Europe, who is based in the Croatian capital, says “Each morning when I drive to work and I watch the trams pass me by, I feel proud. Somehow I feel this tram is part of us because of these precious drops of adhesive that are being used on some crucial parts of the tram.”

Not just a pretty face

The smart-looking tram that has generated such a following needs to have more than just a pretty face, however. In Zagreb alone the trams transport more than 200 million people a year. 500,000 of those use them every day. Končar’s trams need to be in service for up to 35 years. For each tram, only 5% of repair and maintenance time is allowed. To achieve this level of reliability, the manufacturing in Zagreb relies on Loctite products. The wheels of a public tram need to sustain loads of up to 60 tons. Each component of those wheels must be safely locked and secured in place.

One of the steps of the wheel assembly involves locking the grounding wire bolts. Each wheel consists of three segments, the inner part being made of rubber which is an electrical insulator. Therefore, a bypass made of wire is necessary to ground the tram. This is an extremely important technical and safety issue. High-strength threadlocker Loctite 2701 offers maximum vibration resistance on the stainless-steel bolts. Those are only some of the “precious drops” used on some of the most important parts of the tram.

Končar now has a new product in the pipeline, a low-floor train. It remains to be seen whether this new product will be able to rival its popular sibling, the TMK2200. The company itself, established in 1921, is a good example of one of the success stories in central Europe. The group comprises the parent company Končar Electrical Industry and 20 dependent companies. Its major investor is theCroatian state through a variety of funds; the company is predominantly state-owned. 2008, the year that saw the onset of the financial crisis, has been a successful year for Končar. Sales and profit rose, along with the export of goods and services.

Free access to the star

There is another interesting fact to note about Zagreb’s public transport celebrity: you can use it for free! Recently, public city transport in the wider Zagreb downtown area became free of charge. Explaining the decision, a city official pointed out “This is designed to reduce car traffic in the centre and encourage residents to park their cars in public garages outside the centre.”

During the visit of the Henkel team to the plant, Mr Kolman, director of sales and servicing for Končar Electric Vehicles, said that it makes him wonder if Loctite even has any competition when it comes to anaerobic adhesives. A mechanical engineer by vocation, he has been working in engineering circles for many years, according to his own words, longer than it would be polite to express in numbers, and he remembers very well that whenever there was a need to secure a bolt or seal a threaded joint, it was common to say: use some Loctite on it because, in a way, Loctite was a synonym for anaerobic adhesives.

It seems only fitting for the successful partnership of two companies whose products and brands have become more than just goods in the marketplace. Like the TMK2200 has become a landmark of Zagreb and an online celebrity, the Loctite brand has become a synonym for reliability, a symbol for the progress of adhesive technology.