Henkel

German multinational producing adhesives, laundry detergents, and beauty care products with €21.6 billion revenue (2024). Henkel exemplifies B2B mutualism through customer co-development, particularly in its industrial adhesives business (44% of revenue).

Henkel's industrial adhesives require customized formulations for specific applications - automotive assembly, electronics manufacturing, packaging, aerospace. This necessity creates foundation for mutualistic partnerships involving joint problem definition, co-innovation, intellectual property sharing, long-term supply agreements, and continuous improvement.

The automotive lightweighting example demonstrates this model: Henkel partnered with BMW, Volkswagen, Ford and others over multiple years to develop structural adhesives enabling metal-to-plastic and metal-to-composite bonding for lighter vehicles.