In the year 1910 Kaspar Winkler laid the foundations for the present-day Sika Group in Zurich. At that time he had developed a pioneering chemical process to accelerate the setting and hardening of cement, mortar and concrete. His first product, Sika -1, a watersealing mortar additive, remains widely used to this day. Nowadays, Sika is a global company with more than 100 production and marketing companies in over 70 countries. Sika is active in the field of specialty chemicals dividing its activities into two business areas; the Construction Division and the Industry Division. While on the technical side these two business areas are closely linked, on the commercial side they reduce the vulnerability to economic cycles because they depend on different markets. The technological affinities permit economies of scale in the areas of R&D, purchasing and production.