Item 1. Business

General Description of Business

Nordson is an innovative precision technology company that leverages a scalable growth framework to deliver top tier growth with leading margins and returns. We engineer, manufacture and market differentiated products and systems used for precision dispensing, applying and controlling of adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids, to test and inspect for quality, and to treat and cure surfaces and various medical products such as: catheters, cannulae, medical balloons and medical tubing.. These products are supported with extensive application expertise and direct global sales and service. We serve a wide variety of consumer non-durable, consumer durable and technology end markets including packaging, electronics, medical, appliances, energy, transportation, building and construction, and general product assembly and finishing.

Our strategy for long-term growth is based on solving customers’ needs globally. We were incorporated in the State of Ohio in 1954 and are headquartered in Westlake, Ohio. Our products are marketed through a network of direct operations in more than 35 countries. Consistent with this global strategy, approximately 67 percent of our revenues were generated outside the United States in 2021.

We have 6,813 employees worldwide. Principal manufacturing facilities are located in the United States, the People’s Republic of China, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

COVID-19 Pandemic Update

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus ("COVID-19") emerged and has since spread to other countries, including the United States. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic (the "COVID-19 pandemic"). The COVID-19 pandemic, including multiple variants, has resulted in governments around the world implementing stringent measures to help control the spread of the virus, including quarantines, “shelter in place” and “stay at home” orders, travel restrictions, business interruptions and other measures.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have supported, and continue to support, multiple “critical infrastructure” sectors by manufacturing materials and products needed for medical supply chains, packaging, transportation, energy, communications, and other critical infrastructure industries. We have benefited from our geographical and product diversification as the end markets we serve have remained resilient in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we continue to invest in the businesses, people, and strategies necessary to achieve our long-term priorities as we focus on driving profitable growth. We have continued to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic in all our production facilities, having taken the recommended public health measures to ensure worker and workplace safety. As a result, there have been unfavorable impacts on our manufacturing efficiencies. Additionally, we are taking steps to offset cost increases from COVID-19 pandemic-related supply chain disruptions. For more information on how we have modified our business practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, see “Human Capital Resources” below.

We continue to actively monitor the rapidly evolving circumstances and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has negatively disrupted, and may continue to negatively disrupt, our business and results of operations in the future. The full extent of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations and the markets we serve remains highly uncertain and will depend largely on future developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including infection rates increasing or returning in various geographic areas, variations of COVID-19, the ultimate duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, actions by government authorities to contain the outbreak or treat its impact, such as reimposing previously lifted measures or putting in place additional restrictions, and the widespread distribution and acceptance of an effective vaccine, among other things. These developments are constantly evolving and cannot be accurately predicted. See Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this report.

New Secretary and General Counsel

On October 12, 2021, we announced that Jennifer McDonough had been named Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, effective November 1, 2021. Ms. McDonough succeeded Gina Beredo, who left the Company to pursue a new opportunity.

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Corporate Purpose and Goals

We strive to be a vital, self-renewing, worldwide organization that, within the framework of ethical behavior and enlightened citizenship, grows and produces wealth for our customers, employees, shareholders, and communities.

We operate for the purpose of creating balanced, long-term benefits for all of our constituencies.

We focus on long-term growth and returns. Each quarter, we may not produce increased sales, net income, or earnings per share, or exceed the comparative prior year's quarter. When short-term swings occur, we do not intend to alter our foundational objectives in efforts to mitigate the impact of these temporary occurrences.

In 2021, we launched the Ascend strategy, which is designed to deliver top tier revenue growth with attractive margins and returns. Ascend is driven by three interconnected pillars: the NBS (Nordson Business System) Next growth framework; Owner Mindset, our division-led organizational structure; and Winning Teams, our talent strategy. These three pillars are built upon the foundation of what makes Nordson special: our culture and our values.

The NBS Next growth framework, the heart of the Ascend strategy, uses data-based segmentation to identify our greatest opportunities for profitable growth and ensure we are investing our resources disproportionately in those areas. Using data in a consistent and disciplined way, leaders across the Company are defining their strategic business priorities.

We drive organic growth by continually introducing new products and technology, providing high levels of customer service and support, capturing rapidly expanding opportunities in emerging geographies, and by leveraging existing technology into new applications. Additional growth comes through the acquisition of companies that have differentiated precision technology based product portfolio, serve attractive high-growth end-markets applications and have a customer-centric business model. The primary goals of our acquisition strategy are to complement our current capabilities, diversify our business into new industry sectors with new customers and expand the scope of the solutions we can offer to our customers.

We strive to provide genuine customer satisfaction – it is the foundation upon which we continue to build our business.

Complementing our business strategy is the objective to provide opportunities for employee self-fulfillment, growth, security, recognition and equitable compensation. This goal is met through the Human Resources department’s facilitation of employee training, leadership training and the creation of on-the-job growth opportunities. The result is a highly qualified and professional global team capable of meeting corporate objectives. For more information, see "Human Capital Resources" below.

We recognize the value of employee participation in the planning process. Strategic and operating plans are developed by all divisions, resulting in a sense of ownership and commitment on the part of employees in accomplishing our objectives.

We are an equal opportunity employer.

At Nordson, we have a long and proud history of investing in the communities where we live and work. We are committed to contributing approximately five percent of domestic pretax earnings to human welfare services, education and other charitable activities, particularly in communities where we have significant operations. Through the Nordson Corporation Foundation (the “Foundation”), we give back by providing grants to nonprofits in communities where we have facilities employing more than 100 people. In recent years, we have extended our reach internationally, with giving programs in 11 international locations. Since 1989, we have donated more than $135 million to communities where we live and work. In addition, our employees volunteered more than 106,000 hours through our Time ‘N Talent program.

Principal Products and Uses

We engineer, manufacture and market differentiated products and systems used to dispense, apply and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, medical components, and other fluids, to test and inspect for quality, and to treat and cure surfaces. Our precision technology can be found in manufacturing facilities around the world producing a wide range of goods for consumer durable, consumer non-durable and technology end markets. Equipment ranges from single-use components to manual, stand-alone units for low-volume operations to microprocessor-based automated systems for high-speed, high-volume production lines.

We market our products globally, primarily through a direct sales force, and also through qualified distributors and sales representatives. We have built a worldwide reputation for creativity and expertise in the design and engineering of high-technology application equipment that meets the specific needs of our customers. We create value for our customers by developing solutions that increase uptime, enable faster line speeds and reduce consumption of materials. We serve a broad customer base, both in terms of industries and geographic regions. In 2021, no single customer accounted for ten percent or more of sales.

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The following is a summary of the product lines and markets served by our operating segments:

Industrial Precision Solutions

This segment delivers proprietary dispensing and processing technology to diverse end markets. Product line specific solutions reduce material consumption, increase line efficiency and enhance product brand and appearance. Technologies are used for dispensing adhesives, coatings, paint, finishes, sealants and other materials. This segment primarily serves the industrial, consumer durables and non-durables markets.

• Industrial Coatings** – Automated and manual dispensing products and systems for cold materials, container coating, liquid finishing and powder coating, as well as ultraviolet equipment used primarily in curing and drying operations. Key strategic markets include beverage containers and food cans, electric battery, appliances, automotive, building and construction, composites, electronics and medical.

• Nonwovens – Dispensing, coating and laminating systems for applying adhesives, lotions, liquids and fibers to disposable products and continuous roll goods. Key strategic markets include adult incontinence products, baby diapers and child-training pants, feminine hygiene products and surgical drapes, gowns, shoe covers and face masks.

• Packaging** – Automated adhesive dispensing systems used in the rigid packaged goods industries. Key strategic markets include food and beverage packaging, pharmaceutical packaging, and other consumer goods packaging.

• Polymer Processing** – Components and systems used in the thermoplastic and biopolymer melt stream in extrusion, injection molding, compounding, polymerization and recycling processes. Key strategic markets include flexible packaging, electronics, medical, building and construction, transportation and aerospace, and general consumer goods.

• Product Assembly** – Dispensing, coating and laminating systems for the assembly of plastic, metal and wood products, for paper and paperboard converting applications and for the manufacturing of continuous roll goods. Key strategic markets include appliances, automotive components, building and construction materials, electronics, furniture, solar energy, and the manufacturing of bags, sacks, books, envelopes and folding cartons.

Advanced Technology Solutions

This segment integrates our proprietary product technologies found in progressive stages of a customer’s production processes, such as surface treatment, precisely controlled dispensing of material and post-dispense test and inspection to ensure quality. Related single-use plastic molded syringes, cartridges, tips, fluid connection components, tubing, balloons and catheters are used to dispense or control fluids in production processes or within customers’ end products. This segment predominantly serves customers in the electronics, medical and related high-tech industrial markets.

• Electronics Systems** – Automated dispensing systems for high-speed, accurate application of a broad range of attachment, protection and coating fluids, and related gas plasma treatment systems for cleaning and conditioning surfaces prior to dispense. Key strategic markets include the breadth of the electronics industry manufacturing supply chain that produces semiconductor, printed circuit board assemblies and electronic components.

• Fluid Management** – Precision manual and semi-automated dispensers, minimally invasive interventional delivery devices, and highly engineered single-use plastic molded syringes, cartridges, tips, fluid connection components, tubing, balloons, and catheters. Products are used within medical equipment and related surgical procedures, in critical industrial production processes and for applying and controlling the flow of adhesives, sealants, lubricants, and biomaterials. Key strategic markets include medical, consumer goods, electronics, and industrial assembly.

• Test and Inspection** – Bond testing and automated optical, acoustic microscopy and x-ray inspection systems used in the semiconductor and printed circuit board industries. Key strategic markets include mobile phones, tablets, personal computers, wearable technology, liquid crystal displays, micro hard drives, microprocessors, printed circuit boards, flexible circuits, micro mechanical systems and semiconductor packaging.

Manufacturing, Raw Materials and Other Resources

Our production operations include machining, molding and assembly. We manufacture specially designed parts and assemble components into finished equipment. Many components are made in standard modules that can be used in more than one product or in combination with other components for a variety of models. We have principal manufacturing operations and sources of supply in the United States in Ohio, Georgia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Wisconsin; as well as in the People’s Republic of China, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

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Principal materials used to make our products are metals and plastics, typically in sheets, bar stock, castings, forgings, tubing and pellets. We also purchase many electrical and electronic components, fabricated metal parts, high-pressure fluid hoses, packings, seals and other items integral to our products. Suppliers are competitively selected based on cost, quality and service. All significant raw materials that we use are available through multiple sources. We purchase most raw materials and other components on the open market and rely on third parties to provide certain finished goods. While these items are generally available from multiple sources, the cost of products sold may be affected by changes in the market price of raw materials and tariffs on certain raw materials, particularly imports from China, as well as disruptions in availability of raw materials, components and sourced finished goods.

We monitor and investigate alternative suppliers and materials based on numerous attributes including quality, service and price. We currently source raw materials and components from a number of suppliers, but our ongoing efforts to improve the cost effectiveness of our products and services may result in a reduction in the number of our suppliers.

Senior operating management supervises an extensive quality control program for our equipment, machinery and systems, and manufacturing processes.

Natural gas and other fuels are our primary energy sources. However, standby capacity for alternative sources is available if needed.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global supply chain, we have not experienced significant supply disruption from third-party component suppliers. However, we have faced and continue to face some supply chain constraints primarily related to logistics, including higher freight rates, and obtaining select manufacturing components. In addition, shipments between countries have been impacted and we have experienced delays due to a variety of factors related to supply chain disruption.

Intellectual Property

We rely on a combination of intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and contractual provisions to protect our intellectual property. Our worldwide intellectual property portfolio is strengthened through innovation and brand recognition, and a comprehensive approach for protection and enforcement. We enter into confidentiality and intellectual property agreements with our employees that require them to disclose any inventions created in the scope of employment, convey all rights to those inventions to us, and restrict the distribution of proprietary information. Risk factors associated with our intellectual property are discussed in Item 1A, "Risk Factors".

We protect and promote our intellectual property portfolio and take those actions we deem appropriate to enforce our intellectual property rights and to defend our rights to sell our products both domestically and internationally. Although in the aggregate, our global portfolio of more than 2,100 granted and pending patents and more than 1,000 trademarks are valuable assets that are important to our operations, we believe that our competitive advantage is also largely attributable to the technical, marketing, and sales competence and capabilities of our employees, rather than on any individual patent or trademark. Therefore, we do not consider the expiration or loss of any single patent, trademark, or intellectual property right, to be material to our business as a whole.

Seasonal Variation in Business

Historically, the highest volume of sales occurs in the second half of the year due in large part to the timing of customers’ capital spending programs. Accordingly, first quarter sales volume is typically the lowest of the year due to timing of customers’ capital spending programs and customer holiday shutdowns. However, COVID-19, supply chain disruptions related to COVID-19 and other unusual events have impacted this historical trend to a degree.

Working Capital Practices

No special or unusual practices affect our working capital. We generally require advance payments as deposits on customized equipment and systems and, in certain cases, require progress payments during the manufacturing of these products. We continue to initiate new processes focused on reduction of manufacturing lead times, resulting in lower investment in inventory while maintaining the capability to respond promptly to customer needs.

Competitive Conditions

We operate in a competitive global marketplace and compete with many large, well-established and highly competitive manufacturers and service providers. Our business is affected by a range of macroeconomic conditions, including industry capacity changes, global competition and economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad, as well as fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Our equipment is sold in competition with a wide variety of alternative bonding, sealing, finishing, coating, processing, testing, inspecting and fluid control techniques. Potential uses for our equipment include any production processes

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that require preparation, modification or curing of surfaces; dispensing, application, processing or control of fluids and materials; or testing and inspecting for quality.

Many factors influence our competitive position, including pricing, product quality and service. We maintain a leadership position in our business segments by delivering high-quality, innovative products and technologies, as well as service and technical support. Working with customers to understand their processes and developing the application solutions that help them meet their production requirements also contributes to our leadership position. Our worldwide network of direct sales and technical resources also is a competitive advantage.

Compliance with Governmental Regulations

As a U.S. public company that supports manufacturing, designing and servicing highly complex products in regulated environments, our global operations are subject to a variety of laws, regulations and compliance obligations. We have robust internal controls, quality management systems, and management systems of compliance that govern our internal actions and mitigate our risk of non-compliance. We also have safeguards established to identify non-compliance concerns through internal and external audits and risk assessments, as well as an ethics helpline reporting system.

We are also required to comply with increasingly complex and changing laws and regulations enacted to protect business and personal data in the United States and other jurisdictions regarding privacy, data protection and data security, including those related to the collection, storage, use, transmission and protection of personal information and other consumer, customer, vendor or employee data. Such privacy and data protection laws and regulations, including with respect to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), the Brazilian General Data Protection Law, and the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 ("CCPA"), and the interpretation and enforcement of such laws and regulations, are continuously developing and evolving and there is significant uncertainty with respect to how compliance with these laws and regulations may evolve and the costs and complexity of future compliance.

We are also subject to federal, state, local and foreign environmental, safety and health laws and regulations concerning, among other things, emissions to the air, discharges to land and water and the generation, handling, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste and other materials. Under certain of these laws, we can be held strictly liable for hazardous substance contamination of any real property we have ever owned, operated or used as a disposal site or for natural resource damages associated with such contamination. We are also required to maintain various related permits and licenses, many of which require periodic modification and renewal. The operation of manufacturing plants unavoidably entails environmental, safety and health risks, and we could incur material unanticipated costs or liabilities in the future if any of these risks were realized in ways or to an extent that we did not anticipate.

We believe that we operate in compliance, in all material respects, with applicable environmental laws and regulations. Compliance with environmental laws and regulations requires continuing management effort and expenditures. We have incurred, and will continue to incur, costs and capital expenditures to comply with these laws and regulations and to obtain and maintain the necessary permits and licenses. We believe that the cost of complying with environmental laws and regulations will not have a material effect on our earnings, liquidity or competitive position but cannot assure that material compliance-related costs and expenses may not arise in the future. For example, future adoption of new or amended environmental laws, regulations or requirements or newly discovered contamination or other circumstances could require us to incur costs and expenses that may have a material effect, but cannot be presently anticipated.

We believe that policies, practices and procedures have been properly designed to prevent unreasonable risk of material environmental damage arising from our operations. We accrue for estimated environmental liabilities with charges to expense and believe our environmental accrual is adequate to provide for our portion of the costs of all such known environmental liabilities. Compliance with federal, state, local and foreign environmental protection laws during 2021 had no material effect on our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position. Based upon consideration of currently available information, we believe liabilities for environmental matters will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position, operating results or liquidity, but we cannot ensure that material environmental liabilities may not arise in the future.

For a discussion of the risks associated with these laws and regulations, see Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors."

Human Capital Resources

Employee Profile

As of October 31, 2021, we had 6,813 full-time and part-time employees, including 141 at our Amherst, Ohio, facility who are represented by a collective bargaining agreement that expires on November 12, 2022.

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Health and Safety

In 2021, our employees’ health and safety remained our highest priority, especially as we continued to operate through the ever-present COVID-19 pandemic. We manufacture products deemed essential to critical infrastructure industries, including health and safety, food and agriculture, and energy, and as a result, all of our production sites have continued to operate during the pandemic. Continuing the best practices that we adopted in 2020, we maintained a safe work environment for our employees by staying true to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and local governments, including taking actions such as:

• Increasing hygiene, cleaning and sanitizing procedures at all locations;

• Providing personal protective equipment, such as masks, available to employees;

• Limiting travel and encouraged quarantine upon return;

• Maintaining our COVID-leave policy encouraging employees to take time off for illness or caretaking while maintaining steady wages;

• Enforcing strict protocols and screening for outside guests; and

• Updating our coronavirus intranet site as a central resource for up-to-date and accurate information.

As the year progressed, different regions of the world experienced lower level of community spread. We began slowly reintegrating our employees, who had been working from home, into the office. As vaccines have become more available, we continue to actively encourage our global employees to be vaccinated as the best defense against the COVID-19 virus. We continue to be vigilant and adjust our guidelines based upon local data. Our focus on employee health and safety has allowed us to successfully meet the evolving needs of our customers during this unique and dynamic period.

Total Rewards

As part of our compensation philosophy, we believe that we must offer and maintain market competitive total rewards programs for our employees in order to attract and retain superior talent. These programs not only include base wages and incentives in support of our pay for performance culture, but also health, welfare, and retirement benefits. We focus many programs on employee wellness and have implemented solutions including mental health support access, telemedicine, and healthy weight loss programs. We believe that these solutions have helped us successfully manage healthcare and prescription drug costs for our employee population.

In the U.S., we match contributions to a tax-qualified defined contribution retirement savings plan (the “Savings Plan”) for all eligible employees, in an amount equal to 50 cents for every dollar contributed by the employee until the employee contributions reach 6% of her or his base compensation. In addition, non-union new hires and re-hires as of July 1, 2021 are eligible for an additional enhanced 401(k) contribution of 3% eligible earnings. All contributions by employees into the Savings Plan are fully vested immediately. Company contributions, both the match and enhanced contribution, have a three-year graded vesting schedule and vest at 33 1/3% each year until fully vested after three years of employment. We also maintain a non-qualified, unfunded, and unsecured deferred compensation plan for the benefit of eligible management employees whose benefits under the Savings Plan are limited by the benefit restrictions of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code. In addition, non-union employees hired prior to July 1, 2021 are eligible to participate in a Company-sponsored tax-qualified pension plan for U.S.-based employees (the “Salaried Pension Plan”). The Salaried Pension Plan is designed to work together with social security benefits to provide employees with up to 30 years of service retirement income replacement that is approximately 55% of eligible compensation, subject to the Internal Revenue Code maximum monthly benefit. Participants fully vest in the Salaried Pension Plan after five years of service. All eligible union employees hired prior to November 1, 2004 participate in a Company-sponsored tax-qualified pension plan for U.S.-based employees (the “Hourly Pension Plan”). The Hourly Pension Plan provides a multiplier for each year of service to supplement employees’ retirement income. We also maintain a supplemental retirement benefit restoration plan (“Excess Defined Benefit Pension Plan”), which is an unfunded, non-qualified plan that is designed to provide retirement benefits to U.S.-based eligible participants hired prior to July 1, 2021, as a replacement for retirement benefits limited by regulations under the Internal Revenue Code.

Together, the Salaried Pension Plan and Excess Defined Benefit Pension Plan are intended to provide executive officers, hired prior to July 1, 2021, with retirement income at a level equivalent to that provided to other employees under the Salaried Pension Plan.

We also provide service awards which show appreciation and thanks to longstanding employees with five or more years of service. Service milestones are recognized at each five-year increment by presentation of a digital and/or printed certificate with an invitation to select a recognition award via an online catalog.

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Talent

Our key talent philosophy is to develop talent from within and supplement with external hires. This approach has yielded a deep understanding among our employee base of our business, products, and customers, while adding new employees and ideas in support of our continuous improvement mindset. We believe that our average tenure across the globe – 10 years as of the end of 2021 – reflects the strong engagement of our employees and is reflective of our positive workplace culture. Our talent acquisition team uses internal and external resources to recruit highly skilled and talented workers, and we encourage employee referrals for open positions.

Talent development and succession planning for critical roles is a cornerstone of our talent program. Development plans are created and monitored for critical roles to ensure progress is made along the established timelines. Development plans also intersect with our mission, particularly as we strive to be responsible to our communities.

One of our core values—Respect for People—reflects the behavior we strive to include in every aspect of the way we conduct business. Our inclusion and diversity initiatives support our goal that everyone throughout the Company is engaged in creating an inclusive workplace, and we work to build diverse talent pools as part of our recruitment efforts. We strive to promote inclusion through “Inclusive Leadership” and unconscious bias training across the Company. With the support of our board of directors, we continue to drive our diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Available Information

Our annual report (Form 10-K), quarterly reports (Form 10-Q) and current reports (Form 8-K) and amendments to those reports filed or furnished with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available free of charge at https://investors.nordson.com as soon as reasonably practical after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Copies of these reports may also be obtained free of charge by sending written requests to Corporate Communications, Nordson Corporation, 28601 Clemens Road, Westlake, Ohio 44145. The contents of our website are not incorporated by reference herein and are not deemed to be a part of this report.