The present invention provides a process which in a preferred embodiment includes the steps of. (a) applying a hot melt adhesive to a heated roll rotating at an initial tangential speed; (b) milling the adhesive to a reduced thickness and accelerating said adhesive through a series of metering gaps between a plurality of adjacent heated glue rolls; (c) applying the adhesive to a conformable glue application roll rotating at a tangential line speed which is higher than the initial tangential speed; (d) applying the adhesive to a first patterned embossing roll which is engaged with a second patterned embossing roll having a complementary pattern to the first embossing roll, the embossing rolls being heated; (e) passing a web of sheet material between the first and second embossing rolls at the tangential line speed to simultaneously emboss the web and apply the adhesive to the web, such that the adhesive forms an adhesive pattern between embossments; (f) transferring the web from the second embossing roll to the first embossing roll; (g) stripping the web from the first embossing roll; and (h) cooling the web.