Fastener + Fixing Magazine #124

In this issue‌ Full reliability when it counts Fastener distribution Tooling, dies and punches fastenerandfixing.com ≥ Issue 124: July 2020

Full reliability when it counts

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ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES Since 1955 ND Industries has specialized in the development of innovative materials and processes which increase the safety and reliability of fastener assemblies.

ND serves a global market with divisions across the continental US, Taiwan, and licensees around the world. ND’s core business revolves around the application of a wide variety of materials onto fasteners and assemblies to aid in functions such as locking, sealing, masking, lubricating, and noise and vibration dampening. ND also manufactures a line of bottled products under the Vibra-Tite® brand name for MRO and retail use.

From two base products in 1965 to currently over two hundred twenty, ND continues its tradition of cutting edge research and development with the regular introduction of unique materials along with competitive brand offsets.

ELECTROLOC® High strength encapsulated epoxy threadlocker for use in electrical systems where low halogen materials are necessary. Contains small micrometer microcaps which reduce material extrusion on installation.

THERMOSEAL™ A high temperature, high pressure thread sealant which withstands up to 40MPa. Offering thread locking breakaway torques greater than 20Nm and a maximum temperature of 428°F (220°C). Thermoseal is an extremely versatile product for challenging sealing conditions.

THERMOLOC® 1500 ND’s highest temperature chemical threadlocker. Initially performs like a vibration dampening compound. Once temperatures reach 750°F (400°C), a secondary activation begins, causing the fastener to be permanently locked in place. Tested to over 1500°F (850°C).

AUTHORIZED APPLICATOR Did you know that ND is an approved 3M applicator? Further proof why ND should be your one stop shop for pre-applied fasteners.

ND PATCH® HI-TEMP Highest temperature pre-applied nylon threadlocker in the industry. Unlike the competition, ND’s application process requires only 120°C, preventing plating damage. However, once crosslinked, it can withstand temps up to 260°C. Meets MIL-DTL-18240F / QPL-18240.

THREAD ARMOR® GP Prevents galvanic corrosion in assemblies with dissimilar metals, such as aluminum, and steel, by electrically isolating the fastener. Specially bonded to the fastener, ND Galvanic Patch is durable, chemical resistant, and non-conductive.

THREAD ARMOR® VC An advanced anti-galling and lubricating thread coating designed to extend the life of bolts up to 15 times while under intense torque and high friction loads. Helps to ensure consistent clamp load. Works well on stainless steel fasteners.

EPOXY-LOCK® NUTS This pre-applied threadlocker consists of separated epoxy hardener and expoxy resin.

Upon fastener installation, the two materials mix and activate. When fully cured, EpoxyLock provides greater breakaway torque than conventional nylon fastener locking devices.

EXPAND-A-LOCK® A unique pre-applied microencapsulated expanding threadlocking & sealing compound. Increases in volume 20-50% on installation, penetrating the gaps in fastener threads typically unfilled by conventional threadlockers.

Scan QR Code for more info.

CONTACT US www.ndindustries.com www.vibra-tite.com info@ndindustries.com

EXPAND-A-SLEEVE™ Extruded ND Mastics are pre-applied to fasteners (threaded or non-threaded), bound for e-cote cycles. Heat from the process causes the material to expand, sealing large leak paths between fastener and assembly.

VIBRA-TITE® PRODUCTS Vibra-Tite, the bottled product division of ND Industries, is one of the world’s market leaders in anaerobics, cyanoacrylates, epoxies, and ultraviolet technologies.

CONTENTS NEWS 10-36 Financial reports, acquisitions and trade duty news

COVER STORY 38-39 Full reliability when it counts

INSIGHT 40-42 Glenda Roberts: 30 years with TR Fastenings

FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

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An insight from global fastener distribution associations and companies

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EXHIBITIONS 84-88

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CONSTRUCTION 90-98 FIXINGS Construction fixings and anchors in fire scenarios Structural steel and cladding solutions

MANUFACTURING 100-110 TECHNOLOGY Meeting the challenge for tooling and dies

MANAGEMENT + 112-120 SYSTEMS Automation in intralogistics What does the future hold for Manufacturing Operations Management?

APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY

122-135

Providing safety in huge steel constructions Fixing the mobility future

PRODUCTS + 136-147 TOOLS 6

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Will Lowry, editor, Fastener + Fixing Magazine

Part of the Mack Brooks Group

Romeland House, Romeland Hill, St Albans, Herts, AL3 4ET, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1727 814 400 www.fastenerandfixing.com

Rising to the challenge

Five months after most of Europe went into lockdown because of Covid-19, it’s only now that countries are taking tentative steps back into a normal way of business.

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ur special Fastener Distribution feature – through contributions from national associations in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK & Ireland, as well as from leading companies within the sector – gives an excellent insight into how different markets have been influenced by the coronavirus and what plans are afoot to enable them to not only manage the situation but to also implement plans for growth in the future.

Other interesting topics within the feature includes the importance of investment; the role digitisation will play in the future; as well as how the dependency on ‘just in time’ services may need to change going forward.

Our Cover Story for July focuses on omniTECHNIK, a market leader in pre-applied coatings for thread locking, clamping and sealing.

I spoke to Managing Director Sebastian Thau about how omniTECHNIK uses its patented microencapsulation process for adhesives in its reactive precote® products.

In our Construction Fixings section, we have an article from Hilti Group that looks at the requirements for structural steel and cladding applications and how the Group’s product range has developed to meet the needs of customers. There is also an article from Owlett-Jaton, recently named as a master wholesaler for Blind Bolt, which focuses on how the constructional cavity fixing is changing the way specifiers work.

To add to this, in the Manufacturing Technology section, there is an article from Alberto Gonzalez Ortiz de Urbina, from Spanish-based TEMSA Group, which concentrates on the challenges of being a tooling and dies manufacturer and how TEMSA’s production and services have developed in order to deliver solutions to customers.

More articles include: Jungheinrich UK Ltd looking at the role of automation in intralogisitcs; Nord-Lock Group’s SC-washer providing safety in a giant crane system; and Paolo Cattaneo, managing director at Growermetal Srl, reporting on how the Grower Teenkeep® performs in a new helicopter test.

Fastener Talk

As well as producing the July edition of the magazine, we have also been busy behind the scenes launching a new podcast – Fastener Talk – which will focus on the news and developments within the fastener and fixing industry.

Available to stream and download on all major podcast services, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts, the podcast will include exclusive interviews with industry leaders, key industry news, market analysis, and opinion pieces from companies within the market.

To find out more visit www.fastenerandfixing.com/podcasts and don’t forget to subscribe to ensure you keep up to date with what is happening within the industry.

Publishing Director Jamie Mitchell jamie.mitchell@fastenerandfixing.com Editor Will Lowry will.lowry@fastenerandfixing.com Deputy Editor Claire Aldridge claire.aldridge@fastenerandfixing.com Editorial Consultant Phil Matten phil.matten@fastenerandfixing.com Sales Manager Mac Rahman mac.rahman@fastenerandfixing.com Business Development Manager – Italy Emiliano Pagliaroli emiliano.pagliaroli@fastenerandfixing.com Business Development Manager – DACH Beata Csano beata.csano@fastenerandfixing.com Business Development Manager – Europe Chantal Ridings chantal.ridings@fastenerandfixing.com Production & Design Manager Lee Duskwick lee.duskwick@fastenerandfixing.com Digital Content Assistant Grant Rebecca grant.rebecca@fastenerandfixing.com Find us online: @fastenerfixing FastenerandFixingMagazine fastener---fixing-magazine Fastener and Fixing Fastener + Fixing Magazine is a dedicated, trade–only publication which is circulated freely throughout the European trade.

Disclaimer The Publisher cannot be held responsible or, in any way, liable for errors or omissions, during input or printing of any material supplied or contained herein although the utmost care is taken to ensure that information contained is accurate and up to date. The Publisher also cannot be held liable for any claims made by advertisers or in contributions from individuals or companies submitted for inclusion within this publication. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Editor or Mack Brooks Exhibitions Ltd. Copyright Entire contents copyright ©Mack Brooks Exhibitions Ltd 2020. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher.

Annual subscription (6 issues) to non–trade and outside EU is €160.00

Subscribe for free at www.fastenerandfixing.com

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FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

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NEWS COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF KEY INDUSTRY NEWS

EU fastener import licensing replaced EU prior surveillance import licensing on fasteners and other steel and aluminium products expired on 16th May 2020. The regime is replaced by monitoring of actual import data collected from Member States’ customs authorities. ommission Implementing Regulation 2016/670 of 29th April 2016 introduced prior Union surveillance of imports of certain iron and steel products originating in certain third countries. Amongst the products cited in the regulation were fourteen CN codes for fasteners, covering the majority of carbon steel, but not stainless steel, threaded fastener products including nuts. Commission Implementing Regulation 2018/640 introduced similar surveillance of certain aluminium products.

Article 6 of both regulations stated: “This regulation shall apply from the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union until 15th May 2020.” The surveillance regimes therefore expired on 16th May 2020 and importers are no longer required to apply for import licences on the products cited in the regulations.

The European Commission did not make any announcement about the expiry of import licensing but import licensing and customs authorities in some EU States issued confirmatory notices to importers on 15th May. The European Commission has replaced import licensing, which effectively captured intentions to import, with a new monitoring system based on actual import data transmitted by Member States’ customs authorities. The monitoring reports are updated on a monthly basis, covering the steel and aluminium products previously subject to prior surveillance, with the addition of products subject to US Section 232 measures. The new system has been introduced within

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the framework of Article 56(5) of the Union Customs Code, by which the release for free circulation or the export of goods may be made subject to surveillance. Announcing the new system, the Commission said: “It will respond better to the needs of the industrial sectors concerned and is completely transparent. The new system is based on import statistics available two weeks after the actual imports, thus considerably earlier than the official Eurostat data. It offers a better assessment of the import situation as compared to the previous system, which was based on import intentions, not actual imports.” Further information and the first monthly data summaries are available on the Commission’s website: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/siglbo/post-surveillance The original implementation of the prior surveillance regime proved extremely complex with some EU States able to rapidly implement highly automated systems and others using bureaucratic and often painfully slow manual reporting methods. The integrity of the data was also questionable, as it captured intention to import rather than what was eventually imported.

The European Fastener Distributor Association (EFDA) made regular submissions to the European Commission, arguing that the licensing regime created a significant and unnecessary administrative and financial burden for European fastener importers.

EFDA succeeded in getting the Commission to raise the threshold for licensing of consignments of each CN code from 2,500kg to 5,000kg net weight, but not in having the system eliminated.

Bufab reports stable operations but negative growth in May Bufab’s organic sales growth in May was approximately -25% (April -30%), adjusted for the number of working days.

Total sales growth in May was approximately -10% (April -20%), also adjusted for the number of working days. örgen Rosengren, president and CEO at Bufab, commented: “We have so far managed to avoid any significant impact on the health of our employees or our own operations, whilst supplying our customers without disruption throughout the Covid-19 crisis.

We have however seen a considerable impact to Bufab’s sales as our customers reduced their consumption and inventory of C-parts during April and May. This in turned was caused by considerable shutdowns and capacity reductions in the manufacturing industry worldwide during the same period.”

“During the month, we saw a gradual recovery of the demand from our customers in Europe and North America, but from low levels and to some extent slowed by inventory adjustments. We expect this trend towards a recovery to continue in June. It is not possible to forecast the development during the remainder of the year.”

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All of Bufab’s subsidiaries have adjusted their cost bases to meet the drop in demand. This includes short time work schemes – balancing the number of hours worked with organic growth. Bufab reports seeing good effects of these and other measures on its cost base.

“This is a difficult period for everyone. We are happy to see that we have managed to keep our staff and partners healthy and safe, and to continue to provide uninterrupted supply to our customers worldwide. We have been forced to take tough measures to reduce cost, and these are now showing good results. I’d like to again thank all team members for their excellent teamwork, customer focus and personal dedication in these tough times.”

Bufab is closely monitoring the development and continuously adjusting measures in accordance with the changing situation.

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NEWS - INDUSTRY

Torqx Capital Partners acquires Fabory from W.W. Grainger Torqx Capital Partners, a Dutch private equity company, has announced that it has acquired Fabory Group from parent company W.W. Grainger Inc.

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s a strategic investor, Torqx will be able to support Fabory in its ambition to further strengthen its position as a specialist distributor in fasteners; to enhance the customer experience; and to grow the group organically and through add-on acquisitions. Fabory and Torqx want to further strengthen Fabory’s leading position in the highly fragmented European fastener market and drive economies of scale, while maintaining and strengthening its specialist position as one of the top fastener companies in Europe.

Fabory, headquartered in Tilburg, the Netherlands, is active in 11 European countries and has revenues of over €220 million and 1,100 employees.

Fabory is a strong and well positioned fastener brand with a comprehensive product range, a strong and talented team, a best in class IT and sourcing system, as well as a European wide footprint with a strong home market in the Benelux.

The company has received positive advice on this transaction from its Works Councils. The transaction is not subject to any financing condition but is subject to the standard regulatory approvals. This deal is expected to close in the coming months.

“Finding a new strategic partner for Fabory was an important next step in our strategy, while focusing on further growth and with an eye on the consolidation of the European fastener industry. As a business we’re in good shape and in the past years we have built a new fundament for the growth of Fabory. While strengthening our business, we also see that the market has further developed with customers increasing in size and behaviour, further digitalisation and competitors bundling forces,” commented Ronald Baarslag, CEO of Fabory Group. “Therefore we need to accelerate our growth and expand our European presence, while remaining in the drivers’ seat. With Torqx we are delighted to have found a partner that will support us in executing our strategy and add value. We remain focused on delivering an effortless experience to our customers and serving in the best interest of our employees and new shareholder.”

“Based on our extensive experience and strong track record with technical distribution businesses, we see a strong fit between Fabory and Torqx. We can help the company to strengthen its position as a leading fastener specialist in its core markets and achieve its full potential,” commented Harmen Geerts, managing partner of Torqx.

DG Macpherson, chairman and CEO of Grainger, said: “I want to thank the Fabory team for its innovative and customer focused approach.

I’m confident the acquisition by Torqx will better align with Fabory’s growth objectives. At the same time, Grainger remains focused on providing value to our customers, executing our strategy and delivering profitable growth through our high touch and endless assortment offerings.”

Bulten is awarded a major FSP contract Bulten AB has been awarded an FSP (Full Service Provider) contract for the supply of fasteners to a European automotive manufacturer, which is also one of its existing customers. he contract is a transfer of an ongoing FSP set-up for two assembly plants and the annual order value is of approximately €60 million at full pace. Deliveries are set to start on 24th July 2020, with start up costs estimated at around €1 million.

“It is clear that the knowledge and experience Bulten has built-up over many years as a global manufacturer and FSP supplier to multiple customers was key to this award,” says Anders Nyström, president and CEO of Bulten. “The new contract will provide a good platform to deliver our unique services, our new technologies, and innovative and sustainable solutions for years to come.”

Deliveries are estimated to start at current volumes and are expected to grow to full pace as the automotive industry recovers from the shutdown period caused by Covid-19.

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Bulten acquires minority post in TensionCam Systems AB Bulten has also acquired newly issued shares in TensionCam Systems AB for a purchase price of SEK 6 million (€573,000). After the acquisition, Bulten became the owner of 27% of TensionCam’s shares. Thus, Bulten

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FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

and TensionCam will deepen their cooperation in the development of wireless clamp force monitoring of screw joints.

TensionCam is a Swedish-based company, specialising in the development of sensors for clamp force monitoring in screw joints and is, after the new share issue, 73% owned by G-Coder Systems AB. The company, both individually and together with industrial partners and research institutes, conducts research and development in the area and already owns a number of patents.

TensionCam’s technology is not currently commercialised or industrialised. The deeper cooperation aims to accelerate the completion of ready and concrete customer offers.

“The acquisition of a share of TensionCam is in-line with Bulten’s strategy of being a technology leader in fasteners and being able to offer customers unique and sustainable functionality, and to facilitate profitable growth even outside the automotive industry,” says Anders Nyström.

“The in-depth collaboration with Bulten will help TensionCam with the integration of sensor technology into complete screw joints and with the industrialisation necessary for commercial success,” says Jonas Nilsagård, CEO of TensionCam.

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NEWS - INDUSTRY

Coronavirus crisis leads to sales decline Hilti Group has experienced a significant downturn in business after the first four months of 2020 as a result of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Total sales decreased by 13.1% year-on-year to CHF 1.678 billion (€1.579 billion). In local currencies the decline was 8.2%.

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fter a good start to the year with mid-single-digit growth, Hilti experienced a sharp drop in business in north Asia, in February, due to the spread of coronavirus. From mid-March onwards all markets around the world experienced a significant decline in sales. The sales downturn was less pronounced in countries where construction activities continued, such as Germany, Scandinavia and the USA. By contrast, business deteriorated significantly in countries such as France, Italy and Spain, where construction activity was stopped completely. An additional burden is the strong appreciation of the Swiss franc. The negative translation effect after the first four months amounts to roughly 5 percentage points.

According to current estimates, Hilti Group expects a loss in sales for the full year of approximately 10% in local currencies, and up to 15% in Swiss francs. This is based on the assumption that the second quarter will remain difficult and a gradual recovery will take place during the second half of the year.

To counter the effects of the coronavirus crisis and avoid structural adjustments, Hilti has implemented a broad package of temporary measures. “The next few months will show whether this is sufficient or whether we will need to initiate a second stage of measures – including structural adjustments. Only a few countries in north Asia, where business activities are slowly stabilising, provide cautious optimism. However, Hilti Group’s strategic orientation remains unchanged and we will continue to push ahead with important projects and make corresponding investments,” explained Hilti CEO Christoph Loos.

DELO reports increased revenues despite Covid-19 DELO closed the financial year that ended on 31st March 2020 with a turnover of €163 million. This is an increase of almost 5% compared to the previous year (€156 million).

Despite increasing coronavirus restrictions worldwide, even the last quarter of the fiscal year contributed to this result. he manufacturer of high-tech adhesives and other functional materials achieved about one third of its sales in Europe and North America. Another third each was earned in China and the remaining Asian countries. Accordingly, China was DELO’s largest single market, followed by Germany with an 18% share of sales and Singapore with 14%. Apart from China as a traditional growth driver, the strongest increases were recorded in South Korea and European countries such as Italy. In terms of sectors, the consumer, automotive and industrial electronics industries continued to be the most important pillars.

“We felt the effects of the slowdown in the global economy during the last fiscal year. What is remarkable is that we managed to finish the last quarter of our fiscal year above expectations, despite the massive coronavirus restrictions and worldwide production shutdowns,” said Dr Wolf Herold, managing partner at DELO Industrial Adhesives. “This is mainly due to our Asian customers who were increasingly building up stocks in order to be independent from possible local restrictions.”

DELO currently has a workforce of 800 people, 710 of whom work at its headquarters in Windach, near Munich, Germany. Recently, a 4,800m² building for the development and production of dispensing and curing devices has been put into operation and a new production hall – with an area of more than 8,000m² – has been handed over.

The outlook for the current fiscal year is cautiously optimistic. “We have coped well with the coronavirus crisis so far and are doing everything we can to keep it that way,” says Herold. “If the global economy continues to recover and no further shutdowns occur, we could see an increase in sales by the end of this fiscal year.”

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PINSTRUCTURE LTD Tel: +44 1527 67999 Fax +44 1527 66557 email sales@pinstructure.com www.pinstructure.com 50 EnďŹ eld Industrial Estate, Redditch, Worcestershire B97 6DE

NEWS - INDUSTRY

LISI Group becomes sole owner of US company TERMAX LISI Group has agreed to acquire the remaining 49% of the TERMAX LLC equity. This transaction, initially planned for the first quarter of 2021, enables LISI Group to become the sole owner of TERMAX through its US subsidiary, LISI Holding North America.

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ISI Group is a global industrial group specialising in the manufacture of high value-added assembly and component solutions for the aerospace, automotive and medical industries. Thanks to the commitment of its 11,171 employees, in 13 countries over four continents, LISI generated sales of €1.7 billion in 2019.

François Liotard, chief executive officer of LISI AUTOMOTIVE, explains: “With TERMAX, LISI has extended its global footprint in clip fastening solutions in a lasting manner. The commercial and industrial synergies between our Clipped Solutions Business Group and TERMAX will continue to bear fruit. It will allow us to bring to a wider customer base the best development and production capabilities, and to offer innovative solutions in the areas of weight reduction, electrification and autonomous vehicle equipment.”

Effective from 30 th June 2020, the transaction does not have a material impact on the LISI Group financial statements in which TERMAX and the whole of the corresponding debt have been consolidated since 1 st November 2017.

Lockheed Martin and LISI AEROSPACE sign agreement

LISI AEROSPACE, part of the LISI Group, has signed its first long-term supply contract with Lockheed Martin for F-35 fasteners. The award covers years 2020 – 2022, with three one year options to 2025, at an estimated (six year) total value of US$60 million (€53.3 million).

The entire contract will be supplied by LISI AEROSPACE’s North American platform and strengthens the company’s position as a major supplier of fasteners for aerospace and military aviation.

TriMas Aerospace expands

SFS expects solid half year results European footprint TriMas has announced that TriMas Aerospace has formed a despite Covid-19 strategic partnership with Kuehne + Nagel to establish a European logistics hub in Contern, Luxembourg. This expansion was driven pandemic

by TriMas Aerospace’s new business growth in the region with SFS Group reports that after a solid first quarter, business was, as expected, negatively affected in the second quarter by the economic repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic. uring the quarter, SFS focused on protecting employee health, maintaining business continuity and implementing extensive measures to protect profitability.

Innovation driven projects continued as before.

Thanks to organic growth at two divisions and a well balanced positioning, the decline against prior year sales of CHF 867.8 million (€815.5 million) is limited to approximately -11%. The negative currency effect offsets the positive acquisition effect.

Despite the contraction in sales, SFS expects the EBIT margin for the first half of the year to be at around 9% (prior year period, adjusted: 12.6%) and the EBITDA margin at approximately 15% (prior year period: 17.6%).

Detailed financial figures for the first half of 2020 and a revised guidance for the full financial year 2020 will be released on 21 st July 2020.

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customers – such as Airbus, Safran and Sonaca – and the strategic positioning of parts to service its customer base.

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uehne + Nagel was selected as a well respected global third-party logistics provider, with a significant presence in Europe, that provides the expertise to support strategic warehousing and logistics requirements.

The European logistics hub provides TriMas Aerospace with the ability to pre-position product to support the region. This extends to recently secured long-term original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreements, as well as urgent aftermarket requirements.

“Kuehne + Nagel makes an ideal partner to service our growing European customer base,” said John Schaefer, president of TriMas Aerospace. “We are pleased with the launch of this strategic alliance and look forward to our expansion efforts over the next several years.”

TriMas Aerospace designs, engineers and manufactures engineered fasteners, solid rivets, temporary fasteners and standard fasteners, and complex engineered components and subassemblies, for the global commercial and military aerospace industry under the Monogram Aerospace Fasteners, Allfast Fastening Systems, Mac Fasteners, RSA Engineered Products and Martinic Engineering brands.

“The establishment of this new support location in Europe is aligned with TriMas Aerospace’s long-term strategy to expand our global presence in support of the global commercial and defence customer base,” said Thomas Amato, TriMas president and chief executive officer. “TriMas Aerospace is focused on leveraging a broad value proposition of innovative products, integrating its customers’ automated assembly processes, tailoring logistics solutions and driving operational excellence.”

TriMas anticipates supporting its European customers with product availability out of its Kuehne + Nagel partner location by the third quarter of 2020.

FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

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NEWS - INDUSTRY

tesa builds a new plant in Vietnam ‘In the region, for the region’. That is the short formula that tesa will use to produce adhesive tapes for the Asian market starting from 2023 – after deciding to build a large plant in Vietnam.

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his will help tesa Group strengthen its presence in Asia, by significantly increasing its capacities and therefore shortening the delivery time to customers and suppliers. “The aim of our strategy is to continue to grow and to achieve a harmonised balance between the regions of Europe, North America and Asia. The Asian adhesive tape market is experiencing a very dynamic development that we want to take advantage of,” explains Dr Norman Goldberg, CEO of tesa SE – affiliate of Beiersdorf Group. “By making such a large investment in times of Covid-19, the shareholders have set a strong signal for the future.”

Currently, tesa operates 14 production sites worldwide, including large plants in Germany, Italy, the USA, and China. The new building is located in the port city of Haiphong in northern Vietnam, where the company will be located on approximately 70,000m 2 .

The politically stable state on the South China Sea, with a population of 95 million, offers tesa the best opportunities to serve customers and markets in south-east Asia and also in China. An ever greater number of particularly important tesa customers are settling in Vietnam, for example, from the electronics and automotive industries. Even in the first quarter of 2020, the country’s economic growth rose by 3.8% – despite the global coronavirus crisis. With an average age of 31.7 years, Vietnam is young and – quite significant for tesa – has an elevated number of engineers.

Changes in Bulten’s group management Bulten AB has introduced changes to its group management, including the introduction of newly established positions – a chief commercial officer and a chief operating officer. ulten has recruited Markus Baum as chief commercial officer with global responsibility for marketing and sales, as of 1st November 2020.

Fredrik Bäckström, formerly SVP production at Bulten, will also take up a new position of chief operating officer with immediate effect.

Claes Lundqvist has been appointed acting chief financial officer, starting on 1 st August 2020.

Markus Baum, born in 1978, holds a degree in business administration from the University of Cologne and a doctorate in business administration from the Maastricht School of Management. Markus has experience from several senior positions at vehicle suppliers Visteon and Benteler and most recently he worked for fastener supplier Nedschroef, based in the Netherlands, where he was vice-president sales and marketing.

Fredrik Bäckström, born in 1965, was recruited to the position of senior vice-president production at Bulten in December 2019, and will immediately take up the newly established position as COO. In his new role, in addition to the production responsibility, Fredrik will also be responsible for central material planning, logistics and distribution.

Claes Lundqvist, born in 1969, has been appointed acting CFO and replaces Helena Wennerström who has chosen to leave Bulten for another assignment. Claes holds a degree in business administration and an Executive MBA from the School of Economics and Commercial Law at Gothenburg University. He has many years of experience in finance and economics, including as an accountant at Frejs Auditing Firm in Gothenburg. Claes has been employed at Bulten since 2006 and since 2012 he has been vice-president, and business controller, and responsible for the Group’s IT function.

The process of recruiting a permanent CFO is ongoing.

“Bulten has an ambitious strategy for the future and continues to grow. The organisation is adapted to our strategic plan and I am pleased to have these, both new and old, group management members on board,” says Anders Nyström, president and CEO of Bulten AB.

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NEWS - INDUSTRY

South Africa initiates safeguard investigation on bolts The South African International Trade Administration Commission has issued notice of a safeguarding investigation against increased imports of hexagon head steel bolts, imported under tariff code 73181543.

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he investigation is in response to an application lodged by the South African Iron and Steel Institute on behalf of the South African Fasteners Manufacturers’ Association (SAFMA). SAFMA members, represent 100% of domestic fastener manufacturing.

Injury analysis was submitted by CBC Fasteners (Pty) Ltd, Transvaal Pressed Nuts Bolts & Rivets (Pty) Ltd, and SA Bolt Manufacturers Company (Pty) Ltd, which account for 80% of bolt production in South Africa. The analysis alleges the domestic industry experienced serious injury, between July 2015 and June 2019, in the form of a decline in sales volumes, output, market share, utilisation of capacity, net profit and productivity. The ITC found that prima facie information was submitted to indicate that the South African industry was suffering serious injury, which could be causally linked to the surge in the volumes of imports.

The application cites China as leading the “confluence of events” forming the basis of “unforeseen development” (as defined by the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations), resulting in the injury. These events included: The unprecedented steep rate of increase in global fastener production capacity, increasing eight fold since 1994, to support growing construction, manufacturing and infrastructure activity, particularly in emerging economies.

The contraction of the world economy and in particular the Chinese economy resulting in the contraction of demand for fasteners, contributing to an imbalance between capacity and demand.

Record export volumes by countries with excess capacity, especially China, fuelled by excess capacity and output.

Excess output, capacity and export volumes led by China, displacing production in other regions, harming producers. This led to trade protection actions by major fastener markets, which contracted global fastener demand further, exacerbating the problem of increased imports into the South African market.

The notice called for interested parties to submit information within twenty days. The South African Government has notified the WTO of the safeguarding investigation.

Full copy of the notice at: https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202005/43316gen272.pdf

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NEWS - INDUSTRY

Being an essential manufacturer Here US-based ZAGO Manufacturing Company Inc gives an insight into how the company has handled the Covid-19 crisis as an essential manufacturer, as well as the new policies and procedures it has implemented to best service its customers.

I

n New Jersey, coping with the coronavirus has been incredibly tough for businesses, employees and residents. At the time of writing, New Jersey had the second highest incidence of Covid-19 related cases, hospitalisations and deaths in America. For most of the Spring, the state has been in lockdown mode, with non essential businesses, schools and universities shut down.

ZAGO Manufacturing has been the exception to the rule. As an essential manufacturer it has been exempt from closure and therefore has been producing high-tech sealing fasteners and components for the medical device, and military and defence sectors, among other industries. However, being exempted from closure is only half the battle.

“The real challenge is how to produce premium, timely goods while keeping our employees, and by extension, their loved ones, safe during a fast-moving, highly contagious pandemic,” says Jackie Luciano, vice-president at ZAGO Manufacturing. “We never could have predicted a global health crisis like the coronavirus; however, we have taken business continuity and recovery planning very seriously.”

As a practitioner of continuous improvement, ZAGO routinely invests in automation efficiencies, and most recently, robotics, enabling production to run whether or not employees are present. This investment has made it possible for ZAGO to limit the number of on-site employees and to practice safe social distancing without production delays.

Another advantage is the trustworthy, loyal relationships ZAGO has cultivated with local suppliers over the past 27 years. These relationships proved to be invaluable when sourcing raw material to accelerate production of ZAGO sealing fasteners, which are used in medical ventilators and other life saving medical equipment that has been in short supply throughout the pandemic.

Additionally, before ‘work from home’ orders went into effect, ZAGO made sure all employees who could work from home had the necessary equipment to do so and that all on-site employees had the proper safety gear. These protocols, along with routine temperature checks and open communication amongst management and employees, have enabled ZAGO to meet increased demand for its sealing fasteners and switch boots during Covid-19.

“We recognise and do not take it lightly that we are one of the more fortunate employers during this outbreak,” notes Gail Friedberg Rottenstrich, CEO and co-founder of ZAGO. “It has given us a renewed sense of purpose, and a chance to make it through this pandemic, one day at a time.” www.zago.com

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NEWS - NORTH AMERICA

by John Wolz, editor, GlobalFastenerNews.com

Some US fastener sales halved amid Covid-19 US fastener executives report production and sales figures have dropped as much as 45%, according to an informal May 2020 survey conducted by GlobalFastenerNews.

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ne fastener distributor observed: “If it wasn’t for the empty roads, I would barely notice the shutdown. We are running the full crew full time, but order quantities are lower, so sales are down around 10% versus the prior year.”

Another distributor said his company is sanitising work surfaces and touch points, and workstations have been moved at least six feet apart. “I would guess that this is the new normal for at least 18 months until an inoculation is proven.”

While face masks are optional, “anyone who sneezes or coughs goes home”, he told GlobalFastenerNews. The distributor is moving some inside sales reps to home offices. In contrast, another distributor said he has made no safety changes, such as distancing, to his operation.

Few problems working with customers or suppliers were reported. “Most companies seem to have embraced working

remotely to keep business functioning as smoothly as possible given the environment we are in,” one manufacturer found.

Only one has said a customer has been “problematic”, but added that suppliers are “very cooperative”.

But sales aren’t restarting: “Nothing ramping up”, said one. “Just managing expectations while end users are shut down.”

Most responded with “wait and see” on plans to attend the International Fastener Expo on 28th – 30th September in Las Vegas as well as the STAFDA convention in Anaheim on 8th – 10 th November.

“Yes, unless there is a new wave of the virus”, a distributor responded to his company participating in the two events. There were also flat rejections to trade show participation this year. “Not likely”, noted one.

“No way things will be okay by then”, said another distributor close enough to drive to both events instead of flying.

Endries International acquires All-West Endries International Inc has acquired All-West Components & Fasteners Inc, a distributor to OEMs founded in 1978 in Seattle by CEO Rick Peterson. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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ll-West has 24 employees at its headquarters in the Seattle suburb of Auburn, WA, and branches in Spokane, WA, and Boise, ID. President Steve Endries commented that the “cultural and customer service philosophies that Rick and Mark have built align perfectly with the foundation at Endries.

This acquisition will enhance Endries’ ability to grow our business with the combined expansion of our product offerings and geographic footprint that All-West brings in the Pacific Northwest”.

He added: “We are excited with the top level team of associates that will be joining the Endries family.”

Peterson’s brother, Mark Peterson, joined All-West in 1982 and has been president since 2015. After eight years in fastener distribution, Rick Peterson founded All-West 42 years ago, adding up to a 50 year fastener career. That qualifies him as “a rusty bolt”, Peterson commented.

Founder Bob Endries was the 1993 president of the Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association (STAFDA) and Rick Peterson was the 2008 STAFDA president.

Peterson was also the 2014 – 2015 president of the Pacific-West Fastener Association.

Endries International is also marking its 50 th anniversary during 2020. The company has 825 employees across the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia Pacific and China. It is headquartered in Brillion, WI.

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Fastenal fastener sales continue decline Fastenal reported fastener sales dropped 15.3% in May, compared with a 22.5% rate of decline the previous month. Sales of other products (excluding safety supplies) fell 6%.

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verall sales rose 4.4% to US$491.5 million (€438 million) in May, while daily sales climbed 14.8% to US$24.7 million during the month. US sales gained 14.4%, while sales in Canada and Mexico fell 2.4%. Sales to manufacturing customers decreased 4.2%, and sales to non-residential construction customers were down 9.8% in May. During May, Fastenal trimmed 400 sales staff, with most of those cuts in branch and on-site personnel. The company’s overall workforce decreased 5.4% during the month to 21,034 employees. Distribution personnel shrank 14.3% to 2,478 while manufacturing personnel fell 9.8% to 625 workers.

In the opening quarter of 2020, fastener sales declined 2.6% to US$449.7 million (32.9% of overall sales).

NEWS - NORTH AMERICA

Brighton-Best co-founder Perry Rosenstein dies Brighton-Best Socket Screw Mfg co-founder Perry Rosenstein, 94, died on 3rd April from Covid-19.

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is company, which he sold in 2008 to a consortium of Taiwanese investors led by Ta Chen International president Robert Shieh, became Brighton-Best International, the largest fastener importer in North America. Dan Haggerty of Stelfast stated: “Sad new for us old timers that had the privilege to know Perry,” stated Don Haggerty of Stelfast. “This is terrible news, especially for those of us at Brighton,” added BBI president Jun Xu. “I can only say that we would not be where we are today without the work Perry put into BBSSMI. It was an incredible platform to build off. We are humbled and proud to carry on a part of his legacy in the work we do everyday.”

Rosenstein was born in the Bronx to Polish emigrants “who instilled in him a tremendous work ethic and a passion for social justice”, his website biography said. He served in the South Pacific during World War II and graduated from Indiana University, after which he earned a Masters degree from Long Island University.

Rosenstein started his post-college career as a school teacher.

“The experience of learning to be a teacher”, was excellent training for his career in fasteners, Rosenstein told GlobalFastenerNews in 2007.

His first fastener job was with Globe Bolt & Screw Co. He then joined Stevens Socket Screw Co, which was later bought out by MSL Industries and became part of Heads & Threads.

Rosenstein then became vice-president.

Stanley Sevell and Rosenstein founded Best Socket Screw Co in New York City in 1965. Three years later they formed Brighton-Best

Birmingham Fastener acquires Atlanta Rod Birmingham Fastener and Supply Inc has acquired domestic fastener supplier Atlanta Rod and Manufacturing.

J

ohn White will stay on as president of Atlanta Rod and join the leadership team of Birmingham Fastener. Lavonia, GA-based Atlanta Rod has the capability to forge bolts from ⅜ inch to 4 inch and hot form nuts from ⅜ inch to 4 inch diameter for standard fasteners and customised specialty and non-standard products.

“By acquiring Atlanta Rod, we are doubling down on domestic fastener manufacturing in the south-east during the Covid-19 pandemic,” stated Birmingham Fastener president Brad Tinney.

“While there are many questions around the international supply chain, domestic manufacturers can meet demand and provide outstanding quality.”

In the past two years, Birmingham Fastener has expanded its footprint by opening locations in New York, Iowa and Houston.

Founded in 1980 by Howard Tinney, the company has manufacturing operations in Alabama and Texas, and distribution centres in Alabama, Florida, Texas, Nebraska, Connecticut, Wisconsin, New York and Iowa. The company is headquartered in Birmingham, AL.

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FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

Socket Screw when they acquired Brighton Screw Co of Cincinnati and merged the names. Brighton-Best grew to become a major supplier of inch and metric hexagon alloy socket screws.

After retiring in 2008, Rosenstein gave even more attention to his foundations. He donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to support the arts in New York, New Jersey and Ohio.

“We support the arts – especially those by people with beliefs, colour or gender which are out of the mainstream.”

In 1983, Rosenstein founded the Puffin Foundation, a Teaneck-based progressive non-profit that he self-funded to provide over 400 grants for the arts and culture. He also created the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, which preserved the history of Americans who fought against Franco and fascism and started an awards program that recognised individuals and groups that impact human rights. The Puffin Gallery for Social Activism is a permanent exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York.

Puffin reportedly provided US$100,000 annually to the National Associates for a creative citizenship award. Recipients included Reverend Barber, Ben Jealous, Colin Kaepernick, the Parkland Students, and the Sunrise Movement.

Another Rosenstein favourite foundation, Teaneck Creek Conservancy, turned garbage dumps into parks or wetlands where birds returned to nest.

His philanthropy was all a part of “giving back” from his successful career and in fighting global warming and pollution, he told GlobalFastenerNews.

Fastener Fair USA postponed until 2021 Fastener Fair USA has been postponed to March 2021 due to the Covid-19 escalation.

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he third Fastener Fair USA is now slated for 23rd – 25th March 2021, at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, OH, returning to the city where the inaugural event was held in 2018.

“This decision was made in response to unprecedented challenges we are facing as an industry,” stated event director Bob Chiricosta. “We know this decision impacts our exhibitors, attendees and stakeholders and it was not made lightly.”

While there will not be a physical event in 2020, the Fastener Fair USA team is looking to facilitate business connections through virtual platforms in the coming months.

You can read more about this on page 88.

The 2020 Fastener Fair USA event was originally scheduled for 18 th – 20 th May in Charlotte. Close to 2,200 fastener people participated in the 2019 trade show in Detroit, surpassing the 2018 inaugural show in Cleveland.

There were 270 exhibitors from 15 countries representing aerospace, automotive, civil engineering, construction, energy, machinery and other industries.

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NEWS - RUSSIA + CIS

by Alexander Ostashov, editor, Fastener, Adhesives, Tools and... Magazine www.fastinfo.ru

MMK-METIZ large-scale investment programme nearly completed Magnitogorsk Hardware and Calibration Plant, MMK-METIZ, is completing the implementation of a large-scale programme, involving a total investment of more than five million rubles (€63,000).

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ince 2017, more than 70 units of high-tech equipment for the production of fasteners, wire and ropes, and calibrated steel, have been brought into operation.

By 2019, the specialists of the plant, implementing an import substitution programme, mastered the production of popular bolts and nuts according to DIN standards, and expanded the production of self-tapping screws. The purchase of a new quench and temper line ensured high-quality heat treatment of fasteners, including high strength products for bridge construction. A new galvanising line further expanded the plant’s product range, through the production development of large diameter galvanised fasteners.

A complex for production of high carbon wire and steel ropes now supplies new types of ropes, including eight strand, non-unwound, with plastic crimped strands.

This year the plant launched a continuous hot galvanising line producing 1mm diameter galvanised wire. Four further production complexes are planned. A set of bell type furnaces for spheroidise

annealing of calibrated rolled products will contribute to import substitution and increased production of automotive components in the Russian Federation. Complexes of rewinding, cold heading and thread rolling machinery will produce M16 to M24 diameter engineering bolts to fulfil the majority of customer requirements. The introduction of modern production machinery for railway bolts and track screws will facilitate the introduction of new types of fasteners for high-speed rail.

Primary objectives for MMK-METIZ over the next five years include increasing investment attractiveness; strengthening and expanding partnerships; increasing industrial and environmental safety; and further developing its workforce. The plant has developed an implementation programme to meet these objectives, and has given priority to the acquisition of high-tech equipment for the development of innovative types of products, particularly targeted at import substitution. These include fasteners, high carbon wire and ropes, and calibrated steel.

Warning on threaded rod quality The Fastener Union has published an open letter to design, construction organisations and regulatory authorities, on the quality of threaded rods on the Russian market.

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he letter from the Union of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Fixing Systems (Fastener Union) says that currently on the Russian construction market there is a wide assortment of threaded rods, which are also used in conjunction with chemical anchor systems.

The Fastener Union draws particular attention to the quality of the studs, warning that in the construction market one can encounter threaded rods with a reduced thread profile angle, visible even to the naked eye when inspecting the product. The Fastener Union strongly recommends avoiding the use of these defective products in construction, because of the unreliability of their technical and operational performance, which extremely negatively affects the reliability and safety of the attachment points.

Our industry does not belong to the victims Yuri Medvedev, general director of BERVEL’s high strength fastener factory, commented that “our industry does not belong to the victims”, during an interview with Alexander Romanov, chief editor of Metal Supply and Sales Magazine.

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edvedev noted that the BERVEL plant has been working continuously all the time. He noted that production levels in April were slightly reduced due to the suspension of some large construction projects in Moscow and other regions. When asked about the implementation of forward-looking plans, he replied: “As for investment development plans, they are on pause. We are businessmen and consider risks.”

Speaking about the immediate future, Yuri Medvedev emphasised: “Everything will depend on the State. Industry needs infrastructure projects not to be stopped.”

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NEWS - RUSSIA + CIS

DIY demand surges during self-isolation Sales of goods for home improvement and repairs is one of the few non-food industries that did not collapse during the period of self-isolation.

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ocked in their houses, city and town citizens turned to improving their homes, placing online orders for repair products. Among the winners are players who managed to quickly increase their capacity for distance trading. This year’s demand for home, garden and renovation products surpassed the traditional seasonal surge. Following the suspension of traditional ‘offline’ stores, online suppliers experienced unusually high demand.

“The assortment of DIY stores is one of the few categories that received such a large demand increase that their online platforms simply could not cope – websites froze and call centres had difficulties processing orders,” says Ivan Fedyakov, INFOLine CEO. Demand for goods for summer residences has also grown many times, with adhesives and fasteners among highly demanded goods.

Atlas Copco tools now state registered Atlas Copco wrenches in the series ET and MWR are now listed in the Russian State Register as measuring instruments.

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T tools include electric wrenches and the MWR series includes electro mechanical torque wrenches. The tightening data from these tools is transferred by a controller to the production data collection system, providing high reliability and reliable documentation of the technological process.

Mariya Valiakhmetova, editor in chief, Metiz Magazine, Ukraine

Ukraine implements AD on Chinese steel fasteners The International Trade Council of Ukraine determined that anti-dumping duty will protect PJSC Druzhkovka Hardware Plant, a national producer with more than 50% share of Ukrainian steel fastener production.

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he preliminary anti-dumping measures were implemented on 28th May for four months, imposing an anti-dumping duty of 19.75% of the customs value of the imported goods.

The Council’s decision affects threaded fasteners from ferrous metal – screws, bolts and nuts originating from the People’s Republic of China. The measures impact the majority of imported fasteners including popular items such as DIN 931, 933, 912 and others.

FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

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NEWS - ASIA

CSC reduces Q3 bar and rod costs Taiwan’s China Steel Corporation (CSC) has announced an average -2.5% reduction in its domestic list for the third quarter of 2020. The domestic list price for bar and rod for Quarter 3 reduced by TW$500 per tonne.

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SC said: “Owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the Taiwan steel industry suffered from slumping demand, contracted export orders, and hesitant purchase in H1. However, as more countries start to ease lockdown and release stimuli policies in H2, the economy will regain growth momentum in the near future.”

In its May announcement CSC assessed market conditions: “The recent outbreak of the coronavirus has severely impacted global consumption, trade and investment. The epidemic disrupted global supply chains and delayed shipments, which undermined Q1 economic performance. To alleviate the epidemic impact, global leading mills have implemented production cuts and some blast furnaces have been halted temporarily. Chinese manufacturers are back to production effectively right now and

hiked prices for June owing to the rising demand. Meanwhile, the United States mills have raised HR prices by US$50 per metric tonne since late April due to higher raw material cost. The Shanghai HR price has increased by CNY 300 per metric tonne, and import prices in south-east Asia have also increased by US$15 ~ US$30 per metric tonne. Since H2 is traditional peak season for steel industries, the upbeat market sentiment is about to push steel prices up.”

China Steel reported continued falls in its sales during May, resulting in year to date revenues down -22% on the same five months in 2019. CSC recorded a pre-tax loss in May of TW$535 million (€16.1 million), bringing its five month year-on-year deficit to TW$3.6 billion. The company is expected to increase costs for August for those steel grades it now prices monthly.

Sheh Fung feels virus impact in May

China’s robot production increases

Sheh Fung Screws achieved record sales for the first five months of 2020 despite a -25% year-on-year decline in May.

China’s industrial robot production rose 16.9% year-on-year in May to 17,794 units, according to official data quoted by Chinafastener.info.

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heh Fung reported May revenues at TW$142 million (€4.3 million), down 25.64% over the same month in 2019.

The company explained this was mainly attributed to the coronavirus pandemic in the US and Europe, which influenced delivery schedules. The negative year-on-year comparison was exacerbated by increased deliveries of new products in May 2019.

Nevertheless, Fastener World Magazine reports, the company still benefited from clients’ increased purchases and saw its revenues in the first five months reach TW$812 million, an increase of +8.9% on the same period 2019.

The company believes increasing demand from America and Europe will maintain its growth impetus.

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rom January to May 2020, China produced 72,619 units of industrial robots, up +6.7% from the same period last year, data from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics showed. In 2019, the country’s industrial robot production totalled some 177,000 units, down -3.1% from the previous year.

Official Chinese news media, Xinhua, says China strives to upgrade its labour intensive manufacturing sector through technological innovation as it faces a shrinking working-age population and increasing labour costs.

In 2016, the country issued guidelines vowing to expand the use of robots in industries such as automobile manufacturing, electronics, home appliances, aviation, textiles and chemical.

Moglix to create industrial centres across India Moglix, a start-up that specialises in B2B procurement, maintenance, repair and overhaul of industrial products, such as fasteners and industrial electricals, aims to digitally transform the supply chain of the manufacturing sector in India – reports the Fastener Association of India.

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o this end, Moglix planned to create industrial centres across the country to cover more than twenty-five major manufacturing hubs.

The Noida-based start-up began with the backing of Accel Partners and Jungle Ventures. Soon, industrialist Emeritus Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons, came on board as an investor in the seed round.

The B2B eCommerce marketplace has now closed its Series D round of funding. It is also backed by Tiger Global, Sequoia India, Composite Capital, IFC, and Venture Highway. Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart, has also personally invested in the company.

Moglix is also working towards an innovation garage called ‘Moglix Innovation Hub (MIH)’ for B2B commerce and supply chain.

This initiative will focus on procurement related areas including advanced technology, SaaS platforms, fintech, and logistics.

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PARTS ACCORDING DRAWING

NEWS - ASIA

China removes additional tariffs on US fasteners Screws and bolts with tensile strength equal to or greater than 800MPa, whether or not assembled with nuts and washers – originating in the United States, have been exempted from additional Chinese import tariffs.

T

he Tariffs & Regulations Committee of PR China’s State Council has announced the second wave of ‘exemption’ list of products imported from the US subject to extra tariffs, reports Chinafastener.com. Screws and bolts with tensile strength equal to or greater than 800MPa, whether or not assembled with nuts and washers, were included in the exemption list, which became effective on 19th May 2020 and will run through to 18th May 2021.

According to ChinaFastener.com tariffs collected by Chinese customs before 19 th May will be reimbursed.

Grainger sells Sundram full Chinese business year sales and profits fall W.W. Grainger has entered an agreement to sell its Chinese distribution business to an undisclosed buyer owned by the management team and Sinovation Ventures, a China-based venture capital firm.

G

rainger says the divestiture will better enable it to focus on its key businesses and geographies. The transaction, terms for which were not disclosed, is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close later this year. Grainger will retain its global sourcing operations in China, which provides it with private label products.

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FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

Sundram Fasteners reported standalone revenue for its full year, to 31st March 2020, declined by -21.8% compared with the previous fiscal year.

S

undram Fasteners reported standalone revenue for its full fiscal year to 31st March 2020 revenue at INR 31.45 billion (€371.1 million), representing a -21.8% year-on-year decline. Exports fell -19% to INR 11.17 billion. Net profit for the year was down -28% from INR 4.362 billion to INR 3.13 billion.

While fourth quarter sales fell by -28%, the company said it had posted a healthy Quarter 4 EBITDA of 18% due to operational efficiencies and cost control measures.

During the fiscal year capital expenditure of INR 3.047 billion was committed to expanding existing lines and establishing Sundram Fasteners’ new manufacturing facility at Sri City SEZ, which commenced shipments to Europe in January.

The company is reported to have reduced employee remuneration by between 15% and 35% in response to the coronavirus pandemic, with the chairman halving his personal remuneration.

General Motors has recognised Sundram Fasteners as one of its ‘Suppliers of the Year’, the company has just announced, adding that it was the seventh occasion on which it has received the accolade.

NEWS - BRAZILIAN Sérgio Milatias, editor, Revista do Parafuso, www.revistadoparafuso.com.br

‘Made in’ and ‘Made out’ of Brazil

Some recent comparisons and results about Brazil as a fastener importer and exporter.

B

etween January and April 2020, Brazil imported around 38,800 tonnes of fasteners (bolts, screws, nuts, rivets, nails and others made from iron, steel, copper or aluminium). These metallic lines ‘Made out of Brazil’ cost more than US$185 million (€164.9 million) during that period (11.5% lower than the same period in 2019).

Among the top five supplier countries are: China – US$42.3 million; USA – US$28.6 million; Japan – US$22.4 million; Germany – US$19.4 million and Taiwan – US$10.8 million.

For the full year of 2019 total fastener imports hit US$621.65 million (8.7% lower than 2018), accumulating 123,000 tonnes (6.7% lower than 2018). The five top source countries were: China – US$130 million; USA – US$95.5 million; Germany – US$72.9 million; Japan – US$72 million and Italy – US$37.3 million.

On the other side, in the same four months of 2020, the fasteners ‘Made in Brazil’ achieved 6,726 tonnes in exports (33.1% lower than the same period in 2019), totalling a revenue of US$45.4 million (30.8% lower than the same period in 2019). Of this total, China bought only US$233,000 (0.51%).

The top five Brazilian customers are: USA – US$20.6 million; Argentina – US$5.71 million; Paraguay – US$2.8 million; France – US$2.11 million and Mexico – US$1.87 million.

During all of 2019 Brazilian fastener export revenue was US$193.8 million (20.7% lower than in 2018), accumulating to 29,576 tonnes (13.4% lower than in 2018). The first five top source countries were: USA – US$79.7 million; Argentina – US$22.6 million; Paraguay – US$13 million; France – US$7.86million and Mexico – US$6.64 million.

Source: The Brazilian Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services *Note: In the infographics there are some percentage discrepancies due to the added value conditions.

Imports: 2020 (Jan – Apr) percentage Thailand 1.95%

Thailand 1.85%

Other 14.18%

India 3.45%

China 22.8%

South Korea 3.76%

Germany 10.5%

Taiwan 5.8%

Other 15.12%

India 2.13%

China 20.9%

South Korea 4.39%

USA 15.4%

Italy 4.93% France 5.13%

Imports: 2019 percentage

USA 15.4%

Taiwan 5.37% France 5.55%

Japan 12.1%

Japan 11.6%

Italy 5.99%

Germany 11.7%

TOTAL

Variation 2020 - 2019

TOTAL

Value (million)

US$185.55

-11.5%

Value (million)

US$621.65

-8.7%

Tonnes

38,811

-7%

Tonnes

123,923

-6.7%

FOB Price: US$4.78

FOB Price: US$5.02

Exports: 2020 (Jan – Apr) percentage Bolivia 1.94%

Exports: 2019 percentage Bolivia 2.97%

Others 20.61%

Colombia 2.12%

USA 43.9%

Chile 2.56%

Germany 3.95%

Germany 3.13% Mexico 3.42%

Argentina 12.5%

France 4.05%

Paraguay 6.15%

TOTAL

Variation 2020 - 2019

Value (million)

US$45.52

-30.8%

Tonnes

6.726

-33.1%

FOB Price: US$6.77

USA 41.1%

India 2.15%

Chile 3.92%

Mexico 4.11%

Others 19.69%

UK 2.54%

India 2.42%

France 4.65%

Variation 2020 - 2019

Argentina 11.7% Paraguay 6.69%

TOTAL

Variation 2019 - 2018

Value (million)

US$193.93

-20.7%

Tonnes

29.576

-13.4%

FOB Price: US$6.56

Belenus acquires the Tellep brand

On 29th May 2020, Belenus S/A reported the official acquisition of Tellep, a renowned fastener brand owned

by Metalac SPS Ind e Com Ltda, a Precision Castparts Corp member group.

T

he Tellep brand is a line of hexagon socket screws with several head types (cylindrical, flat, raised and others) – made to application in fastening systems with high strength requirements.

“We are so proud and optimistic about this important investment, which will bring great know-how and high-quality, reinforcing and completing the name Belenus in the fastener market. For the meantime, we will continue to have Tellep lines produced by Metalac. Soon, a process will commence, involving technology and knowledge transfer so we

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FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

ensure we have the correct conditions to produce these parts in our modern industrial plant,” said Ezio Ruocco Jr, vice-president at Belenus.

“The sale involves the brand, technology transfer and current stocks, not including other assets, such as machinery and tooling. The Tellep disposal is totally aligned with the Metalac business strategy, which consists on growing business in the automotive industry, local and overseas, as well as consolidating our presence in the aerospace sectors.

In both cases we are continuing with ongoing investments despite the Covid-19 crisis,” said, Rodrigo B. Egea, general manager at Metalac.

COVER STORY

Full reliability when it counts Founded around 50 years ago by Heinrich Kuhn-Weiss, omniTECHNIK is a market leader in pre-applied coatings for threadlocking, clamping and sealing, which satisfies a vast spectrum of technical requirements. Still today omniTECHNIK uses its patented microencapsulation process for adhesives in its reactive precote® products.

D

uring the omniTECHNIK in-house microencapsulation process, droplets of a proven two component acrylate system are enveloped inside a thin polymer wall.

These individual microencapsulated components are then integrated within a lacquer like, reactive binder system. The final reactive products are called precote® 30, precote® 80 and precote® 85. When applied the precote® system dries to create a dry non-tacky coating that is permanently attached to the threaded part.

Then during installation, pressure and/or shear stress rupture the microcapsules in the precote coating. The liquid components are released and the mixture cures in conjunction with the binder system to offer a combination of maximum locking effect and reliable sealing.

Different requirements concerning strength, friction value and temperature stability can also be fulfilled by microencapsulated modified acrylates in combination with precote binders. “precote is able to provide a pre-applied solution for all application fields where high security standards, easy handling and efficiency in mass production are required,” explains Dr–Ing Sebastian Thau, managing director at omniTECHNIK. “The big benefit of precote is that users can handle the coated screw in a normal way, they do not have to worry about a sticky substance on the part. Plus, precote coated parts can be installed via highly automated manufacturing lines using robots or simply by hand, making it suitable for a lot of applications.”

Picking the right partner

Initially omniTECHNIK coated the screws itself, before deciding to work with coating partners – firstly in Germany and then further afield in Europe and finally globally. “As a relatively small business it was clear from the beginning that we would need to work with coating partners in order to be present in the necessary markets,” mentions Sebastian.

“Based on our partnerships, we now have a presence within all the main continents including North and South America, Asia – particularly China, Korea, India, Taiwan and Japan – as well as all over Europe.” omniTECHNIK has several coating partners in each region it serves, to guarantee of supply.

“We are not selling precote to the general market,” points out Sebastian. “We work with carefully selected coating partners, with whom we have grown a very strong partnership over decades. We develop and deliver the liquid adhesive, and our coating partners have their core competence in coating the fasteners.

Together we serve the fastener distribution supply chain to the final customer or OEMs.”

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A key part in picking coating partners for omniTECHNIK is the commitment to quality. “All our partners supply reliable and consistent quality. This is crucial because patching is a highly technical and specialised process,” states Sebastian.

Technical and R&D support

“We have two hearts driving us forward as a successful business and that is our technical service, as well as our R&D capabilities. Both of which are essential services if you are going to work closely with partners and end user customers,” comments Sebastian. “That is why we have spent a lot of time and invested a lot of money into our technical service, as it is key to our development.”

Sebastian continues: “We also look to create strong partnerships with our coating partners around the world and develop solutions for new applications in close teamwork.” However, omniTECHNIK works not only with the coating partners, but also with everyone involved in the projects, especially the engineers at the supplier and OEMs. “For OEM engineers, the screw is mostly not the main part of their expertise and therefore the coating on the screw is going to be even less of their expertise. That is why we offer our knowledge, experience and advice so we can provide the best technical solution. This is our main goal,” explains Sebastian. “By getting involved we can find out more about the application requirements and avoid any potential issues.”

The biggest market for precote is the automotive sector, but the company also works alongside customers in other markets.

“The automotive industry is good for us because there are billions of screws involved, but we also serve industries such as aerospace, mechanical engineering, wind power and electronics,” mentions Sebastian.

“We are looking to become a little more independent from the automotive industry, but at the same time we cannot ignore the volumes.”

In addition to technical support, omniTECHNIK is also committed to R&D: “Over a third of our workforce is working in R&D,” states Sebastian. “We have invested a lot into our R&D capabilities because this helps us with innovation – through the processes we use in production, the products, as well

as the applications. By doing this we can provide customers with optimal solutions that will meet their needs, and this helps us get the products specified, which is essential.”

Reliable delivery

Another important aspect of omniTECHNIK’s service is the reliability of its delivery. “We are committed to delivering our products on time around the world,” highlights Sebastian. “As a small company this is not easy, which is why we have invested a lot of money in our production and processes – so we can produce our products completely in-house. This helps us not only to ensure the quality of the market and our growth, which would lead to different investments products, but also the reliability when it comes to delivery.” plans. However, none of our scenarios included a pandemic,” Recent examples of omniTECHNIK’s investment include the mentions Sebastian. doubling of one of its production lines last year, as well as the He continues: “With the automotive industry being one of our investment in a special fire extinguishing system – placed over the main markets, of course the impact of Covid-19 on our business has production lines – which immediately shuts down production at been significant. Nevertheless, we decided not to slow down, thus no the first sign of a fire. “These are big investments, but they were short-term (furlough) working was implemented.” key steps in making our processes more efficient and guaranteeing omniTECHNIK has used this time to renovate, carry out supply,” mentions Sebastian. “The fire extinguishing system is maintenance, and reorganise its production lines, as well as optimise a failsafe and ensures that if the worst was to happen, we would its stock and invest in new machinery. “These are things that are be able to stop any fire quickly via a ‘water mist fog’, which would not so easy to do when you are working normally, so it was a good reduce the damage on the lines.” opportunity to do them now and it has also meant our employees have Another area omniTECHNIK has invested in to help it guarantee been busy throughout the period,” explains Sebastian. reliable delivery is the amount of raw material stock it keeps on-site.

To make it safe for workers to be at work, the company also “Being part of a global supply chain in one of the core industries, introduced several safety measures, such as screens between means delivery reliability for us is a huge topic, so we took the decision workplaces, masks for employees, as well as disinfection devices next to increase our stock so we could produce for three months without to each and every door. “The key for us was to keep every employee any problems,” points out Sebastian. “Little did we know this would informed on a regular basis regarding the pandemic and the steps we come in to use with the outbreak of Covid-19.” were taking. We have been working since the start of the outbreak and Thanks to the increase in safety stock, omniTECHNIK has we have not had any cases of Covid-19 so far.” been able to carry on with production during ‘lockdown’. “We have Whilst the pandemic may have slowed down omniTECHNIK’s kept in constant contact with our suppliers to check how they are future plans, Sebastian is clear the company doing as a business and the approach they still wants to develop and grow. “We believe have taken to the current situation – the current situation will not last forever so we can anticipate any potential L – R: and therefore we don’t want to endanger problems. However, overall, we have Dr-Ing Sebastian our strategy. We are still committed to not really been impacted and our safety Thau and Heinrich continuing our R&D activities and our stock has allied any fears of any potential Kuhn-Weiss technical service,” concludes shortages.”

Sebastian. “With providing new solutions for the future, Covid-19 and 2030 strategy I believe we will continue In 2018 omniTECHNIK to grow together with our created a 2030 strategy: coating partners.”

“We planned for different www.precote.com scenarios within the

INSIGHT

take a look into the workings of fastener companies

30 years with TR Fastenings 2020 marks 30 years with TR Fastenings for Glenda Roberts – who recently stepped down from the Trifast Plc board. As she considers her retirement plans, Glenda will be working on special projects. Having seen the company grow from a UK business to become a global full service provider, Editor Will Lowry spoke to Glenda about how the Group, and the market, has developed over the last three decades, and about future opportunities.

A

lthough Glenda is celebrating her 30 th anniversary at TR Fastenings, she’s actually been in the industry a little longer. Before joining TR, she had been with another fastener company for seven years. “When I first joined, TR had already positioned itself between the manufacturer and the customer. It was a smaller company with 8 sites focused very much on the UK market – and it was doing very nicely developing JIT fastener supply systems inside larger customers.”

Glenda remembers that at the beginning a standard enquiry could take two to four weeks to complete using post, telex and fax machines. “Developments such as the internet and email connected us to the world, and really helped us to take a leap forward.

Mobile phones weren’t commonplace when I first joined the company. Very few people had them, and everyone was nervous about using them because of the cost – how far have we come today when everyone wants instant responses?”

In 1998, TR Fastenings decided to expand outside of the UK, largely because its customers and other businesses were migrating to countries with lower manufacturing costs. “We would have lost these customers if we hadn’t taken that decision,” says Glenda. “I was asked to put together a global team and to follow the business initially to China and India. That success led TR to open operations in other parts of the world to support global customers.”

“We carried the processes and the direct line style feed systems from the UK to the new customer locations. Not only did this help to keep the business, it was a big success story for us. We made it easy for companies setting up in these new areas to have consistency of supply, processes and services.”

Continuing this successful strategy, TR Fastenings opened operations in America, China, and India, and has continued that strategy today adding Hungary, Italy, Germany, Spain, Thailand, and the Philippines, in recent years. “Focusing on large global companies, and our tier one suppliers, rather than going after local business, was undoubtedly the best thing we did. We worked with companies that needed the services and

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FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

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INSIGHT support that they were used to getting from the UK and Europe.”

“Working with these multinationals, and their global commodity teams, enabled us to demonstrate how well we could service them almost anywhere. Consequently, they were keen for us to work with them in other countries, and so we were able to meet their needs at their locations – whether in Europe, America or Asia.”

Wherever customers have moved geographically, TR has identified opportunities to acquire manufacturing businesses already established within those geographic markets.

“This was another big step in our development, as adding manufacturing sites to the Group meant we weren’t just another distributor – we were now a full service provider and it gave us gravitas,” Glenda says. “By evolving our engineering and technical support services, we were able to work more closely with customers on applications and solutions.”

“We now have eight manufacturing sites – 32 sites in total. We are also proud of the 36 master distributors who support us, especially in areas where we need geographical coverage. They are integral to our Group and have enabled us to get our proprietary branded products to customers as quickly and effectively as possible.”

Application engineering and technical support

A key part of TR’s success story was the application engineering and technical support it could offer customers, which enabled it to work closely with these customers with early involvement at the design and development stage. “A high percentage of the parts we supply are dedicated customer specials to customer drawings. But often there is a need for technical input to assist and this is where our engineering teams are involved,” explains Glenda. “Building up these relationships and supporting the different disciplines on a customer’s site – encompassing quality, logistics, sourcing and technical – demonstrates that we understand their needs and can meet their requirements.”

“Whilst working with customers has become easier, their requirements have become much more demanding over time,” mentions Glenda. “They have very specific needs and wants. There’s also a lot more documentation these days, with more detailed work involved. We even have in-house lawyers to deal with the vagaries of the contracts that each new piece of business entails. Some companies might see this as a challenge, but thanks to our experience, knowledge and capabilities, we are more than able to meet these requests. This hopefully helps us stand out.”

Glenda continues: “We are no longer just supplying a humble fastening; these products

42

do an important job and could be involved in a safety critical application. Therefore, guaranteeing quality and reliability is essential.

A lot of contracts, especially for the automotive market, can be for five to ten years. This means we have to make sure we get everything right and are flexible enough to accommodate any changes that might happen. Customers have heightened expectations on quality with zero ppm as a requirement. However, we believe it’s really about having a zero defect philosophy – because that encompasses everything we try to do.”

Handling Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented and certainly has proved one of the most challenging times in Glenda’s 30 years at TR. “Because our operations are located around the world, we felt the impact of the virus from the first outbreak in China, and we monitored this as it spread globally,” points out Glenda. “Our first concern was to make sure our staff were safe, and all of the correct health and safety protocols were in place. After this we focused on supporting our customers and our vendors.”

TR set-up a Covid-19 task force, which included the board and key personnel, to help it manage its supply chains and customer base.

“When you are an FSP there is no buffer as you are the only line of supply. As part of our business continuity plan, which was originally put in place during the SARS outbreak, we looked at all the risk factors, the numbers of weeks stock and in WIP for every customer special. Then we mapped out where our vendors were based compared to the virus epicentres.

This enabled us to stand back and evaluate whether we had supply issues looming. We went into minute detail as it was no small task, but it was important to do it thoroughly. There have been challenges along the way, but customers have not been impacted and we have had great support from our vendor base.”

FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

Glenda believes the next challenge is the length of time it will take markets to get back to ‘normal’ post Covid-19. “The pandemic will undoubtedly impact companies – particularly those in the automotive industry, and liquidity will become a critical factor for many. The shape of recovery will also have a huge impact. Will it be a ‘U’ curve, a ‘V’ curve or a fast return to a new normal?

I believe the next three months will give us a good indication of how things will develop.

TR is in a strong position financially, so we can manage the current situation. It won’t slow us down or prevent us from focusing on opportunities and interesting markets for the future.”

Future opportunities

Glenda continues: “Coming out of the pandemic we see opportunities in providing even more product to the medical industry.

The move to 5G and the infrastructure requirements is another area of focus as we have worked on projects for 3G and 4G in previous years. However, the key and potentially largest growth area is in supporting builds in the EV sector. If Covid-19 has taught us anything it is that our health and welfare is paramount, and a cleaner environment is essential.”

“We will have to adapt to the materials we’ll be working with in the future, such as composites, and how we adapt to any new opportunities this may create. For instance, we are currently looking into silver plating for fasteners, which is not as common, but this is required along with the need for electrostatic finishes in applications involving EV batteries. This is an example of how we are being pulled into new areas and providing the right products for these applications. These new opportunities are fastener rich, which is good for our industry and I think we are all in for an interesting time.”

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FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

The value of modern distribution In 2020 EFDA celebrates its 20th anniversary of representing the interests of fastener distributors at European and global level – bringing together active and established national associations and a growing number of independent distributors in other European countries.

FI

SE Organisations

FDS (Germany) NEVIB (Netherlands) BIAFD (UK and Ireland) PRISMEFIX (France) ADEFI (Spain) UDIB (Italy)

DK IE

NL

UK

MEFDA members

PL

BEL

Bendkopp Group (Romania) Etra Oy (Finland) Heco Nordiska (Sweden) INOXA Sp. z.o.o (Poland) KEBEK s.r.o (Czech Republic) Marcopol Sp. z.o.o Produent Srub (Poland) Pajo Bolte A/S (Denmark) pgb-Europe NV (Belgium)

DE CZE

FR

CH

RO IT

ES

I

n total 170 innovative and top performing members, with combined sales of in excess of €4 billion, are part of the individual associations that make up EFDA. This includes the national fastener distributor associations in Britain and Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain, as well as companies from other countries through MEFDA. EFDA’s mission is to defend free trade and the international competitiveness of its members. The association strongly believes that competitiveness on a global scale is a precondition for European prosperity and that regulation, while balancing unfair behaviour, must not restrict the capabilities of fastener distributors to support a wide spectrum of strategic European industry sectors with quality assured products and advanced logistics.

“Over the past decade, the fastener distribution industry has undergone dynamic development to meet the ever more critical demands of European industry,” states Volker Lederer, president of EFDA. “However, the core competences remain – closeness to the customer and guaranteed availability of a broad

variety of products that consistently meet the demanding quality requirements of customers. Every day, EFDA associates demonstrate their professionalism as an integrated logistics partner for their customers, sourcing worldwide for the most suitable products.”

Volker adds: “In times of rapid internationalisation, EFDA provides the forum for national distributor associations, and independent companies, to coordinate their activities on European issues and exchange views and expertise both within Europe and through contact with counterparts in North America and Asia. We will continue to support our members and member associations, especially during the current difficult times regarding Covid-19, as well as making sure we represent their interests at a European level.” www.efda-fastenerdistributors.org As part of the Fastener Distribution feature, Fastener + Fixing Magazine has invited the individual national associations to submit articles on their activities as an association; how they have been supporting their members during the current pandemic; as well as the benefits of being part of EFDA.

www.fastenerandfixing.com

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FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

FDS – Fachverband des Schrauben-Großhandels The German association FDS celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2020, after it was founded in 1980 in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. Since its establishment the association has grown so that it now represents 43 members.

M

embership of such an association cannot be taken for granted, with companies expecting a service in return for their member fee. That is why FDS looks to provide current and reliable information on the market and legislative measures. This includes information and documents for the day-to-day business regarding anti-dumping and related measures, as well as important provisions affecting the supply chain, such as REACH and ROHS, as well as information on standardisation of fasteners.

A lot of this work is done by the FDS Technical Committee with experts from the major fastener wholesale companies in Germany.

They share their expertise and practical experience with the other FDS members through the association. They also engage in the bodies of the standardisation committees at national, EU and global level – introducing the wholesalers and distributors’ views and needs when a fastener is to be standardised. In this way the whole distribution sector benefits from the activities carried out by FDS experts.

Members joining FDS not only receive the services mentioned above, they also get to participate in an active network of the leading fastener distributors.

When it comes to the current Covid-19 pandemic, FDS has looked to keep its members updated with the latest information. The pandemic has hit German fastener wholesalers and distributors since March.

According to individual companies, and reports from the sector, turnover has on average decreased by up to 20% – in some cases up to 50% from April. Companies delivering to the automotive industry have had major decreases. A significant range of FDS members have also arranged short time work, which is subsidised by the German government.

Throughout the pandemic FDS has looked to inform its members about the new laws passed by the German government – such as legislations on the simplification of the rules concerning short time work; the increased flexibility of the law concerning working time through the crisis; and the exclusion of wholesalers from the severe lockdown measures (retailers had to close down for many weeks, wholesalers did not).

FDS has also used video conferencing during Covid-19 to stay in contact with its members and believes this style of communication will continue to play a significant role in the future, post Covid-19.

However, its members are still keen to meet their colleagues and competitors for networking in the future. Therefore, association meetings are still important for networking and socialising.

FDS believes the biggest problem regarding Covid-19 is the uncertainty of what is going to come. Its members can already see that some customers are asking for payment extensions or are refraining from placing new orders. It therefore expects a decrease of turnover within the market of -10% to -20% in 2020.

Going forward, FDS will continue to provide its members with its valued services and will also extend its activities in the field of supply chain regulation – such as providing members with more documents they can use in their day-to-day business.

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FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

Its members report that key topics for them in the future will be focusing on investments in automation of the logistic processes, which will become a prerequisite to satisfy the growing requirement of industrial customers concerning flexibility, rapidity and process safety.

Digitalisation, such as data management, machine-to-machine communication, and automated processes, will also change the workplace fundamentally, which will provide a big challenge.

The concentration of the fastener industry will also continue and might accelerate in the coming years. It is becoming increasingly important for distributors and manufacturers to supply customers on a global scale. This implies large investments, learning to deal with different cultures, and the ability to control and develop international plants and branches. In many cases, only globally oriented and financially strong companies will be able to go this way and satisfy the growing demands of customers.

The FDS will also continue its strong engagement as a national association in EFDA. Today, EFDA is the voice of European fastener distributors at European and international level and its voice is heard by the EU Commission. FDS is a very active member of EFDA and its member companies benefit greatly from the association’s membership within EFDA. EFDA closely follows any developments that could lead to the imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of fasteners from third countries into the EU. FDS members know that EFDA is prepared to defend free and fair trade against any protectionist measures. That means that FDS members are prepared in case an investigation should be initiated – thanks to EFDA. There are, however, other fields of legislation that become more and more relevant to EFDA’s members. European fastener distributors have to deal with complex issues from legal fields – such as the provisions of the European Chemical Regulation ‘REACH’ or the legislation on conflict minerals through the US Dodd-Frank Act and by the EU. These regulatory acts increase the level of bureaucracy within the supply chain, as suppliers or customers require declarations of conformity or other certificates. EDFA helps its member associations with information concerning these pieces of legislation and assists them with documents they can use. FDS also shares the documents it has developed in its technical committee with other EFDA members. www.fds-online.de

MEFDA – More EFDA MEFDA is as a group specifically for fastener importers and distributors from European countries where there is no active national fastener distributor association to represent their interests.

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EFDA is still a very young group and was only founded in 2014 – originally by two members: Heco Nordiska from Sweden and Marcopol from Poland. Today it has members from seven countries – Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Romania and Sweden – and its members have formed a tight group that meet regularly and exchange information and views, as well as engage very actively in activities.

As MEFDA members are based in different countries, the impact of Covid-19 varies from one to another. However, after a heavy downturn of turnover in March/April, many MEFDA members have seen a slight recovery of the fastener market in the last few weeks.

Where DIY business has been going relatively well during the last few months, some industries, such as automotive, have suffered major declines in turnover. Some MEFDA members have also complained about payment problems of customers due to lack of liquidity or expect these problems to arise in the future.

All MEFDA members say that there is a great uncertainty of how the situation is going to develop, but have been keeping up to date with each other via video conferences, which gives them an opportunity to talk to each other and exchange information and views regarding the pandemic.

The MEFDA group usually meets twice a year in the country where a MEFDA member is based. It recently extended the format to a meeting that includes a visit to a member company.

MEFDA members further benefit from EFDA’s global network with international partner organisations. They are able to participate at meetings and conferences, which serve as a

networking platforms for European fastener distributors. For instance, more than 130 representatives from fastener distributors, from all over Europe, attended the last European Fastener Distribution Conference held in 2018 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Members also benefit from EFDA’s lobby activities and receive information on legislative and other measures taken at EU level.

Similar to other associations, MEFDA members are also able to closely follow any developments that could lead to the imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of fasteners from third countries into the EU, thanks to EFDA’s commitment to defend free and fair trade against any protectionist measures.

MEFDA is a now a key part of EFDA and is looking to continue its strong engagement as a transnational group.

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FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

NEVIB – Nederlandse Vereniging van Importeurs van Bevestigingsmaterialen en Aanverwante Industriële Producten NEVIB was created in 2013 due to the major impact EU anti-dumping measures were having on the Dutch industry. NEVIB members were suffering from heavy duties that were imposed overnight and the members felt that the viewpoint of importers was not sufficiently heard in The Hague.

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hilst NEVIB members believed it was right that the EU should act against unfair competition from 3rd countries. It also felt that the EU anti-dumping duties must be fair and transparent, and based on correct market and trade numbers.

As these were all technical and political matters, and as importers they were all facing the same issues, they all agreed to create NEVIB. Today the Dutch association has 15 member companies who between them represent the vast majority of the Dutch fastener import industry. Each member benefits from several member services, such as collecting and distributing information, as well as exchanging views, ideas and news at regular meetings. Members also appreciate the possibility to meet informally and learn about topics they come across in their daily business.

Since it was started seven years ago, NEVIB has maintained an active profile, which has enabled it to become a successful industry organisation – where members have the possibility to discuss all subjects that can be discussed in a trade organisation. What is also important from a NEVIB point of view is that its members feel free to express their opinions.

This includes the Covid-19 pandemic that hit the Dutch industry hard in Q1. NEVIB estimates that since mid-April 2020 total turnover in the Netherlands has contracted by approximately 15% – 30%. Like in many EU countries, the government offered support in the form of a subsidisation of the costs of employee salaries, and it also provided some tax support facilities. NEVIB supported its members through regular communication to enable them all to discuss the situation.

To cope with the pandemic, NEVIB members implemented a policy of strictly following the Covid-19 social distancing rules, as

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recommended by the Dutch Institute of Public Health (RIVM). The members needed to turn their workplace into a ‘Covid-19 proof’ work environment. Whilst in the warehouse the 1.5m distance was relatively easy to implement, members had to adjust existing practices to comply with the new rules in the offices, canteen, etc.

For the mid-term, NEVIB thinks the impact of Covid-19 will be a severe fallback of the European economy. In some countries it will be very bad, in other less bad. The association expects the downturn to last 2 to 3 years, before reaching 2019 levels again.

For NEVIB members, being part of EFDA is vital, as it gives them access to critical information quickly, including international developments and changes in EU international trade policy rules.

NEVIB believes that over the last 10 years EFDA has substantially improved its EU lobbying competence so that the EU Commission now knows EFDA and sees it as the recognised spokesbody for the European fasteners import industry. EFDA is also a great platform for contacts between European distributors, as it enables members to discuss problems such as anti-dumping in the context of EFDA, in the anti-dumping Task Force.

Going forward, NEVIB predicts that overall, its activities will remain roughly the same for the rest of 2020. Its board will assess the 2021 work programme in the autumn. The association is keen to ensure that members will continue to be able to deal with the new major trends in the fastener industry, such as a closer cooperation with the end-users, and keeping up to date with all technical developments. www.nevib.nl

BIAFD – the British & Irish Association of Fastener Distributors The British & Irish Association of Fastener Distributors has existed under various guises since the early 1940s, sometimes successful, occasionally in peril of dissolution. Today, BIAFD robustly represents the UK and Irish fastener distribution sectors; ensures its members are better informed; and plays a very active role in EFDA, of which it is a founder member.

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n 1941, members of the then ‘Black Bolt & Nut Association’ began importing fasteners from Canada to support the British industrial ‘war effort’. The landscape of the British fastener market has evolved massively in the intervening eighty years. Some things, however, have not changed. The role of the fastener supply chain and, especially now, its importers and distributors remain absolutely vital to the industrial and construction industries of the British Isles.

BIAFD, however, has changed radically. Twenty years ago, it wasn’t in good shape – haemorrhaging membership, as well as facing potentially terminal financial and organisational challenges. In crisis there is choice between dissolution or renewal. BIAFD emphatically took the latter course. It completely restructured to form a lean, cost-effective organisation, focused tightly on providing the fastener industry specific support that members were unable to derive from other wider-scoped business organisations.

Membership had dwindled to less than twenty-five. Over the last two decades, the association has developed into a vibrant, committed industry organisation, dedicated to the interests of the fastener industry. In 2014, at the request of companies in Ireland, it extended its membership and added that ‘I’ to its acronym, as well as a rich additional dimension to the organisation.

Today, BIAFD has more than eighty members – major wholesalers and importers, multinational OEM suppliers, and a diverse population of small and medium fastener distributors, servicing every market sector. Together they represent more than half of fastener sales in the British Isles. UK manufacturers have also chose to join BIAFD, deriving concrete value from a modest annual subscription that has increased little in 20 years.

BIAFD also enjoys the valued support of its associate members – suppliers to the sector, media and exhibition organisations, and specialist consultants.

Successive officers and directors have energetically participated in EFDA activities.

BIAFD has played a significant part in EFDA’s own development into a proactive European voice for fastener importers and distributors. Regardless of the UK’s exit from the EU, that role will continue as strongly as ever.

Above all, BIAFD is deeply committed to ensuring its members are better and quicker informed – these days a defining characteristic. During the coronavirus pandemic that commitment intensified and thoroughly proved its value. One member’s recent unsolicited testimony says it all: “I just wanted to pass our thanks to the team at BIAFD for the excellent communication over the current coronavirus crisis. Its speed and quality have meant that BIAFD bulletin info and links have been our main source for everything coronavirus related. Consequently, as directors we have been able to spend more time managing our business and far less searching for this advice.”

While the health impact of the coronavirus will hopefully recede, its economic impact will continue to reverberate. The UK – and Ireland too – now imminently face the short-term challenges of BREXIT, whether or not it delivers much-vaunted longer-term benefits. Crucial issues are already firmly on the BIAFD agenda – whether customs and import procedures, regulatory transitions such as REACH and CE Marking, standards, supply chain and market analysis, or skills and training.

For twenty years BIAFD has functioned on a paperless basis, communicating electronically from a virtual office. That capability has been honed during the pandemic. News feeds have intensified; regular web conferences have maintained engagement with members; online surveys have provided research to inform government and benchmarking for members. BIAFD comments: “We sincerely hope to be able to ‘meet again’ soon, to network and socialise, an equally important part of what the BIAFD provides.

However, these ‘new skills’ will continue to be invaluable as we all adapt to the coronavirus ‘new normal’.”

As one officer regularly says of BIAFD: “It may not be perfect, but it is all we have, and it deserves the support of the whole industry.”

Recognising there is plenty more still to do has driven BIAFD’s success over the last two decades – it will go on ensuring BIAFD’s effectiveness and relevance as the foremost UK and Irish fastener industry body for the future. www.biafd.org

www.fastenerandfixing.com

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PRISMEFIX – Association des Distributeurs Français Spécialistes en Eléments de Fixations PRISMEFIX was founded in 1987 in Lyon, by several French family-owned companies as a ‘club’ named PRISME. A few years later it became an association so that it could integrate other companies – especially foreign owned companies.

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r Bernard Maurin was the first president until 2002, as well as being one of the founders of EFDA. Mr Francis Levy succeeded him until 2018. In 2018 Mr Hervé Hacot became president. Key points in the association’s development include it moving its headquarters from Strasbourg to Nancy, and finally to Paris, as well as its name change to PRISMEFIX. PRISMEFIX looks to enable its members to share their experiences and learn about the market, form networks and strengthen cooperation, as well as quickly find out about any regulatory developments that may be happening in France and Europe.

As a founder member, PRISMEFIX has seen the development of EFDA over the last twenty years and how it has become more efficient at informing members about all European Commission related information.

Being part of EFDA allows PRISMEFIX members to be informed in advance of European legislation. It also means they have contacts with other European distributors and can compare markets and practices. In a fast moving environment, EFDA membership also enables PRISMEFIX members to anticipate market evolution and make appropriate decisions.

This type of exchange is particularly useful for topics such as the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in France being in lockdown between 17 th March – 11th May. Through a survey carried out, members were also able to see the impact on all other members, with the overall effect of the pandemic estimated to have been a downturn in sales of 33% in March and 50% in April. May has seen both distributors and industries coming back.

A strong French government scheme on short-term unemployment, and delays on social charges, have been reported as of great help by members.

PRISMEFIX plans to hold a status meeting on the current situation/recovery after the bulk of the crisis. The association will also look to start a ‘think tank’ to discuss the mid-term impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on members’ business, as well as any potential changes regarding sourcing policy, customer policy or process changes.

For instance, PRISMEFIX believes the difficulties the automotive and aeronautic markets is currently facing could impact the landscape of fastener producers. This complicated situation may be an opportunity for growth of distributors’ market share in industrial sectors. www.prismefix.com

UDIB – Unione Distributori Italiani Bulloneria

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Founded in 1976 by a small group of fastener specialists, UDIB is the sole Italian union of fastener distributors and accounts for more than 40 associated companies – specialised in the distribution of fasteners.

ver the years the association has been led by different presidents and boards, all of which added something to the growth of the association. During the last eight years, Gian Marco Dalpane has been president, supported by several board members.

The association’s purpose is to regulate and standardise the relations among fastener distributors and national or international manufacturers. UDIB also promotes relationships between the associated members, providing technical and regulatory support – eventually solving the problems encountered in a unified way.

Through the close relationships of UDIB members, the association was able to put together a survey on the recent Covid-19 pandemic.

This showed that UDIB members have experienced dramatic results, including very big losses in terms of turnover and profits – due to the very long shutdown duration and, UDIB says, the waste of time in epidemic solutions (Italy was the first to fall to the pandemic in Europe, but one of the last to define the problem).

During the outbreak UDIB has held several web meetings and kept members informed about the Italian government’s additional

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legislations. UDIB even wrote letters to political leaders to ask for fastener companies to be allowed back to work, without further restrictions, whilst respecting the rules defined by the emergency.

During the lockdown period, useful ‘Italian ways’ to manage emergency moments also emerged. Through UDIB connections, members shared these convenient ways to maintain market control and comply with sudden changes in health regulations.

During such a difficult period it is hard to see opportunities for the future. However, UDIB believes that by using well known Italian characteristic, members will be able to rise again, quickly, and in a brilliant way. The association will also look to attract new members and to continue to share information across its membership.

UDIB is also one of EFDA’s founding members, so it has seen how EFDA has grown to play a fundamental role in Europe’s fastener geography and how it is respected at the highest level of EU politics.

Being part of EFDA also means to be part of a leading association and have the possibility to discuss national information at a superior continental level. www.udib.it

FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

NFDA – National Fastener Distributors Association

NFDA is a non-profit trade association serving the North American fastener industry. Here Doug Ruggles (Martin Supply), who is 2019/20 NFDA president, and Adam Derry (Field), who is 2020/21 NFDA president, discuss how Covid-19 has impacted the North American fastener market.

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oday, NFDA represents over 150 companies in the Americas, which includes professionals throughout the fastener industry. Both distributors and manufacturers – whose businesses range in size from small family firms to large multinational corporations – have found that NFDA’s services and benefits provide them with opportunities that are unequalled and unavailable anywhere in North America.

Since 1968, NFDA has worked to enhance, improve and solidify the profitability of its members and to help them thrive in a global marketplace. Its members regularly participate in and receive current compensation, employee benefit analysis and individualised profit planning reports, each designed so they can compare their firm with others, locally and nationally.

NFDA also provides a variety of opportunities to train and educate both the leaders of fastener companies, as well as their employees. Networking and industry discussions play a crucial role in the association and opportunities to meet with industry peers and network are routinely available.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, NFDA has moved this training and education to online and virtual meetings to ensure its members are kept up to date with the latest details and information. This included a webinar featuring Brian Beaulieu of ITR Economics with a very low registration fee, to encourage participation. This webinar also featured virtual roundtable/small group discussions.

The NFDA has also set-up a page on its website for curated information about the virus and its effects on running a business, as well as information on government programmes to assist business.

This page is updated at least daily and also includes tips, tricks and best practices.

As for the impact on the sector, most distributors are reporting to be off their Q1 and LY run rate of 12% – 18% in sales. Those connected to the automotive industry are obviously impacted to a greater

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extent, as well as those connected to oil and gas industries. Members are also finding it difficult to connect with new customers and obviously developing and auditing new suppliers will be difficult. Regarding existing customers, some are delaying payments and/or asking for cost reductions to help conserve cash.

Most progressive distributors have stayed in constant connection with their customers, their teams, and suppliers, via electronic means, like Zoom, FaceTime, etc.

Long-term, sales people inside and outside will incorporate the use of video conferencing for some of their meetings instead of travelling for inperson meetings. This means that whilst face-to-face will not be replaced, it will be altered.

Another change has been working from home, which has proven a successful option for some jobs. More of this will shift completely, but most likely it will be a hybrid model of working from home and working in the office.

Covid-19 is forcing us all to get creative and find ways to get the job done. It will be interesting to see the long-term implications in terms of how people view travel, commuting, and working remotely.

Going forward, NFDA will need to fine-tune its membership benefits, especially the tangible benefits that can improve profitability, to ensure it is providing what members need to thrive in the global marketplace. The association will also need to regularly adapt its services, especially inperson virtual/online learning, to maximise value for members. It is about identifying what members value most from the association and making sure it is maintained and improved. www.nfda-fastener.org

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FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

Benefitting from digitisation Through implementing new hygiene standards, as well as making changes to its company organisation, Lederer GmbH has been able to manage the Covid-19 pandemic whilst still delivering a consistent and reliable service to its customers.

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t the outset of the pandemic in Europe, Lederer’s first decision was to strictly divide its two warehouse teams into two shifts and to separate them clearly in terms of time. The company also divided its complete administration team into two groups. One group stayed in the office, whilst the other worked from their home office. “We did introduce short-time work, but so far it has been at a very small scale,” explains Volker Lederer, managing director at Lederer.

“In the meantime, all employees are working full time and on a regular basis again.”

He adds: “The digitisation measures we have implemented in recent years have also paid off regarding home work.

More or less overnight we were able to send 50% of our employees in purchasing, sales and administration to the home office, without work processes or our efficiency suffering significantly.”

Similar to other businesses, Lederer also completely stopped its business travel activities and instead introduced a lot more video conferences with its business partners, which have proved to be a good alternative. “So far, these measures have been very successful, as we have not had any coronavirus cases in the company,” points out Volker.

In order to create a little relief in such a difficult and stressful time, Lederer launched a home office campaign with its customers.

“We asked them to send us pictures of their home office workplace, in return they received a small gift set. We got a lot of positive feedback from our customers for this campaign,” mentions Volker. “We have always believed in mutual trust and partnership. In the current crisis I think a lot of people have realised how important these things are.”

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In addition to keeping a close partnership with its customers, Lederer also kept close contact with its suppliers. “We regularly asked them about their production situation, the impact of Covid-19 on their capacity, and their ability to deliver on time,” explains Volker. “By being well informed we could search for alternative sources of supply in good time if delivery or production problems were to arise with a supplier.”

Lederer’s goal for the remainder of the year is to keep the decline in sales as low as possible. “We saw a sales decline in the mid-single digits until the end of May,” mentions Volker. “There are industry sectors that are still quite strong but there also those sectors that are already experiencing a deep crisis. Over recent months we have also taken the opportunity, during the quieter moments, to complete overdue

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internal projects. This will help increase our productivity in the medium and long-term.”

Volker continues: “I am convinced that the Covid-19 pandemic will also lead to a further digitisation boost in our industry. Video conferences will become an important part of our future relationship management with our business partners and the home office will play a more important role in our work organisation than before. Electronic data exchange will also certainly continue to increase.”

“Digitisation has been a megatrend in the global economy for a number of years and it will only develop more in the future. We are in a good position to handle digitisation. We have modern IT systems, highly qualified employees and we are financially healthy. So, we believe that we can benefit from this big trend.” www.love-fasteners.com

A specialist for roofing systems Eurofast® is a supplier of high-quality products for almost every construction, roofing and type of façade across the European market.

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riginally known as Van Roij Fasteners Europe B.V, Eurofast® has been a recognised specialised brand since the 1970s and is now a full-service technical consultancy firm for mechanically fastening the building envelope.

The company is a specialist in fastening systems for the flat roofing, cladding sector, and ventilated façades, and is able to supply a wide assortment of tools, machines, and accessories, along with complementary services such as calculations and pull-out tests. “Eurofast is a partner in mechanical fastening solutions for the building envelope” states Eurofast. “We don’t just sell the fastener – we specialise in selling the best solution.”

Eurofast also has its own production hall for tubes for roofing membranes and insulation, with the company producing 60 million tubes annually. “For years roofers have used metal decking plates and a fastener – but that is changing more and more. We have to keep up with market trends and buying the tubes and importing them was no longer an option for us. To be able to produce high-quality tubes, that are combined with our wide range of fasteners for different substructures, we set up our own production.”

Eurofast is passionate about supporting its customers the best way it can, by means of delivering first-rate services combined with high-quality products. “We are here to provide customers with advice

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and assistance on all kinds of issues related to fastening the building envelope, at every stage of a fastening project. From request, tests and calculations to order and delivery, we can guide customers the best possible solution for their flat roof or cladding fastening challenge,” concludes Eurofast. “We are in a strong position to supply our customers with reliable and high-quality mechanical fasteners and associated tools for flat roofs, and cladding, and going forward we will look to develop our sales via our web shop, as well as looking to expand across Europe.” www.eurofastgroup.com

FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

The changing role of distribution Here Dr Florian Seidl, CEO at Keller & Kalmbach GmbH, talks about how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the German distributor; the best practices it has introduced as a result; as well as what it means for the future.

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eller & Kalmbach developed extremely positively, with good growth rates, until the middle of 2019. This was made possible because of the further profiling of Keller & Kalmbach in logistic services for C-parts within recent years, as well as the strong growth in its customers’ sectors – through export business.

After seeing a decline since July 2019, the export-oriented economies seemed to recover at the beginning of 2020, but then the Covid-19 pandemic arose.

This pandemic has had a great influence on Keller & Kalmbach since the end of March. Our turnover has decreased by 1 / 3 in April and will be about 25% in May, compared to last year. We quickly took many measures to avoid health effects by Covid-19 and to minimise the economic pressure for the company.

First of all, many employees worked in a home office – the technical equipment was available and usable within one week. We also established longer breaks between the three daily shifts in our warehouse – in which all workplaces are disinfected; protective masks are available for all our employees; and visitors are temporarily not allowed on the premises.

For the economic part, we established short-time work – for most of the employees it is at 20%. This is a long-time proven instrument to help Germany’s economy process well during times of crisis. Furthermore, we stopped investments and new employments and started some structural changes, such as centralisation of a warehouse.

As we have no retail store, we could widely avoid direct contact to suppliers and customers. At any time, our customers were able to order required products via eCommerce or direct IT connection.

A special key aspect was put on the follow-up of secure deliveries and supply chains. At first, we had some supply bottlenecks with China; but they were not as important as the consequences of the shutdowns in Italy and Spain. Due to our solid stock keeping, and excellent contacts to our key suppliers, no further supply bottlenecks appeared.

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Every customer received all required products at any time. In contrast, we had to put on hold orders to avoid overfill of our warehouse.

Continuing the close relationship with our customers was of course difficult and we are happy that slowly personal visits and contacts are allowed now after utilising communication – via video or Microsoft Teams conferences or phone calls.

In the long-term, we believe many companies will set value on local supply. As export is not our key business, we assume that this is a chance for us as a local dealer with solid stock keeping.

Distribution focus

The role of distributors has changed enormously during the last 10 years, from a pure buyer and seller relationship and distributor of goods to a service provider along the supply chain. Therefore, we have developed a lot of logistic tools that are self-regulated systems to avoid customers’ worries and work with orders of the products for production or maintenance. We can provide competent advice and help to reduce process costs.

For the future, we see a great need for this type of advice and we believe that the role of distributors will be more important within the supply chain.

After the decline of this year, we expect a strong growth rate towards the end of 2020 and the years following. However, it will need some years to reach the level of 2019 – we have to prepare for that. Furthermore, the product mix will change in the future. Other technologies will play a major role, for example new technologies like electromobility needs less fasteners as more parts are installed using adhesives. On the other hand, there is additional need in robotics or medical technology. With this, we hope to be able to compromise some part of the decreases. In general, we are looking forward to the future very positively.

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FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

REYHER: Guaranteeing reliable service With a comprehensive product range of over 130,000 articles in stock, and with its 750 staff ensuring a daily delivery rate of over 99%, REYHER is able to guarantee reliable service and a high availability to its customers.

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y continuously developing its product range, involving new types of products that go far beyond the standard range, as well as further expanding its technical know-how for consulting and solving problems of customers, F. REYHER Nchfg GmbH & Co KG has been able to achieve growth and success in the market over recent years.

“The peak for the market was in 2018 when there was a good economic situation and companies were able to profit from increasing sales,” explains REYHER. “As a company we saw our export business grow by significant double digits, with the decisive decision making criteria for customer purchases being the availability of the product, rather than just the price.”

However, towards the end of 2018 the economy started to cool down and has been slowing since then. “Whilst this slowdown did affect us as a company, we were still been able to succeed in achieving a similarly high turnover as in the previous years, partly thanks to our very wide ranging customer base – spread over many fields of business.”

To add to this, there was of course the Covid-19 pandemic at the start of the year. “This brought new and previously unknown tasks for us. We took all the necessary measures to protect employees including changes in working shifts, as well as supporting working from home, and we introduced particularly strict hygiene rules,” points out REYHER. “However, apart from forwarding-related longer run times, we have been able to maintain our usual supply speed and reliability in full. Ensuring the usual supply of fastener and fixing technology to our customers.”

As a matter of principle, REYHER has not bought from a single source for decades. This has helped it maintain its supply to customers in the current situation and the company has taken the necessary measures to ensure it does not experience any bottlenecks going forward.

“Whilst demand is currently very subdued, especially in the automotive environment and in shipbuilding, we are still experiencing strong demand in the construction and ancillary construction industries. That said, we do not expect a return to normal business conditions until 2021 at the earliest – depending on whether there are further waves of infection.”

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To keep in contact with its customers during the pandemic, REYHER has maintained a higher than usual telephone frequency to its customers and conducted video conferences. Its external sales force is also now making direct visits to customers again. “Currently, many of our customers are taking advantage of the Corona-related quieter period to optimise their Kanban-based C-parts supply together with us. Particularly noteworthy here are the shipbuilding, mechanical and plant engineering, and especially medical technology sectors, in which we have registered great interest on the part of our customers.”

With its wide range of services and technical advice, REYHER is optimally attuned to the needs of its customers and is therefore able to supply an indepth range of services that are appreciated by industry and trade. These include its diverse ebusiness solutions, such as webshop RIO – REYHER Internet Order, electronic data interchange (EDI) and customised electronic catalogues. It also includes REYHER’s flexible Kanban supply systems (ROM – REYHER Order Management) and the kitting and packaging solutions ‘RKP’. Beyond that the REM – Reyher Engineering Management team deals with all technical matters and details involving fasteners and fixing technology.

In addition to staying in contact with its customers, REYHER has also given priority to various new product developments, for example in the areas of hydraulics, as well as drywall construction, and will continue to do so in the coming period. The company has also built up an extensive range of products, especially for the specialist trade B2B, in recent months. This currently comprises over 1,600 items, including a wide range of metric screws, wood and chipboard screws, nuts, steel and stainless steel washers and various wire products.

“We will expand this portfolio until the end of the year and beyond and will also continue to offer our specialised trade B2B customers competent support from our REYHER team.” www.reyher.de

Standard Listed – you know who’s best!

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Tel: +44 (0) 117-972 8560 Fax: +44 (0) 117-972 8570 sales@avonstainlessfasteners.co.uk www.avonstainlessfasteners.co.uk Unit 10, Riverside Business Park, St Anne’s, Bristol, BS4 4ED

New edition: The Catalogue 84,000 items on over 900 pages Expanded product range Optimized article details Updated technical informations

F. REYHER Nchfg. GmbH & Co. KG Haferweg 1 · 22769 Hamburg · Germany Phone +49 40 85363-0 contact@reyher.de · www.reyher.de

FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

Fastbolt UK – moving forward Amanda True became managing director of Fastbolt UK at the end of 2018, having taken over from previous MD Graham Joyce. Editor Will Lowry caught up with Amanda to see how the last 18 months have developed and the plans she has for the future.

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aving joined Fastbolt UK in 1997 and been appointed IT director in 2011, Amanda has a vast amount of experience and knowledge of Fastbolt, and the industry, which she needed to call upon when becoming MD. “The last 18 months seem to have gone by in a blink of eye, with a never-ending list of surprises and challenges – whether it has been BREXIT, Covid-19, or other unexpected topics and projects,” says Amanda with a smile. “I am hoping things will eventually calm down, but it hasn’t happened yet.

However, I have enjoyed every minute and I have received fantastic support from the team at Fastbolt. This has enabled me to handle these big topics, settle into the role and move the business forward.”

Whilst BREXIT might be at the back of people’s minds, Amanda believes it will soon return to the forefront. “BREXIT has been a big topic that we have been working on and we can already see things changing. For instance, I know there are a lot of commodity code changes happening in preparation for next year, so we have been working with our clearing agent who has been very helpful. It is difficult to plan a certain path, when you don’t know where that path will end up, but it is about positioning ourselves to whatever changes may occur or documentation that may be needed. By doing this we can quickly introduce the necessary steps to our processes and practices as and when necessary.”

Amanda continues: “As a business we are in a strong position because we have the support of the head office in Germany – so we have solid foundations both in Europe and in the UK. This means whatever the final ‘deal’ we

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should be able to react positively. The key now is for a decision to be made and clear guidelines given so we can manage the situation.”

In the last 18 months Fastbolt UK had to also bring in a new freight forwarder, after its previous forwarder went into administration. “We only had a week and a half to introduce a new forwarder, but thanks to our SAP system we had a lot of the structure and required data in place, so it was made a lot simpler,” explains Amanda.

“The automatic inputting of data and the organisation of the entire process has always been held in the system, so it was vital this remained the same with the new forwarder. If the warehouse had to start inputting data, it would be a big step back, so it was a key factor in the considerations.”

After finding the right forwarder it was then a case of connecting the two systems.

“The ‘onboarding’ process was very quick and we were able to stage the process over a couple of days – before the old forwarder went fully into administration – which was a big positive for us. We were able to introduce the new forwarder and there was minimal impact on customers’ deliveries.”

The next challenge for Amanda and the team at Fastbolt UK was the outbreak of Covid-19. “Again, I think this is where we benefitted from having a company in Germany, because it meant we already had a lot of remote access in place,” mentions Amanda. “Due to the connectivity between the two branches, we were already established on Microsoft Teams with certain members of staff and we also had the relevant connections, set-up, and back-ups, for accessing the systems offsite. This meant it was simply a case of giving more people

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access to these services and we could then carry on running the office and sales. This enabled us to have a mixture of people working from home and some in the office. It was also necessary to furlough some of the staff.”

Due to the size of its warehouse, the company was able to quickly introduce social distancing for warehouse staff. “This was another big positive as it meant we could keep our staff safe, whilst also sticking to our cut off times for orders and meant we could still provide the service our customers expect,” points out Amanda.

Fastbolt UK has also been able to successfully manage its supply chain throughout the pandemic – through its inter-company deliveries. “We get a mixture of products from the Far East and from our head office in Germany, so this helped us manage our stock levels,” explains Amanda.

“When Covid-19 hit the Far East, there were some delays, but we were able to manage this situation and these have now been resolved as lockdowns have eased. Throughout the period we kept in contact with our suppliers to see how they were handling the situation.

With our inter-company deliveries, we initially reduced the frequency, so instead of one every week we had a fortnightly delivery.

However, that has changed again, and we have gone back to our weekly delivery. We

are therefore back to normal regarding stock and we are at a similar stock level as prior to Covid-19.”

A key factor that has enabled Fastbolt UK to handle all these situations, and ensure it is able to supply the products and services customers expect, is the SAP system that has been in place for almost 20 years. “The decision to go with the SAP system was definitely the correct one and it has helped us develop as a business significantly,” points out Amanda. “Through upgrades we are able to keep the system up to date and it enables us to streamline processes significantly and drill down into the relevant data. We can also transfer data or download data in the correct format and it has helped us get rid of a lot of ‘paper processes’. Put simply, it provides the visibility we need as a business to make the right decisions.”

Another platform Fastbolt has developed over recent years is FBOnline – where customers can access the latest stock details and place orders 24/7. “We have been active online for a long time and have developed the platform so it provides all the necessary information and details customers require. It doesn’t matter where the customers are, they can access this information and see our stock levels, as well as their own account details – previous orders, etc,” mentions Amanda. “Customers can even load data from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and it will go straight into our system.”

Amanda adds: “We already had a large number of customers that carried out their entire order process via the online platform, but with the outbreak of Covid-19 we have seen the number of people accessing the platform increase and we believe this will continue in the future.”

However, for the remainder of the year it will be Covid-19 and BREXIT that will be the centre of Amanda’s focus. “Going forward, it is about being able to react quickly in terms of lead times and ordering. That is an area we are focusing on and always looking to improve, as well as procedures and processes. We will also continue to look at the different product ranges we can offer. We have a wide range of products, but we are always reviewing them according to customers’ needs.” www.fastbolt.com

With FBOnline customers can access the latest stock details and place orders 24/7

www.fastenerandfixing.com

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FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

Every problem is an opportunity Through the continued develop of its logistics technology, products, and customer service, Ambrovit has been able to adapt and respond to the challenges of its customers and the market over recent years.

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mbrovit SpA is able to ensure the fast delivery of all its products, within 22 – 48 hours, thanks to its efficient warehouse operations, which the company believes is its most significant value-added service. This is underlined by the company further investing in its warehouse with the introduction of a new automated system that manages quality control for incoming materials – that need to be pre-stored, inspected and made available for sale.

Another major value-added service is Ambrovit’s consistent product quality control, resulting in the award of the highest certifications. To meet its customers’ requirements, Ambrovit continuously carries out market research to assess the development of new products both for market segments already in existence and for new areas of application. This helps the company continuously expand its range with innovative products for new applications.

For instance, within its catalogue there are new patented screws that can be fixed directly to concrete and are ETA certified.

Whilst Ambrovit has always worked to ensure that its customer service is all encompassing – such as ‘just in time’ delivery, order control, and prompt shipments – the company has still taken steps forward by developing its aftersales support. Qualified personnel are now able to assist customers with information on product usage or applications, as well as give advice on what product to buy for set requirements.

Thanks to these developments, Ambrovit has been able to firmly establish itself within the market – with a strong expansion both at national and at European

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level. However, like many other companies, Ambrovit has suffered the negative impacts of the Covid-19 epidemic – both in terms of sales and turnover, which has significantly and unexpectedly affected its plans for 2020. Nevertheless, Ambrovit realises that it has to address these challenges whilst continuing its work with renewed resolve and experimenting with new methods of organisation, operation and management.

“The phrase ‘every problem is an opportunity to grow’ has never been truer,” states the company. “The results we are seeing from the new working models we have instituted have been very encouraging and we may look to continue them in the future post Covid-19.”

From the first foreshadowings of the pandemic, Ambrovit set to work to combat the possible spread of infection with a series of measures designed primarily to safeguard its staff. The company also rigorously implemented all government advice, with

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prevention measures remaining an integral part of its working practices.

Regarding the management of operations with its suppliers, nothing has changed. Although Ambrovit is unable to travel or make direct contact and checks with supply chains in the sector, it has cemented such sound relations with its suppliers over the years that, even if contacts for the time being are only by video conference, it is still able to maintain effective relations – ensuring consistency of supply. The same applies to the relationship with its customers, whom it has still managed to provide with the products they require.

“Lockdown and restrictions on international operations have resulted in a downturn in our market, reducing consumption and therefore turnover,” states Ambrovit. “However, we remain passionate about our work, trusting that the markets can soon bounce back to their customary pace with a constructive upturn. Obviously, the pandemic has changed the plans we had for 2020, so we shall now regard 2020 as a year of transition and a year in which to strengthen the base of the ‘springboard’ we will use to help us jump into the future.” www.ambrovit.com

STOCK OVERVIEW

MATERIAL

FLAT

18/8 310 316 316 METRIC 316 ELC 317 ELC 321 347 410 ALLOY 20 ALLOY 400 HASTELLOY C-276 DUPLEX 2205 K-MONEL F436 LOW CARBON ZINC LOW CARBON HDG

1/4” TO 2” 1/4” TO 1 1/2” 1/4” TO 1 1/4” #6 TO 2” #8 TO 1 1/2” M8 TO M14 M6 TO M20 1/4” TO 1 1/2” 3/8” TO 1/2” 1/4” TO 1 1/2” 3/8” TO 3/4” 1/4” TO 1” 1/2” TO 3/4” 1/4” TO 1” 3/8” 1/4” TO 1” 3/8” TO 1” 3/8” TO 3/4” 3/8” TO 1 1/4” 1/4” TO 1” 1/2” TO 2 1/2” 1/4” TO 1 1/2” 1/2” TO 1 1/2”

DISC SPRING WASHERS H13

LOCK

(Belleville Type) 5/8” TO 1 1/2”

WASHERS

FLAT WASHER DIMENSIONS STAINLESS STEEL BOLT SIZE 1/4” 5/16” 3/8” 7/16” 1/2” 9/16” 5/8” 3/4” 7/8” 1” 1 1/8” 1 1/4” 1 3/8” 1 1/2” 1 3/4” 2”

O.D. 5/8” 3/4” 7/8” 1 1/8” 1 1/4” 1 3/8” 1 1/2” 1 3/4” 2” 2 1/4” 2 1/2” 2 3/4” 3” 3” 3 1/2” 4”

I.D. 9/32” 11/32” 13/32” 15/32” 17/32” 19/32” 11/16” 13/16” 15/16” 1 1/16” 1 3/16” 1 5/16” 1 7/16” 1 9/16” 1 7/8” 2 1/8”

THK. .050” .050” .063” .063” .078” .078” .078” .109” .109” .125” .125” .125” .125” .140” .160” .160”

STAINLESS STEEL FLAT WASHERS ARE GRADE MARKED EXCEPT FOR THE 18/8.

See more at www.GoASF.com

FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

ARK adds online service The ARK Group of Companies has launched webshop platforms for its three businesses – Arpel, Rivco and Kamtech – so that customers will be able to order online if they wish, as well as find all the relevant information and documentation regarding its range of rivets, rivet nuts and associated tooling options.

M

anaging Director Steve Auld explains: “These platforms will enable us to provide customers with all the details and information they are looking for when it comes to buying our products. Users will be able to log in and see our ‘real time’ stock levels; they can download and print technical drawings via PDF; as well as access previous orders. We have even included our colour coding system to make it easy to identify the different materials for products.”

Steve adds: “The customer can request through the sites anything from a sample to a pallet and they can then calculate the price.

If it is a new customer, they can then pay by credit card. However, if it is an account customer they can use their account details, and any discount structures, to order and their normal account process will be used.”

The introduction of the new platforms was based on the success ARK experienced from a trial web shop under its Arpel name, which was launched two and half years ago.

“The idea behind the original Arpel webshop was to see how online sales would develop and we wanted to target those customers

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who ordered small quantities,” mentions Steve. “We incentivised these customers with lower minimum order quantities before receiving free carriage, so that they would use the webshop.”

However, what Arpel found was it was getting orders from around the world. “We were receiving orders from everywhere – Singapore, Malaysia, the Bahamas, Finland, as well as Russia.

These were not just small orders either, these were big orders, including our range of tooling,” states Steve. “I couldn’t believe it was being so successful, so I called some of the customers and they explained they were buying from us because we are a specialist in the field. They were looking for that knowledge and knew if they had any problems, we would be able to help them. This made us realise we were tapping into a need we hadn’t identified,

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and that is when the ball started rolling on introducing these new more in-depth platforms.”

An extra step ARK has taken with its trading platforms is it has given access to its factory in Asia, so the company can see ‘real time’ stock levels.

“Our manufacturing partner has direct access into our ERP system, so they can see live data,” points out Steve. “Within the system there are parameters set, where minimum and maximum quantities will be in play.

Therefore, the responsibility of supplying the standard items within the range of products we sell, will become the factory’s responsibility not our responsibility. This means they are in control of their factory floor and manufacturing process. They will therefore create the orders for us to approve.”

...you must be continuously modernising as a business, no matter what size you are.”

The system will also enable ARK, and the factory, to see what stock is within the warehouse; what stock is currently being manufactured; and what stock is ‘on the water’. “It means our factory can take an active role in the supply of the products, which I think is a big positive,” states Steve.

“We have been working with our Asian factory for over ten years and we have a very strong relationship. Initially we started with four factories for our range, and we have reduced it to a single source as the factory has taken ownership of the ARK brand. This means we can work with them on developing the brand and they are able to support us when it comes to quality and reliability.”

ARK has been able to develop this aspect of the platform thanks to it working closely with the software provider – helping it to ensure exact specifications are met.

“The software provider is based within a five mile radius of our business, which has made the whole process a lot more interactive with both parties offering ideas and just making it easier,” explains Steve.

“We have been able to be actively involved and work together on the platforms and make any tweaks that were required. The whole developmental side has been a very positive experience and the software team have been very helpful in the project.”

The trading platforms work through the IT provider’s CMS software system and then directly into ARK’s ERP system. “This means when it comes to the online orders all we have to do is review them and then click the button to process them.”

With the platforms now up and running, the next step for ARK is to promote them to its customers. “We have invested in something we hope customers will use, as we want to provide them with more added services. However, we will still be available to talk to customers and answer any questions they may have,” comments Steve. “The web platforms are just an additional benefit and are there for those customers that want to carry out the process online.”

Steve continues: “The fastener industry can be a very traditional sector, so it is going to take us a while to get customers comfortable in using the system. However, I have found within our sales environment, the number of telephone calls has been reducing and the number of emails has been increasing. These emails were mostly enquiries into what items we have in stock.

With the new platforms, customers can view all this information and access the relevant documentation, which can help speed up their decision making process. I also think the recent developments regarding the Covid-19 pandemic show that being online is going to be key for the future.”

Like most companies, ARK has been impacted by Covid-19, but the company has still been receiving stock during the lockdown period. “Thanks to our existing IT system our office staff were able to take their laptops and office phones home with them, plug them in and log straight back into the ERP and VOIP operating systems.

So, from that point of view we were fully operational. We did furlough some staff, but we kept key people within the warehouse so we could fulfil orders where necessary. As demand has started to increase, we have brought back some of those people that were initially furloughed. Throughout this period, however, we have continued to invest in our stock to make sure we are fully prepared for when the market starts to pick up again.”

Steve continues: “What the pandemic has shown us is you must be continuously modernising as a business, no matter what size you are. You need to look at the software and systems you are using to make sure they are still suitable for today’s market. I think there will be some big reviews within the industry and I believe this will help bring the sector a little more up to date. That is why the timing of these web platforms is almost ideal.”

ARK is also planning a second phase of investment, this time focusing on its warehousing centre and making it paperless – until the point of despatch. “We are looking to introduce tablets that will direct pickers

to where they have to go to get the products.

There will also be barcodes and scanners involved to check each and every box,” explains Steve. “This will help us optimise processes and reduce any stock errors, as everything will be recorded on the system.

This will also be linked to our web platforms, so customers can see exactly what products we have in stock.”

A 2020 sales development plan for ARK is also to introduce a European distribution network for the ARK brand. “Through the hard work of our employees over the last 2.5 years, as well as the advertising within Fastener + Fixing Magazine, we have received real traction on the brand and how it has developed,” states Steve proudly. “We have got UK customers that are really happy with the ARK brand and even have sourcing companies phoning us saying they have been instructed to buy the ARK branded rivets.”

Steve adds: “Whilst we already have customers in Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Hungary, we believe there is still a lot of opportunities for us. I know there is BREXIT on the agenda, which seems to have been forgotten by some. However, I don’t see this as an obstacle, I see it as an opportunity for us. We have done a lot of things that will prepare us for whatever changes happen in the future. Our focus will continue to be on the customers and providing the answers they need.” www.arkbrandedrivets.co.uk

www.fastenerandfixing.com

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FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

UK fasteners and Covid-19 Here Ian Doherty, CEO at Hexstone, focuses on the actions the company has taken regarding the impact of Covid-19, as well as what it means for the future of the UK fastener market.

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he UK fastener market has been sluggish over the past few years, driven by slow economic growth that in turn has been influenced

by BREXIT, a slowing global economy and, in the past few months, the dramatic impact of coronavirus and the actions needed to contain it.

Although BREXIT has not gone away and it looks very likely the UK will exit from the transition arrangements with the EU at the end of 2020, whether or not there is a trade deal, coronavirus is the immediate issue for most businesses.

Coronavirus has created a lot of change, both in the short-term and, I suspect, for the longer term too. Our industry is a physical supply chain, you cannot send fasteners down an internet connection.

We have adapted our warehouse to allow coronavirus secure working, this has involved the installation of plastic screens, one-way systems, and staggered shifts and breaks to allow for social distancing. With these changes in place, and the restoration of Far East supplies, we have fully restored our capacity to serve the market.

The office-based aspects of the business have seen much greater change, the offices are empty, with over 90% of office-based staff now working from home. Remote access to systems and internet-based phones have allowed us to make this change and maintain our phone and e-mail contact with customers.

Our field sales team has been largely furloughed, customers are not accepting physical visits and although sales are down, they are very busy managing their businesses with fewer staff. As things ease, I expect phone and video calls to increase, but it may be some time before traditional sales calls return.

At Owlett-Jaton, the trading division of Hexstone, our substantial stockholding has allowed us to maintain product availability and that – coupled with our extensive range, our carrier, and our virtual sales offices – has meant we have been able to maintain a high-level of service with little disruption. We have adapted to support customers in these difficult times, reducing minimum order requirements and providing a direct delivery service that allows distributors to order through us and have the products delivered directly to the end user.

The uptake of this service has been very strong.

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Commercially, I suspect the worst of the impact on the UK market is still to come.

Economically, it looks as if we are facing recession, with manufacturing likely to be hard hit. The UK government’s ‘Job Retention Scheme’ has cushioned the impact on many businesses and allowed them to furlough staff.

Job cuts in manufacturing have started and I suspect that, and the phasing out of the ‘Job Retention Scheme’, will lead to much pain in the latter half of 2020. There will ultimately be a recovery, but I fear many less wellfunded businesses may not survive to see that. However, despite the challenges, we have continued to build for the future via marketing investments and new products, notably our JRP rivet and rivet nut range.

Predicting how the industry will look in a post coronavirus world is very difficult. However, I believe that the changes we have seen recently may well drive long-term change. I suspect we will see some consolidation of distributors, with those capable of exploiting technology to reduce costs succeeding at the expense of those who do not. Patterns of distribution may change, from a wholesaler’s perspective, I could see distributors reshaping their business to focus on understanding end user needs and relying on wholesalers’ direct delivery services. The distributor would need much less in the way of premises, and investment, and total supply chain costs would be reduced allowing a more competitive offer to the end user.

Challenging times, but the industry will endure and Owlett-Jaton will be there to support it. www.owlett-jaton.com

The biggest nut in the world The Russians have the largest aeroplane, the Chinese have the longest bridge, and the UAE has the tallest building in the world, but Matica MB d.o.o, a Slovenian supplier of fastening equipment, states that it has the largest nut in the world – situated at its new building in Komenda.

T

he nut is one of the most widespread elements in construction, mechanical engineering and many other industries – enabling the connection of components into a hole. Throughout history, the nut has appeared in a variety of forms, among which the square has long reigned, and its hexagonal shape is said to have taken place sometime in the early 19 th Century.

Matica’s ‘biggest nut in the world’ weighs two tonnes, measures more than 4 metres in width and 3.6 metres in height, and stands in front of the new Matica company building. “Our business is based on the direct link with the best producers in Europe without any intermediaries. Because of this we can provide the best price and quality control of products, as well as good support to our customers. We collaborate with the best producers and suppliers from the EU (Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland) and in some cases also with producers from China,” comments Matica.

A video project with the inspiring story of the integration of the ‘Matica nut’ comes at a time of the Covid-19 crisis, when collaboration is more important than ever. Lesnina OK, Dvig, and world-famous acrobats Dunking Devils, all make an appearance in the video. “The greatest successes of mankind are always the result of combining and cooperating many elements, often those that are connected by the nut. The goal of our business is not just selling fasteners to our customers. Instead, we strive to offer solutions for improving services in the process of fixing,” explains Matica. “Our wish is that ‘the biggest nut in the world’ should become not only a sign of the company, but also a symbol of knowledge and integration of companies in Slovenia.” www.maticamb.si

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FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

Continuing investment Despite the outbreak of Covid-19, German distributor Achilles is going ahead with its plans for investment and growth, including the addition of a new warehouse that will increase its stock capacity by 50%.

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imo Scholle, managing director at Achilles Seibert GmbH, explains: “We had already received government approval for the new warehouse and we were planning on ‘breaking ground’ in the first half of 2020 – just as the pandemic hit Europe. With such a global impact, we took a step back and looked at the pros and cons of the situation and have decided to still go ahead with the build – just at a slower rate.”

Achilles has been planning to extend its warehouse for a number of years, but every time the company started to go ahead with it there was a bump in the market. “Whether it was anti-dumping, the financial crisis, economy crisis, or something else impacting the market, there was always something that made us put the decision on hold,” points out Timo. “However, we then kept finding that once everything had recovered, we were in the same situation and lacked the necessary space for stock.”

Timo adds: “Customers are continuously demanding more products in stock, so we have been using a German forwarding company to store our additional stock. We therefore decided that even with Covid-19, we are still going to build the warehouse because we need it for our future development.”

The new extension will enable Achilles to increase its stock capacity by a further 50%. In addition to the new warehouse, Achilles has also introduced a new racking system for incoming and outgoing goods – further increasing its volume of stored goods. “The new system means we can handle another 300 pallets, which will help us improve our efficiency and make processes easier,” mentions Timo. “The system uses sliding racks, which means you can stack multiple pallets in the same location and if you move the front pallet the pallets behind all move forward. Plus, you can put the pallets in on one side and take them out the other side. This means that when unloading containers, the operators can stack them straight onto the racks rather than driving around the warehouse.”

The new extension will enable Achilles to increase its stock capacity by a further 50%.”

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Reacting to Covid-19

Throughout the pandemic Achilles has remained open, with the company making a quick decision to split each office department, so there was somebody working from home and somebody within the office. The company has also introduced safe working distances within the warehouse. “Home working is ok, but I don’t think it is the best solution for our type of industry,” explains Timo.

“Working in the office is a lot easier as you are able to talk and resolve issues quicker. That is why we decided to split the departments within

…we are going ahead with our investment and looking to double the existing DIN/ISO products we have by the end of the year/beginning of next year.” the office, so we had a mixture of the two. Obviously, home working is not possible in the warehouse, so we have introduced safe working distances so our employees are kept safe.”

Timo continues: “In Germany we have managed to handle the Covid-19 situation relatively well, so we have not been impacted as much as some countries. However, one thing we did learn is how to react quickly with emergency plans. Every company has these plans, but it is very rare you use them. With the outbreak we have now experienced what could happen and how we should react to the situation. This makes me confident that if there are any ‘second spikes’ we would be in a better position to respond.”

The start of the pandemic did actually lead to an increase in sales for Achilles. “It was a similar situation to what happened within supermarkets,” explains Timo. “Customers were worried about a lack of supply – even though we spoke to them and confirmed we had plenty of stock available. This resulted in March being a very good month for us as a business. However, this then led to April being a hard month as customers already had the stock they needed. Orders have improved since then but are still below pre-Covid levels.”

An Achilles service that has proved popular during lockdown is its webshop, where customers are able to access stock information, prices and submit orders. “We have definitely noticed over the last two months that customers are focusing more on key business tasks – such as checking stock, checking the price and making the order,” mentions Timo. “This led to customers focusing more on the webshop, as they can get quick access to price lists and stock levels and can then order what they need.”

Timo continues: “I think for the remainder of 2020 a lot of companies will be living day-to-day and seeing what decisions governments make and how the market recovers from the situation. However, I hope by the end of 2020 the markets will have started to return to some sense of normality.”

Quicker, closer supply

Timo also believes that one of the long-term impacts of the pandemic could be companies taking a step back from ‘just in time’ services and looking for alternative support structures. “The pandemic has underlined that globalisation and ‘just in time’ are really locked in together and if one thing struggles it impacts everything. This could lead to a push for companies to have manufacturers closer to them or distributors, like us, who become more of a focus. Instead of ‘just in time’, producer companies might prefer to have a stockholder closer to them who can help when something unexpected happens around

the world and impacts the supply chain – whether it is a pandemic, a natural disaster, political, etc.”

“Currently companies try to lower their stock to as low as possible to keep the cash flow. I think these times are over, and solely relying on ‘just in time’ may not warrant the risk. That is why as a company we are looking to keep more stock, so we can offer solutions and provide quick supply. We will not be able to replace the imports from Asia, but we are our customers safety nets when it comes to products and maybe the safest option for everybody is to make the net a little bigger.”

However, being a distributor is not just about supplying fasteners.

“The role of the distributor has changed totally over the last 5 – 10 years. Customers now require a whole host of certifications, quality checks, documentation, and other services, to go alongside the supply of fasteners,” explains Timo. “Customers go way deeper, they don’t just want a screw or bolt, they want a certified product with the relevant information, as well as the service around it. They also want everything as quickly as possible. That is why we are always looking to develop our processes and speed, so we can provide answers and products.”

Timo adds: “I think over the last 2 – 3 years customers have started to appreciate and understand the role distributors play and I think with the impact of Covid-19 customers will become even more aware of the added services we can provide.”

Future growth

For future growth Achilles will focus on digitisation and how the company can further connect with customers. “Our customers are growing in their digitisation, which means we must follow them,” states Timo. “Customers don’t want to move paper around anymore. You need to be connected with your customer, and supplier, everything has to be online in ‘real time’. We want to become an integrated part of their supply chain and be more connected with our customers in the future.”

Achilles will also look to develop its range and depth of stock, so it can further meet customers’ needs. “In our product range we have a good quality product, we have a good price, but it doesn’t make sense for customers to buy just one product from us,” concludes Timo.

“Customers don’t want to have multiple suppliers; they want one distributor that can provide the full service. That is why we are going ahead with our investment and looking to double the existing DIN/ ISO products we have by the end of the year/beginning of next year – making it as easy as possible for customers to work with us.” www.achill-fasteners.com

www.fastenerandfixing.com

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FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

Meeting and exceeding customers’ needs Fastener + Fixing Magazine last interviewed Daniel Gellert, managing director at WASI GmbH, 18 months ago – when visiting the headquarters in Wuppertal, Germany. Whilst visiting wasn’t an option this time – due to Covid-19 – Editor Will Lowry spoke to him via Zoom to find out how the company has developed and its approach to the pandemic.

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ighteen months ago, Daniel Gellert was joint managing director – responsible for administration, logistics and purchasing. Since then he has become sole managing director and has also taken on responsibility for sales, including the offices in Belgium.

“Since becoming sole managing director I have looked to streamline our processes and aimed to make us more effective,” explains Daniel. “A key factor in doing this is further understanding our customers’ needs and tailoring our sales to meet these individual requirements.”

To do this, WASI has looked to be proactive in contacting its customers more regularly, so it can predict its customers’ needs. “We are focused on providing customers with the best service, which is why we have looked to develop and tailor our sales,” states Daniel. “By doing this we can understand customers’ requirements and ensure we are in a position to meet them and create long-lasting partnerships.”

WASI supplies both trade and industry and is looking to grow each of these markets. “Our trade customers are a big part of the business and we want to develop the sector even further,” mentions Daniel.

“However, with the trade sector there are a lot of competitors when it comes to stainless steel fasteners. Whilst we are one of the bigger players, there are still a large number of small and medium sized business, which results in the price levels coming under strain.”

Daniel continues: “With the industry sector, we see real opportunities as customers have a lot more demands regarding quality, certifications, private labelling, box sizes, etc. By meeting these needs and providing the relevant services we are able to make ourselves stand out from the crowd and create a good partnership with industry customers.”

Customer orientated products

In addition to sales, another key area WASI has developed is its range of special parts. “These special parts tend to be for the industry sector, where we are able to work with customers on drawings to find the right solutions,” points out Daniel. “Previously, we had individuals from different teams who worked on special parts, but we found this was not the optimum solution.

We have therefore created a dedicated special products team who are solely focused on developing this area for us.

The team includes employees from purchasing, sales, and technical, and the sole aim is to develop special parts and provide a complete and bespoke service to customers.”

Daniel adds: “We see this as a chance to attract new customers because if you can supply special parts that meet customers’ needs, you are then able to get the business for the standard parts, as customers are keen to source their products from one supplier. This will be another big focus for us in the future.”

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Alongside special parts, WASI is also focused on developing its portfolio of standard products. “We have improved our range in the marine hardware sector and we are keen to promote our capabilities.

Maritime products are not only interesting in the ship and boat sector, but also in building technology and outdoor,” mentions Daniel. “We also have a new catalogue that not only includes all the relevant technical information, it also underlines the quality and capabilities of the marine products. We are very proud of this range and we are confident customers will be impressed with the depth of products available.”

Daniel adds: “We are always adding new products to our standard range, but our aim is to make the range more appealing rather than just make it bigger. As customers’ needs are changing it is up to us to develop our range to meet them. We can do this by introducing new relevant products and stopping other products that are no longer popular.”

Standing for quality

Whether it is the standard or special range, WASI is committed to ensuring a consistent quality for customers, which is supported by the recent investments in its quality laboratory. “Over recent years we have invested a lot of money into the quality department, including the upgrading of equipment and introducing new testing machinery,” reports Daniel. “This has enabled us to ensure all the products we receive meet the necessary standards and requirements our customers come to expect.”

WASI is also looking to offer quality checking services for products. “If a customer has an external product and they need a certification or they want to check the quality, we will be able to do this and provide all the necessary documentation,” points out Daniel. “There have been several customers who have previously asked us for this type of service, so we looked into it and decided that as we had the capabilities it was something we should offer.”

“Looking forward, I believe over the coming years the requirements for quality and certification will become even more important. That is why we have such a big quality department and why we have been investing heavily in this area. We have to guarantee quality and meet our customers’ expectations.”

Responding to Covid-19

Daniel is clear and precise on what he thinks WASI should be doing to grow as business. This clarity was also apparent when it came to the Covid-19 pandemic. “As a business we decided we were not going to offer a ‘home office’ option during the outbreak, which was a very big decision for us,” mentions Daniel. “I know it was different to a lot of other companies within the sector, but I felt if the warehouse employees were going to be at work then the office employees should also be at work.”

He adds: “With this decision, we endeavoured to give our employees normality and structure during the crisis – whilst also giving them a safe environment at work, as we had enough space in our offices to split up colleagues to other empty rooms in our new building. Due to this decision we were present for our customers all the time.”

WASI also created flexible working hours, with employees able to pick when they came to work, with the office and warehouse open between 06:00 – 22:00. “We introduced these flexible hours so those staff members who are parents or who have commitments can be more flexible on when they decide to work,” points out Daniel.

“We also enabled employees to split their holidays into ‘hour slots’, which is unique for the current situation.”

WASI kept its warehouse and office staff separate within their own buildings and introduced smaller teams that worked together for the whole time. “If there is a positive from such a serious situation, it has been that we have definitely created a stronger bond within the company,” states Daniel proudly. “It was a big decision to not introduce working from home, but I now have the employees coming to me and thanking me for the decision – because it has enabled them to keep the structure in their life and separate being at work and being at home. It has also meant we have not had to introduce any ‘short time’ yet, which is a big positive.”

Supply consistency

During the Covid-19 pandemic, WASI has also kept in close contact with its supply chain to ensure its supply of products is not impacted. “At first, it was difficult, especially in particular regions in Italy and Spain, as well as some parts of Asia where there have been bigger shutdowns,” points out Daniel. “However, at WASI we have a system in place where for every item, we have multiple suppliers. This means if one is unable to supply, we have at least another one or two – usually one in Europe and then one or two in Asia – that will be able to step up for us.”

This multi-supplier structure has been in place at WASI for number of years, with each supplier certified by WASI. “This has been a big benefit for us during lockdown, as it would have been impossible to set-up during the crisis. Even in this difficult situation, we still need to do a good job and be there for our customers, so our structure and framework has to be solid.”

In addition to its supply chain, WASI has also been working with its customers during the pandemic to ensure it is aware of any concerns or problems they may be facing. “We have had a mixture of responses from customers, including those who have shut and need us to hold onto stock, as well as those that are busy and need us to quickly send out a delivery,” mentions Daniel. “Whatever the requirements, we have looked to be flexible to meet our customers’ needs.”

Long-term targets

As for the long-term impact of Covid-19, Daniel believes the market will be similar to after the financial crisis in 2008/09. “Out of the coronavirus crisis, there will be a business crisis – with some companies undoubtedly closing. Governments have been very proactive in trying to lend money to companies and help with schemes for employees, so maybe this will help the situation. However, I believe there will be a lot of knock on implications for a lot of sectors.”

Whilst Covid-19 is currently at the forefront of people’s minds, Daniel is keen to look forward to what opportunities there may be in the future. “Our aim is to continue to improve the services we provide our customers and deliver added value where possible. We have the stock, we have automation, we can guarantee quality, we have special parts, and we have know-how and knowledge to work with customers on solutions. This means we are not just a fastener seller, but a partner for customers and can provide the overall service they need.” www.wasi.de/en

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FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

Offering a 3D service Just like many fastener companies, the Covid-19 crisis has somewhat slowed Bülte’s momentum towards 2020. However, as a specialist in plastic protection parts, as well as plastic and plastometallic fasteners, Bülte is still focused on improving the digital experience of its customers with the launch of its online 3D product catalogue.

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he new 3D product catalogue allows the instant download of 3D models including those of washers, fasteners, bushes, spaces, and nuts.

This helps speed up the design process for customers, as it has been designed specifically for use right from the product design phase.

Enabling contact with end customers, the 3D catalogue is in-line with Bülte’s desire to offer a personalised service, and enables engineers to quickly and easily navigate through products to find and download the free 3D model they need – in more than 100 software formats and versions.

The investment in its online product catalogue has come at a very interesting time. During the global pandemic Bülte’s French site was partly closed for three months – with the sales teams working from home and the company shipping goods at a slower pace. This saw activity reduce by 40%, although nothing ever stopped totally and production continued, as well as the delivery of goods to customers.

The German branch remained open throughout, with new hygiene rules and

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protective barriers in force – such as wearing masks, regular disinfection of common premises and equipment, social distancing, and the introduction of traffic flows around the company.

“This crisis being global and worldwide has brought us closer to our customers, who have been very understanding since they have had to face the same difficulties and changes as we have,” commented Bülte.

“Our relationships have been changed for the better. Of course, we are aware that the activity for 2020 will be less than in previous years, and we will undoubtedly see a decrease in turnover of around 15%, but we are adapting and will continue to develop

new products. In the future, whatever the necessary changes to be applied in our working environment, our priority remains the creation of a close relationship with our customers. Our technical sales teams will go on providing customers with personalised support to guide them in their choice of products and respond to their requests.”

Bülte has more than 30,000 references available, covering a wide range of products including plastic and plastometallic fasteners and fixings, washers, bushings, nuts, screws, screw caps, protection caps, plugs, protection plugs, spacers, handles, handwheels, knobs, plastomet, plastimont, cable clips, cable glands, cables ties, grommets, adjustable feets, stamped parts, and threaded rods.

Present in France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, Bülte delivers these products all over the world into a wide range of industries – including military, food processing, furniture, medical and aerospace, along with personalised advice.

“For more than 60 years, Bülte has benefited from the most efficient know-how and dynamism, with a strong emphasis on quality, flexibility and reactivity.” www.bulte.com

FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

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Helping to handle the Covid-19 pandemic The Insert Company (UK) Ltd is a highly experienced, specialised supplier of high performance threaded inserts, with access to a wide product range and global stock.

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hrough the success of the company over the last few years, The Insert Company has been able to increase both its workforce and stockholding by 30%. “We have done this because we have become a true global supplier with an increase in demand from customers in the USA to Australia and everywhere in between,” states Director Kevin Broome.

“Due to the uncertainty of BREXIT, the importance of stockholding has never been so great, which is why we invested and closely monitored our stock levels to ensure even the most unpredictable demand can be met.”

Kevin points out that this stock commitment has been certified by its role in helping to handle the Covid-19 pandemic. “We were selected to participate in the ‘blue sky’ project to provide emergency ventilators for the NHS. Being an existing supplier, with long-term relationships to a number of the companies – including a leading Formula 1 team – forming the consortium, we were chosen to supply all the inserts. This was due to our reputation for reacting rapidly to demand, with very high standards of quality. We sourced inserts in volume, with unusual thread sizes, which had to be airfreighted from

a number of different countries. The whole process from enquiry to delivery was overseen and expertly managed,” explains Kevin. “We have also supplied many other companies who are involved in the production of glass screens for shops and visors. We have secured supply sources when other companies have exhausted stocks due to the unprecedented levels of demand.”

Valuing and building relationships with all customers is a key drive for The Insert Company. “We aim to understand and respond accordingly to their needs, to adapt in-line with their own changing environment,” points out Kevin. “We are always delighted to add new product lines to stock if our customers demand it.”

The Insert Company is able to build these relationships thanks to its staff, who have detailed knowledge of the products, and understand the mechanical properties involved. “Many companies rely so heavily upon part numbers, without any knowledge of what the product is, or does, and are therefore unable to offer any independent advice or a solution,” states Kevin. “Most of our workforce have spent their lives working within the fastening industry, so have a brilliant understanding of what is possible as standard and what is special.” www.theinsertcompany.com

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29/03/2017 09:22

FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

Advance for Victory…

Victory Fasteners Ltd, a supplier of high-grade alloy fasteners, has built a notable reputation for supporting its distribution customer base – both within the UK and Europe.

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he company, which started in 2013 with just four members of staff, is today driving towards a turnover of over GB£2.5 million, with 20 employees and boasts a stockholding of over GB£800,000 from its 10,000 square foot operation.

Mike Cooke, director and general manager, gives us an overview of the company’s growth: “Investment in the stock range has always been a top priority for Victory Fasteners. Due to the excellent relationships we have with our approved supply base, the majority of which have been partners in previous businesses for over 20 years, customers can depend on Victory to meet their product needs at the highest quality.”

In addition to offering volume stock of all standard parts in Grades 10.9/12.9, Victory also reports that it offers one of the largest ranges of unthreaded blanks and semi-finished products across Europe – predominantly in Grades 10.9/12.9 and European B7/L7, in all head styles.

Responding to increasing customer demand for non-standard Grade 8.8 bolts Mike Cooke and Lee Howell the new sales manager

Mike Cooke, director and general manager, with the new CNC machine centre

…customers can depend on Victory to meet their product needs at the highest quality.” and sets, Victory has now also complemented its extensive stock with a new range of Grade 8.8 hexagon blanks and setscrews from M12 > M64 x 800mm.

In 2018 the company implemented a new Merlin software system, which has enabled it to undertake advanced business analysis – resulting in greater efficiencies and tighter control of batch traceability and certification processes. With the majority of products manufactured within Europe and the Far East, quality documentation support is a top priority. All stock is recorded by lot/ heat and behind each certified product sits

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the 3.1 certificate and copy mill, if applicable, enabling access to chemical and hardness figures without any delays.

“With my manufacturing background I have also driven the company to purchase its first CNC machine centre, which gives us the ability to control much more of the production from start to finish, including delivering a better quality of thread and the ability to machine larger diameters,” mentions Mike. “Having gone so well, we are already considering purchasing a second machine. It’s important that as a company that we continue to push into new markets and new products hence the 8.8 range, which fits nicely into the existing profile and should sell well.”

He adds: “The company’s growth is down to not only hard work and ambition, but a committed investment across all areas of the business. This includes our purchasing and sales teams, where we are pleased to announce the appointment of Lee Howell as sales manager within the company. We are a friendly and informed team with our sales department able to talk, with confidence, about our wide product range, their applications, quality criteria, and how best to approach a quotation to offer the most competitive pricing structure. We are a fairly young company, but we’re built on a firm foundation of fastener experience.” www.victoryfasteners.com

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Product Integrity and Traceability within our industry are paramount, with a large proportion of our stock purchased from European materials and quality assured European and Far Eastern manufacturing companies we feel that we can meet those rising quality standards.

Certification 3.1 is available on 95% of our products with our European range also available with a European copy Mill certificate.

….and now Grade 8.8 in a wide range of Blanks and Setscrews M12 > M64 and up to x 800 mm in length In house machining to suit your specific customer requirements.

ONE OF EUROPE’S LARGEST STOCKHOLDERS OF BLANKS & SEMI-FINISHED FASTENERS

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Tel: +44 (0)1902 544480 Fax: +44 (0)1902 544481 www.victoryfasteners.com | Email: sales@victoryfasteners.com

FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

The essential role of distribution Here Jun Xu, president at Brighton Best International, looks at how the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of the distribution sector; why the ‘just in time’ concept may need to change; and the importance of diversification in every aspect of a business.

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020 will go down in history as one of the most disruptive years in our lifetimes. It has challenged our businesses, our families, and our society values.

However, I am optimistic that as long as we are honest with ourselves and with the truth, we will come out of this stronger than ever.

In the past six months, I believe we have learned several elemental truths. As an elemental truth, it was always there, but maybe it was not realised.

Distribution provides confidence

I believe one elemental truth is that distribution is an essential business. During the height of the pandemic, we saw what happens when distribution does not function properly. As businesses and restaurants did not operate, many farmers discarded foods already processed and ready for shipment.

At the same time, grocery stores were running out of supplies as panic buying for food and toiletries ensued. Distribution provides confidence that a product is there and prevents a hoarding psychology. An economy or society without a proper distribution network is broken. A distributor’s job is to balance the supply and demand equation, which is the backbone to a functional society.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, fasteners were used for food processing, farming, transportation and manufacturing. The distribution of fasteners is an essential service to keeping things and all other economic categories running. Although we are not medical workers, we should be proud of our fastener industry’s contribution to fighting the pandemic.

Just in time

Over the course of our professional careers, we were taught the profound benefits of ‘just in time’ manufacturing. I remember the concept was taken so far as to drawing a line on the factory floor demarking who the product belonged to – the supplier or the buyer.

To me, ‘just in time’ is a concept that is a classic innovator’s dilemma. The idea of Innovator’s Dilemma, a book written by Clayton Christensen, is that rational managers will work to supply what customers ask them for – smaller and faster products.

Like breeders of a horse, customers asked for faster and more enduring horses – not seeing the advent of the car. Silicon chip manufacturers and end users asking for faster and smaller chips, not realising the advent of the digital cloud. Just think how many comfortable industries the smartphone has disrupted or destroyed?

Rational managers listening to their customers would be led to believe that faster and smaller is the security to longevity.

It is not, and I believe Covid-19 has exposed the limits of ‘just in time’ manufacturing.

‘Just in time’ works, if the world is predictable. It is human hubris to think that we can control the future. Great entrepreneurs can help to ‘create’ a future, but no one can ‘control’ the future. Car companies – ready to manufacture and bring back hundreds of

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thousands of workers, cannot manufacturer because of a lack of sub-contracted parts made elsewhere. Truly dropping a dollar to pick up a penny.

Here is another elemental truth. Distribution companies cannot generate revenues if there is no inventory to sell. No level of marketing or technology can make up revenue dollars if your warehouses are empty or factories are down because of a lack of parts. Inventory is a distributor’s life blood, and I believe Covid-19 has taught us that we became too dependent on ‘just in time’ concepts in our supply chains.

If you purchase business interruption insurance, maybe you should also purchase and hold more inventory. That is the best insurance.

Diversification

There’s that word again – diversification – but it is so important to BBI. I’ve in the past talked about product diversification. For BBI, as demand dropped in fasteners, demand surged for our other products – especially PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). I understand this demand surge was due to the pandemic, however, it has buffered BBI’s sales and profitability and will help BBI come out of this stronger than ever before.

Another critical factor to BBI’s growth is racial and cultural diversification. I do not often talk about this, but it is an elemental truth to who we are as a company. BBI operates in six countries and employs hundreds of employees, each with a unique background that could not be more different from one another. So I do not use the words diversity, respect, and teamwork lightly.

You cannot learn anything new from people who think exactly the same as you. If you cannot learn anything new, how do you grow?

Respect for one another is critically important to helping understand different views, so that we can work together as a team to understand the opportunities these differences of views present.

Creation of opportunities do not exist in an equilibrium where everyone thinks the same and is comfortable. It exists through disruptions and differences.

As leaders, we must not be blind to these differences. It is critically important for us to protect this diversity – because this is also where your future undiscovered opportunities lie.

Part of the American spirit

I realise I am one of the few American contributors to this magazine.

As you watch the news, as an international audience looking in, you may think that America is falling apart. Far from it. This is how America is built. The message of the protesters is ultimately one of unity.

They are saying, treat everyone the same regardless of the colour of anyone’s skin. Such a protest is protected by law in

America, and such protests have shaped significant movements in American history.

There may be bumps along the way, but the drive to constantly question and redefine ourselves is part of the American spirit.

American history is a gritty one, but questioning oneself is not a bad thing. It is how you grow as a country, as a company, and as individuals.

Global Inch - Fasteners

for more than 40 Years

Tel.: +49 (0) 71 32/99 60-0 • Fax.: +49 (0) 71 32/99 60-60 Schäfer + Peters GmbH Tel. +49 (0) 7941 6094-0 info@schaefer-peters.com www.schaefer-peters.com

www.schroederschrauben.de

FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

At the forefront of distribution Berardi Bullonerie Srl has been at the forefront of fastening distribution within Italy for more than a century. It continues to achieve success thanks to its expanding product range and focus on the technological development of its supply chain.

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key factor in Berardi’s growth is its commitment to reinvesting its revenue into research and development and building a formidable team – with each individual bringing in their added value. “The added value we can offer customers is thanks to the extensive experience we have within lean logistic services, which can be personalised and tailor-made to each single client’s needs and characteristics,” explains Francesca Berardi, export manager at Berardi (pictured right). “These technologies make us an ideal partner/supplier even in the most complex situations.”

Berardi is able to provide a wide variety of support and services to customers, including technical support in designing custommade parts. Alongside this the company can also provide an extensive assortment of products, which goes beyond fasteners to include many other types of industrial components. These products are supported by a quality assurance, with specialised staff and cutting-edge technology, to guarantee what Berardi delivers always meets the client’s expectations.

“We are part of a very dynamic and flexible economy; thus, we have adapted our distribution methods to the needs of ever more demanding clients,” points out Francesca. “This has led us to expand our product range, with many product categories, under the Extracomponents project – enabling us to offer a better and more complete service.”

Berardi has always been focused on innovation and whilst the Covid-19 pandemic has forced it to make sudden changes, involving its people and working processes, the company believes innovation can still play an important role out of the pandemic. “We have always seen innovation as a goal, but this pandemic forced us to make sudden changes that involved our people and working processes. We firstly focused all our efforts to protect the health and wellbeing of our employees and business partners, to avoid service breakdowns and to satisfy our clients’ demands, as well as secure regular supplies from our sources – with new logistics tools specially designed for this.”

An example of Berardi quickly adapting to the situation was the introduction of telework – which was a new tool for the company.

“These changes are showing potential advantages for our organisation, as we learn to use remote working tools, such as web platforms and applications, virtual training, etc. This will help us communicate with clients effectively also after the crisis has ended,” adds Francesca.

With regards to working processes, Berardi has developed digital tools to support its sales team. “Today, digital tools are an important factor, facilitating sales processes and knowledge exchange, which is essential for a more efficient working model,” mentions Francesca. “We are developing a new management culture within our divisions, based on collaboration, knowledge sharing, individual responsibility, and skill acquisition, to build solid foundations for our development.”

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A key element in this picture is artificial intelligence, in which Berardi has been investing for years – pairing it with more traditional technologies and skills. “We see AI as a very interesting topic and believe it could prove particularly useful when it comes to stock planning and supply flow management,” explains Francesca. “Digital technology will be crucial to carry us into a new era after the global pandemic. A new era that will be probably very different, perhaps for the better.”

Francesca continues: “Whilst technology will create opportunities for development, it will not be able to replace the human aspect of business. No virtual company visit, social media interaction, or technological innovation of industrial processes, can replace the empathy expressed with a handshake and a face-to-face meeting.”

The digital connection along the supply chain will also become a key focus for businesses in the future. “The value chain that is created between manufacturer, distributor, and final user, should be seen as a synergy that we should value as much as possible, especially with the uncertainty that characterises this time and future perspectives,” states Francesca. “Planning and forecasts are by now outdated tools that we cannot use anymore. The supply chain is managed efficiently when all actors communicate constantly, to distribute costs and benefits equally between them. In this respect, Business Intelligence and ERP are of utter importance. These tools have to allow for quick and detailed analyses that are easy to interpret and use. All of the above combined can allow us to maintain high-levels of service and reliability, even in the most uncertain times like these.”

Francesca concludes: “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have suffered from an unexpected situation, which is not going to end after the diffusion of the virus. We need to continue to focus on work safety and new digital technology, but we can only develop these areas if we have the right skills within the business. That is why we will look to invest in training our employees, so we are ready for the inevitable technological developments. It’s down to us entrepreneurs to turn these difficult times into a historic moment.” www.gberardi.com

NEWS

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24h delivery service live warehouse stock

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POL.MARTIARTU II - 48480 - ARRIGORRIAGA - SPAIN TLF +34 946714760 ROSMIL@ROSMIL.COM WWW.ROSMIL.COM

FASTENER DISTRIBUTION

Committed to customer satisfaction With a goal to reinforce its ergonomic design, and increase the safety of its staff, ACTON SAS introduced a 10,000m2 extension of its L’Horme site in France in 2019. Now, nearly two years later, the new logistics system has helped ACTON be more efficient and increase its productivity.

W

ith almost 15,000 references of fasteners and marine accessories in stock, and more than 1,000 codes created every year, ACTON decided an extension was needed.

The new building brought more surface area and an increase in pallet spaces, with ACTON now having a total of 33,000 spaces available.

ACTON’S new logistics system has also enabled the company to be more efficient and to increase the productivity of its workers. Plus, the warehouse offers a high-level of ergonomics, as each hall was designed to avoid bad movement or accident, including the height of all racking.

The equipment and machines used by workers is also now modern and offers more security and a better body geometry. The expansion of the warehouse has also allowed for an increase in storage capacity and the reorganisation of the shelves and sections. This new logistic organisation opens up many possibilities for further development of the range and improvement of services.

Thanks to this extension, ACTON can now offer a wider range in different product categories. This includes expanding its range of wood screws and deck screws for the ever growing demand in France. “The construction of wooden frame buildings is becoming a new trend in France and we are keen to take advantage of the opportunity,” explains ACTON. “That is why we have introduced a very wide dimension range, as wood screws are recommended for

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outdoor applications such as cladding, fixing decking boards and for fixing inside damp rooms (kitchens or bathrooms).”

In this new range, ACTON offers standard screws with a regular and standard thread, but also more technical screws for fastening on steel, hardwood, softwood or exotic wood. They present many new features such as a drilling segment to limit the heating of the part, as well as a cutting point and anti-splitting pick that help to avoid predrilling operations.

“To compete with DIY stores, it is vital we stand out with more technical parts, as well as a better service, and more training sessions to take care of customers,” comments ACTON. With this in mind, ACTON also offers new packaging, such as polythene buckets, for more convenience on construction sites and easier transportation. The new buckets fit perfectly with the needs of distributors to store them on the shelves of shops, and bring more protection to screws for professionals who regularly use them outside.

The buckets can also be easily reused.

To reinforce the personalisation and to create a visual impact on customers, ACTON has created new and more detailed labels for the different packages. This helps the craftsman to be informed directly, to choose quickly and to generate self-service sales, without the intervention of the salesman.

“We guarantee a top of the range service to retailers and wholesalers everywhere in France with a 24/48 hour delivery, and everywhere in Europe with a 48/96 hour delivery.” www.acton.fr

HARRISON

SILVERDALE LTD I N N OVAT I V E FA S T E N E R S making the right connection

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Marine accessories Our range available on www.acton.fr

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Schnorr GmbH Stuttgarter Str. 37 71069 Sindelfingen, Germany Phone: +49 7031 302-0 Fax: +49 7031 382-600 mail@schnorr.de www.schnorr-group.com

EXHIBITIONS

PREVIEWS AND REPORTS FROM INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIRS

The world focuses on wire® Despite current uncertainties in the global economy, organisers for wire® and Tube are expecting stable numbers of visitors to its two international trade fairs for the wire, cable and tube and pipe industries.

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ow scheduled for 7 th – 11 th December 2020 at Düsseldorf Fairgrounds, wire® and Tube will be held in compliance with strict new hygiene and social distancing rules at a perfectly prepared Düsseldorf fairground.

2018 saw 71,500 trade visitors (69,000 in 2016) from 134 countries visit the exhibition halls on the Rhine river, over five days, to learn about innovations in their sectors and conclude business deals. One third of visitors at both trade fairs came from Germany while two thirds were international visitors. This means that wire and Tube are among the most internationally attended trade fairs for Messe Düsseldorf.

For December the organisers expect stable numbers of visitors – 80% from Europe despite the tight situation in the global economy.

Although strong producer and visitor countries such as Italy, France and Spain have been seriously impacted by the consequences of the coronavirus crisis, these are the European countries alongside the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Russia, Great Britain and Turkey, where most European trade visitors will come from to visit the two trade fairs.

If the EU and national stimulus packages take effect in the European countries, then an economic recovery and increase in investment can be expected by the end of the year.

Visitors to the show come from the wire and cable industries, the iron, steel and NF metal industries, automotive and construction, the chemical industry, trade and the services sector. At wire 2020 visitors

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will once again be on the lookout for innovations, trends, new business partners and suppliers or seeking to deepen existing contacts.

Visitors’ main interests focus on machinery and equipment for wire manufacturing and finishing, as well as process technology tools, finished products, auxiliary materials, forming technology and fasteners and springs, as well as wire mesh welding machinery.

wire® China 2020

The leading regional Asian trade fair wire® China is planned to take place from 23rd – 26th September 2020 in the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) under strict hygiene and distance regulations, prescribed by the Chinese health and safety authorities.

The organisers expect a rapid recovery of the global economy and the absolute willingness to invest within the wire and cable industries.

Together with many international wire and cable companies, and the relevant associations, it was therefore decided to hold wire China against the background of declining infection figures for the Covid-19 virus.

In addition, interactive online showrooms provide a digital supplement to the analogue trade fair events in the exhibition halls.

This means that companies can also take part in the trade fair, even if the current economic situation in their countries make it impossible for them to travel to Shanghai.

560 Chinese and international exhibitors are expected at wire China, who will be showing innovative machines, equipment, products and services from the wire and cable industry on four days of the fair.

After successful previous events, the exhibitors of fastening technologies will again present a special Fastener Shanghai Special Zone.

National pavilions from Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan complete the range of products and services on display at wire China. Groups of visitors from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China have also already registered.

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exhibitions

2020 China Fastener Show goes online China Fastener Show, supported by chinafastener. com, will be heading online from 10th – 18th August with a ‘new mode, new business opportunity’ theme.

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hrough this online exhibition, 50,000 buyers have been invited to connect with over 500 exhibitors without travelling – which is difficult in the current global circumstances. China Fastener Show Online will provide online exhibition halls with live video, ‘real time’ negotiation, supply and procurement connection, ‘real time’ transaction, as well as online activities to present exhibitor information.

Over 500 virtual exhibitors will be showcasing a wide range of finished parts including standard fasteners, non-standard fasteners, automotive fasteners, high strength fasteners, construction fasteners, stamping parts, lathe parts, as well as fastener products in various professional application fields.

Also online will be exhibitors from fastener related products and services. These include companies supplying fastener production equipment, materials, moulds and consumables, testing instruments, packaging equipment, as well as all other related fastener production technologies and equipment.

Special zones such as a Haiyan cross border exhibition area, brand area, and 1-on-1 communication area, have also been created so that buyers can quickly find suitable suppliers according to their needs. Meanwhile, a series of online activities will be held, such as face-to-face online purchase meetings, keynote speakers, and live broadcasts.

This nine day show will enable around the clock communication with no limitations, as well as greatly reduced costs due to no travelling. What’s more, multiple business development settings, such as eBusiness cards and eCatalogues, will provide buyers with additional valuable information.

“In order to help buyers find competitive suppliers more efficiently, China Fastener Show Online aims to build portraits of buyers and suppliers, and detail the search of products, to make accurate matches.

There is no doubt that this is a new form of exhibition for the fastener industry, combining demonstration, negotiation, communication and learning,” commented organisers.

National Hardware Show® introduces NHS Connects The National Hardware Show® (NHS) has introduced NHS Connects, a new digital platform that enables networking and business to continue leading up to the show, which is scheduled for 1st – 3rd September 2020 in Las Vegas, USA. edicated to all things home improvement, hardware, and product innovation, NHS is rolling out the new platform to provide retailers, wholesalers, distributors, suppliers, and manufacturers, with year round online digital content designed specifically for the hardware and home improvement industry.

Attendees can use NHS Connects to stay up to date on leading industry topics and education; connect and set-up direct appointments with leading suppliers and manufacturers; as well as source new, trending products while also expanding current product offerings. Together with NHS Connects, the show will provide the tools needed to equip customers, empower businesses and engage with industry leaders.

This includes a variety of informational sessions. Visitors will have access to online resources including scheduled and pre-recorded webinars, virtual education and panels hosted by NHS industry partners, as well as health and wellness classes.

“We understand the significant impact NHS has on our customers’ business – especially during this unprecedented time in which hardware and home improvement stores are considered essential. Our new online

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platform enables exhibitors and attendees to get the most out of the show through creating a resource for community, connection and innovation,” said Rich Russo, industry vice-president for the National Hardware Show®.

“NHS Connects reimagines sourcing strategies and encourages industry leaders to stay united with manufacturers and brands not only during the show but throughout the year. The platform will provide a plethora of resources that benefit all attendees to help increase productivity and maximise efficiency.”

The National Hardware Show celebrates a rich history spanning 75 years of serving the home improvement marketplace. It is the place for global manufacturers, associations, and organisations – including those in the fastener, nails, nuts, bolts, rivets and screw industries – to get an unfiltered view of the industry, hands-on experiences, and access to the latest innovations and retail trends to enhance their businesses.

Registration for the 2020 show is now open and members of the industry and retailers are encouraged to sign up and experience everything that NHS has to offer. Registration for buyers and retailers is free until the show.

Taiwan International Fastener Show Kwantex's booth is located Kaohsiung Exhibition Center in VIP Room 1 on the Oct. 14-16, 2020 second floor of exhibition hall.

We will demonstrate the latest and confidential products and provide special pastry.

Welcome to visit our booth and enjoy !

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exhibitions

Fastener Fair USA introduces digital platform Fastener Fair USA has launched Connector365 – an all year round online platform that includes a searchable directory of suppliers, and enables visitors to schedule meetings and take part in expert led virtual education.

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onnector365 creates a direct appointment setting that allows visitors to connect with suppliers. “The unprecedented changes in all industries around the globe are hastening the changes that were already confronting the fastener industry supply chain,” commented Bob Chiricosta, event director for Fastener Fair USA. Industrial distributors in many sectors are seeing OEM customers automate the manufacturing operations, and fastener suppliers – along with other parts suppliers – must provide seamless connections to order and inventory management systems, quality documentation and chain of custody tracking, as well as increased precision in parts counts and packaging.

“This demands new skillsets and adoption of world-class best practices,” continues Chiricosta. “This is what Fastener Fair USA’s robust education programme, and its wide ranging exhibition floor offer, and now we want to translate that to a virtual platform, and provide these resources all year round.”

Since bringing Fastener Fair to the United States in 2018, Fastener Fair USA has distinguished itself by becoming an all inclusive event, where all levels of the fastener supply chain and other industry leaders from around the globe come together to move forward in a constantly evolving industry.

Photos from the last Fastener Fair USA in 2019

Fastener Fair Delhi is rescheduled to October In light of the constantly changing global situation relating to Covid-19, organisers of Fastener Fair Delhi have rescheduled the event to take place on 9th – 10th October 2020 at Pragati Maidan (ITPO), New Delhi, India. rganisers said: “These are unprecedented times but one thing we can guarantee – Reed Exhibitions India and Fastener Fair Delhi are in this with our exhibitors and visitors and we are here for them. Our teams are devoting resources to develop additional channels beyond the show floor and we continue to listen to exhibitors and customers, and to facilitate the personal and business connections. While these are uncertain times, we are determined to be fully ready for October.”

The organisers added: “We continue to closely monitor the ongoing situation and will remain in close contact with all our Fastener Fair stakeholders over the coming weeks and months, to ensure that a successful Fastener Fair Delhi can be conducted as per the aforementioned schedule. Soon, we will step out from behind of our screens, we will look each other in the eye and we will do face-to-face business again.”

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CLINCHING FASTENER SPECIALIST Main Products: • Clinch & Sheet Metal Fasteners • Self-Clinching Nuts, Standoff, Studs • Welding Studs and Standoff • Cage Nut • Rivet Bushes • Brass Inserts for Plastics • Rivet Nuts • Customeized CNC/Colf foring hardware.

Strengths: • Producer in China • IATF 16949 Certificate • PPAP and IMDS free • Optical Sorting 100% • Full range for clinching fastener

Factory & Warehouse: Via Verona 5, 20060, Cernusco s/Naviglio, Milan, Italy t: +86-139-2920-4841 e: zhuyb@grandametal.com w: www.grandametal.com

Headquarters: Via Negroni 30, 20060, Pessano c/Bornago, Milan, Italy

T: +39 02 9574 9273 | F: +39 02 9574 4857 E: info@pec.mitossrl.com | www.mitossrl.com

CONSTRUCTION FIXINGS

news and information dedicated to construction fixing products

Where fixings are involved in a fire application they need to be selected and designed by obtaining the fire resistance data from the ETA or other authoritative sources.”

Construction fixings and anchors in fire scenarios

By John Muir, technical manager, Construction Fixings Association In light of recent tragic events such as the fire at Grenfell Tower in London, UK, the construction industry has had cause to look at how the buildings we construct perform in a fire.

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he investigation and subsequent findings of Grenfell Tower have highlighted many issues that need to be addressed, including performance of products, and associated testing regimes, and related legislation.

This article will not attempt to address the many broad issues associated with this, but will look at one very important, if less visible, element of the construction. The method of connecting a building component to the structure is generally achieved by fixings and anchors, and it is vital that these fixings can maintain their integrity and hold components in place for a defined period of time in a fire.

The approach to fixings design in a fire situation appears to be dealt with in one of two ways at present. Firstly, the fixings are relatively ignored for purposes of fire, which could lead to fire rated components collapsing through fixing failure before their rated resistance time. An example to illustrate this would be a compartment floor or wall fixed to the structure with an unsuitable fixing. This could fail within a timescale less than the fire rating for the compartment element and so lead to the compartment not meeting the required fire resistance duration. A different scenario could include a sprinkler system pipework support failing – so the active fire protection is not fully engaged.

Alternatively, the other diametrically opposed approach is to ban all anchors of a certain type, such as resin anchors, through a total lack of understanding of how anchors perform in a fire situation.

In a fire, temperatures can exceed 1,000°C (the ISO 834 standard temperature curve used for fire testing reaches 1,200°C at two hours), and at these temperatures, structural materials such as concrete and steel undergo major changes to their mechanical properties.

These changes apply to concrete, structural steel, nuts and bolts, and therefore also to anchors, and have the effect of reducing the strength of the steel, and subsequently the performance of the anchor. In fire testing of fixings, failure of the anchor threads is the most common mode of failure. In addition, in the case of resin anchors, it is also possible that the resin to concrete bond can be the limiting failure mode in a fire.

What is vital for selection of fixings for use in a fire situation is to use the correct information, obtained from a valid approval system and carry out a design based on the correct design standard.

Areas that should be look at and considered include:

Legislative background

Under the Construction Products Regulation, to allow affixation of CE Marking, construction products need to comply with a harmonised EN or alternatively obtain a European Technical Assessment (ETA) in compliance with the relevant European Assessment Document (EAD) and associated EOTA Technical Reports.

An EAD assesses the performance of a product against its essential characteristics. In the case of EAD 330232-00-0601 (mechanical anchors in concrete), these include fire resistance values for steel failure and pull-out failure in tension, and steel failure in shear.

Testing

To achieve an ETA, an anchor has to to be fire tested to the requirements of EAD 330232-00-0601 and EOTA TR 048 (detailed tests for post-installed fasteners in concrete). These tests are carried out to EN1363-1, using the STC (standard fire curve), and provide fire resistance durations as classified by EN13501-2.

Values for characteristic resistance at 30, 60, 90 and 120 minute fire duration.

EAD 330499-00-0601 (bonded fasteners for use in concrete) does not include fire resistance as an essential characteristic for resin anchors, and so these must be dealt with by different means.

All major manufacturers, however, provide performance data in fire conditions – tested in accordance with the requirements of EAD 330232-00-0601 and EOTA TR 048.

Design

On deciding the duration required for fire resistance, the design of the anchor is carried out in accordance with EN 1992-4:2018 (design of fastenings for use in concrete).

Anchor design to this standard involves calculating the design resistance (e.g NRd or VRd) of the fixing for a number of failure modes in tension and shear at ambient temperature. The lowest calculated design resistance value for tension and shear is used for the design.

In the case of fire design, the characteristic resistance (e.g NoRk or VoRk ) value used in the ambient temperature (cold) design is substituted by the characteristic fire resistance (e.g NoRk.fi(xx)) value for the required duration (30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes) and the partial safety factors for fire, in all calculations. These values are all provided in the relevant ETA and Declaration of Performance.

As outlined above, all construction materials reduce in performance in a fire, including anchors, so the values for NoRk.fi(xx) do drop off substantially over the period of a fire.

This being the case, it is important that the design of the anchorage and component is a holistic one.

To provide protection to a structural member of steel or reinforced concrete, measures such as encasement in plasterboard or fire board, or coating with intumescent material, can be adopted.

It is important that the exposed anchor is also protected in the same manner and thus provide the same degree of increased fire resistance.

Conclusion

Having looked at the detail of fire testing and design, it is very clear that the correct design for the integrity of fixings associated with a fire rated application are treated as comprehensively as any other element.

Where fixings are involved in a fire application they need to be selected and designed by obtaining the fire resistance data from the ETA or other authoritative sources, and the design carried out fully in line with Eurocode 2 (EN 1992-4).

When this process is carried out, and in conjunction with other fire resistance measures as described above, the designer can specify the fixing with complete confidence in the chosen fixing’s ability to achieve the fire resistance requirement. www.the-cfa.co.uk

www.fastenerandfixing.com

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CONSTRUCTION FIXINGS

Structural steel and cladding solutions Here Hilti Group focuses on the requirements for structural steel and cladding applications and how its product range has developed to meet the needs of these applications.

What are the main challenges you face when producing products for structural steel or cladding? How do you overcome these challenges?

“Hilti is a worldwide manufacturer and provider of construction products, services and software. Being active around the globe, we know the challenges of international logistics very well. So, it can sometimes be a challenge to serve immediate project needs when you encounter longer lead times out of the region where you produce certain products or parts of products. We therefore have increased the physical stock in our warehouses around the globe. By doing so we could ensure immediate availability and the high service level to our customers in the building envelope industry that Hilti is known for.”

How have the requirements for structural steel and cladding applications changed over the years (quality requirements, materials used, regulations, etc)?

“In the past years, we have experienced regulations becoming more and more stringent regarding energy savings, corrosion and aesthetic requirements. The implication for us has been threefold: A thicker insulation requires longer fasteners (e.g >300mm length).

Stainless steel fasteners are more and more requested in A2 and A4.

Architects are looking for the ‘invisible’ fastener. This could be a hidden panel fastener, low profile head screws, etc.

Suppliers of building envelope material and profiles are continuously looking into savings and differentiation (e.g high strength steel >S420) to offer cost competitive steel building material.

For us it means a higher drilling performance requirement for our fasteners and up to date approval offerings for our customers.

Furthermore, an increasing number of drivers is used. This could lead to hair cracks below the screw causing hydrogen embrittlement and consequently to a head breakage of the fastener. At Hilti, we strongly back-up the existing building regulations to use a steel/metal tapper for building envelope applications to avoid failures. To support our customers, Hilti offers a full system solution including a cordless steel/metal tapper, inserts, screws and magazine.”

How has your product range developed to meet the needs of the applications?

“Over recent years we have significantly increased our product portfolio. Additionally, we have further invested in our production facilities in Asia and Europe. Our offering has developed for instance by us entering the rainscreen/light ventilated façade business with a full product offering and with back office engineering support. We have also established a full offering of A2 and A4 stainless fasteners.

Plus, our customers can now purchase additional lengths of screws to cover thicker insulation material and we now have comprehensive approval offerings available. Finally, we have introduced stand-up systems (SDT 9) to battle fatigue and productivity on decking jobs.”

How easy is it to innovate when it comes to structural steel and cladding applications? Do you have an example where you have helped a customer through innovation?

“Through our sales force we have direct contact with our customers. This adds up to more than 250,000 direct customer contacts per day around the globe. Therefore, this gives us the opportunity to clearly understand their ‘pain points’. Our customers’ needs are our source of innovation.

A prime example is the ‘perfect sealing function’ on our fasteners, which helped solve the problem of over-pressed sealing washers and helps to avoid water leakage. We also have the Hilti ‘racing tip’ technology, which significantly improves the drill performance of the screws. This helps reduce screw failures and waste because of ‘burned tips’ on the jobsite.

There is also our ‘speedy tip’ technology, which has changed the game in overlap fastening – delivering a chip-less, fast and higher load solution.

With this solution, customers can reduce their efforts to clean decks and avoid contact corrosion. The ‘speedy tip’ in combination with our stand-up decking system (SDT 9) offers jobsite productivity for installers and design optimisation for engineers because of 50% higher load values.”

With the growth of cross-laminated timber (CLT) applications, how do you see structural steel and cladding sector developing in the future?

“CLT is an increasing trend in the construction industry.

High-rise building construction with CLT is now possible. Governments are starting to push the use of wood to drive their sustainability programmes (e.g for schools, governmental buildings). Additionally, CLT is the only material that is ‘BIM-able’ that can easily be produced in prefab workshops.

Nevertheless, structural steel and cladding will remain a relevant construction method for building warehouses, data centres, production facilities, etc, in the mid-term future.”

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WHY

BUY FROM FAR AWAY WHEN YOU

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CONSTRUCTION FIXINGS

Blind Bolt – changing the way for specifiers A simple yet ingenious solution for blind fixing applications, Blind Bolt is a high performance constructional cavity fixing covering both horizontal and vertical applications. The simplicity of Blind Bolt makes it an ideal choice for fixing to steel sections where access is restricted or when working at height.

E

arlier this year, Owlett-Jaton was named as a master wholesaler for Blind Bolt across the UK and Europe, and the product has also been included in its JCP specialist fixings range. With three different ranges available they are widely utilised throughout the construction industry in hollow sections, girders and beams, masonry support systems, as well as cladding and façades.

“Independently SCI assessed, Blind Bolt brings exceptional qualities to the market and is changing the way architects, specifiers, builders, and engineers alike, approach their designs,” points out Owlett-Jaton.

The complete range

Owlett-Jaton states that as the only true removable blind fixing available for structural connections, Blind Bolt does not require an oversized hole and can also be installed in just a standard hole clearance. It is a high performance fixing with a product range of M8 to M30 in diameter and manufactured in hightensile steel. For applications requiring a high degree of protection, a Geomet® 500 finish offers approximately 1,000 hours of salt spray protection. Certain sizes are also available in A4 stainless steel.

In addition, the heavy-duty version features an expanding base and unique pin locking mechanism; has a higher tensile strength than the standard Blind Bolt; and guarantees fast installation with no special tools required.

Developed to address the need for a shorter blind fixing, with improved performance, it is the ideal fixing solution between heavyweight steel sections. Employing a simple activation method, designed to reduce installation time and expense, a hammer and spanner are all that’s required.

There is also the thin wall bolt, which was developed to address the need for a blind fixing to be used in a lightweight steel sheet or cladding material. After installation, a neat low profile head is left with no stud. The thin wall bolt has a strong shear capacity and is available in A2 stainless steel or with a zinc electroplate finish for excellent protection.

Supporting distributors and the construction industry

“As the construction industry starts to recover following the Covid-19 pandemic, innovative solutions such as Blind Bolt will play a key part in changing the way projects are delivered,” comments Owlett-Jaton. “Simple solutions that minimise labour requirements will provide cost benefits and also comply with current social distancing requirements.”

To support distributors and their customers, Owlett-Jaton carries the complete Blind Bolt range making it readily available for next day nationwide delivery. The fixing has already been used on many

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prestigious UK projects – including the Bull Ring shopping centre in Birmingham, Heathrow Airport and the London 2012 Olympic Stadiums. It is also railtrack approved for up to 125mph and has been used in the Cross Rail project.

“We can provide detailed technical information on the installation and removal of Blind Bolt to both our customers and end-users. The Blind Bolt is a very innovative and clever product, and we are keen to support distributors who can benefit from a predicted growth in demand. Since its inception the uses for the Blind Bolt range have grown considerably and new and innovative ways are constantly being identified.” www.owlett-jaton.com

THREADED STUDS DIN 976-1

We introduce new products in our range - threaded studs DIN 976-1 with diameters from M4 and the length from 16 mm.

Made in

ITALY

Advertise in the special feature this September

from M4 and length 16 mm

NEW

DIMENSIONS Diameters (d1): M4, M5, M6, M8 and more Lengths (L): from 16 mm Chamfer: Form A, Form B

MATERIALS Classes: 4.8, 5.8, 8.8, 10.9 Stainless steel: A2, A4 Brass

Get your company featured in our in-depth look at Italian fastener manufacturers and show the world what your business has to offer.

Our September issue will also be distributed at Fastener Fair Italy

We may also produce threaded studs DIN 976-1 with left and right thread.

We are able to produce threaded studs DIN 976-1 according to customer´s request.

And we also continue producing threaded studs of bigger diameters.

Emiliano Pagliaroli Email: emiliano.pagliaroli@fastenerandfixing.com

www.valentazt.com

CONSTRUCTION FIXINGS

INDEX® adds full range of MS and silicone adhesives INDEX®, a manufacturer and distributor of fixing systems, has announced the launch of two new adhesive product ranges, MS and silicone, in response to its customers’ needs.

T

he new MS polymer hybrid adhesives by INDEX® combine the strength of polyurethane with the insulating properties of silicone. This creates a product with high performance adhesive capabilities that offers the benefits of both materials.

The range consists of three types of adhesives, aimed at different uses. Firstly, the MS-SF Superfast High Tack has full grip and instant maximum load. It is an instant acting adhesive for mounting of heavy objects in demanding situations – requiring fast adhesion without supports.

The MS-SF Superfast High Tack carries a maximum load of 430kg/cm 3 with instant drying in one second. It is suitable for all types of materials including concrete, wood, metal, cork, aluminium, PVC, copper, brick, stone, and porcelain – both indoors and outdoors. This adhesive is also available in white.

The second adhesive, MS-PR Professional is a neutral and odourless adhesive sealant with excellent multi-material adhesion, particularly recommended for the fixing and sealing of shelves, roof finishings, gutters, decks, frame joints or structures exposed to vibration. It can also be used for the sealing of expansion joints, cisterns, containers and other aluminium elements, as well as for use in the food processing industry, thanks to its ISEGA certification.

Available in white, black, brown and grey, INDEX points out the MS-PR Professional delivers excellent vibration resistance with an elasticity of 300% and a maximum load of 150kg/cm 3.

Lastly, the MS-TR Transparent adhesive is used for maximum transparency in joints. A colourless and odourless adhesive sealant, it is particularly recommended for the fixing and mounting of fixings to materials where a clear or visible joint is required, such as glass, crystal, acrylic, PVC, porcelain, ceramics and other transparent elements – either outdoors or indoors. The MS-TR delivers vibration resistance with elasticity of 250% and has a maximum load of 140kg/cm 3. It also has an environmentally friendly A+ rating, as well as EnviroCert certificates.

Also available are INDEX’s range of silicones, which come in a variety of colours and properties to suit the needs of each application. The range consists of four silicone types – neutral professional, neutral SANITAR professional, ACETIC universal and ACETIC SANITAR universal. All silicones have CE Marking and are water resistant and suitable for use on various materials – making them the ideal solution for the fixing and sealing of joints on a range of surfaces. www.indexfix.com

The range consists of three types of adhesives, aimed at different uses.”

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info@blumorgana.it

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ETAG 001 Annex E EOTA TR049

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2017 fastening systems

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Covid-19 package As countries approach coming out of lockdown, the next few months will be very challenging.

Making customers aware of your products and services is going to be crucial. To help, we have introduced a Covid-19 advertising package that offers a cost-effective solution to attracting vital new business.

For more information email info@fastenerandfixing.com or call our sales team on +44 (0)1727 814 509

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CSTB Document Technique d’Application n° 3/16-857 publié le 25/7/2016

2017

BOSSONG S.p.A. Fastening Systems Zona Industriale 2 - Via E. Fermi, 49/51 24050 GRASSOBBIO (Bergamo) Italy Tel +39 035 3846 011 - Fax +39 035 3846 012 info@bossong.com

CONSTRUCTION FIXINGS

fischer FireStop used at Istanbul Airport Numerous fischer FireStop products have been used in the construction of the largest airport in the world, Istanbul Airport, to protect lives and infrastructure in the event of a fire.

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stanbul Airport is fully equipped with fischer FireStop solutions for passive fire protection. The range helps to prevent fire, smoke, and toxic gases, from spreading in the event of a fire. All bushings for MEP applications (mechanical, electrical and sanitary work) such as cables and ventilation systems, as well as all types of pipes and lines were sealed with fischer FireStop products. fischer states the products were installed to seal off the lead-through openings including the FCPS panel system. The FCPS is designed to provide up to four hours of space and two hours of temperature resistance. Other products used include the one component, water-based acrylic emulsion fischer FiAM and the graphite-based fischer FiGM. The FiAM guarantees up to five hours of space closure; whereas FiGM foams under high-pressure, expanding up to 20 times its own volume.

The fischer fire protection wrap FiPW – for wrapping non-metallic pipes and ducts – offers up to four hours of fire resistance, and was also used, along with the two component polyurethane foam FBS-EN and the fischer FFSC seal. FBS-EN is particularly suitable for use in openings that are difficult to access for electrical feedthroughs; and the FFSC seal is a formulated gypsum-based mortar suitable for filling voids and gaps in walls and floors – offering resistance and insulation for up to four hours.

Istanbul Airport currently handles around 90 million passengers a year and when construction is complete the passenger capacity is expected to more than double to over 200 million a year. Six runways on a total construction area of approximately 76.5 million square metres are intended to enable passengers to be transported safely to their destinations.

“Because this is a large-scale project with enormous HVAC systems, most of the ducts through fire protection walls and ceilings are built on a considerable scale, particularly the pipes and ventilation systems.

Innovative conductor lines and large metallic and flammable pipes presented an enormous challenge in finding a technical solution, but we were able to successfully plan and implement them,” states Ant Güngör, technical marketing manager at the Turkish subsidiary of fischer. fischer had to supply systems that have been tested and approved according to European standards, but also adhered to project specific requirements.

“Construction progressed quickly on this prestigious project, which is why a reliable partner was required for its fire protection. We began supporting the project at an early stage and helped the client plan the FireStop solutions and provided on-site support,” stated Constantin Wiegert, product and market manager at fischer.

SPAX® names Jim Winn as new president SPAX® – a brand of the Altenloh, Brinck & Co international manufacturer of building products for residential and commercial applications – has announced the appointment of Jim Winn as its president for the SPAX brand in North America. ikolas Dicke, CEO of Altenloh, Brinck & Co US, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Jim to lead SPAX®.

His more than 25 years of global supply, distribution and consumer brand experience will lead SPAX to a new level of excellence in new products and distribution services.”

Winn was formerly VP supply/product at National Nail Corp, a global fastener and fastening systems distributor. Prior to this he served in various leadership positions at The Home Depot including VP sourcing/product and merchandising, where he grew retail sales and developed strategic relationships with vendors/suppliers worldwide. He also served as SVP at TTi responsible for the Ryobi and Ridgid brands of power tools.

“SPAX provides the building industry’s best engineered/patented fastening solutions. I am honoured to join SPAX team’s legacy of service, operational excellence and customer loyalty. Together with the SPAX team members and customers, I look forward to reaching new levels of growth and innovation. Our engineered/patented fasteners are a versatile solution for a wide range of interior and exterior applications in multiple materials including wood, masonry, concrete, plastic and sheet metal,” commented Winn.

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY IN-DEPTH COVERAGE OF THE FASTENER MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Meeting the challenge for tooling and dies Here Alberto Gonzàlez Ortiz de Urbina, from Spanish-based TEMSA Group, looks at the challenges of being a tooling and dies manufacturer and how the company’s production and services have developed in order to deliver solutions to customers.

As a tooling and dies manufacturer, what are the main challenges you face and how do you overcome them?

“In order to be a successful tooling and dies company we believe it is necessary to diversify. This means not only diversifying the product range within one market, such as the fastener market, but diversifying markets and fields of application. This has been a long-term objective of ours and has proved successful. However, in the short-term it did create challenges regarding producing different products at the same time in production.

To enable us to do this we had to master the manufacturing process of the different products for different markets. All whilst being profitable and understanding what each partner expects from us.

We overcome these challenges by investing in machinery, as well as human and technical resources. There were no clear solutions in the market, so we developed them ourselves. This means none of our machinery is standard, it is instead modified by our technicians. This enables us to enhance the product range to focus on many different niches and be competitive in all of them.

Recent challenges we have faced include the increase of quality certification over the last few years, as well as error shapes in very long tools. However, we have been able to provide a solution thanks to a massive investment in quality inspection equipment. We have four

3D machines and four contracers available to our workers so they can certify their own work.

Now more than ever each radius and shape is measured and certified. We are working on carbide with extreme hardness by grinding, milling, turning and eroding. This demands cutting edge, robust CNC machines that make exactly what you tell them to do, and this demands equipment to verify it exactly. Alongside the machines, the difficulties of products get reduced if the drawing is good and we can see exactly what the customer wants. That is where our design team is able to help by double checking the drawings and verifying that everything is ok, as well as simplifying them if there are misunderstandings.”

How have the requirements for tooling, dies and punches developed over the years?

“The accuracy in materials and tolerances has increased significantly. For instance, regarding carbide, we previously just received a general name on drawings such as ‘carbide’ or ‘Widia’. Not anymore. We have done comprehensive work of pedagogy among the customers, so they improve their drawings by writing exactly what they want. This resulted in customers changing from just ‘carbide’ to the cobalt % using the G-Standard ‘G50, G20’ and from that to specify the grain size, such as ‘25%Co Fine grain’.

Whilst the tolerances are smaller, the customers needed it and required it, so we invested in the machinery.

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY Another requirement our partners have is for us to assist them at any time, which means flexibility is key. They want to be able to change drawings during production, change quantities, change delivery terms, as well as receive extensive advice. The proportion of added value to activities – non-related to the act of producing – has increased over the years.

We feel that our customers do not want just a tool maker. They want to have a partner from the tool making perspective that helps them to increase their added value and thus are ready to pay a little bit more, because they understand that in the tooling sector, 1+1 is not always 2.”

How easy is it to innovate as a tooling and dies company?

“The TEMSA Group is well known as one of the most technically developed companies in the world. From the very beginning we have innovated in every single aspect of our business.

For instance, we are the only tooling company competing in several markets worldwide, where we compete with different companies in their market and country niche. Nobody else does it.

We have also developed our own ERP software, assuring complete traceability and paperless processes, and our production is monitored on time and online. This means that from the initial enquiry until the delivery, everything is done paperless, fully automated and adapted to the customer needs. Even the quality report can be sent in advance if the customer prefers.

In addition to production, we have also innovated in product processes and product quality. From the raw material, we have innovated alongside our carbide manufacturer, by securing a stable production of pre-sintered carbide nibs, available within one week. We then sell these internally to our other plants and outside, to customers and competitors.

From the tooling point of view, TEMSA started its innovation a long time ago by turning carbide and very hard material – when few other companies were able to do it. Later on, we started CNC grinding, developing with SIEMENS our own machine before there were even any CNC grinding machine on the market.

We are the only company that has a fully automated robot cell with three grinding machines for single products. We have shown that it can be profitable, but it needs a lot of investment beforehand.

We have innovated in-process manufacturing by reducing the erosion process as much as possible. Thus, our pins and punch manufacture has developed several applications so we can produce concave and convex pin shapes – skipping the eroding process and therefore improving the life span of the tools and the performance of customers. For instance, the latest improvements are carbide ground threads in tools.

The last frontier in carbide is its milling, where we have applied several innovations during the last year. TEMSA has achieved a very good performance

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in carbide milling, what brings again a skipping of erosion as a production process, thus improving the performance of the tools, whatever the material may be.

As a group we are focused on the customer and that means improving the delivery term, improving costs and accuracy, and improving the life performance of the tools. At the end of the day, what counts is what helps the customer to be fast, reliable and profitable.”

In-process monitoring of machines provides manufacturers with data and feedback on tooling performance. How do you work with customers on this feedback?

“The TEMSA Group is keen on receiving as much feedback as possible.

In our market the motto is ‘no news is good news’, thus we receive mostly only feedback if this is negative, since positive feedback goes without saying if the customer keeps ordering the same part or related parts.

However, we see negative feedback, however minor, as an opportunity to improve. That is why TEMSA carries out independent analysis of carbide by an external supplier, so we can analyse and compare our carbide with other suppliers. At TEMSA we also analyse the production process, with everything tracked electronically. This means we know exactly what has been done on each machine at any time by any person and even the outcome – everything gets recorded.

Eventually, if we find out that there is something in our process that motivated the negative feedback, we take it as the best opportunity to improve and to solve that kind of issue for good. But if we do not find the origin of the issue at our process, we discuss it with the customer, so we can solve the issue.

What is clear is that the satisfaction of the customer is the only outcome we expect with our product, so we take our relationship with each customer seriously. For us it is not a problem to have negative feedback, we see it as a challenge to solve it.”

How do you see tooling, dies and punches developing in the future?

“Tooling, dies and punches will develop into more complex processes in the future. Of course, there will be a complete range of product as it is now, but the market leaders will not necessarily be the ones that make the biggest turnovers, but the ones that can have more added value in the final product. I also believe that there will be closer cooperation between the supply chain in the industry. Multiple companies being able to integrate among themselves in several levels, but at the same time having their own stakeholders and being accountable for themselves, to achieve higher objectives and multiplying revenues.”

Heading - Forming

Threading - Rolling

Tapping - Machining

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ALL YOU NEED Today, SACMA Group is the only player on the worldwide market that can supply a complete range of products for the fastener industry. Offering cutting-edge machinery such as combined headers for screws and bolts, 5 and 6 station progressive headers for special parts, the Ingramatic thread rollers, and the Tecno Lift loading systems. In addition, in 2020, Sacma Group can provide secondary operation machines with the last acquisition, the brand HS ASPE. Rapid, precise, ergonomic machines with a low management cost, meeting the complex needs of an increasingly specific and rapidly growing demand.

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Long-life thread rolling tools Heroslam SAL is working with fastener producers around the world to improve threading quality and achieve longer tool life – helping save manufacturing costs by reducing quality issues, avoiding rework operations, carrying out fewer machine preps and changes, as well as minimising machine down time.

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ince 1942, Heroslam has produced long life thread rolling tools for the production of fasteners and threaded parts – primarily geared towards the automotive, aerospace, energy and nail industries.

The company designs and manufactures high performance quality thread rolling tools and offers a complete range of dies – including flat, planetary, and cylindrical thread rolling dies.

“We offer the best thread rolling solutions in terms of quality, precision and tool life, helping reduce non quality costs and avoiding rework operations.

Additionally, we offer our customers our experience and know-how in thread rolling processes to assist them in selecting the tools that best suit their specific needs,” comments Heroslam.

Heroslam’s thread rolling dies combine top quality steels, in-house heat treatment, homemade special coatings and more than 70 years of experience in thread rolling solutions.

RLS Tooling continues with expansion plans Due to the continuous investment in the latest machinery and technology, and despite the current global pandemic, UK-based RLS Tooling Ltd is moving ahead with its plans to increase its factory to accommodate new machinery, which it hopes to take delivery of by the end of July. he new four axis CNC creep feed grinder, which will be installed in the expanded unit, will take RLS’ total to four CNC creep feed grinders and one manual creep feed grinder – giving additional capacity for new business.

Like most manufacturing companies around the world, RLS Tooling has had a difficult second quarter of 2020 – dealing with the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. With the safety of employees and their families in mind RLS has not yet returned to full employment.

However, it does have enough space to work in a safe environment to satisfy customers’ demands.

“We are hopeful of a full return in the coming weeks. Whilst severe travel restrictions exist and our staff are unable to make personal visits to clients and talk about tooling requirements, we have been holding Zoom meetings to discuss projects and die design with our home and overseas customers, thereby reducing delays and inconvenience,” comments Marcus Smith, managing director at RLS Tooling.

“We are still confident for the future and see the outbreak as a setback not terminal, and therefore intend to continue with our expansion plans. We would like to thank our customers for their loyal support and wish them all a safe and speedy return to normality.” www.rlstooling.co.uk

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Mechanical testing of threaded f

By Alan Thomas, marketing, ZwickRoell Ltd First and foremost among fasteners are nuts and bolts in all their many variations. Yet screws, rivets, and hooks and eyes, are also used to join components and metal sheets and sections, which must not separate under load. Tensile tests are a fundamental aspect of quality assurance for threaded fasteners and are used to determine both breaking load and strain under axial loading.

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hreaded fasteners are selected very carefully with regard to their industrial application and are integrated carefully into the design. Accurate determination, via tensile tests, of the elastic tensile modulus and the limits of elastic loading are essential since these values determine the limit forces required for a secure, reliable threaded connection.

In addition to single axis tensile loading, shear loads also occur in fasteners in service and can quickly cause a joint to part. Shear tests on joined parts or specimens are therefore essential, particularly where riveted joints are involved. Accurate load application is essential to prevent other forces arising in addition to the shear force and thereby distorting results.

As well as static loads, fasteners in general are also subjected to frequent cyclic loading, including vibrations. Dynamic tests on screws and bolts are most quickly and efficiently performed using a servo-hydraulic or vibrophore type machine, incorporating grips designed specifically for holding screws/bolts and other fasteners.

In what are referred to as ‘H’ specimens, individual joints are subjected to common cyclic loading in tension and compression and

the fasteners to a shear effect. ‘H’ specimen holders are specifically designed for this test and distribute the forces over the entire structure. The bending and resultant loosening of the structure can be measured with an extensometer. Typically the testing machine needs to provide control of force or strain, depending on how the test should be conducted.

Enhancing the monitoring of forming and thread rolling processes Marposs, a specialist in measurement and process monitoring technologies, has announced the availability of its Automatic Die Match (ADM®) option, which automatically controls the die match in form or thread rolling, if dies are not aligned, as an option on the Brankamp X5 in-process monitoring systems. he ADM® feature helps the operator find an optimum setting during set-up for dynamic operation at nominal machine speed. After set-up, the Brankamp X5 system continuously monitors the rolling process, detecting roll backs and automatically controlling the ADM if the dies are not aligned.

In cold forming, the insertion of the blank into the forming tools plays a crucial role in process stability and reducing the potential of failures. This is particularly true in thread or form rolling with flat dies – where the insertion of the blanks into the rolling tools significantly determines the quality of the forming.

With ADM, the system transmits positioning information to the machine control system in the event there are changes of the vertical force signals. If the vertical force falls below the specified limit value, Brankamp X5 generates a corresponding warning message, and the adjustment is stopped and only activated when it is exceeded again.

To ensure the quality monitoring integrated into the process does not impair the productivity of the machine, parts detected as faulty are separated from the good parts by a sorting device – without interrupting the production.

“The X5 systems enable manufacturers to optimise machine efficiency, improve part quality, and limit unplanned downtime and tooling cost, leading to 100% workpiece quality control,” comments Marposs.

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Tornos machines producing ventilator nuts Switzerland-based Hamilton Medical, a manufacturer of ventilation solutions, has increased its production capacity by 50% compared to last year, due to heavy demand for ventilators worldwide. At the heart of this production are several Tornos machines, which are running at full capacity to produce one of the nuts essential to a ventilator’s function.

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he Hamilton/Tornos relationship began over 22 years ago, when at the time, Hamilton was facing major problems with the supply of a very fragile component for automated pipetting systems with multichannel pipettes. Tornos was asked to respond to this problem and immediately proposed an appropriate solution.

Hamilton was delighted with the precision of the DECO 2000 from the outset and subsequently ordered six more machines – two of them for its Romanian subsidiary. 22 years later, the Tornos machines are still running at full speed in Bonaduz, Switzerland.

“We manufacture several of the essential parts of our ventilators on an EvoDECO 10,” explains Verenio Vitali, a polymechanic at Hamilton. “Similarly, a very important component for our dispensing units in the robotics division is also produced on the EvoDECO 10. This is a PEEK Q-nut used in the dispensing units. This is only a small component, but it plays an important role in the entire process.”

“We are working day and night, including weekends, and do not spare any efforts,” said Hamilton Medical. The company is also a leader in high-quality diagnostic systems, and at the same time, it also distinguishes itself with other

leading systems for medical technology, pharmacology and laboratory analysis Today more than ever precision and reliability are of the utmost importance for devices used for artificial respiration.

Accuracy and reliability are also required for medical diagnosis and for the analysis of chemical substances. Hamilton and Tornos have been able to combine their expertise to meet this ever-increasing demand.

Tornos Group specialises in the development, production and distribution of

Swiss-type automatic lathes and multispindle machines. The company’s history dates back to 1880 and marked the beginning of Swiss-type lathe technology. The company primarily manufactures CNC sliding headstock, Swiss-type automatic lathes, multispindle machines, and precision machining centres for complex parts. Headquartered in Switzerland, its worldwide sales and service network offers unique solutions to customers in the automotive, medical and dental technology, micromechanics, and electronics industries.

Producing more threads per tool The synchronisation of a machine – the rotation of the spindle interacting with the feed – is one of the most important reasons for tool wear when producing threads. Walter AG says its AB735 synchronous threading adaptor is a flexible solution to minimise the axial forces that occur during this process. he adaptor, which can be used in all common ER collet chucks, reduces wear forces during tapping and thread forming, meaning that fewer tools are required.

Thread flank wear is particularly minimised since these are strained less when chamfering. The lean, short design also makes it possible to use the adaptor in tight spaces such as in lathes or turn/mill centres.

More cost-effective than comparable systems, but just as gentle on tools, the AB735 synchronous threading adaptor maximises tool performance. In addition to the minimised wear, the modular design of the adaptor also contributes to the cost-efficiency, as exchangeable front pieces for different thread sizes or tool diameters (ER16 to ER32) can be used with the same collet. This also fits in all ER adaptors without requiring further investments.

The low maintenance requirements, and high-level of process reliability of the adaptor, also have a very positive effect, such as reducing the risk of breaking the threading tool. Walter offers the quickchange system for all tool types with or without internal coolant supply. It is particularly suited to applications in the series production of threads and/or applications where the machine’s synchronisation is resulting in a high tool wear rate.

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CAN-ENG to refurbish cast link belt furnace CAN-ENG Furnaces International Ltd has been awarded a contract by a major automotive parts supplier for the complete overhaul and refurbishment of a cast link belt normalising furnace.

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esigned and manufactured by CAN-ENG in 1996, the equipment was originally rated at 27,000lbs/hr of hot charged closed die forgings and was known, at the time, to be one of the largest cast link belt furnaces in the world.

The refurbishment will take place in the CAN-ENG Niagara Falls shops and will consist of a complete refractory reline, new combustion, new control panel, a Level II automation system, plus an added external cooling conveyor. The furnace shell, hearth and return rolls, as well as the ACI HT cast link belt itself, will be refurbished to near new condition.

The system will also employ a furnace charging robot, and the entire operation will be completely automated with CAN-ENG’s PETTM (Process Enhancement Technology), from the furnace charging robot pick position complete through to the heat treatment process. The furnace line will go back into operation in Q1 of 2021.

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Allways Precision recommends CONDAT products for grinding US-based Allways Precision, a specialist in rebuilding and supplying centreless grinders to the aerospace fastener market, has announced its recommendation of CONDAT products for its customers’ grinding applications.

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s a key solutions provider in this challenging industry, Allways Precision purchases, remanufactures, upgrades, and sells centreless grinders for a variety of applications – including grinding of difficult metals such as inconel, A286 stainless, titanium and ferrous alloy fasteners.

Many of these applications involve high removal rates on tough materials, which has been a problem in the past when using conventional, chlorinated grinding oils. Lots of smoke, misting, and a high risk of having a pop-up/flash fire occur due to the elevated temperatures for these applications and the nature of conventional oils.

“Conventional and heavily chlorinated oils have several negative drawbacks on the long-term performance of our machine tools,” says Alex Vanderberg, technical programme director at Allways Precision. “Furthermore, the low flash point of those oils is a concern, especially when grinding titanium.”

Alex continues: “We have had good success using CONDAT oils to grind all types of aerospace alloys, including titanium. We have seen good performance while performing run-offs for several major fastener manufacturers, and we have never experienced a fire, even when grinding in severe conditions. We would therefore recommend customers also use CONDAT products in our machines and encourage them to test them out, as we believe them to be a good solution for this challenging industry.”

Expanding zinc flake capabilities US-based company STC Dip Spin and Switzerland-based Forplan AG, have created a strategic alliance allowing the companies to offer state of the art equipment and processes to existing and new customers for the application of various coatings, particularly zinc flake paint.

TC Dip Spin, a division of PRAB Inc, has been selling dip spin equipment for over 45 years with an installed base of 490 machines and equipment still operating in the field that was sold over 35 years ago – an indication of the robustness of the equipment. Capabilities include low volume dip and spin units, up to completely automated systems processing 22,500 pounds per hour.

Forplan offers a variety of coating systems for mass produced parts – both for bulk items and rack parts. Large systems generating a coating capacity of more than 16,000 pounds per hour can be found in the product portfolio, as well as small systems for efficiently coating small scale series or test parts.

Both Forplan and STC Dip Spin work closely with coating manufacturers. The paint spectrum includes not only zinc flake systems, but also anti-friction coatings and oils, colour topcoats, transparent lacquers, and other anti-corrosion coatings, so customers can always be served with the newest technologies.

Forplan brings to the table proprietary dip and spin technology with its latest planetary coating machine. This is the first of its kind technology utilising a ‘true planetary’ basket arrangement, meaning the baskets of parts are moving around themselves and a central axis – providing the best possible coating consistency.

Forplan also supplies complete dip spin rack systems. These systems come with custom designed racks for specific parts. Surface preparation is a key component that can include both alkaline cleaning and surface blasting, followed by the dip spin process, and finally curing of the coating. In this automated system the only time a part is handled is when it is placed in the rack and when it is taken off after all processes are completed. This is due to the various spin cycles that can be programmed on a part specific basis, thus allowing for coating consistency and repeatability for each unique part.

“By working together, Forplan and STC Dip Spin will have a full complement of state of the art coating equipment and services available for our existing and new customer base – raising the bar for both our companies,” stated Tim Hanna, vice-president, STC Dip Spin/PRAB.

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110 FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

MANAGEMENT + SYSTEMS SYSTEM DEVELOPMENTS AFFECTING THE FASTENER SECTOR

Automation in intralogistics Automation is firmly on the UK business agenda: Within two years, the majority of organisations plan to have automated at least 50% of supply chain operations, according to ‘Automation in Intralogistics’ – research undertaken by Sapio Research, on behalf of Jungheinrich UK Ltd.

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owever, the research shows that the way in which automation is being considered is not the stark man versus machine vision. Companies are looking to transform efficiency through highly focused collaboration between automated systems and an increasingly skilled workforce. The workforce of the future will no longer be required to undertake repetitive mundane activities. These tasks will be handled by machines, potentially 24/7; individuals instead will require new skills and expertise to undertake far more complex and valuable roles throughout the supply chain.

Automation is not just about driving small incremental efficiency gains. Automation is increasingly a platform for change as companies explore the smart, connected warehouse in tandem with Artificial Intelligence and improved forecasting to embrace more personalisation and anticipatory demand.

There is widespread acknowledgement that supply chains have become more complex in the past two years – and that trend will continue. The business implications for both cost and profitability are significant, with increasing SKUs and consumers demanding more flexible deliveries and faster shipping. The cost of order picking is estimated at 70% of distribution operations.

There are also clear signs that consumer expectations are evolving. The focus is no longer exclusively on next day, even same day, delivery; environmental awareness is creating a far more socially aware consumer base. Customer choice is still an essential component of service delivery, but increasingly that choice will include a ‘green’ delivery option as well as different delivery timelines. This is potentially adding another layer of complexity to the intralogistics model, as companies must consider the environmental impact of activities alongside speed, efficiency and accuracy.

Today, just 11% of UK organisations can claim to have automated more than half of all processes. However, while many companies have relied on a flexible labour force over the past decade to manage increasing customer demands, there seems to be a clear change in attitude.

Growing numbers of companies within the UK now recognise the value and importance of automation: 50% expect to have automated at least half of all processes within the next two years; 31% to have automated 60% or more. Furthermore, increased productivity and efficiency (48%) are cited as the primary benefit of automation within intralogistics, closely followed by lower operational costs (42%).

While automation is on the agenda, the goal is not always a fully lights out operation. Very few organisations have a vision of total automation. Indeed, just 13% believe the warehouse will be fully automated over the next five years. Instead, almost two thirds (64%) think warehouses will be ‘smart connected’ – with people still

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playing some part in the processes; and 20% expect warehouses to be somewhat automated, with people playing a large role in processes.

Given this collaborative vision, it is interesting to discover the priority areas for automation. To date many companies have focused on the administrative tasks, with the majority already using ERP and/or Warehouse Management System (WMS) . As a result, 66% of companies have fully or partly automated inventory updates, with a further 18% expecting to achieve this within the next two years.

Payments and invoices (64% fully or party automated) and customer package tracking (62% fully or partly automated) are also areas that have already been widely addressed.

Embracing collaboration between man and machine

How are companies planning to achieve automation?

Organisations across the board still recognise the importance of software systems, including WMS, and that these form the basis of future migration and transformation into automation projects.

Within the distribution sector almost two thirds (62%) of UK companies are considering Goods-to-Person (GTP) technologies; but companies have many automation options, from automated pallet storage and retrieval to automated guided vehicles (AGV), conveyor systems and autonomous mobile robots. With so many opportunities to improve accuracy, reduce costs, and enhance speed of response, companies need to be very clear about the specific business objectives – and the way the technology will work within a partial or semi-automated environment.

With this strong drive towards the use of technology to automate repetitive operations and release the existing workforce to focus on added value tasks, the strategic thinking is collaborative.

Automation is not just about reducing headcount; companies are looking to combine automation with a skilled workforce to drive up productivity and manage increasing supply chain complexity.

Indeed, given the lack of skilled available talent in the market today, one of the compelling benefits is that growth can be achieved with the same headcount. Automation can deliver the essential workforce flexibility required to manage business scale.

Understanding and combatting barriers to change

Historically there has been a perception that automation can be expensive, so it is no surprise that the lack of access to capital investment (46%) remains the primary barrier to realising automation objectives.

Given the short-term nature of contracts and speed of change, it is important to make a compelling business case for investment that reflects both immediate and future business needs.

MANAGEMENT + SYSTEMS The complexity of integration is considered a major barrier for many (40%), especially for larger companies. Over the past decade, there has been a lack of investment in some sectors, so it is important for companies to recognise the significant changes in both hardware and software that have occurred over recent years. Changes that simplify and ease the integration process.

The widespread adoption of standard WMS and ERP systems, plus the availability of application programming interfaces (API), has made the integration of systems far more flexible, which can significantly reduce implementation time. With the right approach, concerns regarding cost, complexity and fear of business disruption can be allayed.

Given the collaborative automation vision, rather than focusing on the challenge of plugging different systems together, the real issue that companies need to consider is that a successful automation project combines people, process and technology.

Every automation project should be viewed with a company’s long-term objectives in mind, as well as a recognition of the changing customer expectations and the emerging technology solutions, including artificial intelligence.

An automated world at any level creates new operational challenges, which companies will need to consider within their strategic planning.

Increasing supply chain complexity is not the only trend driving automation strategies. Companies are also exploring the growing importance of technologies – such as augmented reality and artificial intelligence – and the role such platforms may play in meeting evolving operational challenges.

For example, with the increasing connectivity of equipment within operations, the use of big data to better predict the point of consumption – anticipatory logistics – offers significant opportunities to improve performance and drive down wastage.

Furthermore, the shift towards convenience logistics, such as customers ordering groceries and drugs online 24/7, is also set to

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create another shift in intralogistics demands. Companies that can leverage data to better understand trends, forecast more accurately and respond effectively will have an advantage.

Conclusion

Automation will play a vital role in enabling organisations to meet evolving intralogistics complexity. As customers’ demands for choice and speed continue to grow, along with environmental concerns, trends such as anticipatory demand and intelligent power consumption will be facilitated by the current shift away from manual processes towards the smart, connected warehouse.

However, technology alone is not enough. To enable a truly seamless and effective collaborative intralogistics model, companies must also inspire staff with new opportunities and create a highly motivated and skilled workforce.

To maximise the value of any investment there are some essential considerations, not least: Who is going to support the business throughout this process? Does the supplier understand the business processes of today and the future vision? Can it develop, deliver and support the entire automation life cycle? And can it help to make the business case for each stage of the automation journey? This is where a partner, rather than a supplier is vital.

With the speed of change, not only in customer expectations but also perceptions and attitudes, organisations will have to wrestle with a constantly evolving business model. The shift towards electric powered vehicles, including forklift trucks, opens new opportunities for efficiency and meeting environmental pledges, but also raises previously unforeseen issues regarding power consumption. New workforce skillsets are essential; companies need to consider the challenges of ensuring safety in a collaborative man:machine environment.

Automation raises a raft of new questions as well as delivering an extraordinary foundation, providing businesses with the flexibility and agility to rapidly embrace innovation and change.

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¼ Turn Fasteners 12 Point Flange Bolts Abrasive Discs Abrasives Accessories for Fasteners Adhesives & Sealants Aerial Bolts Air Tools Allthread Studding 8.8 / 10.9 Allthread Studs Aluminium Fasteners Analysis & Strength Testing Anchors & Concrete Fixings Application Hosting Application Tools Assembly Machines Assembly Technology Assortment Boxes Assortment Kits ASTM A193 Fasteners ASTM A194 Nuts ASTM A320 Fasteners Automatic Loading Systems Automatic Tools for Riveting Automotive Fasteners Automotive Parts Bagging Machines Ball Pins Battery Tools Beam Clamps Belleville Washers Bi-Metal Screws Binding Screws Blind Bolting Systems Blind Fastening Systems Blind Nuts Blind Rivet Bolts Blind Rivet Nuts Blind Rivet Nuts for Composites Blind Rivets Blind Rivets Structural Bolt Makers Bolts Bolts – Tension Control Brass Bolts & Screws Brass Bolts & Screws DIN 84 Brass Bolts & Screws DIN 85 Brass Bolts & Screws DIN 933 Brass Bolts & Screws DIN 963 Brass Bolts & Screws DIN 964 Brass Dome Nuts Brass Full Nuts Brass Inserts Brass Machine Screws Brass Nuts Brass Thumb Screws Brass Turned Parts Brass Washers Brass Wing Nuts & Screws British Standard Hose Clips British Thread Fasteners BSW / BSF / BA Brushes for Chemical Anchors Builders Metal Work Building Chemicals Bulk Nails Business Management Software Cable & Pipe Clips Cable Ties Cage Nuts Capacitor Discharge Studs Captive Washers Carbide Tooling Carpentry Screws Carriage Bolts Cartoning Machines Cavity Fixings CE 14399 HV/HR - ZP AND HDG CE 15048 SB - ZP AND HDG Channel Spring Nuts Chemical Analysis & Strength Testing Chemical Anchors & Resins Chemical Cartridges Chemicals & Cleaners Chipboard Screws Circlip Assortment Boxes Circlips Circular Saw Blades Clamp Screws Clamps & Clips Clinch & Sheet Metal Fasteners Clinch Studs CNC Machinery CNC Stud Manufacturing CNC Turned Parts Coach Screws Coated Outdoor-Screws C4 Coating Equipment Coil Compactors Cold / Hot Forming Tools Cold / Warm / Hot Forming Cold Forming Components Cold Forming Machines Cold Headers Cold Heading & Associated Tools Collars Collated Nails Collated Nuts Collated Screws Computer Software & Services Concrete Anchors Concrete Repair Systems Concrete Screws Conical Washers Connectors Construction Screws Contact Pins Contact Rivets Conveyors Corrosion Protection Coatings Cr(VI) Free Finishes Crinkle / Wave Washers Cup Square Hex Data Cable Support Systems Data Collection & Management Decking Screws & Fixings Diamond Curved Washers DIES – Bolt & Screw Forming

DIES – Carbide DIES – Carbide Cut Off DIES – Carbide Drawing DIES – Carbide Heading DIES – Cut Off Knives DIES – Thread Cutting DIES – Thread Rolling Flat DIES – Trimming Din 6921 Flange Bolts Din 6923 Flange Nuts DIN 933/931 Disc Springs Dome Screws Double-Ends Stud Bolts Dowel & Engineers Keys Dowel Pins Drill Bits Drill Point Forming Machines Drilling & Cutting Tools Drop Nose Pins Drop-In Anchors Drywall Screws Dynamic Material Testing Machines Dynaplus Nordic Concept E-Business E-Commerce Ear Clamps Eco-Brass Inserts Ecoat/KTL Electronic (PCB) Fasteners Euro Screws Expanding Foam Extrusion & Knock Out Pins Eyebolts Eyebolts & Nuts Eyenuts Façade Fasteners Failure Testing Fastener Assortment Kits Fastener Testing Fasteners & Fixings Feeders Flange Bolts Flange Bolts - DIN 6921 Flange Bolts with Serration Flange Nuts Flat & Repair Washers Flat Thread Rolling Dies Flat Washers Folded Bolts Formed / Dished Washers Forming & Threading Equipment Forming Tools & Dies Foundation Bolts Frame Fixings Fuel Cells Full Nuts Fully Integrated Software Solutions Fully-Tubular Rivets Furnace Feeders Furnaces – Annealing Furnaces – Atmosphere Controlled Furnaces – Continuous Furniture Fasteners & Fittings Galvanic Coatings Galvanised Fasteners Galvanised Fixings Gas Powder Actuated Tools & Accessories Gauges & Gauging Systems German Standard Hose Clips Gimlet Point Dies Glass Fixings Grease Nipples Groove Pins Guard Rail Bolts & Nuts Gutter Bolts & Nuts Hammer Drive Rivets Hammer Drive Screws Hammer Fixings Hammerhead T Bolts Hand & Power Tools Hand Tools Hanger Bolts Heat Treatment Equipment Heat Treatment Equipment & Services Heat Treatment Services Heavy Duty Anchors Heavy Hex Bolts & Nuts Hex Flange Bolts Hex Head Coach Screws Hex Head Screws Hex Lag Screws Hexagon Bolts 10.9 Hexagon Bolts with Flange Hexagon Coach Screws Hexagon Fit Bolts Hexagon Head Bolts / Screws – Mild Steel Hexagon Head Bolts / Sets 8.8 / 10.9 Hexagon Head Screws Hexagon Set Screws with Small Hexagon Standoffs – Steel Hexagon Wrenches Hexalobular Flange Bolts High Strength Friction Grip Hinges Holesaws Hollow Anchors Holo-Krome Socket Screws Hook Bolts Hook Bolts & Nuts Hose Clamps & Clips Hot / Warm Forging Machines Hot Forged Fasteners HT Bolts & Screws – 10.9> HT Bolts & Screws – 8.8 HT Hex Blanks HT Sets, Nuts and Washers Assembled Imperial Washers In-Line Wire Drawers Industrial Aerosols Industrial Coating Injection Moulding Inserts for Composites Inserts for Light Metal Alloys Inserts for Non-ferrous Metals Inserts for Plastics Inserts for Wood

Inspection / Sorting Machines Internet Solutions Knurl Pins Knurled Thumb Screws and Nuts DIN 464 Knurled Thumb Screws and Nuts DIN 466 Knurled Thumb Screws and Nuts DIN 467 Knurled Thumb Screws and Nuts DIN 653 Knurling Dies L Bolts Large Diameter Fasteners Latches Lifting Tackle & Bolts Linch & Pipe Pins Load Monitoring Equipment Lock Nuts Lock-Bolts Logistics Long Length Bolts Lubricants Machine Rebuilding Services Machine Screws – Steel Machine Seal Screws Machinery Accessories Machines Marine Products Masonry Nails Masonry Screws Materials Handling Systems / Equipment Materials Testing MAThread® MDF Screws Measuring & Gauging Equipment Metal Brackets Metric Full Nuts Metric Washers Micro-Diameter Screws Microformers Mild Steel Bolts & Screws Mild Steel Products Nail Plugs & Hammer Fixings Nail Rolling Machines Nails Nails – Boxed / Small Box Network Solutions Nickel Alloy Fasteners Nord-Lock Washers Nut Formers & Tappers Nut Formers Cold Nut Formers Hot Nuts Nuts – Brass Nuts – Castle / Slotted Nuts – Combi Nuts – DIN 980V Nuts – Plain Steel Nuts – Rectangular Nuts – Rhombic Nuts – Rivet Nuts – Self Locking Nuts – Self Locking Nylon Nuts – Self Locking Steel Nuts – Shear Nuts – Steel Dome Nuts – Top Fastening Nuts – Wedge Nuts – Weld Round Hexagon & Square Nuts – Wheel Nyloc Nuts Nylon Anchors Nylon Fastener Products Nylon Plugs Nylon Products Ogival Dies Open Eye Bolts P Clips W1 – W4 Painted Blind Rivets Painted Rivets Parts Cleaning Equipment Parts Formers – Long / Extra Parts Parts Formers – Multidie Parts Formers – MultitudeTooling Petrochemical Fasteners Philidas Nuts Philidas Self Locking Nuts Phosphor Bronze PCB Circuit Board Screws Pig Tail Bolts Pin & Collars Pin Hexagon Pin Phillips Pin Torx Pins Pins Clevis Pipe Clamps & Mounting Plates Pivi Sink Clamps Plaster & Particle Board Fixings Plastic Clips Plastic Fastener Products Plastic Nuts Plastic Plugs Plastic Series Plastic Spacers Plastic Washers Plating & Coating Services Plough Bolts Pointers Pointing and Shaving Machines Pointing Units for Chamfering Machines Polymer Headed Fasteners Powder Actuated Tools & Accessories Power Driven Uncoilers Power Tool Accessories Power Tool Cases Power Tools Powerlok Dies® Pre-Pack Fixings Pressure plates for single/multi layered roofing membranes & insulation Process Control Equipment Push On Fixings Push Turn Fasteners PVC Window Screws Quick Release Fasteners Quick Release Pins Rapid Fastening Bolt Systems Remedial Wall Ties Remform Dies®

Repair Washers Resonant Fatigue Testing Systems Retaining Pins Retaining Rings Ring Bolts Rings Rivet Bushes Rivet Installation Tools Rivet Nut Tooling Rivet Nut Tools Rivet Nuts Riveting Systems Rivets Roll Forming Machines Roof Installation Screws Roof Installation Tools Roofing & Cladding Fixings Roofing Bolts & Nuts Roofing Screws Rotary Nail Making Machine S.S. A2 Screws S.S. A4 Screws Saddle Clamps Safety & Protective Products Sales Intelligence & CRM Salt Spray Testing Sanitary Fixings Scaffold Restraint Bolts Screw Bolts Screw Cases Screw Plugs Screwdriver Bits Screws For Plastics Seal Fasteners Seal Nuts Seal Screws Sealing Washers Secondary Operations Security Fasteners Security Fasteners & Fixings Security Fixings Security Sleeve Anchors Self Clinching Fasteners Self Drilling Screws Self Pierce Rivets Self Piercing Fasteners Self Tapping Screws Semi-Tubular Rivets SEMS – Manufacturer SEMS – Screw & Washer Assemblies Serrated Flange Nuts Set Screws Sex Bolts Shear Nuts Shield Anchors Sign Fixing Clamps Sleeve Anchors Slides Sling Hooks Slotted Grub Screws Slotted Pan Head Screws DIN 920 Slotted Set Screws DIN 417 Slotted Set Screws DIN 438 Slotted Set Screws DIN 551 Slotted Set Screws DIN 553 Snap Rings Socket Button Screws Socket Cap Screws Socket Cap Seal Screws Socket Countersunk Blanks Socket Countersunk Screws Socket Screw Blanks Socket Screw Products Socket Set Screws Socket Shoulder Screws Solar Fastening Systems Sorting Machines Special / To Drawing Fasteners Special Clamps Special Equipment for Fastener Products Special Parts Special Products & Materials Special Steel & Carbide Punches Special Washers Spirol Rings Split Nut & Pre-Bulbed Split Nut Split Pins Spring Pins Spring Pins – Coiled & Slotted Spring Steel Fasteners & Fixings Spring Toggles – Cavity Fixings Spring Washers Springs SQ Plate Washers S / C SQ.SQ Hex Holding Down Bolts Square Head Bolts Square Plate Washers Stainless Steel Coach Screws Stainless Steel Dome Nuts Stainless Steel Fasteners & Fixings Stainless Steel Heavy Duty Bolt Clamps Stainless Steel Heavy Duty Clamps Stainless Steel Hose Clamps & Clips Stainless Steel Hot Forged Fasteners Stainless Steel Inserts Stainless Steel Investments Castings Stainless Steel Lifting Tackle & Bolts Stainless Steel Machine Screws Stainless Steel Marine Products Stainless Steel Nails Stainless Steel Nuts Stainless Steel Pins Stainless Steel Rivet Bushes Stainless Steel Rivet Nuts Stainless Steel Screws Stainless Steel Self Clinch Studs Stainless Steel Self Drilling Screws Stainless Steel Self Locking Nuts Stainless Steel Self Locking Nylon Nuts Stainless Steel Self Locking Steel Nuts Stainless Steel Self Tapping Screws Stainless Steel Semi-Standard Stainless Steel Socket Screw Products Stainless Steel Special Products & Materials Stud Bolts Stainless Steel Split Pins Stainless Steel Spring Pins

Stainless Steel Studding – Threaded Rod Stainless Steel Studding Connectors Stainless Steel Studs Stainless Steel Threaded Rod Stainless Steel Turned Parts Stainless Steel U & J Bolts Stainless Steel Unified Thread Fasteners Stainless Steel Washers Stainless Steel Window Screws Stainless Steel Wing Nuts & Screws Stainless Steel Wood & Chipboard Screws Stamped Parts Standard Washers Standard, Multigrip & Sealed Rivets Staple Glues Staplers & Nailers Steel Anchors & Fixings Storage Cases Storage Systems Stover Nuts Straightening & Cut Off Structural 8.8 Bolts & Nuts Structural Rivets Structural Steel Fasteners Structural Steel Rivets Stud Welding & Plastics Studding – Threaded Rod Studding Connectors Studs Suppliers of Super Duplex Fasteners T Bolts Tab Washers Taper Pins Taper Pressure Plugs Tapered Socket Head Capscrews Tapes (Adhesives) Tapping Screws Taptite Dies® Tension Latches Thermal Insulation Plugs Thread Forming / Cutting Screws Thread Forming / Cutting Screws (Plastic) Thread Forming Screws For Plastics Thread Locking & Patch Products Thread Repair Kits Thread Rollers Thread Rolling Dies – Cylindrical Thread Rolling Dies – Flat Thread Rolling Dies – Grooving Dies Thread Rolling Dies – Knurling Dies Thread Rolling Dies – MAThread® Thread Rolling Dies – MATpoint® Thread Rolling Dies – Ogival Thread Rolling Dies – Planetary Thread Rolling Dies for Nails Thread Rolling Machines Thread Rolls (Cylindrical) Threaded Insert Systems Threaded Inserts Threaded Rod Threaded Rod Nuts Throughbolts Thru Hardened Washers Tie Rods Timber Connectors Titanium Fasteners Titanium Machining Parts Tool Clips Tool Hire Tool Service & Repair Toolboxes & Cases Tooling Tooling Design Training Turned Parts Twinthread Screws U & J Bolts U Shackles Undercut Anchors UNF – UNC High Tensile UNF – UNC High Tensile Bolts Unified Thread Fasteners Universal Screws Used Machines V Bolts Vibratory Feeders Wall Ties Warm Formers Warm Forming Washer Assembly Units Washers Washers – Copper Washers – Copper / Fibre Washers – Vibration Proof Watertight Rivet Nuts Wave Springs Wax Cone / Bolt Boxes Wedge Anchors Wedge Nuts Weighers Weighing & Counting Machines Weld Screws Weld Studs Welding Equipment & Accessories Wheel Bolts Wheel Nuts Wind uplift calculations and recommendations Window Frame Anchors Window Screws Wing Nuts Wing Nuts & Screws Wire Drawing Equipment Wire Feeders Wire Payoff Equipment Wire Pins Wire Pointing Machines Wire Straighteners & Cutoffs Wire Thread Inserts Wood & Chipboard Screws Wood & Construction Screws Wood Screws Worm Drive Clamps Zinc / Zinc Alloys Zincflake Coatings

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MANAGEMENT + SYSTEMS

What does the future hold for Manufacturing Operations Management?

With the Covid-19 crisis continuing to disrupt manufacturing processes and supply chains around the world, companies are having to develop creative solutions to keep their products moving. Here abas Software GmbH looks at how manufacturers can use this opportunity to accelerate their digital transformation and create more resilient business processes.

I

n early March this year, the National Association of Manufacturers released a detailed survey on the expected financial and operational effects of Covid-19.

The study found that roughly 78% of manufacturers anticipate the pandemic will have a major economic impact, while 53% believe it will force them to make significant changes to their production processes and other operations.

Most manufacturing firms are preparing for slowdowns in their respective markets and reduced customer demand, but there are other back-end management tasks that also need to be resolved.

As part of any Manufacturing Operations Management framework, supervisors must be able to efficiently oversee work schedules, warehouse inventories and supplier deliveries in ‘real time’. Companies that rely on separate IT systems to manage these activities are often at a disadvantage, as it can be hard to get the right information in front of the right person during emergency situations. Additionally, calls for social distancing have forced manufacturers to restrict face-to-face interactions on the plant floor, with many opting to staggered shifts to help prevent widespread infection.

While there’s no telling how long the Covid-19 outbreak will last, it’s clear that manufacturers are focused on future-proofing their operational processes. This pandemic will no doubt serve as a valuable case in the years ahead, but to turn raw data into actionable insights, companies will need to have the right IT systems and management tools in place. That’s where a cutting-edge Manufacturing Operations Management platform can help.

Modern supply chains are only growing more complex by the day and manufacturers that lack complete visibility over their operations will have a difficult time dealing with crises such as Covid-19. This is particularly true for companies looking to leverage Lean manufacturing techniques to lower operating costs and reduce waste.

To quickly respond to supply chain disruptions and quality control issues, manufacturers must have reliable Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) that are capable of providing ‘real time’ updates to relevant stakeholders. Comprehensive MES implementation offers complete end-to-end visibility over production schedules, warehouse inventories, supplier relationships and other key workflows. This level of oversight is essential to tracking and documenting the transformation of raw materials into finished goods, and ensuring customers receive their orders in a timely fashion.

Much like other manufacturing IT, an MES relies on accurate information and streamlined data sharing pathways to secure the best results. Manufacturers have already been ‘digitising’ their plant floors and warehouses using distributed control systems, but new innovations in artificial intelligence aren’t as widespread. In many cases, manufacturers still rely on the expertise of control room operators to manually monitor and adjust production processes as needed. This reliance on experts with years of experience and training is particularly troubling today, as many employees are being furloughed until the Covid-19 pandemic has passed.

In lieu of on-site experts, manufacturers can ensure effective manufacturing operations management practices are upheld by using AI-powered tools and a centralised IT platform.

AI can also be used to automate a variety of complex tasks and menial jobs, from basic data entry to performance reporting and beyond. Most importantly, embracing digital transformation can help manufacturing firms quickly roll out new production processes, quality management procedures and supply chain optimisation strategies when it matters most. There’s no telling what the next global crisis will bring, making today’s MoM initiatives crucial to maintaining operational excellence in uncertain business climates.

…manufacturers are focused on future-proofing their operational processes.”

Improving manufacturing processes with end-to-end visibility

Manufacturing Operations Management (MoM) refers to the continuous improvement of production processes through ‘real time’ monitoring, asset utilisation and supply chain planning. This forward thinking approach allows manufacturers to optimise their end-to-end operations and quickly adapt to shifting market conditions.

For example, if a supplier of raw materials were to suddenly go out of business, a manufacturer might leverage MoM strategies to locate a cost-effective alternative. Of course, MoM encompasses more than just raw material procurement and the manufacturing processes – it also extends to quality control and even end-customer distribution.

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Digital transformation in the fast lane

MANAGEMENT + SYSTEMS

Tackling social distancing during increased demand

By Duncan Hall, UKI APS commercial leader at Automated Packaging Systems With social distancing at the forefront of plans to get businesses back to work, there is an urgent need to find a long-term solution for businesses to remain compliant, particularly during times of increased demand. The questions is: ‘How will businesses allow for social distancing during times of increased demand for their products?’

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he need for innovation within the logistics space, to find a long-term solution to keep employees safe with social distancing and without negatively impacting the business, has never been more important.

Space is key in a warehouse. Additional space means you can store more stock but with social distancing space becomes limited, so how are businesses tackling this? Some businesses are reducing staff and limiting production, others are leasing additional space, paying staff to work additional hours, or rearranging their warehouse, but all of these cost the business money without adding value.

by hand, and manually printing labels and invoices on two separate printers. We approached Automated Packaging Systems for a solution to automate much of the packaging process to help save space and increase the number of orders one operative could pack every hour.”

The Autobag 850S machine features ‘grip open’ and ‘grip seal’ technology, which automatically opens and seals the mail order bag to allow operators to quickly pack orders. The machines at the Manchester warehouse have enabled the company to keep pace with its fast-growing order book and optimise the space available in its outbound packing department.

“Packing operatives processed between 45 – 50 orders per hour under the old manual system and with the new machines that figure has increased to 200 – 250 packages per hour,” said Andrew.

Social distancing has had a big impact on the logistics of businesses...”

Introducing automation

Social distancing has had a big impact on the logistics of businesses and there is only one solution that can help, and that is to introduce automation. Automation can reduce the number of people required in one particular area while increasing the efficiency of the operation, thus adding value.

For example, the Autobag 850S, manufactured by Automated Packaging Systems, has roughly the same footprint as one manual packaging bench but can produce the equivalent number of orders per hour as four manual packaging benches. The Autobag 850S therefore allows businesses to maintain social distancing while achieving a greater level of efficiency at the same time.

With the Autobag 850S, or similar automated machinery, businesses can increase production volume and meet the increase in demand for products, rather than limiting them. There will also be significant saving on labour costs.

In addition, introducing automation into a warehouse does not have to mean significant integration projects. The Autobag 850S is easily installed and rarely requires significant changes to the warehouse management system.

Automation and efficiency

A global supplier, with a warehouse in North Manchester, USA, dispatched an average of 7,500 items every day to meet demand from its popular website. Andrew Crozier, operations manager of this global supplier, explained: “We introduced Autobag 850S mail order fulfillment bag packaging systems to automate and streamline our complex, high volume, mail order processes.”

“Prior to the introduction, most of our warehouse was handled manually with operatives working at eight benches, packing all items

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The Autobag 850S

MANAGEMENT + SYSTEMS

Körber launches supply chain resiliency platform Körber Group, the specialist in global supply chain technology from software to material handling automation, has announced the availability of its Körber InSight Contact Tracer to mitigate and handle the impact of coronavirus in distribution operations.

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ontact Tracer tracks the locations of people, devices, orders, and the corresponding use of equipment, throughout the warehouse – protecting workers and operations. “We’re in unprecedented times due to Covid-19. Now more than ever businesses need a partner that understands their unique supply chain complexities,” comments Sean Elliott, chief technology officer for Körber Supply Chain – Software. “At Körber we’re first and foremost an ally, creating highly tailored solutions to meet customers’ needs today and beyond. This includes advanced software solutions to assess risk for the supply chain and staff and helping them to continue to meet demands.”

More products, suppliers, distribution channels and heightening consumer expectations already make supply chains more complex by the day. Combine this with supply chain continuity in light of the recent pandemic, this complexity increases exponentially. Contact Tracer helps to overcome this.

Contact Tracer uniquely works with data from a warehouse management system (WMS) to monitor the potential movement of coronavirus. This can be adjusted per each company’s unique needs. Examples include tracking the cycle of events and locations of an employee, devices (headsets, scanners, radios), equipment (pallet jacks, clamp truck, forklifts, carts) and inbound and outbound orders throughout the warehouse – narrowed to a specific timeframe. Additionally, companies have the insights to inform customers about any possible exposure to the contents of their orders.

Previously requiring extensive manual research of hundreds of interactions, supply chain professionals can now instantly assess who, what, when and where is potentially impacted. The result is a simplified means to detect direct and indirect exposure to coronavirus and determine low to high risk scenarios for warehouse products and people.

Helping manufacturers improve supply chain planning Plex Systems has announced the release of the Plex Market Forecast Manager, now part of the Plex Supply Chain Planning Suite, which enables manufacturers to integrate internal and external data points alongside demand plans to drive more accurate inventory decisions, gain market share, and evaluate and scale the supply chain. he initial release will provide automated access to IHS Markit’s Light Vehicle Forecast, helping manufacturers form more accurate and timely forecasts. IHS Markit is a specialist in critical information, analytics, and solutions for major industries and markets driving economies worldwide.

“As supply chains navigate the current disruptive market environment, the ability to generate timely and iterative demand forecasts is critical,” said Simon Ellis, program VP supply chain for IDC Demand. “Uncertainty requires the ability to make decisions, and adjustments to decisions, quickly. Supply chain tools and capabilities such as Plex Market Forecast Manager and Plex Supply Chain Planning are critical to navigating current levels of uncertainty.”

Plex Market Forecast Manager is a cloud-based information resource that helps manufacturers validate organisational projections within a single source of truth. When combined with Plex Supply Chain Planning, it changes what is typically a time intensive and manual effort for companies into a ‘real time’, high value automated activity that allows leaders to manage the supply chain completely from the top floor to the shop floor.

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“The automotive industry is changing rapidly, making supply chain and forecasting tools essential to suppliers working to respond quickly and accurately,” said Henner Lehne, vice-president – global vehicle group, automotive from IHS Markit. “The opportunity to merge our data with Plex’s robust planning solutions gives automotive leaders a significant advantage when making critical decisions about the future of their businesses and supply chains.”

The solution enables comprehensive and streamlined planning at the enterprise level, which includes integrated business planning, demand and supply planning, rough cut capacity planning, and distribution requirements. This data can then be shared with the plant for production scheduling and execution.

“End-to-end visibility and control in manufacturing is a key differentiator that separates leading smart manufacturers from followers,” said Richard Murray, chief product officer of Plex Systems.

“Companies that can closely align future forecasting with their supply chains have the greatest opportunity to gain market share by anticipating customer needs and responding to short lead times and changes with agility and resourcefulness.”

APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY FASTENING SOLUTIONS FOR ALL INDUSTRIES

Providing safety in huge steel constructions

When durability and safety are absolutely critical in a construction project, small things like washers can have a huge impact. That is why steel construction company Haslinger Stahlbau GmbH chose Nord-Lock SC-washers when extending a giant crane system at the Salzgitter AG flat steel mill in Germany.

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s a leading European steel construction company, with 450 employees and an expected turnover of €90 million in 2019, Austrian company Haslinger Stahlbau constructs everything from industrial plants to bridges, power plants and shopping centres.

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APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY One of the company’s most spectacular projects so far is the famous Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, Germany. For the mighty Grand Hall, which is 55 metres in diameter, Haslinger designed, produced, supplied and fitted the steel support structure with 14,443 node joints.

Guaranteeing the safety

Maybe not as glamorous, but still an important and demanding project, was the extension of a crane system at Salzgitter AG’s flat steel mill, which Haslinger was assigned to perform in 2018. The project included construction of the new parts for the crane system, which was extended by 88 metres, using some 2,000 tonnes of steel.

Salzgitter is a German steel technology group with a global presence. It is one of Europe’s largest steel producers with rolled steel and tube as its main products. The company’s flat steel mill is located close to Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, Germany, and Salzgitter needed to expand its storage capacity for steel slabs used for producing flat steel for car chassis.

Nord-Lock SC-washers for steel construction were an integrated part of the offer guaranteeing safety during the enormous movements that the bolts have to endure in the crane system, which has a span of 37.5 metres and lifting capacity of 36 tonnes.

Meeting regulations

“With such brute forces, you want to make sure that all the connections are really safe,” says Arno Sorger, CEO of Haslinger, who sees a strong trend towards improving safety in all industries, something that was not always the case in the past. He adds: “You might think that a washer is just a tiny component and not so important. But in a project like this, you have thousands of them, and loosening bolts are nothing less than a nightmare. Nobody wants to take a risk like that.”

“Typically, construction companies buy packages that include bolts, nuts and washers. But to achieve maximum safety, they need to replace the original washers in the package with chamfered Nord-Lock SC-washers. These belong to a very restricted number of established methods of complying with the current legal

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framework. They were used to secure all newly added bolted connections in the Salzgitter project.”

Initially, Haslinger considered alternative bolting solutions. “But Nord-Lock won the bidding because of its competence, quality and best total price,” says Sorger, who describes the cooperation with Nord-Lock as very positive. “We were also impressed by their delivery reliability.”

Opening doors to new opportunities

Haslinger is currently competing for another big project at the Salzgitter site, a completely new galvanising workshop where the construction will use 6,000 tonnes of steel. Sorger is extremely pleased: “The successful crane extension may turn out to be an entrance ticket to getting more business. Salzgitter was very satisfied with the quality and the completion of the whole project.”

Part of the success is related to Haslinger’s ability to deliver complete construction solutions that cover every step from designing to planning and constructing. This improves efficiency and leads to solutions that are more mature and secure. “But at the end of the day,” Sorger stresses, “it is the customer’s purchasing department and the price of our offer that decide if we get the project or not”.

For the Salzgitter crane system extension, it all worked out perfectly – an attractive package of price, quality and safety that was well received by the customer Salzgitter, and which opens doors to new business opportunities. www.nord-lock.com

APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY

Fixing the mobility future

By Ian Parker, freelancer, ianfliesrussian@aol.com Catastrophe theory is a branch of mathematics that looks at sudden and often unexpected change – such events are usually both good and bad. They can be anything from a bent ruler suddenly flexing the other way to the spread of a new virus – and they’re not unforeseen by everyone. Bill Gates warned of a virus pandemic five years ago. However, selling prevention is always much harder than selling cures.

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hen a catastrophe is underway changes can be rapid, as can human responses to them. Everyone can see that the Covid-19 pandemic is firstly a health issue, but it will go on to affect much more than that.

Mathematicians are not the only people trying to see where things are going. Engineers are too, including those in the fastener and fixing business.

How will recent trends, reinforced by the pandemic, affect transport and what developments will the fasteners business have to make to support them? Will there be much less travelling and will people eschew public transport to avoid getting close to others? Will travel and transport broaden out into mobility, with a much wider range of vehicles and their operation?

TR ponders the issues

Some 34% of TR Fastenings Ltd’s business is in automotive, so the company has a great interest in where the business is going. In 2018 TR Fastenings celebrated 45 years of ‘holding the world together’. Today, it has some 1,300 colleagues working in 32 divisions in 18 countries across three continents, with three technical and innovation centres located in the UK, the USA and Sweden.

TR’s first centre opened in 2018 and is in the heart of Sweden’s automotive industry, on the Lindholmen Science Park in Gothenburg, which is home to many of the key players developing forward-thinking solutions for the automotive market, including Electric Vehicle (EV) technology. With major OEM firms and IT software developers, and technical and engineering teams from tier 1 manufacturers, Lindholmen is fast becoming a hub for automotive innovation in Europe.

Through the work at the technical centre, Sven Brehler, engineering project manager at TR, believes that there will be a transition from automotive to mobility. “We use the term mobility because there may be a lot of changes following coronavirus. For example, it may hasten people towards electric, self-driving vehicles.

The whole automotive sector might actually physically change away from the combustion engine and steering wheel control.”

But will the adoption of electric propulsion make that much difference to the fasteners used in vehicles? Brehler thinks it will. He continues: “Electric vehicles are designed on such a different platform – for example we can drive individual wheels or we can work though a gearbox or converters – we have many more choices than we have with a conventional car. We use the term mobility because units may become smaller, if we can get round the status symbol element of a car, particularly in the UK.”

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“Home deliveries from companies such as Amazon, and supermarkets, etc, have increased dramatically during the lockdown and if autonomous vehicle development is pushed forward, we might be able to include that in mobility as well. We don’t know yet what directions such things might take.”

Being ready for such changes is not easy and companies will need to watch the market closely and move quickly. TR is watching the mobility business with keen eyes as a large proportion of its sales are in that area and it’s increasing. The company’s automotive business has just hit 34% of sales and could go higher as this sector becomes mobility.

Smaller vehicles may mean more vehicles, thus more fasteners.

Even though the automotive industry is currently hard hit by the effects of coronavirus, the mobility industry will remain an important sector in the near future. There will likely be some large changes to the current automotive industry in the next decade, and the need for individualised mobility will rise. Therefore, the company expects the mobility industry to be a large part of its future business, but with more diversification into other markets, such as healthcare and automation.

Brehler continues: “The new technologies required for development and maturation of the New Energy Vehicles (NEVs), and the subsequent energy supply, has seen a large influx from technologies developed in other industries, such as the mobile technology and aerospace market. Our expertise in high-tech applications, electronics, and electrical switch gear, has allowed TR to follow and support the advances in electrical propulsion, storage, charging and infrastructure for the transport of tomorrow.”

“The current standstill of production has allowed the OEM and tier 1 suppliers to take stock of their current designs and projects still in the pipeline, the main focus being on overall reduction of cost and weight without compromising on the current designs. They start to contain more mixed materials, including composites and honeycomb structures, which benefit from bonding. However, adhesives need large contact points between the materials to be able to create structural joints, favouring mechanical fasteners for lean and slender designs.

Furthermore, a refocus on maintenance and repair, as well as reuse and recyclability, prefer the application of removable fasteners.”

What effect will NEVs have on fastener demands? Interior and trim applications are expected to maintain a similar route to reduce weight whilst promoting an increased modularity to allow customers’ individualism at lowest assembly costs. The greatest disruption to the original bill of materials will come from the change in propulsion and the safe storage of on-board energy.

Ensuring safe storage and delivering it to the propulsion on demand requires electronic control mechanisms, which cannot be disrupted by electromagnetic waves or affected by corrosion, contamination or moisture. This is where there will be a growth in uptake of isolating coatings and non-magnetic fasteners. Initial NEV designs used bolted on batteries, whereas new designs are looking to integrate the battery assembly as part of the structural design of the vehicle. Battery retention bolts and compression limiters are playing a large role in the materialisation of these designs to allow transfer of forces through the structure, whilst also allowing access for repair and maintenance. Well designed cable management will secure the ever growing wiring looms for delivery of energy to all parts of the vehicle and report back any key information picked up by the multiple sensors.

Quality and recycling

Reliability and quality are controlled through fastener traceability from manufacturers on the AVL (approved vendor list), which are signed up to TR’s code of conduct following a thorough auditing programme.

This avoids the introduction of counterfeit or products with questionable quality to enter the supply chain.

Brehler says: “Early involvement of application engineers allow our customers to optimise the design by selecting the right product to suit the requirements.

System testing has been a mandatory requirement within the automotive industry. We cannot stress enough the importance of these tests as they can make a difference in case of a vehicle accident. The PPAP (production part approval process) proves that parts are manufactured to the required standards.”

“The majority of fasteners have a high content of steel, which can generally be reused in the recycling process. The automotive industry has been a forerunner restricting dangerous materials, making recycling of fasteners possible without the need of firstly needing to separate them from the rest of the scrap. Our plastic fasteners are generally manufactured of similar hydrocarbons used in trim and interior applications, allowing these parts to follow the main recycling stream.

When involved with new projects and applications TR’s application engineers consider the removability of the fasteners, as well as the installation and function during operation.”

Sven Brehler (left) and his colleague, Bernard Malone, business development manager, examine a car seat frame and the fasteners required

Conclusion

Responding to the Covid-19 pandemic will require a huge range of responses from many industries and the companies. For instance, transport will probably never be the same again.

There will be winners and losers and in some cases it will be extreme. As Zoom is finding in the IT sector, it is an ‘ill wind that blows no one any good’.

www.fastenerandfixing.com 127

APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY

Which screw drive style?

Don’t lose your head!

With an increasing demand coming from the automotive industry, driven largely by the rise in the popularity of electric and battery operated vehicles, choosing the right screw head and drive type for a project is essential. Here, Jackie Hackett, director of global sales and marketing at APM Hexseal, outlines the most common drive types and how to select the best head and drive styles.

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hoosing the right screw head and drive type for a project is essential. With so many varieties available on the market, however, it can be difficult to determine the best solution for a given situation.

That’s why APM Hexseal has created a helpful guide, with the help of its hardware team’s expertise, so that engineers can narrow down the options and select the best head and drive styles for their application.

Slotted drives

Slotted drives feature a simple design, with just one slot across the head. This design has a long history and may be one of the first drive types ever made, but it’s mostly limited to being used with a manual driver.

As mechanical tools become more powerful, they start to generate too much torque to be held in place by a single slot. The tool typically loses its hold within the slot and may damage or strip the head, rendering it useless. Slotted drives are also commonly referred to as flat heads.

Historically, slotted drives have had an extensive range of applications and can still be found in use today. One of the most common applications is in light fixtures and switches or socket plates.

Another important sector is in military applications that require simple designs, as drives that operate in dirty or extreme conditions can accumulate a lot of dirt. Thanks to their simple design, slotted drives are easy to clean and reuse.

Robertson (square) drive

Peter Robertson, a travelling salesman, invented and began selling his Robertson drives around 1906. He advertised them as replacements to slotted drives because they were simple to use but

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also removed many of the complications normally associated with slotted drives.

Also known as square drives or socket heads, these screws have a square recession centred on the head. This position centres the screwdriver, distributing the force more evenly and reducing the risk of the tool slipping out while tightening. This enables users to apply more force while operating the screwdriver without damaging the head.

Throughout the start of the 20 th Century, Henry Ford used Robertson’s square drive screws to assemble Model T Fords. A story told within the automotive sector infers that the efficiency of the square drive screws reduced the manufacturing time of each Model T by as much as two hours.

Phillips (cross recessed) drive

Phillips drives were invented around the same time as Robertson drives, and became much more popular over time. The head features a recession in the shape of a plus sign that corresponding drivers fit snugly into. This design improved the grip of the driver and significantly reduced slippage. The recession is deepest at the intersection of the two points, which pushes the driver deeper into position if it tries to shift.

Phillips drives were traditionally called cross recessed drives through much of the 20th Century while the patent still applied. Today, this type of drive is still commonly referred to as either cross recessed or Phillips.

Phillips drives have countless uses spanning industrial, commercial, and consumer applications. They are universally applicable and extremely popular because they solve almost every problem with the original slotted drive design. There is also minimal risk of head breakage or the driver popping or sliding out. The only common problem with Phillips drives is the risk of overtightening, which may cause damage to, or strip, the head.

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APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY Pozidriv drive

Pozidriv is a variation on the classic Phillips design. In addition to the cross shaped recession, it has another lighter cross shape rotated 45° to provide additional grip. It also further reduces the risk of slippage thanks to the additional points of contact. The corresponding driver has matching flutes higher along its shaft so the tip can fit into the main recession while the additional flutes lock its depth of position into place.

This additional design element solves the cam out problem common with Phillips drives. Cam out is a specific type of slippage that happens when power tools generate too much torque, causing the driver to slip out of the drive recess.

Pozidriv drives are common in Europe but aren’t as popular in the United States. A Phillips driver can still operate Pozidriv drives, just without the additional grip provided by the additional contact points. The reverse however is not always true if the Phillips drive recess is too deep and the Pozidriv’s additional flutes hit the metal surface too early.

Six-lobe (hexalobular) drive

Like the name implies, six-lobe drives have six recessions flaring out from the centre point. They look like Phillips drives but with six lobes instead of four. This departure from the standard four lobes protects the drive from casual tampering. Some specialised six-lobe drives also have a pin in the centre of the drive’s recession.

Turning these drives requires a driver with a corresponding hole, which makes the drives tamper resistant. While it does not make them fully tamper-proof, the special drive head adds a greater degree of difficulty that deters most tampering attempts. These drives were originally called TORX-type until the design patent expired and are also known as hexalobular drives in Europe.

These drives are commonly used for outdoor equipment, outdoor machinery, automobiles, and outdoor constructions such as decks and porches. These drives can protect valuable materials or equipment that is stored outside because they help deter unauthorised access.

Hex recessed type

These drives have a recessed hexagonal shape. They look similar to six-lobe drives but have the hexagon recession entirely filled out. These drives are less tamper resistant and, as with Phillips drives, can be easily overtightened. These drives are commonly found in flat pack furniture kits.

External hex type

This type of drive has a protruding hexagonal shape on the head, which is gripped by a recessed driver. It is easy to grip, tighten, and untighten, and operators can generate significant torque with either manual or powered tools.

APM Hexseal screws and drives

While there are hundreds of unique drive variations available on the market, it is important

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to find a drive type that is both commonly available and advantageous for a particular application.

APM Hexseal specialises in slotted type, cross recessed type, and six-lobe drives. Its six-lobe drives offer the pin variation for extra security and tamper resistance. APM’s team can also design and fabricate specialised drive types for larger custom orders. There are a number of advantages to choosing APM Hexseal screws and drives. These include: Cold heading materials: APM uses 18 – 8 stainless steel to produce hardware. Upon request, APM can also use other alloys with greater rust resistance to suit harsher application environments. Its self-sealing screws and bolts offer a reliable and reusable seal, preventing (or containing) contamination from dust, air, water, lubricants and other liquid or gaseous substances.

They are also vibration resistant, making them an ideal choice for automotive, heavy equipment or applications that encounter day-to-day jarring or repetitive movement.

Secondary services: APM offers a variety of secondary services, including black oxide finishing. This finish gives screws a matte, black look that makes them blend into backgrounds and substrates for a higher aesthetic appeal. Should a higher level of vibration resistance be needed, APM also offers various locking options, such as locking pellets and nylon or high temperature patches.

UL recognised: APM supplies UL recognised hardware. UL recognition guarantees that the components within a larger machine or piece of equipment comply with UL standards.

Adherence to these standards keeps machinery and workers safe.

Since 1947, APM has specialised in developing and manufacturing sealing solutions that prolong the life of sensitive electronic and mechanical components, and systems, in hostile environments. The company offers a wide variety of elastomeric switch covers and sealing hardware, including a complete line of reusable, self-sealing fasteners, and sealing washers.

From self-sealing boots and fasteners in a wide array of elastomer options, to a full design and manufacturing team ready for custom engineered sealing solutions, APM has what is needed to maximise performance from every component. www.apmhexseal.com

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APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY

Unusual applications of wave springs It may come as a surprise to hear that top music artists have performed on stage and in the studio with wave springs. When examining potential uses for wave springs, aerospace, automotive and medical applications are usually the first that come to mind – not live music. Here Justin Lawrence, applications engineer at fastening and fixing supplier TFC Ltd, explores the more unusual applications for wave springs.

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K manufacturer Aston Microphones used a Crest-to-Crest® wave spring to combine practicality and aesthetics when designing its first microphone. When looking to design a radical new product, Aston’s designers were first impressed with the visual appearance of the spring. Another attraction was the unique manufacturing method, which enables the production of bespoke springs to the designer’s exact specifications.

At the suggestion of TFC, the final design included squared shim ends so the spring offered a full 360º supporting shoulder within the product. Once assembled, the spring provided an attractive and robust outer shell to protect the fragile electronics. Should the microphone be dropped and the spring distorted, the flat wire form allows the head to be straightened by hand in seconds. All this was achieved without any distortion to the sound quality of the vocal input.

Lock washer replacement

Lock washers can prevent nuts and bolts from slipping or turning in an application. The washer applies a load to minimise the effects of vibration, keeping the nut and bolt secure. Lock washers are typically manufactured from low cost materials. When special alloys are needed for corrosive, or extreme temperature environments, custom lock washers can be impossible to source unless ordering vast quantities.

That is why for highly specialised subsea or space applications, nested wave springs can be considered as an alternative. However, it should be noted that compressing these springs to solid will induce some loss of load so talking to a specialist from the outset is key.

Nested wave springs also offer functional benefits when compared with lock washers. These springs are coiled in series, increasing the

load with each turn until the desired spring rate and deflection are reached. For larger diameter bolts, these springs can provide a more evenly distributed force, keeping the stresses uniform around the bolt head.

Nested wave springs can therefore provide a more accurate, repeatable load than a standard lock washer.

Athletic shoes

The performance of athletic or casual shoes is partly determined by the amount of shock absorption they provide. Typically, wave springs are used in mechanical engineering, so it is easy to see why they could be considered as a shock absorber for the human body. Most manufactured products and assemblies will have space limitations, and the sole of a shoe is no exception.

Crest-to-Crest springs provide space saving capabilities in a very lightweight design. They are also roughly half the height of coil springs, but still provide similar capacity to absorb the heavy, repeatable loads created by a jog around the neighbourhood. This practical use in a shoe is an example of how wave springs are apt for both static (standing) and dynamic (running) purposes.

While wave springs are typically thought of in the context of automotive, aerospace or medical applications, their possibilities are endless. These applications show how wave spring technology is being applied across different industries, from casual consumer products to space exploration and everything in between.

Factors such as available space and operational performance all play significant roles in the design process and TFC engineers have a wealth of experience to help maximise the benefits of using this technology.

B-staged epoxy meets Airbus standards Master Bond EP36FR is a specialised one part epoxy that bonds well to metals, composites, glass and many plastics. The epoxy also meets Airbus specifications for toxic gas emissions and passes the 12 second vertical burn test, intended for use in determining the resistance of materials to flames.

P36FR also withstands rigorous thermal cycling, as well as thermal and mechanical shocks, and has a high temperature resistance up to 500°F (260°C), despite a low glass transition temperature of 95°F – 100°F (35°C – 37.7°C). The epoxy maintains its toughness or hardness across a wide temperature range and is ideal for potting, encapsulation, sealing, as well as coating applications.

The EP36FR formulation is B-staged, meaning it is a solid at room temperature and must be heated in a forced air or convection oven to transform it to a liquid at around 200°F (93.3°C). This feature allows it to be reused when it resolidifies at room temperature, provided it has not been cured. After liquifying the product at 200°F (93.3°C), and applying it on the substrates in the application, heat curing is required for 2 – 3 hours at 350°F (176.6°C).

Rohit Ramnath, senior product engineer at Master Bond, said: “These Airbus ratings are not just relevant for manufacturing aircraft components, but they are also considered to be among the most stringent certifications for flame retardancy and toxicity. The ratings serve as a good starting point for various composite applications across the aerospace, marine, transportation, electrical and automotive industries.”

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US demand for wire forms in medical equipment Singapore-based John While Solutions Pte Ltd, a Lesjöfors company, has received a large order for wire forms used in life saving equipment, as the demand for medical equipment increases worldwide due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

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he US health care system is currently under pressure because of the rising number of Covid-19 cases. To treat the severely ill patients, emergency departments and ICU’s need more advanced medical equipment, and as a result the US government has granted funds for purchasing the required equipment.

For many years John While Solutions has supplied a wire form in small quantities to one of the companies manufacturing this particular medical equipment. This year it has already produced many thousands of pieces over and above the shipping in the first quarter of 2020, and with the growing demand, it is expected the number of wire forms will exceed ten times the already delivered items.

“We are very happy that we can contribute to fight this pandemic, with our products meeting the high standards of the very restricted area of medical equipment. We are therefore doing our utmost to speed up the production of this particular component and deliver in the requested time frame,” commented Roy Loh, vice-president of Lesjöfors spring technology in Asia.

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APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY

New adhesives range for ‘by the dot’ bonding Bostik has launched Born2Bond™, a new range of innovative engineering adhesives designed for ‘by the dot’ bonding for a range of different manufacturing sectors – from electronics through to high-end luxury goods.

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he range includes new low odour formulations, which enable a more comfortable manufacturing environment, and low blooming solutions that are a critical feature for applications where aesthetics and quality of finish are essential.

“Designers and manufacturers are facing critical challenges such as the need to minimise the effects of blooming, and also the need for a more adaptable and faster curing process, whilst also meeting more demanding environmental and health and safety regulations,” explains Polivio Goncalves, global market manager for engineering adhesives at Bostik.

“Born2Bond™ will enable customers to improve efficiencies, increase design opportunities and enhance sustainability. Making it easier for them to manufacture better, safer and ever more innovative products.”

Instant adhesives are used extensively in manufacturing, but with the launch of new, affordable MECA-based products in the first wave of the Born2Bond range, many of the principal challenges have been addressed. The products have negligible blooming and are odourless, yet still perform as instant adhesives and can bond multiple substrate types without the need for any additional chemicals.

“The name Born2Bond reflects our products and purpose, but also reflects our collaborative approach. We’re developing these next generation products in association with our customers to ensure we create the solutions they need,” added Polivio.

Bostik plans to launch additional product offerings within its Born2Bond portfolio, including HM-PUR and other urethane acrylates, to provide a comprehensive service for evolving application needs.

Holding together the world’s largest telescope BUMAX has been chosen to supply thousands of high strength and corrosion resistant fasteners for the ELT, Extremely Large Telescope, currently under construction in the Netherlands. he €1 billion ELT will be the world’s largest telescope when it becomes operational in northern Chile in 2024. It is a reflector telescope, collecting universal light using a massive curved mirror that is 39m across – 3 times the area of the next largest telescope.

The giant mirror will consist of 798 individual hexagonal segments each measuring 1.4m across and will be driven by electrical motors for fine-tuning.

An additional 133 segments have also been made for a continuous swapping process, which will allow the ELT to stay operational whilst the mirrors are coated and cleaned. The segments will work together as a single mirror to collect 100 million times more light than the human eye.

BUMAX® fasteners are being used to fix the individual telescope mirrors to the segment supports. Twelve 10mm BUMAX 109 M6 bolts are used on each of the 931 segments.

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Customised bolts require special tools The ELT is presently under construction by Dutch company VDL ETG Projects. Michael Evers, project manager at VDL ETG, said: “Standard stainless steel bolts lack the strength required. We required a 10.9 strength bolt, and with the corrosion resistance of stainless steel. BUMAX offered

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us the perfect solution. The high strength BUMAX 109 fasteners prevent damage to the mirror segments, which is very costly. Their corrosion resistance is also essential as the fasteners are sometimes open to the elements and will reduce future maintenance requirements.”

The bolts are a customised product that have been coated with a special surface treatment and require special tools to manufacture.

“This order is yet another testament to BUMAX being able to provide the very best fasteners for the most demanding applications. We have also been trusted with supplying fasteners for the CERN accelerator in Switzerland, as well as satellites, and submarines,” explained Patrik Lundström Törnquist, managing director at BUMAX.

A new magnet bonding tape for electric motors Henkel has developed a new magnet bonding tape – Loctite EA 9536 – which offers easy assembly and high material expansion for electric motors.

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trong magnets are essential components to optimise the performance of electric motors. Manufacturers are looking for efficient and safe solutions that can fix these magnets into their position in the rotor, while compensating manufacturing tolerances. With Loctite EA 9536, Henkel has developed a novel solution tailor-made for the use in electric motors.

The company says its Loctite EA 9536 offers unique properties compared to existing solutions on the market. The epoxy-based adhesive film can be produced in various sizes and shapes customised to the specific application.

Thanks to its low tack characteristic the product is easy to apply.

In addition, Loctite EA 9536 can also absorb oil and dirt and eliminate the need to clean the surface. After application the special epoxy resins create a strong and elastic bond that holds magnets securely in position.

“With Loctite EA 9536 we offer manufacturers of electric motors an innovative solution that combines efficiency and flexibility with high performance,” explained Tony Wang, business development manager at Henkel for automotive electronics. “The product is already in use on the production lines for several applications, including e-scooters.

It can be expanded and cured at temperatures of up to 140°C in a common process of industry suppliers. The adhesive film can fill gaps, fix the magnet securely in position and compensate for manufacturing tolerances in the electric motor.”

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Helicopter test a new challenge for Grower TenKeep®

By Paolo Cattaneo, managing director at Growermetal Srl In various applications, a fastener has to resist numerous strong stresses during its service life.

In order to manufacture the best performing products, ready to withstand the most challenging everyday applications, continuous testing is an essential tool.

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rowermetal has already run numerous test series on its Grower TenKeep® washers, which is its latest safety product. This very innovative flat safety washer has two surfaces with knurls of different geometry (side A and side B) and was part of a Growermetal R&D project to provide a product design that ensured maximum performance against loosening of the bolted joints, especially in presence of severe vibrations and dynamic loads.

Side A, the one on the head of the screw/nut side, slides against the surface of the underhead of the bolt when tightening the bolted joint.

The advanced serration geometry of this side instead, counteracts very efficiently the loosening of the bolted joint connection. Side B, the one in contact with the bearing surface, becomes immediately solid to the bearing surface when the bolted joint is tightened, thanks to the exceptional grip of its knurling. The washer then remains permanently solid to the bearing surface.

Since vibrations represent one of the most challenging issues in bolted joint connection, Growermetal decided to test the Grower TenKeep washers with an innovative self-loosening resistance test – named the Helicopter test – performed according to NFE 25-046-2 standard, which is still in draft. The test was carried out at the CETIM, Technical Centre for Mechanical Industry, in France.

The main difference between the Helicopter test and the well known Junker vibration test, which follows the standards DIN 65151 and DIN 25201-4, is basically that the bolted joint is submitted to an alternate eccentric axial stress instead of an alternate transversal stress (Figure 2).

Junker test

Helicopter test

Figure 2: Bolted joint connection under alternate transversal stress (Junker) and under alternate eccentric axial stress (Helicopter)

Figure 1: Side A and B geometry of Grower TenKeep® safety washers

136 FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

The Helicopter test bench (Figure 3), equipped with an eccentric rotary motor combined with a crank-rod system, generates an axial alternate displacement to the bolt connection under test and vibrations are applied to the present martyr-beam.

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Key

1 Fastener/assembly to be tested 2 Martyr-beam 3 Beam support 4 Eccentric and rotary motor 5 Slide rail

measuring device allowed the continuous measurement with a suitable acquisition frequency of all parameters (clamp force, number of cycles and time) as well as the electronic recording.

The goal was to define the level of resistance to loosening (Sd) of each of the four types of washers as the average of the result of five pieces of each type.

All tested washers, including Grower TenKeep washers, demonstrated a good and similar anti-loosening effect. After the test, in most of the cases it was observed there was no significant or visual rotation of the bolts.

At the beginning of the test a loss of preload was always visible, mainly linked to relaxation phenomena, such as embedding and settlement.

The helicopter loosening resistance test demonstrated once again for the Grower TenKeep a very good level of untightening torque (break-away torque) in comparison to the tightening one.

The technician at CETIM commented that they had never seen before a residual torque that high after performing the helicopter test.

Figure 3: Drawing of the helicopter test device The displacement of the beam support allows a variation up to ± 4mm. Thanks to a load cell included in the beam support, the clamp force is measured throughout the test.

During the test, alternate bending loadings are applied to the washer (assembly) by resonance of the present beam. This resonance, at the first ‘natural’ frequency mode of the beam, is generated by an alternate axial displacement. The test device provides an adjustable travel frequency up to 25Hz. Due to the beam’s oscillation, which resemble the blades of a helicopter, this loosening resistance test got the name Helicopter test.

Growermetal chose its M10 Grower TenKeep safety washers M series, with zink-flake Delta Protekt® KL120 coating, for the Helicopter loosening resistance test (Figure 4). In order to compare the performance, two other types of safety washers were also tested.

Figure 5: Initial and residual torque of Grower TenKeep® M10 (M series) coated with Delta Protekt® KL120

Figure 4: M10 Grower TenKeep® M series Delta Protekt® KL120 coated

Figure 6: Initial and residual torque of another safety washer challenged with the helicopter test

A Class 10.9 reference bolt was used without surface coating while the reference nut was coated with black zinc flake coating – providing a friction coefficient range of 0.12 – 0.18 according to ISO 16047.

The tested washers were all zink-flake Delta Protekt KL100 or KL120 coated from Dörken. Since the clamping level is obviously an important parameter, the initial clamping force (F0) was defined in such a way as to correspond to the minimum tightening possible for the assembly. In this laboratory test, using elements of a property Class 10.9, CETIM technicians fixed at 20kN the clamping force to be used, while the applied travel frequency was 19Hz. Each washer to be tested had to run 10,000 cycles, the residual preload (Fb) had to be at least 50% of the initial preload (F0). The

By comparing Figures 5 and 6 it became clear that one of the main advantages in performance between Grower TenKeep and other safety washers – after 10,000 cycles of the helicopter test – is the break-away torque (residual torque) of the Grower TenKeep when compared to the tightening torque (initial torque). A much higher break-away torque means much higher safety against self-loosening of the bolted joint connection.

The result is even more remarkable considering the low clamping force (F0) applied during the test (20kN) for an M10 10.9 class bolt.

This outstanding result is linked to the high-quality of the Grower TenKeep washers and to the advance anti-self-loosening geometry of the serrations of its surfaces.

Further information about the helicopter test results, as well as the Grower TenKeep product, is available on Growermetal’s website.

138 FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

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Socketry for electric and hybrid vehicles With electric and hybrid vehicles increasing in popularity, it’s important to have the proper insulated, VDE approved tools to safely carry out the work required.

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key component of any automotive workshop is socketry and it’s no different for electric and hybrid vehicles. To help meet this rising demand British distributor Draper Tools Ltd has a huge range of socketry, including a series of VDE socket sets and individual accessories – designed for use with electric and hybrid vehicles.

These are all part of the ‘Draper Expert’ range and are manufactured from tough chrome vanadium steel, correctly hardened and tempered, and chrome plated. They also all feature the Draper Hi-Torq® 6 point drive system.

Every item in the VDE socket range is manufactured to exacting DIN standards and individually certified to EN 60900. For safe live working, each socket has been tested to 10,000V, ensuring their ability to work at 1,000V AC or 1,500V DC. The VDE range is based around three comprehensive VDE socket sets, which all come securely packed in a tough blow mould case, for easy storage and portability. These are the 18 piece ¼ inch square drive VDE socket set, the 19 piece ⅝ inch square drive VDE socket set, and the 24 piece ½ inch square drive VDE socket set.

Correctly insulated, VDE certified tools such as these sets are absolutely essential to protect technicians working on electric and hybrid vehicles.

Draper Tools is currently advising technicians and distributors to consider whether they’re properly prepared for the continued popularity of these vehicles and the maintenance they require.

The VDE range of socket sets forms just a small part of the extensive socketry range available from Draper Tools. The recently relaunched range of socketry is one of the most comprehensive ranges in the company’s history comprising over 600 products – all with a lifetime guarantee.

140 FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

A threadless nyloc nut The new and innovative Vee Nut is a threadless nyloc nut that inventor David Fussell says has a number of spectacular advantages, not available with any existing fastening hardware. The uniquely designed nylon insert is also provided with hole diameters to accommodate any standard size bolt and to save on cost.

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ne size of the Vee Nut can handle coarse or fine metric, SAE, UNF, BSW or any other type threads for a specific bolt diameter, which reduces the inventory requirements for hardware. There is also no chance of damaging the lead thread on the bolt as it is threaded into the nut. The nylon also protects the bolt from physical damage.

The graph (pictured right) presents data from tests of an M14 threadless nyloc nut compared to both an M14 x 1.5mm plain nut and a M14 x 1.5mm standard nyloc nut, all using M14 x 1.5mm bolts. It shows how loosening during service with the threadless nyloc nut is much safer.

“The loosening torque on the Vee Nut is many times that of standard hardware available today – up to 300% higher,” commented David Fussell, inventor of the Vee Nut. “When compared to standard steel hardware or even the available nyloc designs, safety advantages are immediately evident. Even after many uses, the Vee Nut provides three times the loosening torque as other hardware. This new and innovative nut provides for economy in manufacturing, safety in application, minimises inventory, protects bolt threads and enables design flexibility.”

The threadless nyloc nut has a Utility Patent issued, with another pending. It also has International Patent Protection, with 153 countries currently recognising the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Comparing Tightening and Loosening Torque

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KEBEK launches German webshop

Since its foundation in 1994, KEBEK s.r.o says it has grown to be one of the most important importers of fasteners in the Czech Republic. Now for the first time its 15,000 items are available to its German customers via its webshop.

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EBEK comments: “The way our customers want to order is changing. Historically, personal contact with clients was preferred and purchase orders were only being sent by mail. We then progressed on to the common preferred phone communications, where customers discussed the details with a sales representative. As the world moves on, our customers are preferring to save time and effort while placing orders.”

KEBEK has therefore decided to answer customers’ needs and help speed up their buying process. The webshop offers not only the purchasing system but also makes it very easy to check current stock availability, manage open orders, or send an enquiry for not available quantities or sizes.

The Czech version of the webshop for domestic clients has already proved successful and KEBEK is hoping the German version will follow suit.

With its warehouse located just 20km from the German border, delivery to Germany is easy and fast.

At any one time there is more than 10,000 different parts ready in stock. Most of them are standard fasteners, however, KEBEK also stocks uncommon sizes as well.

Smith Bullough

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GALLOCK® – complete safety under heavy vibrations Continuing its legacy of manufacturing high precision engineering parts, India-based Gala Precision Engineering Private Ltd has now developed a wedge lock washer, GALLOCK®, which it says is ideal for safely securing bolted joints exposed to heavy vibrations and dynamic load.

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sed in a variety of industries, such as energy generation, off highway, heavy vehicles, transportation, construction, as well as manufacturing and processing, the GALLOCK® washers are also successfully tested and approved for use in Indian railways.

Gala is the first Indian company to get approval to supply wedge lock washers for LHB and ICF railway coaches.

GALLOCK consists of two flat washers having cam angled surfaces on one side and radial knurling over the other side.

Radial knurling on the outer side of the washer locks the radial movement. The cam angle on the inner side is designed in such a way that it is greater than the bolts thread helix angle. If there is any movement along the joint, it will happen over the cam surfaces of the washer. The cam surface will then generate push out force within the washer, leading to the automatic increase of clamping force in the opposite direction and thus preventing self-loosening.

Gala also has an in-house Junker testing facility to ensure it supplies consistent high-quality products. GALLOCK washers are offered with zinc flake coating to ensure long product life cycle and yielding up to 1,000 hours of salt spray life. The company has also conducted special tests to ensure uniform coating thickness and secure adhesion of the coating on the surface.

Performance testing and validation in Germany

A number of tests were carried out at the reputed German Institute IMA Dresden. Here, GALLOCK washers were proven under the Junker test according to DIN 65151 standards.

Conformity to the requirements of standard DIN 25201-4 was also confirmed.

Other tests passed by the GALLOCK washers include coefficient of friction test as per ISO 16047; the sacrificial cathodic protection test as per ISO 9227/ASTM-B117 for 72 hours; the salt spray test of zinc flake surface coating as per ASTM-B117:2016 for 720 hours; and finally the Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) rub test, which showed no chipping of coating after 30 rubbing cycles.

Gala states these tests confirm that GALLOCK washers safely lock screws/bolt connections, and that the washers are on par with wedge lock manufacturers across Europe. For instance, the clamp force drop remains within acceptable limits even after 2,000 cycles and just a minimal amount of tension dissipates at the beginning of the test due to the normal settlement of the fastened joint.

Core competency and operational excellence

Gala has 25 years of rich experience in blanking and forming technology, and in-house tool design and development, as well as the latest software, which all enabled the launch of the GALLOCK washers.

The company has a fully controlled and automated in-house heat treatment facility at its office near Mumbai, India. This enables uniform homogeneous microstructure, a decarburisation free surface, as well as ensuring no quenching cracks.

The company also has a branch office and warehouse in China, as well as another branch office in Germany. Gala also works closely with global universities for continuous product and process improvements and validations.

Gala products are used in a variety of markets including wind energy, hydro power, off highway vehicles, automotive, electrical, and the rail industries. More than 50% of its sales come from exports to countries including the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, Norway, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Denmark, China, Malaysia and Singapore. www.galagroup.com

Fastener manufacturer responds to demand for PPE As the global demand for PPE continues to rise, UK-based industrial fastener supplier, Advance Spares Ltd, has responded by turning a large part of its production schedule to the supply of essential PPE. he company, which has over 30 years’ experience in the production and supply of metal fasteners for many different markets, is now applying its expertise to assisting the supply of PPE and protective screens to be used in both public and business environments.

Much of it is ‘Made in the UK’ and is already available and, where required, had medical grade approval.

Products available immediately include face visors, face masks, workspace temperature measuring machines, desk shields, hand sanitisers, aprons, infrared thermometers and gloves.

Non-surgical 3ply face masks are available in quantities of 50 and are ideal for use in all business settings including factories, warehouses, shops, hairdressers, barbers, beauty salons, hotels, and public houses, etc. Higher grade filtration masks can also be supplied for individuals and workers in a more vulnerable environment.

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In collaboration with another local business, Advance Spares has also assisted in the manufacture of a CE EN 166 medical grade face visor for use in challenging situations. Also available are desk shields and free standing shields on request, offering protection and peace of mind in any office or work placement. Infrared thermometers and temperature checking machines are also available, designed to reassure staff and customers as lockdown restrictions lift.

“We have been supplying PPE for some time on a small scale to our customer base but as the pandemic grew we were asked by a number of clients to increase the range of items we can support. As a local business we understand the difficulties that businesses and individuals will face as we ease out of lockdown and we wanted to assist in getting people’s lives back to normal. PPE is going to be a huge part of our existence for some time and our business is in a position to help,” commented Adrian Tant, group sales director at Advance Spares. www.advancerivets.co.uk

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When is a back-up wrench needed?

Here Bill Eccles, from Bolt Science, looks at when a back-up wrench is needed for the installation of bolt and nut assemblies and when it is not.

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back-up wrench or spanner is placed on a bolt head to prevent bolt rotation when the nut is being tightened. Once the bolt is tightened, and the nut is then attempted to be tightened, the whole nut-bolt assembly can spin without further tightening occurring at a torque lower than the initial tightening torque. The concern sometimes expressed is whether or not this is a problem?

When a nut is tightened, the torque applied to the nut can be split into three components: The torque needed to stretch the bolt (the thread extension torque); the torque needed to overcome thread friction; and the torque needed to overcome nut face friction. The torque needed to stretch the bolt and the torque needed to overcome thread friction is transmitted through the bolt shank and is reacted by the bolt head.

Whether a backing spanner is needed depends upon whether the torque needed to rotate the bolt head is greater than the torque being transmitted up the bolt shank. This torque is the sum of the torque needed to stretch the bolt plus the torque needed to overcome thread friction.

If the reaction torque provided by friction grip of the bolt head on the joint surface is greater than the torque being transmitted up the shank, then the bolt will not rotate and the nut would tighten the assembly.

This is illustrated in the image below. If the reaction torque is less than the torque being transmitted up the bolt shank, rotation of the whole bolt-nut assembly would occur. A back-up wrench would then be needed for the nut to be tightened.

Consider the situation in which an M20 property Class 10.9 bolt is tightened to 500Nm. The coefficient of friction under the nut face and in the thread is 0.12. Such a torque and friction combination would result in a bolt load of 160kN. Below is a pie chart (Chart One) showing this situation.

If the friction condition under the bolt head is the same as under the nut face, in the above case, a backing spanner would be needed to prevent the bolt head from rotating. This is because the torque needed to overcome thread friction (203Nm) plus the torque needed to stretch the bolt (63Nm) is greater than the torque that the bolt head is capable of reacting (234Nm). In this case to tighten the nut, a backing spanner would be needed to prevent the bolt from rotating. The backing spanner would react a torque of 266 – 234 = 32Nm. Once the bolt was fully tightened to the 500Nm the backing spanner could be released.

Assuming there was no change in the friction conditions, if the nut was Chart One then attempted to be tightened without the backing spanner, the whole nut-bolt assembly would rotate at a torque of 468Nm (since both the nut face and bolt head would rotate needing a torque of 234Nm each). Being able to rotate the nut-bolt Total Applied Torque = 500Nm assembly at a lower torque than the tightening torque does not indicate that there is necessarily a problem with the assembly.

Thread µ = 0.12 If the thread friction is decreased from 0.12 to 0.08, maybe through the use of a Head µ = 0.12 lubricant being applied to just the thread, with the nut face and bolt head friction stopping at 0.12, there will be a change in the torque distribution. Also, the decrease in the thread friction would increase the bolt load that a torque of 500Nm would provide, raising it to 184kN. Pictured left is a pie chart (Chart Two) showing this situation.

In this case, the bolt head friction would be 270Nm (which has increased since the bolt load increased). The bolt head torque is now greater than the thread friction torque Bolt Load = 160kN (157Nm) plus the torque needed to stretch the bolt (73Nm). Accordingly, once tightening is started, a backing spanner would not be needed. Also, attempts to rotate the nut-bolt assembly in the tightening direction once tightening is completed would result in the Chart Two bolt being further tightened. To do this, a torque of over 500Nm would be needed.

If a lubricant is being used and the nut is to be rotated, it is normal practice to apply the lubricant to the nut face and to the bolt thread region in contact with Total Applied the nut threads. Lubricant is not applied to the bearing face of the bolt head.

Torque = 500Nm Accordingly, the torque needed to rotate the bolt head typically will be greater than that needed to overcome thread friction and the thread extension torque.

Thread µ = 0.08 Hence once tightening begins a backing spanner is not needed.

Head µ = 0.12 For large bolts the back-up wrench or spanner used to prevent rotation can become jammed on the joint surface since the reaction torque is high. A hammer or similar, is then needed to release the wrench. To overcome this issue, release-assisted back-up wrenches have been developed. Such wrenches typically have a screw on the back-up wrench that can be rotated to release the reaction torque safely. www.boltscience.com Bolt Load = 184 kN

146 FASTENER + FIXING MAGAZINE ≡ ISSUE 124: JULY 2020

The story behind Jolt Wrench Here inventor Mick Carrington explains the unlikely story behind a new patent-pending breaker bar, referred to as a ‘Jolt Wrench’, which can be transformed into a high torque breaker by removing a set screw. ick explains that for most of his working life he has been a contracting engineer working on various different projects, from machinery installation in car factories around the UK and Europe to mechanical shutdowns. This involved him working on major projects such as the Channel Tunnel where he worked on the conveyor and bunker systems underground. Then, around ten years ago he was employed on a major shutdown project at Ratcliffe power station and this is where his lightbulb moment came.

“Quite often when working on power station vessels scaffolding is involved and would be in the way of where I needed to be working. It’s also often the case that spanners would have to be used when working at height, causing a potential injury problem if dropped,” explains Mick. “I was charged with dismantling a valve from pipework but because of the poorly positioned scaffolding I couldn’t reach the flange bolts with two hands and turn the spanner. I could therefore only use one hand whilst trying to exert enough torque on the nuts to loosen them.”

Mick continues: “As these nuts and bolts had been in place for a number of years, they were seized and rusted solid. I

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needed to increase the torque to the nut using just one hand.

This is where the idea for the Jolt Wrench was born. I put a slightly bigger spanner on a nut – a 27mm open end spanner onto a 16mm nut for example, and found that because the spanner rotated slightly before hitting the flat, this gave more torque, like a shock loading, similar to what using two hands would achieve.

This method seemed to work for taking nuts off and also for tightening when reinstalling.”

Several years later, Mick was working on his old American car and the bolts holding the front pipe were seized solid. “I remembered my power station experience with the seized flange bolts, and made a crude breaker bar that had a small mechanism allowing the wrench to turn about 30 degrees before it hit the drive. This breaker bar was successful and I managed to get the seized bolts undone in a matter of seconds.”

Mick now has a licensing deal with Halfords in the UK but is looking to launch the Jolt Wrench to the rest of the world. “I really am interested to speak to tool companies, manufacturers, hardware distributors, etc, outside of the UK to discuss the patent-pending product. It’s a very simple and elegant tool that fulfils its potential very well.”

Top Screw Metal Corp.

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