Fastener + Fixing Magazine #63 by Fastener + Fixing Magazine

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CONTENTS Fastener + Fixing Magazine Part of the Mack Brooks Group 18 Alban Park, Hatfield Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL4 OJJ, UK

40-46

Tel: +44 (0) 1727 739 150 Fax: +44 (0) 1727 831 033 www.fastenerandfixing.com Publishing Director Jamie Mitchell jamie.mitchell@fastenerandfixing.com Editor Phil Matten phil.matten@fastenerandfixing.com

Supply costs drive fastener prices

Deputy Editor Will Lowry will.lowry@fastenerandfixing.com Senior Advertising Executive Harry Whyte harry.whyte@fastenerandfixing.com Advertising Executive Claire Lake claire.lake@fastenerandfixing.com Production Manager Andy Clow andy.clow@fastenerandfixing.com 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 Fastener Fairs Limited.

52-74 Italy

32-33 The new Brighton Best International

98-100

Copyright Entire contents copyright © Fastener Fairs Limited. 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 £80/€120/$160

wire report Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

E D I TO R I A L

New address on the web First things first - an unashamed plug for our new home on the web. www.fastenerandfixing.com is this magazine’s new website, with a lively design courtesy of Andy Clow, which makes it very easy to access a digital copy of our current issue plus all those published in the last two years.

or the first time you will also find selected news on the site – not as a substitute for the print magazine, but to highlight important items from the latest issue and to provide, as in the case of our supply chain analysis, updates on fast moving stories. The best way to ensure you catch every update is to subscribe to receive RSS alerts – most browsers provide the facility to receive these alerts. Equally important, especially if you are based outside of Europe, is to subscribe to our digital edition – the full magazine online, the day it is published. Of course, you can do that at www.fastenerandfixing.com

When patience may not prove a virtue

admit it; patience is not always my strong suit. Reluctantly, I just about accept that the European Commission cannot work as responsively as a commercial organisation must. However, over a year after the implementation of the carbon steel anti-dumping measure against China it is deeply perturbing to see evidence that circumvention is not only occurring but may well be escalating. Last week I saw a series of email exchanges with a Chinese factory, which was not only adamant there were ‘safe’ ways round the anti-dumping tariffs but was also explicit that containers had ‘successfully’ been delivered to European customers in such a way as to avoid the duties. As you will see from our News pages, Europe’s anti fraud organisation OLAF has clearly begun to address the issue of

transhipment in Malaysia. Good - if the EU applies anti-dumping measures in order to ensure fair trade it has an absolute responsibility to ensure that circumvention does not then unbalance the market. As raw material and other supply chain factors drive up prices again and OEMs, if anything, exact more pressure for cost downs, the temptation to cheat 85% duties is all too clear. If it were simply a matter of a few importers taking the risk and pocketing a very substantial gain, and no doubt that is happening, it might be one thing. All the indications are, though, that the gains are being passed to the market. That is highly disruptive to the fastener industry as a whole, which now as never before has to convince its users of the real value of the products it supplies. It is high time for the authorities to act decisively and very visibly.

CONTENTS INDUSTRY NEWS Europe and World.......................................................................6-16 America.....................................................................................18-22 Asian.........................................................................................24-26 Russian + CIS........................................................................... 28-30 COVER STORY The new Brighton Best International...................................... 32-33 EXHIBITIONS Events Calendar............................................................................ 34 Fastener Fair Budapest Preview................................................... 36 Hannover Show Report.................................................................38 Intersolar Preview.........................................................................90 wire 2010 Report................................................................... 98-100

INTERVIEW Robert Shieh, president, Brighton Best International................. 82 CONSTRUCTION FIXINGS Changing fixing specifications................................................ 86-88 News.........................................................................................92-97 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY San Shing focuses on precision.................................................. 102 Electronics meets mechanics - a story of perfect integration.....104-106 Two SMART ‘jewels’ at wire 2010................................................108 News.....................................................................................110-112 FOCUS ON Stainless steel + non ferrous.............................................. 130-133

SPECIAL REPORT Supply costs driving fastener price increases.........................40-46

MANAGEMENT + SYSTEMS News.................................................................................... 120-123

INSIGHT Fastbolt prepares ground for fresh shoots..................................48 The art of connection............................................................... 78-80 bigHead’s big future................................................................ 84-85

ANALYSIS Report on Russian sheet metal sector....................................... 124

COUNTRY REPORT Italy............................................................................................52-74 CATALOGUE RACK Italy............................................................................................75-77

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

PRODUCT NEWS Tools News........................................................................... 114-118 Application Technology News............................................. 126-128 Innovations................................................................................... 134 Products News.....................................................................136-154 RECRUITMENT & ADVERTISERS INDEX................................... 154

news

Fastener Fair returns to Stuttgart in February 2011 From 22nd – 24th February 2011, Fastener Fair Stuttgart will, once again, be the central market place for everyone involved in fastener and fixing technology. The new spring date has been well received with exhibiting companies; some 210 exhibitors from 18 countries have already booked their stand space.

astener Fair Stuttgart is Europe’s biggest event for fastener and construction fixing technologies: with 625 exhibitors and some 6,000 trade visitors, the previous show was a record exhibition. The show profile ranges from materials and semi-finished products via production equipment, surface technology and quality assurance to finished products in diverse materials and modern bonding processes. Storage, distribution and information services round off the exhibition profile. The new multi-lingual show website offers extensive information for companies interested in this highlight event for the fastener and fixing industry: key facts, a complete exhibition profile, a floor plan showing the stands that are still available for booking, travel information and a separate section with information for media representatives. In the run-up to the show, the website will be updated with extensive information about the exhibiting companies and their products. The new exhibitor brochure can also be ordered online at www.fastenerfair.com The new show organisers, Mack Brooks Exhibitions, are committed to increasing awareness about Fastener Fair Stuttgart particularly in Germany and its neighbouring countries. “We see a big potential in sustainably increasing the visitor numbers at Fastener Fair Stuttgart,” says show director Susanne Rauberger on behalf of the organisers. “Stuttgart, the venue of this exhibition, is the capital of one of Germany’s most prosperous business regions. The new Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre is ideally located within the South of Germany, as from here it is easily accessible, also from neighbouring countries such as Switzerland, Austria, France, as well as Italy and central and south eastern European countries. With our extensive multi-lingual visitor campaign in all of these markets, we are aiming at delivering an even larger audience of industry professionals to the next show,” explains Susanne Rauberger. Companies interested in participating at Fastener Fair Stuttgart should quickly contact the organisers, as demand for stand space is high and the allocation of floor space has already begun.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

news

Malaysia takes action on circumvention Malaysian authorities are reported to have visited 14 companies identified by EU investigatory body OLAF as potentially being involved in circumvention of the carbon steel fastener anti-dumping regulation.

ost of the companies are understood to be Chinese subsidiaries set up since the imposition of EU anti-dumping measures on fasteners from the People’s Republic of China. Sources in Malaysia report that several companies, where investigators found no or limited evidence of manufacturing capability, will no longer be able to obtain export approval and may face closure. Global Fasteners has confirmed it was one of the companies inspected. It says that, while the authorities are not issuing a formal ‘clean bill of health’ to any factory, it is confident it will continue to be able to obtain certification of origin and export its products to the EU. One UK importer is known to have obtained a Customs ‘Binding Origin Information’ in relation to imports from Global Fasteners. The Malaysian investigations follow reports in February in which the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) customs unit head, David Murphy, expressed concerns relating to transshipment of Chinese goods in the Port Klang Free Zone and re-export using Malaysian company invoices. At the time Murphy was quoted as saying that some firms also used false documents to obtain certificate of origin, adding that OLAF was working closely with the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti). Murphy also made it clear that there was a real risk Malaysia could be subject to commercial action by the EU unless the problem was resolved. Miti has been emphatic that OLAF was “highly satisfied” with co-operation it has provided. Nevertheless alarm bells have been ringing in the Malaysian fastener industry. Richard Yeap Soon Thong, a senior representative of Chin Well Holdings Bhd, has been expressing concerns to local media over the extent of circumvention that could be occurring in Malaysia and its immediate and potential impact on genuine fastener manufacturers in the country. According to Malaysian official data the country exported 99,000 tonnes of fasteners during 2009. Compared with 55,000 tonnes in 2008 that represents an 80% increase during a year in which most fastener exporting nations saw a huge fall in volumes. There can be little doubt that Miti will share the outcome of its investigations of the 14 companies with OLAF and that the latter will be able to use the information alongside EU customs records to identify recipients of shipments from companies, which the Malaysian investigation demonstrates do not have genuine manufacturing capability.

EU goes to WTO over Chinese anti-dumping tariffs According to reliable sources the European Commission has requested World Trade Organisation consultations with the People’s Republic of China regarding the provisional anti-dumping imposed by China against imports of certain fasteners originating in the EU. The 28th December 2009 measures applied an anti-dumping duty of 24.6% on a range of carbon steel fasteners from the EU.

he consultations are the first step in the WTO dispute process, and provide a sixty-day period during which both parties are supposed to seek a mutually acceptable solution. If an amicable agreement cannot be reached the EU will have the option to apply for a WTO panel to rule on the dispute. China made a similar application to the WTO last year in relation to EU anti-dumping duties on carbon steel fasteners from China. According to official WTO timeframes the WTO Panel should announce its findings to the parties by mid summer. However, in a statement issued in April the Panel announced that it would not complete its work until September 2010.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

STUDIO STAND UP

Specialised in the supply of fixing products, Ambrovit constantly updates its own range of articles to offer products which are always at the cutting edge of technology in a continually evolving market. Apart from supplying high quality products, the company has instituted a personalised service which has had winning results over time, called â&#x20AC;&#x153;READY FOR DELIVERYâ&#x20AC;?. This formula allows us to be closer to the needs and requests of our clients (both of the larger companies and of the small ironmonger), guaranteeing them rapid delivery independently of the quantity of goods and allowing them not to have to address, within their own company, the logistical and financial problems of stocking high levels of goods.

news

Stainless Steel anti-dumping investigation to be terminated The European Commission is shortly expected to issue a regulation terminating its anti-dumping investigation on stainless steel fasteners from India and Malaysia.

r Giuseppe Marzorati chairman of the EIFI Stainless Steel Group 3 has confirmed to Fastener + Fixing Magazine that he wrote to the director of Trade Defence, DG Trade on 1st April withdrawing the anti-dumping and antisubsidy complaints on stainless steel fasteners originating in India and Malaysia, which was filed by the EIFI on 30th June 2009. Dr Marzorati explained: “Investigations have shown that there may be a need to enlarge the product scope of the trade actions and verification of this will take some more time. That’s why EIFI decided to temporarily suspend the SSF complaints.” He added, “I would like to underline that there were other previous cases that were temporarily suspended but anyway had, after the necessary clarifications from the parties involved, a positive conclusion.” Susanne Kellner, head of section, Directorate H Trade Defence of the European Commission issued a letter to interested parties on 13th April, attaching a copy of the EIFI letter, and explaining that proceedings may be terminated according to the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy regulations unless such termination would not be in the Union’s interest. The Commission gave interested parties until 26th April to make known their views. Subsequently the Commission is known to have informed member states of its intention to terminate the investigation and is understood to be preparing to issue a regulation to that effect. There appears little doubt that the complainants had serious concerns that the investigation might conclude against it. Withdrawal means that the complainants are not bound by the convention, by which it is not generally possible to resubmit a complaint within 12 months of one having been rejected. By withdrawing at this point the potential exists for the complainants to present a new case quickly. The anti-dumping regulation should require a new decision on an investigation and a

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

return to the beginning of the procedural clock. How quickly a second investigation would proceed is likely to depend on how much of the Commission’s investigatory work could be transferred to the new case. There have been suggestions that the Commission was dissatisfied with the veracity of some information collected while investigating some exporting companies and that it needed more time to reinvestigate so significant further work may well be required in the event of a new investigation. The official timeframe set out in the antidumping regulation allows the Commission 45 days from lodging of a complaint to consider whether an investigation is required. It is then, though, permissible under the Regulation to apply preliminary tariffs as early as 60 days after the investigation commences. While it is improbable that things would move that swiftly in the event of a new case, the potential that preliminary tariffs could be applied earlier than the 9 month deadline appears substantial, which means considerable continued uncertainty for the importers and exporters involved. The existing anti-dumping regulation 1890/2005 relating to stainless steel fasteners from China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam reaches the end of its first fiveyear term in November this year. A notice of impending expiry should be issued in the EU Official Journal shortly. Community producers are entitled to lodge a review request, up to three months prior to the expiry date, presenting evidence that the expiry of the measures would be likely to result in a continuation or recurrence of dumping and injury. The Commission is required to provide opportunity for importers, representatives of the exporting country, and community producers to “amplify, rebut or comment on” the content of the review request. Assuming it finds in favour of a review request the measures could be extended for up to a further five years.

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news

Acument confirms sale of French factories Following court approval in France, Acument has confirmed the sale of the majority of its businesses there to Lisi, Agrati and the government organisation FMEA.

isi Automotive SAS acquired the La Ferté Fresnel facility plus the business contracts, staff and “select manufacturing assets” of the Bonneuil-sur-Marne facility. These plants had 2009 sales of 40 million euros, with Renault-Nissan a major customer, and employed 350 people. Agrati France and the FMEA (Fund for the Modernisation of Automotive Suppliers) jointly acquired the Amiens, Fourmies and Vieux Condé manufacturing plants in Northern France; the La Bridoire plant in Southern France and a services centre in à Créteil near Paris. These plants achieved sales of 97 million euros in 2009, primarily to the French automotive sector. In an interview with local media, the new managing director for Agrati’s French operations, Antoine Lopez, emphasised the importance of the relationships with Renault and Peugeot Citroen, demand from whom represents 80% of the acquired companies’ sales. FMEA invested 17 million euros in the French subsidiary of Agrati, which put a further 18 million euros into the deal. The FMEA has a presence on the board of Agrati France. The FMEA says an “ambitious 35 million euro investment program will be implemented over a 3 year period”. The FMEA is a Fonds Commun de Placement à Risques - with investment from Peugeot-Citroen, Renault and the French sovereign investment fund FSI. Agrati is understood to be expecting delivery of a number of new Sacma cold formers and to be making preparations for the installation of new heat treatment equipment.

Stanley and Black & Decker complete merger The Stanley Works has announced that it has completed its merger with the Black & Decker Corporation.

resident and CEO John F. Lundgren commented: “We are extremely pleased to announce the combination of these two companies and are both prepared and excited for our future as Stanley Black & Decker.” He added: “We have made significant strides to this point in laying the foundation for a successful integration and feel certain we have the talent, experience and strategy to achieve our goals.” The combined company will be known as Stanley Black & Decker. Under the merger agreement, each outstanding share of Black & Decker common stock will be converted into 1.275 shares of Stanley Works common stock. The existing Stanley Works shares will remain outstanding and will represent approximately 50.5% of the shares outstanding after the merger. The combined company will trade on the NYSE under the symbol “SWK”. Stanley Black & Decker, a S&P 500 company, is a diversified global provider of hand tools, power tools and related accessories, mechanical access solutions and electronic security solutions, engineered fastening systems, and more.

Bossard announces stronger Q1 sales Bossard reports continued trading improvement in the first quarter of 2010, with sales increasing 24% on fourth quarter 2009 figures, to CHF 118.6 million (84.6 million euros) – 11.3% up year on year in local currency. European sales reached CHF 67 million, 22% up on third and fourth quarters 2009. Bossard says, “Although growth rates in the various markets varied, the uptrend in demand is noticeable throughout Europe”.

merican sales also showed a substantial improvement, almost 36% up compared to the last two quarters of 2009, at US$31 million. Asian first quarter sales showed “exceptional growth” to total CHF 18.8 million, 44.6% up year on year. Bossard says demand developed “much more strongly” than anticipated in the first three months of 2010 adding that this had been reflected in the procurement market, where supplier prices had risen further and delivery times become longer.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

International Exhibition for Fastener and Fixing Technology 2 2 – 24 1 F e b r u a r y 2 01 ar t Me s s e S t u tt g Ger ma n y

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news

Partnership between Francis Kirk and Molyslip

Holo-Krome expands global reach

The Francis Kirk Group has announced that it will be featuring Molyslip Atlantic, a UK manufacturer of greases, compounds and lubricants, on its website.

As part of its expanded operations, Holo-Krome Company recently launched Holo-Krome Europe, based in Dundee, Scotland.

he Molyslip range incorporates anti-seize compounds (including Copaslip), metalworking products, oil supplements, food manufacturing greases and other specialist and general maintenance lubricants. Molyslip highlights that it continues to expand and develop its range of specialist compounds and greases for use in all sectors of industry, particularly in metal-working, food and beverage production and packaging, and precision engineering. Moyslip explains that it aims to offer products which reduce downtime, increase efficiency and prolong the life of expensive items of capital equipment, thereby saving users time and money. Gary Chaffey, sales manager for the UK commented: “Francis Kirk and Molyslip have been working together for over a decade. We believe this is an excellent opportunity to work with a leading distributor to increase our brand awareness and availability”.

he location will stock inventory of both SAE and metric sizes of critical application fasteners along with specialty parts. “With new ownership backing us, we now have more resources available to pursue growth opportunities,” explains Holo-Krome director of operations Tim Thompson. “This will allow us to fill gaps in our current offering and expand our reach – all while continuing our tradition of 100% made in the USA quality.” According to sales manager Harry Lyons: “Holo-Krome Europe is ideally positioned to continue the supply of critical fasteners for the global market outside North America.” The new facility is supported by Holo-Krome Company’s QA, engineering, marketing and logistics personnel to ensure prompt responses to any customer inquiries for product availability, technical support or specialty parts. Holo-Krome was recently acquired by Fastenal Company in December of last year.

Acument builds new fastener plant in Brazil Acument is in the final stages of constructing a new 280,000 square feet production facility in Atibaia, about an hour north of Sao Paulo, Brazil, reports GlobalFastenerNews.com

mploying 300 workers the plant will enable Acument to improve manufacturing productivity in Brazil, by gradually consolidating production from its nearly 60 year old plant in Sao Paulo. The Sao Paulo plant is scheduled to close in 2011 after the Atabaia plant is running smoothly. Acument will also relocate its South American headquarters to the new plant. Michael Dorah has been appointed general manager replacing Marcello Marchiano, who leaves Acument after six years. Dorah joined Acument as vice president of Lean manufacturing, systems and planning in June 2008, having served 13 years at American Axle & Manufacturing.

NORMA website goes Chinese NORMA Group now offers a Chinese version of its website, where Chinese speaking users can go to get the relevant information they are looking for in their own language. All a user has to do to get access to the Chinese website is visit the NORMA website and select the Chinese language icon.

ORMA Group highlights that on its website a list of comprehensive information is available regarding NORMA Group and its different brands and products. The website also features a Media Centre, where business graphics, photos and catalogues can be downloaded. “We are very pleased to widen NORMA Group’s service range in the Asian market. Besides the English and German ones, we are now introducing the third language version of the website – and there are more to come.” said Florent Pellissier, global marketing manager of NORMA Group.

Vegas show sales well ahead The 14th Annual National Industrial Fastener Show/West scheduled for November 8th -10th 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas is running well ahead of last year’s pace with 551 booths sold to 442 companies, show manager, Susan Hurley has announced.

S 14

he went on to add: “We have already sold 86% of the floor plan and are receiving new inquiries and exhibit space applications on a regular basis. We sold 49 booths in April and are seeing increased interest as the economy continues to improve and fastener orders are picking up. We are also seeing many companies return to the Show after missing last year. Plus, the expanded Machinery & Tooling section has added to the gain with 22 companies signed up”.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

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Customer-friendly and clear Wagener & Simon WASI GmbH & Co. KG has given its sales services a new structure. Since the beginning of this year, the three new sales areas of Industry, Commerce and ICO/Solar (Inter Company and Solar), have replaced the former four sales divisions with their six sales departments.

irk Kiele-Dunsche, CEO of WASI, explains: “We adapted the structure of our new sales services to the requirements of our customers in order to meet their needs in a more satisfying and efficient way. From now on every customer only has one contact for all products of WASI Norm, WASI Solar, WASI Special and WASI Maritim.” The new sales area Industry includes acquisition and re-activation of customers as well as services for medium-sized companies and also for large enterprises. WASI highlights that this will enable it to fulfil the customers’ requirements even better and with more detail. “Business partners who have a higher demand for expert advice, assortment and service will always get the competent attention, service and help they need. Furthermore, this classification will make the communication between WASI and the customers easier,” explains Frank Lehrich, manager of the new Industry sales division.

Top up with nuts

Fastbolt UK has introduced a stock range of DIN 934 Full Nuts. All sizes are available from M4 to M24 in zinc plated or zinc and yellow finishes and are small box packed.

astbolt says the nuts are a product that UK customers have been requesting for some time. They have been introduced as a service item to enable customers to top-up orders to achieve the company’s carriage paid order value. Stock has already started to arrive and the range is expected to be complete by the end of June.

Environmental Sudden death of Profil’s accreditation for Chemique managing director Chemique Adhesives and Sealants Ltd has announced that it has recently gained ISO 14001 accreditation for environmental management.

he accreditation recognises Chemique’s investment and research into environmentally friendly adhesives as well as continuous improvement to packaging and manufacturing processes to reduce the company’s impact on the local environment. Chemique explains that with ever increasing environmental legislations and regulations, customers and manufacturers are becoming much more environmentally aware. As a result, many manufacturers are now moving away from the traditional solvent based products. “Our ISO 14001 accreditation demonstrates that not only are our products manufactured with the protection of the environment in mind, but the whole company works to reduce its impact on the environment on a daily basis,” comments Mick McMullen, managing director.

Sheet metal fastening specialist, Profil (UK) Ltd has announced the sudden death of Michael Vieth, managing director of parent company Profil Verbindungstechnik GmbH, at the age of 50.

he drive and energy Herr Vieth brought to Profil during his 24 years with the company are reflected in its growth to a 40 million euro organisation in 2009, and its acknowledged leadership in pierce and rivet assembly technology by all of Europe’s major automobile manufacturers. Plans are already in hand to make a series of new appointments to safeguard the continued success of the company. In the meantime, Herr Vieth’s responsibilities for technical and product development will be assumed by Bernd Muller, while financial and commercial matters will be controlled by Petra Michels. As a result, all Profil’s production and delivery schedules, product development programs and commercial arrangements will remain unaffected by the company’s loss.

s s s s

american news By John Wolz editor@GlobalFastenerNews.com

Highlights of the NFDA Spring Conference The National Fastener Distributors Association spring conference took place in April at San Antonio, Texas.

McGrath: Distributor OEM contracts should protect in case of tariffs It is important for distributors to have clauses in contracts to offset anti-dumping duties, attorney Matt McGrath advised distributors at the National Fastener Distributors Association spring conference. “Stay informed,” he emphasized. McGrath, of Washington, D.C. based Barnes, Richardson & Colburn law firm, is U.S. counsel to importers in the Nucor fastener anti-dumping/countervailing duty investigations and appeals. Importers need to coordinate with manufacturers and trading companies, review pricing policies, have contract clauses on AD/CVD liability and evaluate third country and domestic suppliers, McGrath told delegates. Foreign manufacturers should review pricing and costs, prepare an audit trail, review contract clauses and consider becoming an importer of record. McGrath found the petitioners’ claim did not demonstrate the price effects. Imports remained a stable share of the market and did not change even during the recession. There will be a briefing on the appeal this summer followed by a decision during the autumn of 2010. McGrath ventured that the 6-0 vote was indicative that Nucor did not make its case and reduces its chance in appeals.

US fastener industry statistics Nilo Urbani, Nylok Corporation international division general manager, noted that U.S. Bureau of Census and Industrial Fasteners Institute statistics show the U.S. fastener industry employs 42,000 people. U.S. manufacturers are operating at 59% capacity. In 2009 a total of 33.1% of fasteners were imported, down from 40.3% in 2008. For other recent years the proportion was: 39% 2007; 38.8% 2006; and 36.7% for 2005. Taiwan is the number one supplier, followed by China, Japan, Canada and Germany. Taiwan’s 2009 exports were 31.9% by value and 37.1% by weight.

AD could push production to other countries Steen Hansen, of Bossard North America, noted that anti-dumping duties could force the transfer of production to other countries creating a “high risk of quality issues” and a costly, time-consuming process.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

There will be more China and EU/US trade barriers when tariffs are added, he said, adding that importers are more likely to develop new sources than for domestic production to increase. Bossard was among the companies battling anti-dumping tariffs. “We did it for our customers at a huge workload and cost,” Hansen said.

Taiwan perspective Steven Fang, director of the Taiwan Fastener Trading Association, pointed out that the value of Taiwan fasteners is headed “up and up” while tonnage is decreasing. “China is changing,” with more and more of its fastener production being consumed domestically, Fang explained. Fang noted that the Metal Industries Research & Development Centre and China Steel Corporation are encouraging Taiwan fastener manufacturers to produce higher value fasteners.

European perspectives Bernd Stapf, of the European Fastener Distributors Association, recalled that in 1980 imports were a small part of the European fastener supply. By 1990 Japan, Korea and Taiwan were major suppliers and by 1995 China was a major exporter to Europe. In 2007 China produced 70% of the fasteners Europe imported for a 26% market share. The price of imported fasteners is not just a finished product issue, Stapf pointed out. China’s subsidizing of raw material for steel is a factor. Current European tariffs range from 26.5% for one small producer to 87%, Stapf noted. He questioned whether the tariffs work, noting that one stainless steel manufacturer in Europe has been protected by anti-dumping duties “and is still not competitive.” Stapf said there was a “conflict of interest between globalization and national desires.” Geoff Hopwood, president of EFDA and chairman of UK master distributor Owlett-Jaton, said the European Fastener Distributors Association favours fair trade rather than dumping and subsidies. Hopwood questioned the need for anti-dumping duties. “If action was needed it was 20 years ago,” he suggested. The European anti-dumping “process is too political and subject to manipulation,” Hopwood observed. Hopwood also questioned whether anti-dumping policies really work. AD is inefficient because Europe has too many external borders and there is a real danger of “avoidance” via transshipping or other means. “The aim is not to compensate differences but to protect domestic production – without having the means to really

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ACT (FASTENERS & COMPONENTS) LIMITED T: +44 (0)1902 791880 F: +44 (0)1902 791884 E: info@actfasteners.co.uk W: www.actfastners.co.uk Units 13 & 16, Four Ashes Industrial Estate, Station Road, Four Ashes, Wolverhampton WV10 7DB, UK.

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american news control,” Hopwood said of tariffs. “What we really want is a stable market.” He noted that Birmingham was once the heart of the UK fastener industry and maybe even the world. Today there is little production of fasteners. “Anti-dumping hasn’t helped,” Hopwood suggested. “Ultimately customers worldwide will decide. Market forces will always prevail over short term distortions.” Hopwood also said “protection will not make the producers more fit for the global challenge.” Hopwood summarised European economic conditions to the conference before explaining that OEMs – which total 65% of fastener demand – decreased orders by 30% in 2009. MRO accounts dropped 15%. Looking ahead, Hopwood said the EFDA anticipates a modest recovery in challenging economic conditions and longer delivery times due to lower production. Raw material prices are triggering “massive price increases,” he added. Citing the global economy, global supply, consolidation, specialization, web information, value-added services and margin pressure, Hopwood said “we have never had so many issues at one time.”

New roles for NFDA “There is so much going on that is not in the U.S.,” the new president of the National Fastener Distributors Association told GlobalFastenerNews. com in explaining a new “strategic direction” for the organization, founded in 1968. Jim Derry was not just referring to importing of fasteners produced in Asia. U.S. distributors can sell around the world as well as import, he emphasized.

Derry’s Field Fastener began supplying fasteners internationally after an Illinois customer asked for its VMI service to a plant in Malaysia. Now the distributor is moving product to China. Many domestic distributors don’t know where to start when a customer asks them to supply the same products in other countries, said Derry, citing issues of logistics, inspection and contracts. The new NFDA mission will be to “help its members optimize the supply chain” from raw material production to OEMs and end consumers. Representatives of the European Fastener Distributors Association and Taiwan Fastener Trading Association participated in the NFDA’s annual spring conference in San Antonio. NFDA has previously sent representatives to both associations’ meetings. Currently the NFDA has 74 distributor members and 53 associates for a total of 127. The total now includes three Taiwanbased manufacturers as new members. Derry told GlobalFastenerNews.com that the NFDA board is looking to the new direction to “increase focus on areas where NFDA can provide greatest value to members.” In 2010 NFDA will also provide education on international trade and communicate to the industry on global events. Derry said it will “create the leadership/advocacy competency that will allow NFDA to become a leader in the industry.” In 2011 NFDA also plans to identify ideas to increase member efficiency and profitability, including additional affinity programs and the development of relationships to provide training and legal expertise about global trade. Relationships would be developed with entities to help distribution sell in selected countries and to develop a vendor database. 2012 goals were identified as to “develop a clearing house for company capabilities”; coordinate with existing international certification/inspection programs; and “coordinate discussions with all fastener associations about forming a new ‘umbrella’ organization”.

New IFI chair IFI Soaring Larry Valeriano of California Screw Products Corp. is the new chair of the Industrial Fasteners Institute and Jennifer Johns Friel, Mid West Fabricating Co., is the new vice chair.

aleriano started in the fastener industry in 1983 as a machinist at aerospace manufacturer FIT Inc. He joined California Screw in 1985. Four years ago Valeriano and two other employees bought Paramount, CA-based California Screw from the original owners. Valeriano is now president and general manager. The aerospace manufacturer has 57 employees and has grown from US$8 million annual sales in 2005 to US$21 million in 2008. Valeriano succeeds Edward Plomer Jr. of ITW Shakeproof/ Anchor/Medalist as chairman. Friel is following in the footsteps of her father, David Johns, who was IFI chair in 1993-94, and husband Michael Friel, who chaired the IFI in 2005-06.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Eagle Awards

Jack Pekar, Joseph Tomalis and Donald Surber were honored with the Industrial Fastener Institute’s 2010 Soaring Eagles Awards.

ekar, who is lead principal for PT&G Consulting, received the Ward Leadership Award for “vision and leadership in the development of quality standards which have contributed significantly to the consistency and reliability of fastener manufacturing.” Tomalis received the Trowbridge Technology Award for “critical innovations in fastener tooling design and fastener manufacturing processes, and for his contributions to the development of recess headed screws.” Surber, who is CEO of ATF Inc., was given the Case Meritorious Service Award for “outstanding leadership, twice having served as chairman of the IFI, and the always wise and thoughtful counsel you have provided to both the IFI and to the fastener industry.” Surber was chairman of the Industrial Fasteners Institute for 1984-85 and 1997-98.

american news

Hillman to be acquired by private equity Fastener distributor Hillman Companies Inc. agreed to be acquired by Oak Hill Capital Partners in a deal worth about US$815 million.

ak Hill, a 24-year-old private equity firm with more than US$8.4 billion in its portfolio, is investing in partnership with Hillman’s current management team, led by CEO Mick Hillman, to buy the Cincinnati-based company from Code Hennessy & Simmons and certain company management. “We believe Oak Hill Capital will be a value-added partner because they understand our company and the industry, and they believe in the growth opportunities for our business,” Mick Hillman stated. Hillman’s publicly traded trust preferred securities will remain outstanding, will not be converted or exchanged, and will continue to trade on the NYSE-AMEX.

Hillman reported 2009 revenue of US$482 million. The company closed its distribution center at the Island Park industrial complex in Green Island, NY, in early 2009 in anticipation of a deepening global recession, shifting distribution operations back to its headquarters in Cincinnati. Founded as a fastener company in 1964, Hillman is a value-added distributor of over 60,000 SKUs, including fasteners, key duplication systems, engraved tags and related hardware items to over 21,000 retail customers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and South America. Hillman’s customer portfolio includes Ace Hardware, True Value, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, Walmart, Menards and Do it Best Corp.

Petchel succeeds Dorflinger at Nylok Max Dorflinger is retiring as Nylok Corporation president and Woody Petchel of the parent company succeeds him.

ilo Urbani was named general manager for the International Division and Jim Zima succeeds Urbani as general manager for North America. Dorflinger was the 1996-97 chair of the Industrial Fasteners Institute and 1988-89 associate chair of the National Fastener Distributors Association. The IFI honored Dorflinger with it Soaring Eagle Ward Leadership Award in 2008.

Nylok manufactures fastener processes and coatings for self locking, self sealing and thread protection. Founded in 1942 it now has plants in Michigan Illinois, California and New Jersey and twenty licensees in Europe, Asia and South America. Petchel comes from Berkshire Hathaway Company – owner of the Marmon Group, which acquired Nylok in 2000. Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway acquired Marmon in 2008. Zima, previously with ITW, also joins Nylok from Marmon.

Fabrico targets metal fastener alternatives Materials converter Fabrico announced a focused initiative in bonding, joining, and sealing applications.

he company stated that “Through engineered materials and packaged adhesives, Fabrico offers its customers more effective and flexible alternatives to metal fasteners that enhance product design, performance, and economy,” it added. “In addition to converted adhesive film and foam parts, the new business unit will offer liquid adhesives and dispensers.” Fabrico’s bonding, joining and sealing capabilities incorporate product engineering, die cut adhesives, and liquid adhesives. Product engineering includes full application assessment, product development, materials engineering and sourcing, prototyping, and testing to meet performance and cost objectives. Material die-cutting and converting capabilities include thin film and high strength bonding adhesive materials converted from bulk rolls or adhesive laminate sheets into finished products, which include adhesive foam tapes and die-cut, adhesive backed parts. In addition, Fabrico plans to offer packaging and distribution of liquid adhesives including epoxies, one- and two-part silicones, cyanoacrylate adhesives, anaerobic adhesives, and other single and plural component adhesive products. The new business unit features applications for a variety of adhesives, including adhesives for low surface energy plastics, adhesives for harsh environments, high-strength adhesives, and large surface area bonding adhesives. Kennesaw, GA Fabrico’s vendors include 3M and Loctite. Founded in 1975 in Atlanta, Fabrico, a division of EIS, has manufacturing facilities in Georgia, California, Wisconsin and Mexico.

FINdex roars back in opening quarter After gaining 10% in the final quarter of 2009, the FIN Fastener Stock Index came roaring back in the first quarter of 2010, jumping 66%. The FINdex bested a composite index of related industrial stocks, which grew 47% during the quarter.

hare value growth was impressive for nearly all public companies with fastener holdings. No FINdex companies lost stock value in the opening quarter. B/E Aerospace continued to hold the top spot, with its stock nearly quadrupling in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the opening quarter of 2009. B/E Aerospace also turned in the standout stock performance of 2009, with its shares more than tripling in value in the months following its acquisition of

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Honeywell’s aerospace fastener distribution business, Honeywell Consumable Solutions, for US$1.06 billion. The deal transformed B/E Aerospace into one of the largest distributors of aerospace fasteners in the world. Other publicly held fastener companies monitored by GlobalFastenerNews.com whose share value more than doubled during Q1 include Precision Castparts, Carpenter Technologies, Park-Ohio and Dorman.

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asian news

Shanghai show Chun Zu unveils expects strong New CBP276S Part Former support The Fastener Expo Shanghai 2010, which opens for three days from 16th June, is staking its claim to become the largest specialist fastener exhibition in mainland China when it launches in June.

rganisers Shanghai Ebseek Exhibition Co Ltd has announced it has bookings for 480 booths (each 9 square metres) , to be occupied by 246 exhibiting companies, at Fastener Expo Shanghai. Two hundred domestic exhibitors will be joined by 46 foreign companies – thirty from Taiwan; 9 from Korea; 5 from Europe; and one each from the USA and Japan. “Two months away from Fastener Expo Shanghai, the result is far over our expectation. Fastener Expo Shanghai 2010 is quite popular with fastener and fastener facility enterprises at home and abroad,” said Mr. Jin Tao, project manager of Fastener Expo Shanghai, “Gem-Year has booked a booth of 207 square metres to display its products, which is the biggest booth area in this exhibition; Baosteel has a booth of 180 square metres and Carlo Salvi a booth of 36 square metres.” The exhibition, which is sponsored by the China Fastener Industry Association, will cover two floors at the Shanghai Everbright Exhibition Center (West Hall). One floor is for “fastener facilities and materials”, the second for “finished fastener products”. Carlo Salvi is joined by several other European manufacturing technology exhibitors, including punch specialist Sala Punzoni; heat treatment supplier CIEFFE, also from Italy; CPM and BRANKAMP from Germany, and Nedschroef Machinery from Belgium. Other so-called “facilities” exhibitors include National Machinery, which has its own plant in Suzhou; Chun Zu, also with a Chinese facility; MEIGS Machinery, which has a unit in Guangdong; and King Ann Industrial, which has a Shanghai subsidiary. Local machinery companies include Zhejiang Yeswin Machinery and Shanghai Jianan Electro-Thermal Machine. The show will include a face-to-face purchasing meeting, organised by ChinaFastener.com (a sister publication to the organisers and no relation to the company behind the Hangzhou Fastener Trade Show) to match-make selected Chinese fastener manufacturers with invited global fastener buyers. From an original published target of having over 500 exhibitors to stand alongside the Las Vegas and Stuttgart fastener shows, the Fastener Expo Shanghai 2010 has, undoubtedly, had to temper its ambitions. That said it has the natural benefit of location in Shanghai, albeit not at a major exhibition venue. It also has strong official blessing in the form of the CFIA and its umbrella organisation the China General Machine Component Industry Association. This magazine will publish a report in its July issue.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

(report courtesy of Fastener World magazine)

Chun Zu unveiled its new CBP276S 6-station diameter parts former at its plant, attracting the interest of many Taiwanese fastener manufacturers as well as potential buyers from Japan, India, West Asia, Europe, and the U.S. The first machine is scheduled for installation at the Chun Yu plant in Kangshan Town, Kaohsiung.

uests were provided with detailed specifications of the new machine and demonstrations of other Chun Zu equipment. The CBP series will have a maximum cut off diameter of 41mm and will be capable of producing up to 320mm long. Chun Zu has also inaugurated its new Kadimi Tech Centre in Gurgaon, India. Kadimi International is Chun Zu’s business partner in India. The centre not only demonstrates the latest technologies in fastener machinery, it also provides training programs on the fastener machinery for Indian fastener and parts makers.

CSC increases steel prices again for June Taiwan steel maker China Steel Corporation announced that its steel prices to domestic customers will increase by an average 10.2% from June. Bar and rod prices will increase by NT$1,600/tonne (around 7.5%).

n its statement CSC notes that iron ore benchmark prices have surged between 80 and 100 percent and estimates that steel production cost per tonne is set to increase by US$160US$200 between April and June. It says its moderate price increase is to allow downstream customers time to adjust and indicates that there is “room for further price markup in the next quarter”. CSC has been forced to accept a 90% quarterly increase in iron ore and has seen the price of coking coal rise by 55%. The steel maker has already increased costs by an average NT$1,600 since the beginning of the year. Korean steelmaking giant POSCO increased its prices by an average 25% in May, citing similar increases in the cost of iron ore and coking coal.

asian news

increased visitors to third chinese Fastener Trade show Organised by China Fastener Info, the 3rd Fastener Trade Show was held at the Leisure Expo Garden Exhibition Center, Hangzhou, China on March 23rd - 25th, 2010, highlighting the theme of “Large Market Potential, Higher Level Development”.

he exhibition was co-organised by Zhejiang Fasteners Industry Association, and supported by industrial associations, including China Productivity Center for Machinery, China Fasteners Standardisation Technical Committee and China National Center for Quality Supervision and Test of Standard Parts. China Fastener Info tells us that 239 exhibiting companies covered the equivalent of 282 standard booth spaces. 21 exhibiting companies presented their products from specially designed stands. All exhibiting companies are understood to have been Chinese. Within an exhibition space of 13,000 square meters, exhibitors showcased their latest fastener products and supporting technologies, the organisers reported. This is the first show that China Fastener Info has organised outside of its home city of Guangzhou – although the company does have a satellite branch in Hangzhou to be close to some of the major areas of fastener production. While the change of location makes direct comparison slightly questionable the third Fastener Trade Show did have 13% fewer exhibitors than the Autumn 2009 event in Guangzhou. The organisers highlighted Eastern Chinese exhibiting companies which included: Shanghai Jingyang, Shanghai Rivet Manufacture, Shanghai Qiangyi, Shanghai Guanbiao, Zhejiang New Oriental, Zhejiang Morgan Brother, Zhejiang Qifeng, Jiaxing Chaoboer. Rivet manufacturers included Wuxi Anshida, Shanghai SRC, Shanghai Fast-Fix, Jingjiang Hengfeng, Shanghai Rivet Precision, Wuxi 3 Star and Jiangsu Huaji. The show organisers reported professional visitor numbers at 7,662 - an increase of 6% over its Autumn 2009 event in Guangzhou. China Fastener Info’s analysis indicates that 21% of visitors claimed to be from the automotive sector, with slightly fewer from construction (20%), industrial machinery (18%) and

Overseas buyers 32%

3% 3% 3% 4%

17%

12% 7% 5%

the electronics/electrical (15%) sectors. 681 foreign buyers were recorded – see the pie chart above for a breakdown. 17% of visitors were reportedly from Japan, a market increasingly targeted by Chinese fastener producers.

Not surprisingly, therefore, China Fastener Info highlights the significance of a delegate group from four Japanese companies, “showing very strong interest in working with Chinese manufacturers who supply automotive fasteners”. During the exhibition, China Fastener Info also offered a series of value-added activities, including its “Fastener FAQ Forum”, a welcoming reception, and a series of meetings for association members and experts. Mr. Li Qin, chairman of China Productivity Center for Machinery; Li Weirong, chairman of China Fastener Standardisation Technical Committee; Japan and Xu Deren, executive vice president & secretary-general of Zhejiang Fasteners USA Industrial Association gave their speeches at the Turkey welcoming reception. China Fastener Info notes that the 3rd India Fastener Trade Show coincided with a “waning of the financial crisis, the emerging policy effects Malaysia and the recovery of economy”. Against this South Korea backdrop, it says, Chinese fastener enterprises became very active. Claiming to be the largest Russia professional exhibition fastener in China, the Fastener Trade Show also reckons to be a Italy strong barometer of China fastener industry. The UK Organising Committee, reports China Fastener Info, found that most interviewees conveyed Singapore the same idea: “The China fastener industry is recovering and the Fastener Trade Show is doing Others better and better”. On September 8th -10th, 2010, the 4th Fastener Trade Show returns to Guangzhou at the Poly World Trade Expo Center (Pazhou) – a variation from China Fastener Info’s previously announced intention to run the event in Shenzen.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

R u s s i a n + CIS N e w s Alexander Ostashov, Editor Fastener, Adhesives, Tools and… Magazine www.fastinfo.ru

Russia to apply ‘safeguard’ duty on fastener imports

The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade has announced the findings of its “safeguard” investigation in relation to the import of steel bolts, nuts and spring washers.

ccording to Federal Law #165 – FL “On special protective, anti-dumping and compensational measures regarding imported goods”, the Government of the Russian Federation issued a draft regulation on 22nd April proposing the application of a special duty of 11.6% but not less than US$282.4 per tonne on machine building fasteners covered by six tariff codes: • 7318 15 810 0. • 7318 16 910 9. • 7318 15 890 0. • 7318 16 990 0. • 7318 15 900 9. • 7318 21 000 9.

Products affected include: • Threaded bolts from ferrous metals with hexagon or other head designs with external thread diameters ranging from 6mm to 30mm, whether with our without nuts and washers, coated or uncoated. • Hexagon nuts from ferrous metals with inner diameter from 5mm through 30mm, coated or uncoated.

• Single-turn spring washers from ferrous metals for bolts, screws and stud-bolts with diameter from 6mm through 42mm, coated or uncoated. The special duty would not apply to imports of fasteners intended for motor vehicles or their sub-assemblies, on condition that the purpose of the designated goods is confirmed by technical documentation. Fasteners from Belarus and from “developing countries” included in the Russian Federation’s preferential trading list would also be excluded. The Ministry makes clear, however, that the tariffs would apply to fasteners from the Peoples’ Republic of China, Hong Kong and also Taiwan. The Federal Customs Service will be responsible for collection of the special duty. The regulation comes into force one month after the date of publication and remains in effect for three years.

Economic downturn reduced Russian production by 23% Using September 2008 as the peak comparison month, the volume of industrial production in Russia decreased 23% because of the economic crisis, according to Viktor Khristenko, head of the ministry of trade and industry of Russia. “Comparing with the best month – September 2008 – industrial production fell by 23% and has now restored to a level of minus 11%”, he explained.

he minister noted that different sectors of industry are recovering irregularly. “The picture is a bit ‘motley’, different branches develop differently. Those focused on export and consumer demand have felt the most positive recovery.” Pharmaceutics, shipbuilding and aviation appeared to still be the most sensitive sectors. However, most of the sectors have survived the downturn. “Among them motor car production decreased production by almost 60%”, underlined Khristenko. Speaking about expectations he noted that “we needed a year and a half for the first part of restoration, we shall probably need a bit less for the second half”. Speaking about the automotive sector Khristenko said that dealers had drawn more than 70 thousand of a planned 200 thousand licenses for scrapping old cars, and about 25 thousand people had already exchanged their licences for new cars. He described this as a “very good dynamic” and also noted that a similar number of people had already benefited from a soft auto loan program. “These measures have started to restore the market,” said Khristenko. The head of the ministry of trade and industry underlined that Russia will not repeat the unsuccessful experience of some European countries. “The main point is to control these measures to smoothly coincide with the general natural recovery process. The experiment will help us to build a legal and technical infrastructure for the process of stimulation of new car purchases and removal of old vehicles from the market”. The minister noted that market preferences had change, with 58% of car demand in the first quarter of 2010 being for cars produced in Russia, mainly foreign brands assembled at the Russian territory.

Peiner fasteners obtain Russian certification Bolt.Ru Company together with Mosty Science and Research Center and CNIIC-TEST Research Center have completed certification tests of grade 10.9 high-tensile bolts, produced to DIN EN 14399 by German Company Peiner Umformtechnik GmbH. SRC Mosty have confirmed that physical and mechanical characteristics of the certified bolts M16 – M27 correspond fully to the requirements of GOST 52643-52646. SRC Mosty, therefore, considers Peiner high-tensile fasteners, imported to Russia by Bolt.Ru Company, suitable for domestic bridge building.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

R u s s i a n + CIS N e w s

Fasttec Show takes places Mechel increases production in Quarter 1 at Crocus Expo Centre Mechel, a leading Russian mining and metallurgical company, has announced production results for the first quarter of 2010.

teel production increased 30% compared with Quarter 1 2009 and totalled 1.4 million tonnes. Cast iron production increased by 53% to 1.05 million tonnes and output of mill products rose 44% to 1.5 million tonnes. Production of metal products raised 46%. The only area where volumes reduced was the production of power station coal, which fell 21% to 2.286 million tonnes.

Following speculation about the future of the Moscow fastener exhibition Fasttec, organisers MVK have confirmed the event will go ahead 24th - 27th May in Pavilion 2, Hall 8 at the Crocus Expo Centre, just outside Moscow.

VK has not issued an exhibitor list but known exhibitors include BOLT.Ru, BelZan, Drughkovsky Metizny Zavod, Rechitsky Mitizny Plant (Belarus), Doerken MKS Systeme, Deepak Fasteners, SPAX Polska and Wrekmet. The event is co-organised with the Rosmetiz Hardware Association.

Severstal-Metiz high-tensile fasteners certified Severstal-Metiz Group of companies, a part of Severstal Russian steel division, has obtained certification for its high tensile fasteners.

he quality of bolts and nuts is now confirmed by the certificate of conformity to the requirements of the standard documents GOST P 52643-2006, 52644-2006, 52645-2006, issued by OS Prommash by VNIINMASH (Moscow). Dmitriy Lebedev, the head of the fastener department of the company commented: “Bridge fasteners themselves don’t come within the requirement of obligatory certification, but in case you want to be competitive in this market segment you need an independent assessment of your goods quality.” He added: “Moreover the main market players possess similar certificates”. “Users are not obliged to ensure certification of the fasteners, and they prioritise suppliers according to a range of issues, such as consistency of performance, attractive price, packaging, delivery, etc. The optional certificate, though, is definitely a plus. That is why our company made a decision to obtain certification using the expertise of the Most-test independent laboratory in St Petersburg.”

News on nail markets

By Elena Semak Editor, Metiz Magazine

Russian nail production fell 13% in 2009 The production of nails in Russia fell by 13% in 2009 to around 104,000 tonnes.

he Ural Alloy Plant produced 41,600 tonnes; MMK Ironware 18,200 tonnes; Severstal 17,200 tonnes; Mechel 17,000 tonnes; Western Siberian Metallurgical 10,600 tonnes. In January 2010 key Russian producers delivered 7,000 tonnes of nails, around 3% up on January 2009.

Ukraine nail production fell 15% The production of nails in the Ukraine in 2009 fell by 15% compared with 2008 to around 45,700 tonnes.

neprometiz produced 11,780 tonnes; Ironware Plant 11,650 tonnes, Dneprodzerzhinsk UPP 5,840 tonnes; “Neil” Plant 5,400 tonnes; Chernovitskiy plant 1,830 tonnes; Rommar 1,720 tonnes; Vistek 1,470 tonnes; Zaporozh’ye SPZ 1,190 tonnes; NETSo 1,020 tonnes; Garan Ironware 700 tonnes. In January 2010 the volume of the production of nails in the Ukraine was reduced by 31% compared to January last year. Ironware Plant led the table with 630 tonnes; Dneprometiz 500 tonnes; Dneprodzerzhinsk UPP 230 tonnes.

“Neil” Plant opens in L’vov One of the most important producers of nails in the Ukraine “Neil” Plant has opened a branch in L’vov – the company’s sixth. It also operates in Vinnitsa, Zhitomir, Mukachevo, Ivano Frankovske and Ternopol.

B 30

ased on 2009 statistics ‘Neil’ represents 12% of the total nail production in the Ukraine. About 40% of its nails are exported into Europe, including to Belgium, Holland, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Moldova.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Beneri速 SpA is the Italian leader in toothed washer manufacturer with over 50 years experience. Beneri速 SpA supplies washers (ex Din6798A) with overlapping teeth from diameter 3mm up to 16mm. Toothed Washers guarantee an effective and optimal application only if the teeth are overlapped and movement between washers and screw is limited to the minimum by ensuring a close tolerance with the washer internal diameter. Toothed washers are not spring washers but rather safety elements. The overlapped teeth bite into the material of both the fastener and the work surface to create an interference lock, which means that even under significant external vibration stress, the joint is highly resistant to rotating loose. Even when joint tension is minimal the toothed washer continues to offer frictional resistance to loosening. Unlocking can only be carried out with the proper tool.

Washers without overlapped teeth are ineffective

STANDARD SURFACE TREATMENT Self finish and oiled. Oiled washers have a minimum resistance level of 8 hours in the salt spray chamber.

OTHER SURFACE TREATMENT Beneri toothed washers can be supplied either with a phosphated surface treatment (minimum salt spray resistance 16 hours) or white/yellow electrolytic zinc coating (minimum salt spray resistance 96 hours).

Viale XXV Aprile, 56 23868 VALMADRERA (LC), Italy tel: +39 0341 581 101 fax: +39 0341 583 471 www.beneri.com info@beneri.com

c O v e r s TO r Y

The new Brighton Best international Since its acquisition by the Ta Chen Group in 2008, Brighton-Best’s global operations have undergone a transformation. The opening of a custom built 60,000 square feet warehouse in the UK’s West Midlands signals a new approach to the European market. Brighton Best International outlines its vision. Inventory

The newly formed Brighton-Best International (BBI) is no longer limited to alloy socket screws. We now carry a full range of medium carbon, low carbon, and stainless hex heads, sockets, nuts, washers, and more. The vision for the new BBI is to be a “one-stop-shop” for all fastener purchases. Purchasing managers no longer have to cut separate purchase orders for all the different product categories. Through the simple reduction in the number of purchase orders placed, our distributors will be able to increase their own efficiencies. With our website, customers are able to see the real-time availability of our inventory. With over one million square feet of warehouse space globally, including a brand new, 60,000 square feet facility in the UK, why incur unnecessary holding and storing costs? We welcome our customers to use our inventory as their own.

Quality

“We are all connected in the distribution chain by trust and mutual reliance. If BBI forces its suppliers to sell at unsustainable costs or its customers to buy at non-competitive prices, the chain will be weakened and eventually break. In order for BBI to succeed, its customers as well as its suppliers must thrive.” BBI only partners with proven, high quality suppliers and manufacturers throughout the world. BBI has been working with many of its suppliers for over 30 years. The relationship is one of partnership and cooperation where the supplier and BBI both grow through stability and economies of scale. When a master distributor forces its manufacturers to price at its break-even or no profit point, the factories will find a way to make money by cutting costs. A lesser grade base material may be used, tooling on machines may be replaced less frequently, sample tests may be conducted on every 10,000 pieces rather than 1,000 pieces, etc. Businesses all need to be profitable to support their employees, their factories, and their families. We look to build a true partnership with our supplier base, and by definition of a true partnership, we ensure that our suppliers will make money by doing business with Brighton-Best. A supplier who is always scraping by will lead to not only poor quality products over time, but will also not be sustainable.

Pricing

Most fastener distribution companies concentrate on perfecting one business model: Distribution. At Brighton-Best, we understand that for us to be good at distribution we have to first understand manufacturing. Price increases from suppliers and manufacturers are not arbitrary or irrational but rather stems from the pricing of raw materials and costs of conversion. We have built a team of executives and staff who have dedicated and deep experience /knowledge in both fastener manufacturing and distribution. By understanding each cost component of fastener manufacturing, BBI can ensure that it will be able to

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

source at the most competitive pricing and therefore provide pricing stability to its customers now as well as in the future.

Service

Customer service has always been a part of Brighton-Best’s culture and is ingrained in each and every employee at BBI. Our goal is to return a customer’s loyalty and commitment through excellent customer service at all levels. “We believe that great inventory and pricing can only take a company so far. If you cannot provide the world-class customer service and delivery to your customers, they will eventually take their business elsewhere.” We strive to build a relationship of trust with every customer: • The trust that the inventory will be available. • The trust that the pricing will be most competitive. • The trust that the product will be delivered when requested. • The trust that the products are high quality and from a reputable source. • The trust that BBI will be around to provide the highest possible level of customer service for the next one hundred years. At BBI, every order, large or small, is important.

Technology

Technology is the core of who we are as a company. Ta Chen and Brighton-Best have over 40 IT professionals in Taiwan and the United States to support our growth. All our systems from the order entry system to our warehouse management and inventory controls are all developed in-house. The benefits of having an internal IT group are enormous as we are not reliant on inflexible third party providers to develop and enhance our programs. Our IT system is a living fabric, always evolving to better meet the needs of our company and our customers. “The acquisition of Brighton-Best by Ta Chen has opened the doors to new technologies that we could not have imagined in the past,” says industry veteran and BBI vice president of sales, Steve Andrasik.

Many people wonder why BBI pushes the web so hard. Certainly the web offers benefits to Brighton-Best. It allows our sales force to be more customer service oriented and true salesmen rather than just order takers. However, the true benefit to the web is to our distributors. The web is a portal to our market place. From this portal, our customers will be able to see the full breadth and depth of our inventory, find pricing, and reduce their own procurement costs by minimising quoting time. Available 24/7, the web allows our distributors to utilise Brighton-Bestâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one million square feet of warehouse space as their own without any hold-time on the phone. There are other benefits such as finding material certifications and the ability to check order status and track shipments.

Conclusion The strength of Brighton-Best is the ability to redefine the channel and to build efficiencies throughout the distribution process. With our suppliers, we looked to build efficiencies by providing consistent orders so they can better plan their production cycle. In terms of warehouse distribution, we have more than doubled our regional warehouse square footage to eliminate warehouse to warehouse transfer costs. And for our distributors, we now offer our web portal through which our customers can rely on our technological platform as their own. Our primary goal is to remove excess and unnecessary costs from the distribution chain so that we can pass through savings onto our distributors. This is the reason why we are able to provide a high quality product at the most competitive pricing.

Also included in this issue is an interview with Robert Shieh, president of Brighton Best International - page 82

www.fastenerandfixing.com

events calendar

Intersolar Europe Where: Munich, Germany When: 9 Jun - 11 Jun 2010 What: International exhibition for solar technology.

Web: www.intersolar.de

Subcon 2010

Fastener Fair Budapest

2010 Fastener Expo Shanghai + 1st Shanghai Auto Fastener Exhibition

MSV Brno

European Automotive Components Expo

Automechanika

Where: Birmingham, UK When: 8 Jun - 10 Jun 2010 Web: www.subconshow.co.uk What: Subcontracting manufacturing show.

Where: Shanghai, China When: 16 Jun - 18 Jun 2010 Web: en.fastenerexpo.cn What: Specialist industrial fastener exhibition.

Where: Stuttgart, Germany When: 22 Jun - 24 Jun 2010 Web: www.eac-expo.com What: Automotive components exhibition.

Where: Budapest, Hungary When: 6 Sep - 7 Sep 2010 Web: www.fastenerfair.hu What: Central and eastern european fastener event.

Where: Brno, Czech Rep When: 13 Sep - 17 Sep 2010 Web: www.bvv.cz/msv-gb What: International engineering fair.

Where: Frankfurt, Germany When: 14 Sep - 19 Sep 2010 Web: www.automechanika.messefrankfurt.com What: Trade for the automotive industry.

14th Mechanical Components & Materials Technology Expo

BalticBuild

The 11th China (Guangzhou) Metal and Metallurgy Exhibition

Wire China 2010

Where: Tokyo, Japan When: 23 Jun - 25 Jun 2010 Web: www.mtech-tokyo.jp/english/ What: Mechanical components and materials technologies.

Where: Guangzhou, China When: 23 Jun - 26 Jun 2010 Web: www.julang.com.cn/english What: Metal industries and materials including fasteners.

Industrial Components & Subcontracting Where: Bangkok, Thailand When: 24 Jun - 27 Jun 2010 Web: www.components-subcon.com What: Industrial parts, components, equipment and solutions exhibition.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Issue 63 May 2010

Where: St.Petersburg, Russia When: 15 Sep - 17 Sep 2010 Web: www.balticbuild.ru What: Building and interiors exhibition.

Where: Shanghai, China When: 21 Sep - 24 Sep 2010 Web: www.mdna.com/shows/wirechina.html What: Wire and cable, including fastener manufacturing technology.

HUSUM WindEnergy

Where: Husum, Germany When: 21 Sep - 25 Sep 2010 Web: www.husumwindenergy.com What: Wind energy trade fair.

accurately ﬁtting. precise.

Maximum Efﬁciency Made in Germany: that’s Pühl! We do not only manufacture a comprehensive range of washers according to standards (DIN, NFE, BS, SS, UNI, ASTM, etc.) but also special washers and stampings to drawing or sample for various branches of industries i.e. steel constructions, wind and solar energy, railway and road protection, etc. Everything is done with high requirements as regards to quality, logistics, efﬁciency and reliability. Choose Pühl: said and stamped!

exhibitions

Fastener Fair - Budapest on course for growth Four months before Fastener Fair - Budapest opens in September 2010, it is clear that this year’s event (6th - 7th September 2010, SYMA Exhibition Centre) will surpass the previous show. In early May exhibitors had already reserved more stand space than was used overall at the event two years ago. Preparations for Fastener Fair - Budapest are in full swing and free online visitor registration is now available.

n addition to well-established international manufacturers of fasteners, fixings and anchors - a familiar sight at the Fastener Fair with their versatile products and assembly systems an increasing number of suppliers of fastener production equipment are also choosing to exhibit at this high-calibre show. Combined with the leading fastener and fixings brands that have confirmed their presence at the show, this ensures that the range on display for both exhibitors and visitors will be even more comprehensive and up-to-date. Organisers Mack Brooks Exhibitions expects to see a positive increase in visitor numbers, together with very lively business activity, thanks to the attractive range of products and services being exhibited at Fastener Fair - Budapest. “The situation in most of our target markets has clearly stabilised with ever strengthening signs of positive growth. Our exhibitors are enthusiastic and committed to showing the best in fastener and fixing solutions,” explained Jamie Mitchell, director of Fastener Fair - Budapest. “For visitors that means an excellent climate in which to do business and identify new profit opportunities and cost saving potentials. We expect to see strong interest on the visitor side and the new facilities featured on our website have been designed to accommodate this trend.” Visitor pre-registration is now available via the dedicated Fastener Fair - Budapest website www.fastenerfair.hu. In addition to receiving a free admission pass, visitors will also be able to access further information about the show, as well as the exhibition preview. The website also gives details of tourist attractions in Budapest – the Monday/Tuesday show dates offer an excellent opportunity to arrive early and enjoy one of Europe’s most beautiful and friendly locations - together with information about hotels and travel to and from the city on the Danube. Fastener Fair - Budapest is the perfect platform for buyers and sellers to meet and explore business opportunities in central and south-east Europe. The list of featured exhibits ranges from materials and semi-finished products via production equipment, surface technology and quality assurance to finished products such as screws and bolts, nuts, rivets, thread inserts, anchors, rings, springs, clamps and clips, plus special designs based on drawings – in materials as diverse as steel, stainless steel, other non-ferrous metals and plastics. Modern bonding processes round off the range. Exhibitors are ready to engage with visitors from a wide range of industrial sectors, as well as construction, civil engineering and the DIY retail sector.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

This year, visit Budapest, one of Europe’s most vibrant cities, for a unique opportunity to see the latest from leading global product manufacturers, machine suppliers, wholesalers and distributors.

• Industrial fasteners • Construction fixings • • Machinery • Product manufacturers • • Distributors • Special Parts • Exhibitors * A. Jate Steel Co., Ltd Achilles Seibert GmbH Acku Metal Industries (M) Sdn. Bhd Acton Adolf Schnorr GmbH & Co. KG Aimreach Enterprises, Co., Ltd Albert Pasvahl GmbH + Co Alex Screw Industrial Co., Ltd Alloy & Stainless fasteners Inc Ambrovit Srl Apolo Fijaciones y Herramientas SL Archi-Fixings Co., Ltd Asvefat- Aso. Vasca De Empresa Fabr ATC Metal Industrial Sdn Bhd Bolt Fasteners Co Borrelly Spring Washers Bossong Spa Bralo Cz sro. BTS GmbH Bülte Can-Eng furnaces Changde Bolt Fastener Products Co., Ltd Changzhou Junhe Dacromet Coating Chaves Bilbao Chinfast Co., Ltd Chinfast Co., Ltd Conti Snc Coplan Europe D&H Components Co., Ltd Dell’Era Ermanno Srl Dimfix Srl Dörken MKS-Systeme GmbH & Co. KG Dresselhaus GmbH & Co. KG Dunfa International Co., Ltd E & K Tech. Ltd E.U.R.O. Tec GmbH Earnest Machine Products Ltd Elcometal Kft. Emek Percin ve Metal San.Tic.Ltd Emin Teknik Ltd Faco Fasteners Pvt Ltd * At going to print.

Fang Sheng Screw Co., Ltd Fareast Metal International Co., Ltd Fastbolt Fastener Fair Stuttgart Fastener World Inc Fasteners + Fittings Fastenique Structural Rivets co., Ltd Feng Yi Steel Co., Ltd. Ferdinand Gross Hungary Kft. Filrox Industrial Co., Ltd Fixi Srl Frigerio Ettore SpA FRL Srl Fu Hui Screw Industry Co.,Ltd General Inspection LLC Germán Share Company GFS Global Fastening Systems Goebel GmbH Gofast Co., Ltd Gris Decoupage Growermetal Srl. Haining Zhongda Fastener Co.,Ltd Haiyan Changshun Metal Products Haiyan Fujian Fasteners Co., Ltd Haiyan Fujian Fasteners Co.,Ltd. Haiyan Huilian General Fitting Co., Ltd HASPL a.s. Hifasters Industrial Co.,Ltd Home Soon Enterprise Co., Ltd Homn Reen Enterprise Co., Ltd Hongshing Fastech Corp. HPM Tec Sro Hunan Liangang Fasteners Co., Ltd ID MAT Index - Tecnicas Expansivas SL Inoxdadi Srl Irontrade Italbolt Inox Service Srl Jiashan Zhongsheng Metal Products Jiaxing Rhineland Import & Export Jiaxing Xinyue Standard Part Co.,Ltd

Joiner Fastener Enterprise Co., Ltd Kapurthala Ind. Corp KCS. Enterprise Co., Ltd. Khind-Mistral Industries Sdn Bhd Klimas Wkret-met Sp. z.o.o. Kwantex Research Inc. Landmark Fasteners PVT Ltd Lederer GmbH Linkwell Industry Co., Ltd Masterfix Products bv Max Mothes GmbH MEA Befestigungssysteme GmbH Metiz Magazine Mollfam Srl MPC - Jalmarson National Machiery Nestinox B V Ningbo Jintai Fastener Co., Ltd Ningbo ORDAM Import&Export Co.,Ltd Ningbo Xinxing Fasteners Manufacture Ningbo Zhonglian Fastener MFG Co.,Ltd Oread Fasteners (Vietnam) Co.,Ltd. Ornit Blind Rivets Otto SpA Palboreg Federal Pecol PGB-Polska sp. z.o.o. Piloni Srl Pinghu Zhapu Nut Factory Pioneer Hardware Magazine Precision Technology Supplies Pressvit Srl R+FK Schulte KG Rapitech Srl Ray Fu Enterprise Co., Ltd Reisser Csavar KFT Rexlen Corp. Rivetec Sro Rivit Srl Rodex Fasteners Corp S.C. Mecanica Singhetu S.A.

S.C.A.I. Stampaggio Srl Sara Fasteners Sariv Srl Schäfer + Peters GmbH Schröder Schrauben Schulte-Tengler GmbH Screws + Wire Libcice AS Shanghai Delon Special Rivet Mfg Shanghai Rivet Manufacture Co.,Ltd Sheh Kai Precision Co., Ltd Shin Chun Enterprise Co., Ltd Shin Jaan Works Co., Ltd Simes - Senco SA Special Rivets Corp Stafa Holland BV Strut Support Systems Szatyina Kft. Tandl Industry Co.,Ltd Tecfi SpA Technika Magazin Tekelioglu Bolt Co. Tite-Fix Ltd Top Fixing Co., Ltd Turbo Industries Pvt. Ltd Uniriv Kft Valenta ZT Verbindungslemente Engel GmbH Vipa Spa Viteria Fusani Srl VVG - Befestigungstechnik GmbH & Co Wenzhou Longwan Shengjia Metal Werda GmbH & Co KG White Mountain Windfast Industrial Co.,Ltd. Würth Szerelèstechnika Kft Wyser International Corp. Ying Ming Industry Co., Ltd Your Choice Fasteners & Tools Co., Ltd Zhejiang Morgan Brother Tech Co., Ltd

exhibitions

Ash fails to cloud Hannover Fair Hannover Messe 2010, the vast international event for industrial products, technologies and services, took place from the 19th to the 23rd April. Even with severe flight bans affecting the show, due to volcanic eruptions in Iceland, the organisers still reported a successful show.

t the end-of-the-show press conference, Wolfram von Fritsch (pictured below), Deutsche Messe managing board chairman commented: “Although the first part of the show was indeed severely impacted by the air travel bans caused by the volcano eruption, the last two days made up for part of this.”

“Exhibitors have reported many promising talks on projects, investment plans and deals which will contribute to enhanced utilisation of capacity over the weeks and months to come,” he added. “Last year people came here in need of orientation; this year they came strictly to do business. The strengths of Hannover Messe were leveraged to good advantage in this phase of the cycle, giving a real

boost to business activity. Some exhibitors even managed to generate returns on a par with the boom year of 2008.” Monika Uiberall, from F. Reyher Nchfg. GmbH & Co. KG agreed with Deutsche Messe that it had been a successful show. “As in previous years we had lots of purchasing managers from the industry visiting our stand, and for the first time in five years we increased the number of contacts.” The major travel limitations resulting from the international flight embargo did however have an impact both on exhibitor participation and visitor attendance, but Deutsche Messe was quick to launch a series of measures to ease the situation, chartering a fleet of buses to bring several hundred exhibitors from across Europe to the show. From Turkey alone, some 150 exhibitors took the 50-hour ride, and from New Zealand, an exhibitor turned up after a 134-hour travel marathon. “Many hundreds of people demonstrated to us just how important it was for them to be at Hannover Messe,” von Fritsch remarked. The air travel ban did, however, prevent around 300 exhibitors from arriving in time to set up their stands, with exhibitors from Asia and the Americas most severely affected. The closing of European airports put the brakes on international air travel to Hannover and Europe in general, which naturally had a negative impact on attendance. Fastenex based in Vizcaya, Spain, was one such exhibitor who was affected. The Spanish company arrived a day later after having to travel by car rather than by plane to Hannover. Fastenex agreed with Deutsche Messe that the quality of visitors was good, but felt that the overall volume of visitors was poor and the international range of visitors it received was as low as 10%. Deutsche Messe admitted that the flight bans had affected the overall turnout, with attendance from outside

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Germany down by half. The total visitor count of 150,000 was roughly 20 percent below the previous year’s figure. Attendance from Asia and North America suffered the most. “Flight bans and several days of uncertainty did put a major dent in attendance on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and we were not able to catch up by the end of the event,” von Fritsch explained. Due to the flight bans, the majority of foreign visitors were from Germany’s neighbouring countries. Attendance from the Netherlands was well up on the 2008 figure. The next largest contingents came from Austria, Denmark, France, Switzerland and Poland. Von Fritsch believed that: “The performance of Hannover Messe 2010 certainly cannot be gauged in terms of the visitor statistics. This year’s event will go down in history as the ‘volcano event’”. HANNOVER MESSE 2011 will run from 4th - 8th April, occupying the entire exhibition centre, with a total of 13 trade fairs. The nine trade fairs at this year’s event - Industrial Automation, Energy, Power Plant Technology, MobiliTec, Digital Factory, Industrial Supply, CoilTechnica, MicroNanoTec and Research & Technology - will be supplemented by Motion, Drive & Automation, Wind, Surface Technology and ComVac.

Beneri® SpA has manufactured and supplied knurled washers to international customers for many years. These washers guarantee excellent screw clamping resistance as a result of their special conical profile and knurling on both bearing surfaces.

Original Beneri® knurled washers perform excellently in the most extreme vibration environments as demonstrated in our own production equipment. They are used to secure the bottom die, which has a hardness of about 58 HRC, on our progressive stamping machinery. Even operating under the extreme vibration conditions of a machine delivering 500 blows per minute onto raw material with 75-85kg/mm2 tensile strength original Beneri® knurled washers ensure the screw remains absolutely tight even after one million press-blows.

COMPARISON BETWEEN ORIGINAL BENERI® KNURLED WASHERS AND COMPETITORS’ PRODUCTS 1. HARDNESS TEST Original Beneri® knurled washers have a higher 46-52 HRC hardness than the 39-45 HRC typically found in competitive products. This guarantees superior joint tightness as well as reduced settlement and failure even in extreme conditions, without any risk of fragility.

2. BENDING TEST Original Beneri® Knurled Washers 8mm BENDING TEST TO 60/70°

Competitors Knurled Washers 8mm BENDING TEST TO 90°

The bend of washer does not influence the tightness of the washers during use.

KNURLED WASHERS

SCREW

3. STATIC ASSEMBLY TEST Knurled Washer 8mm

Original Beneri® Competitors samples

Assembling torque screwing 25Nm

min

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Disassembly torque screwing Height after screwing mm

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17.50

18.50

1.04

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0.94

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Difference mm

0.17

0.29

0.35

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Original Beneri® knurled washers also guarantee the maintenance of the required tension on fastening components made from higher duty material The Original Beneri® Knurled Washer range is available in both normal and heavy duty specification with a standard phosphate finish, providing 16 hours resistance in a salt spray chamber, or with mechanical zinc plating, which offers 96 hours resistance.

Viale XXV Aprile, 56 23868 VALMADRERA (LC), Italy tel: +39 0341 581 101 fax: +39 0341 583 471 www.beneri.com info@beneri.com

sPeciaL rePOrT

supply costs driving fastener price increases The European fastener industry is once again facing a concatenation of supply side issues conspiring to drive costs up at a rapid rate. Here, Fastener + Fixing Magazine editor, Phil Matten, tries to draw together the threads and assess their implications. Start with steel Most industrial fasteners are manufactured from steel. Obvious point it may be but it often seems that buyers, all too aware of the effect of price movement on sheet or structural steel, are oblivious to the fact the same pressures impact the cost of fasteners. The extent, it must be said, depends on the complexity of the fastener and the manufacturing process it has undergone. The impact of a steel increase on standard nails is immediate and massive; on a complex part, forged on a progressive multi-die former, heat treated and with a sophisticated anti-corrosion coat, possibly less immediate and less substantial, but nevertheless unavoidable. It’s worth talking briefly about differing steel production methods in order to understand which raw materials have the most significant effect on costs. The Basic Oxygen System of steelmaking relies on about 80% molten iron from a blast furnace fuelled with iron ore and coking coal. The molten iron is mixed with a 20% charge of scrap steel. The process produces its own thermal energy so electricity costs are not directly relevant. BOS accounts for around 60% of world steel production and is prevalent in Asia, particularly China. The alternative method uses an Electric Arc Furnace, often referred to as minimills these work primarily by remelting scrap steel. Scrap accounts for around 75% of raw material costs, with electricity a very significant energy overhead. Around 40% of North American steel production uses EAFs and it is a common method in Italy, Turkey and across Europe.

a quarterly mechanism for iron ore pricing, linked more closely to the spot market. Progressively, similar agreements are being rolled out across the world – not without major resistance from steel makers. The immediate reason is that the new agreement effected a cost increase of between 80 and 100% from April 2010. Makers and large scale consumers of steel, including European steel association EUROFER and automotive industry bodies, are up in arms and demanding the EU and other world authorities investigate the alleged anti competitive implications of the new deal. Coking coal prices have also increased by over 50% year on year so rapid inflation in the two main ingredients for Basic Oxygen steelmaking is inevitably being passed on by steelmakers across the world. Steel scrap is a function of consumption. Recession means less consumption and therefore less scrap generated. Reservoirs of scrap, including from the former Soviet Union countries, were eroded during the second half of the last decade. Improved anti corrosion technologies are also extending the life of vehicles, although in the short term government supported scrappage schemes have contributed to scrap supply. European scrap is now reportedly being imported by the USA for the first time in twenty years. Previously the US has supplied scrap to steel makers across the globe. As steel demand increases constrained supply is impacting the cost of scrap to EAF steel makers. European scrap prices are up 30% year to date and nearer 90% year on year. As the graph from EUROFER shows scrap prices are not yet near the peaks experienced in 2008 but costs are unquestionably increasing rapidly.

Steel raw materials Three huge mining groups supply around 70% of the world’s iron ore. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton both extract mainly in Australia. Vale, supplies from South America. For 40 years major steel companies have negotiated annually with these suppliers to establish a benchmark contract for iron ore. Last year, after protracted and often tense negotiations, China failed to reach agreement on an annual contract. Other steel making countries did, generally agreeing around a 30% reduction. China’s dominance in iron ore consumption, though, meant the iron ore spot market took on a far more significant role, largely to the benefit of the miners. In 2010 all three of the big miners have succeeded in reaching agreement, initially with Japanese and Korean steelmakers, on

For all the latest news + info on the global fastener industry visit the new Fastener + Fixing website - www.fastenerandfixing.com

SPECIAL REPORT In 2009 steel capacity utilisation fell to 71.5% and world crude steel output fell by 9%. That disguises substantial regional variations. China’s output actually grew 13.5% in 2009 to account for 47% of world steel. Nevertheless China is still reckoned to have around 100 million metric tonnes of spare steel capacity. Earlier this year the Chinese government, once again, announced measures to close down inefficient and highly polluting smaller scale steel production. It may work but it is not the first time the central government has initiated such measures and to date their effect has been limited. Elsewhere output fell dramatically – in Europe by nearly 30%, in North America by over a third, in the CIS by around 15% and in Japan by over 26%. World steel demand for 2010 is now projected to increase by around 11% in 2010. Outside of China there is little question that steelmakers are tightly controlling capacity in order to return to profitability. The problem, for them and for the market, is that steel capacity cannot be turned on smoothly. You cannot bring a quarter of a blast furnace on line. Increments of additional capacity are, therefore, large. The probable implication is that steel pricing will take a ‘saw tooth’ upward path – softening or falling back as and when significant additional capacity comes on line, then hardening as it is utilised.

The pimple on the tail? One of the biggest challenges for fastener manufacturers wherever they are located in the world is that cold heading quality wire for fasteners represents a small proportion of most steel suppliers wire rod output, and a miniscule proportion of total steel production. As a result cost increases are usually applied with short notice and minimal opportunity for negotiation. It’s a take it or leave it world for the fastener producer when it comes to wire. This was clearly illustrated during late March as European fastener makers were given a matter of days notice of massive increases in the cost of cold heading wire. Italian fastener factories reported increases ranging anywhere from 80 to 150 euros per tonne. Where any negotiation was possible, it appears to have been limited to holding off a proportion of the increase until May - but wire suppliers have been quick to warn that more increases are in the pipeline. It is a similar picture in Asia. Chinese wire prices rocketed during March and April. Taiwan state steel maker China Steel Corporation has increased prices twice this year and expectations are for a far more substantial increase for July deliveries. Korea’s POSCO has just applied a 25% increase across all of its steel grades, its first increase in over a year. Of equal concern, lead times are pushing out, reports suggest until July and beyond. Smaller volume, often more specialist, fastener producers say they have a major headache with quotation validity for wire measured in hours not days, giving virtually no time to agree the order with the customer. Lead times for more specialist wire material are even more extended.

Sea fright It is not a typo – the increase in the cost of Asia to Northern Europe container freight costs over the last year has been quite frightening. Figures vary but the graph indexed on January 2009 costs shows an increase of around 175% to February this year.

Container carriers have also radically changed their approach. Most have now adopted so-called ‘slow steaming’ to reduce fuel costs. This increases transit times on routes, adding to the lead time for sourcing fasteners in Asia. Regular container users also report an increased incidence of trans-shipment, where containers are offloaded en-route and reloaded onto another vessel. Even where this does not take place transit times appear to be extending as vessels make more stops en route. Once again the ‘saw-tooth’ issue applies. Over the last two years a huge number of container vessels were laid up, or in some cases scrapped. There is still a very large mothballed fleet that can be brought back onto routes as demand increases. Over recent weeks this has been happening and container rates have softened accordingly. It is clear, though, that individual operators are, similar to the steel producers, carefully managing capacity in order to ensure they return to profitability. Market forces being what they are expect a jagged pattern of increases and fall backs over coming months.

Thinner stocks Fastener companies have, by necessity, substantially destocked over the last year or so. Cash has been king, and survival the main game in town. Most fastener manufacturers have reduced wire stocks, so increased costs will impact on manufacturing prices more quickly. A few far-sighted may have bought stock on the low, speculating on the gains to be had on the way out of recession. Some, indeed, may have had little choice in order to retain their monthly allocations from steel suppliers. The practice, though, does not appear widespread and, frankly, one speculates to accumulate so it is likely to have little effect on ameliorating fastener costs unless the customer has significant leverage. Wholesalers and importers across Europe have unquestionably made major inroads into their inventory levels. As demand comes

For all the latest news + info on the global fastener industry visit the new Fastener + Fixing website - www.fastenerandfixing.com

When it comes to holding your business together, Earnest Machine knows not all fasteners are created equal. Earnest Machine is a leader in the fastener industry with a commitment to supplying high quality, high strength fasteners. Our knowledgeable sales staff is backed by in-house engineering and laboratory testing support.

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SPECIAL REPORT stainless steel fasteners. The London Metal Exchange trend for nickel says it all, with prices rising to above US$25,000 per tonne. Still not, and not likely to be, at the heady US$50,000/t levels experienced in 2007 but two and half times higher than this time last year.

Source: LME

US $ / tonne

back there are inevitable concerns about whether the cloth has been cut too tight. Anecdotally, obtaining immediate supply of large volumes of standard fasteners from the wholesale market is not proving easy and with price rises coming through that situation is unlikely to improve. Fastener users, of course, have also tightened their belts so as demand recovers they are unlikely to have buffers of either finished goods or parts. The natural expectation will be that the fastener supplier can simply turn the tap on to the same level as early 2008. That expectation could very easily prove a strain and it behoves buyers to work closely with their supply chain to provide maximum information and ensure capability to meet increased demand. Threatening to switch to an alternative supply may be second nature. It is not though, in current circumstances, by any means assured to work – there is a real risk of jumping from frying pan to fire.

What effect anti-dumping? Added to the issues generated by a severe downturn is the impact, in Europe particularly, of anti-dumping measures. At the beginning of 2009 the European Commission applied swingeing tariffs of up to 85% on a wide range of fasteners imported from the People’s Republic of China. This coincided with the point at which most importers slammed on the brakes and virtually shut off orders to any factories. Only now, are the implications of the anti-dumping action likely to become clear as fastener importers begin to test what capacity truly exists to meet their requirements. From a recent visit it is clear that factories in Taiwan, following last year’s virtual stagnation, are now busy, with very little evidence of capacity standing idle. With increased costs looming and Taiwan’s most import export market the United States coming back on stream, order saturation is a real probability pushing lead times out and costs up. Similar questions exist, as they did at the time of the antidumping investigation, over European factories capability to meet demand growth particularly for standard fasteners. With times as tough as they have been over the last year or so most factories have been more than willing to produce standard fasteners to keep their machines running. The reality, though, is that standard fasteners offer only marginal profitability for many, if not most, European factories. The acid test will be as demand for more sophisticated and complex parts, particularly from automotive, recovers. The recent wire 2010 exhibition in Dusseldorf demonstrated a renewed investment appetite for fastener manufacturing equipment, but most interest appeared to relate to capabilities to produce complex parts, on which long-term profitability provides a realistic pay back on large investments.

Stainless steel fasteners General steel trends inevitably impact stainless steel fastener costs and availability. Nickel, though, is the real bellwether, accounting for upwards of 60% of the raw material costs in

Characteristically, major stainless steel fastener stockists work on a replacement cost model, which meant a pretty rough time during the recession. Manufacturing costs are ramping up rapidly now and lead times extending as factory capacity is filled. Prices are increasing rapidly and this shows every sign of sustaining for quite some months. As this is written it is virtually certain that the current anti-dumping investigation against India and Malaysia will be terminated. The complaint from European manufacturers was withdrawn on 1 April and the Commission is understood to now be processing the regulation required to terminate the investigation. Two things to be said. Firstly India, which had become a low cost source for stainless steel fasteners, is likely to have learnt its lesson and will more closely adhere to world pricing trends, not least in the hope of preventing a new investigation. Secondly, that hope is likely to prove short lived. The European Industrial Fastener Institute has told this magazine this is a temporary withdrawal and that it will reactivate its complaint at an early opportunity. The existing anti-dumping regulation against several countries including China and Taiwan is due for review imminently and there is little doubt the EIFI will argue strongly for the extension of duties for a further five years. In passing, if you are involved in brass fasteners you will already know that the LME prices for both copper and zinc have also been tracking upwards for the last 12 months.

Energy costs Behind virtually everything that has been discussed so far is the trend of energy costs – electricity and gas for steel making, wire drawing and fastener production; fuel for ships and trucks. Between more intensive taxation and increases ins oil and gas base prices, energy costs will almost certainly continue to indirectly reinforce inflationary pressures on fasteners.

For all the latest news + info on the global fastener industry visit the new Fastener + Fixing website - www.fastenerandfixing.com

SPECIAL REPORT What does your euro buy?

US Dollar

If you are working in the UK currency has been a particularly pertinent issue for some time now as Sterling weakened against the US Dollar, the currency in which a large proportion of fasteners, to say nothing of steel and its raw materials, are traded worldwide. The curve for euro against the US Dollar, also reflects the ebbing buying power of the European currency over the last four months as concerns over some Eurozone economies have sharply eroded confidence.

A word of warning In 2004 this magazine presented a similar article, initially received with scepticism but rapidly proving to have been conservative in its predictions.

There is one big difference this time. At that time supplyside pressures were balanced by a far more energetic demand side. Obvious to say, that is not the case this time. Yes, China, India and most of Asia are out of recession â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in some cases never really were in. Many western economies, though, remain poised on the knife-edge. Concerns remain in several economies over the potential for a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;double dipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, nerves further strained by potential consequences if vulnerable economies slide. While the possibility of a fall back into recession may be easing there is no question that growth remains tentative and fragile. Pressure on fastener prices is almost entirely supply side driven, the factors involved potentially erratic, with a high probability that cost curves will be jagged, interspersed with softening or even crashes. Decisions on order commitments and inventory levels are going to be very challenging and working capital is likely to remain constrained for most businesses for some time yet. For the intelligent fastener buyer there is arguably no more important time to be cooperating closely with your fastener supplier to ensure continuity of, in relative terms, low cost components, which become very expensive when they are absent. The pressure of trying to hold down the price in the market conditions likely to prevail in coming months also, inevitably, increases quality risks.

For further updates on these fast moving scenarios please check our new website www.fastenerandfixing.com

i n si g h t

Fastbolt prepares ground for fresh shoots After putting its expansion plans on ice in 2008, Fastbolt Germany decided in early January to start the first phase of construction at its Gronau headquarters. We asked Group managing director, Ekkehard Beermann, for a progress report.

ronau has been home to Fastbolt Schrauben Grosshandels since 1992, when Heinz Storch returned to his native Germany to establish a centre to service the whole European market. In 1995 the current warehouse and group headquarters was custom built, undergoing a major extension in 1999 to bring warehouse capacity to over 8,000 locations. “Phase 1 of the new construction programme stands for a 1,600 square metre extension of the existing warehouse facility,” explains Ekkehard Beermann. “This will enable Fastbolt to increase its own storage capacity in Gronau to about 12,500 pallets.” At the same time four additional truck loading docks will be installed and the packaging department will be restructured to provide higher capacity and improve efficiency. The project is due for completion in late June.” “After the quiet year 2009 we thought to have found the right moment to take a first decision to improve our logistics situation here in Gronau,” says Beermann. “Our intention was to take a small step and maximise the progress that comes with it. Increasing our storage capacity by almost 50% enables us to stop using an external warehouse for buffer stock and finally gives us enough space to add new product to our range.” Besides expansion within the existing product groups Fastbolt will start selling as of August a sophisticated range of DIN 912 in Grade 8.8 and DIN 7991 in both Grades 8.8 and 10.9. “We are a small company and will always keep our role as a range specialist but we think that DIN 912 and DIN 7991 fit perfectly to what we are already known for today”, says Beermann. Fastbolt is currently preparing its new 2010 catalogue, which it plans to present to the market no later than August. “We feel 2010 will keep us extremely busy.” Beermann adds. “Increased raw material prices, currency fluctuations, longer delivery times and rocketing container rates have turned most of 2009’s developments around. Product availability will become a real issue, we think, in the upcoming months. 2010 will be challenging and we believe this important phase in our logistics expansion comes at exactly the right time.”

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

EVEN THOUGH IT’S ASPARAGUS SEASON – FOR US THE TIME IS RIPE TO OFFER SOCKET SCREWS!

In Stock from July DIN 912 8.8 M3-M24 DIN 7991 8.8 +10.9 M3-M20 Mainland Europe Germany Phone +49 (0) 2565 93250 Fax +49 (0) 2565 932593

UK + Ireland United Kingdom Phone +44 (0)1908 650100 Fax +44 (0)1908 650101

Asia China Phone: +86 (0) 21-5836 2280 Fax: +86 (0) 21-5836 2279

w w w. f a s t b o l t . c o m info@ fastbolt.com

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The capacity to produce and deliver

Bontempi Vibo Brescia

In 1961 Bruno Bontempi hot forged the first bolt to be headmarked VI-BO in a small factory in Berzo Inferiore, around 70 kilometres north of Brescia. One wonders if Mr Bontempi, still involved in the company, ever envisaged the massive automated warehouse from which Bontempi Vibo now despatches its products worldwide – let alone the introduction of a brand new 212 tonne, M36 cold former capable of forging bolts up to 300mm long.

ven in the 1960s Bontempi Vibo developed its export business, supplying screws, nuts and tension rods to customers in Germany and Switzerland as well as distributing locally from a warehouse in Brescia. The following decade the company began to cold form its fastener products and strengthened its Europe wide business into France, UK and the Netherlands. In the 1980s Bontempi established Vibo Sud, complementing Berzo’s production from a modern factory in Calabritto, an hour from Napoli. By the late 1980s hot forging had been superseded as Bontempi developed cold forging capability up to M27 x 220 long. Today the Berzo plant concentrates on the larger diameter products, with Calabritto responsible for smaller products, particularly hexagon and socket head, in the range M5 to M12. As years passed the generations of management changed, with Max Bontempi leading the business through the 1990s, upgrading its organisation and establishing its quality management systems. In 2003 Raoul Bontempi, current general manager, took the reins. In 2005 Bontempi Vibo took the major step of investing in a huge new site in Rodengo Saiano, around 10 kilometres outside Brescia. Here it has created a very modern automated warehouse, with a massive capacity of 15,000 pallets, at the heart of its logistics system. Moving product from storage to picking zones, the system weigh checks the pallets before and after picking to ensure accuracy – a process that, says Raoul Bontempi, has virtually eliminated errors and, more importantly, the negative impact they could have on the relationship with the customer. Once the customer’s pallet is stacked it is conveyed to an automatic wrapping machine, to ensure in-transit security, before moving along the line to receive despatch labels. Confirmation of all transactions and movements is controlled through bar coder readers – so as soon as new product is received from either of the production plants, both of which have intensive final quality inspection systems, it can be seen as available for sale on Bontempi’s ERP system. Pallets are held in on dispatch racks until the customer’s order is completed and ready to load on trucks. “The technology shift that this warehouse system represents, compared to how we used to handle our logistics, is simply huge,” says Raoul Bontempi, “providing our customers with levels of accuracy and service, which are essential in today’s business environment.” The Rodengo Saiano site, though, will not be exclusively for

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

storage and logistics. Vast halls alongside the warehouse will host an equally long, continuous feed, atmosphere controlled heat treatment line as well as heading and thread rolling equipment. Pride of place will go to a new M36 cold former, with a length capacity of 300mm and weighing in at 212 tonnes. Scheduled for starting production as you read this article, this investment is aimed primarily at hexagon and socket bolts production from M27 to M36 diameters.

Bontempi Vibo currently has an average annual production from its two existing factories of around 20,000 tonnes, equivalent to around 600 million fastener parts, and it employs around 120 people. The company is distinctive in many ways, not least in being, it believes, the only European producer of standard fasteners to manufacture in both carbon steel and stainless steel – the ratio varies according to market conditions but on average is 50-50. It does produce special products, but primarily the variation is in the finish, including advanced coatings like Geomet, and in pack counts. Bontempi Vibo also supplies some customers in bulk in metal bins. Production capacity at the massive Rodengo Saiano site will be incremental, in that the existing factories will continue to produce as now. Given economic conditions over the last two years it has clearly been a courageous commitment to the long term development of Bontempi Vibo – although, as Raoul Bontempi willingly acknowledges, the approximately one third downturn in volumes during 2009 did have the benefit that it allowed the business to cope with the installation of the new logistic system. The capacity for expansion, though, is evident – whether in terms of the space ready for new production or the fact that the logistic warehouse is currently ‘ticking over’ on a single shift with just two picking stations. “We have not come anywhere near the capacity of the new system yet,” says Raoul Bontempi. Expect to see plenty more developments from Bontempi Vibo in coming years.

Special bolts for special customers... Standard and special parts in carbon and stainless steel NOW up to M36 !!! Our improvements for your satisfaction

Via Stacca 3, 25050 Rodengo Saiano (BS)

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Providing leading solutions With the Ingramatic production range, Sacma Group says that it provides leading solutions to fastener manufacturers. This is illustrated by the introduction of the Computerised Quick Die Match - a new system that cuts the set up time of thread rolling machines and allows them to run more efficiently.

ince its foundation in 1966 Ingramatic has produced and distributed over 3,000 thread rolling machines worldwide. The company says that production flexibility is an essential parameter in penetrating new markets, which is why all of its machines are highly specialised, according to customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; needs and strategies. Over the years Ingramatic has introduced several innovative solutions to its machines,including:

Computerised Quick Die Match

The target is to find an optimal die match in a short time and automatically monitor the die match during the production. The tool life can be increased significantly with an optimal die match based on the measurement of vertical forces. With the load monitor added to the linear encoder, the Ingramatic thread roller can itself find the perfect die match and show the technician the right set up in a very short time.

During thread rolling, the die line up is a critical parameter to manufacture an optimal thread. A wrong die match reduces tool life and may cause machine damage. For this reason, when the operator starts the die match, the machine provides a diagnostic and explains to the operator how to set up the start point of the slide with perfect information. Through the linear encoder and the SC-MATIC touch screen panel,

the optimal position for the eccentric is confirmed and a perfect die match made in a few minutes. During production the monitoring system shows if the die match is not optimal or incorrect. Measurements derived from a special sensor ensure reduced setting time and inform the operator if the line up runs out of the tolerance range. The monitoring device shows the necessary adjustment and memorises the position of the slide for each part. Further reduction in future set up time is achieved by recalling the parameters on the SC-MATIC and the load monitor.

Hydrostatic slide support

From both the automotive and general market there are increasing requests for screws and fasteners threaded after heat treatment enabling improved precision of the thread and fatigue resistance of the components. The high stresses imposed by this process require specially designed machines that incorporate suitable solutions. Ingramatic specifies in its machines, starting from size 5 upward, a system of hydrostatic rails optimised for a high load capacity with a significant damping value. Pressurised lubrication is fed to special bronze rails via a distributor. The hydrostatic pockets set into the rails creates an oil film, which equally distributes the load allowing the absorption of high forces generated during forming of the part between the dies. A closed circuit system enables recycling of the lubricating oil, after a cooling and filtering process, without cross-contamination into the coolant oil. This presents an important reduction in operating costs.

Special guides with inserts in HSS

The feed guides are components subject to wear especially when feeding hardened, heat-treated parts or using guide profiles with reduced contact surfaces for special shaped parts feeding. For this type of application, guides must be made of special steel and they must be designed to simplify maintenance work. To solve this problem, Ingramatic manufactures special guides with high

Fastener + Fixing Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Issue 63 May 2010

speed steel inserts (M2) hardened to a high level of hardness, increasing the resistance to wear caused by feeding. This solution is particularly suitable for highstrength bolts, screws and special parts like wheel bolts with conical underheads. Another advantage of guide inserts is the ability to replace worn inserts quickly and easily with new ones, without having to change the guides.

The threading centre

For dynamic factories that wish to service different markets based on a single production platform the threading centre presents machine flexibility, with the capability to thread parts after heat treatment, special parts (groove) and studs. To achieve this Ingramatic incorporates different feeding systems within the same machine. This enables it to produce both bolts and studs. Within the machine there are both rails and vibratory feeder for screws and a tube device for feeding unthreaded studs into the introduction area. In order to feed the studs perfectly with a correct orientation, Ingramatic provides a special feeder device with several stations. The first station uses a digital camera to control the dimensions of the part. The second and third stations are pneumatic rejection devices to eliminate non conforming parts. The final station has an orientating device. After the orientation of the part, the work pieces for thread rolling are placed in-line with the pusher via a tube. A pneumatic separating device ensures the correct feeding rate of work pieces into the thread roller. The company welcomes customers to visit its show room at Castelnuovo Scrivia, in order to illustrate in detail the technical characteristics and features of the whole range of Ingramatic machines.â&#x20AC;?

victorycommunication.it

the

PROGRESSIVE HEADERS

For your future, SACMA GROUP is your global solution. LARGE PART FORMERS

THREAD ROLLERS - POINTERS

COMBINED HEADERS

End users highly appreciate SACMA machines and consider them to be well designed, well manufactured, powerful, suitable for making special parts, flexible for making long or short parts, fast and reliable whilst generating low cost production. To assist all its Customers around the world, SACMA, has developed worldwide efficient service centers able to supply any spare part in a very short time to keep Customer machines running and making parts. SACMA LIMBIATE S.p.A.: Limbiate - Milano - ITALY - Tel. +39 02 99 45 21 - Fax +39 02 99 05 01 85 - com@sacmalimbiate.it - info@sacmalimbiate.it - www.sacmalimbiate.it INGRAMATIC S.p.A.: Castelnuovo Scrivia - Alessandria - ITALY - Tel. +39 0131 87 161 - Fax +39 0131 82 30 70 - com@ingramatic.com - www.ingramatic.com

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Only stainless steel Italbolt

Lurago d’Erba

Last September Italbolt moved to a custom designed, 4,000 square metre warehouse. The move itself was a matter of 500 metres. It represented, though, the culmination of a significance program of change for the stainless steel specialists.

stablished in 1990 by Felice Tentorio, a man at the time already highly experienced in corrosion resistant fastening technologies, Italbolt has always concentrated on stainless steel products. Until five years ago the emphasis was primarily on carrying a very extensive range but individual stock quantities were relatively small. Since 2005, Italbolt has progressively increased the depth of stock held in its warehouse – sufficient to satisfy the demands of its mainly small and medium sized customers. “These are companies,” explains Matteo Tentorio, son of the founder and Italbolt’s sales manager, “who need quite small volumes but need a quick service and also one company that can supply all the items they need.” “We needed more warehouse spaces,” continues Matteo Tentorio, “So we changed our warehouse. We also changed our computer and also our logistic system. Now we have the pack specification, the location of the material and the bar code, all controlled by the computer system. It also allows us, now, to very quickly quote the up to date price to our customers.” Italbolt continues to develop its range. “We already have 80% of the items stocked by the big German stainless steel specialists,” explains Felice Tentorio. “Of course the quantities of each item that we stock are not so large. We stock about six months according to our sales demand but the full range.” The emphasis is on service and Italbolt retains a strong relationship with the major stainless steel stockholders in order to ensure that it always has the product to meet its own customers’ requirements. “We make shipments every day all over the world,” says Felice Tentorio. “Sometimes these are only 10 or 20 kilo packets but when the customer needs something the problem is not the price – it is the service. In the United States it is metric sizes that are special. In some other countries

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

it is A4 that is special.” Italbolt is very much a family company – in total it has 15 people. It has been a conscious decision to stay at this size, says Felice Tentorio. “Our mission is service, service, service – only in stainless steel.” Only in stainless steel, he adds, because we have the know how in stainless steel. That commitment extends to holding stocks of specialist raw materials in order that Italbolt can arrange for special parts to be manufactured for specific customers on a short lead-time. In addition to stainless steel Italbolt arranges manufacturing in more specialist materials including Monel, Duplex and Super Duplex, and Titanium. “In some cases,” comments Felice Tentorio, “these materials are necessary to achieve the required level of heat resistance.” Special parts of this type now account for around 20% of Italbolt’s sales. Italbolt also holds threaded rods, washers and nuts, in order to be able to make up basic fastener assemblies for very small volume requirements. In the Italbolt warehouse the influence of the new FastDev computer system is clearly evident. Locations are bar coded and progressively all inventory is also being coded – a long project given the very extensive range of products held. However, the bar coding is already delivering benefits in both accuracy and speed of order picking and processing. The system also means that, while storage in the warehouse can by random location, order picking can also be organised more logically – important when each order may be of quite small total volume but comprise a large number of different articles. Italbolt – a company steeped in stainless steel knowledge, possessed of a real passion for the product and for delivering a truly intensive service.

I TA Ly

Technical support – before, during and after

specialinsert Torino

Founded in 1974 specialinsert manufactures and trades special assembly products, ranging from tubular threaded inserts to buses bushes for plastic materials, from inserted threads to fasteners for wood, from rivets to quarter turn fasteners.

pecialinsert had three founders, all still involved in the business, but now based in separate locations – the main office remains in Torino; with additional offices in Milano, which include the company’s export sales operation; and near Venice, where the company has its own 3,600 square metre production facility. The second generation, comprising four daughters, is now actively involved in the management of a business, which is distinctive in having ten directly employed and technically qualified salesmen. specialinsert also has three people dedicated to research and development. The company began as a distribution business establishing its own production some thirty years later. Its distinction, though, perhaps above all others, is to be clearly focused on deriving solutions for its customers. Its mission statement reflects an absolute commitment to continuous evolution and technical innovation, in order to be ever more effective in providing its customers with modern and advanced solutions. “Our emphasis, though, remains the same,” the company says, “on technical support for customers before, during and after the supply of the products.” specialinsert’s range reflects its philosophy to aim for niche markets. Its product offer falls broadly into three areas – inserts for metal sheets, inserts

for full parts, which includes wire thread inserts, and inserts for plastics. Recently specialinsert has also developed a new range for composite materials. The company’s own production - which includes a program of rivet nuts under the Deform Nut brand, CLIFA cylindrical nuts and threaded studs, and S-Lok brass bushes - concentrates strongly on adapting or producing special products to meet customer specific requirements. Both the Deform Nut and Filtec wire thread inserts are patented, says specialinsert. Recently the company has registered five new patents and has a further two patents in process, one for composite applications. The latter is a good example of the way in which specialinsert’s product development is customer driven – the interest in the product came from a series of requests for solutions from customers. Laminated structures present special challenges, says specialinsert. The Deform Nut SC comprises a threaded tubular insert and a threaded bush. It permits a ‘blocking action’ on sandwich panels. It can be adjusted and can used on different thickness ranges, providing, says specialinsert, a prompt and easy anchoring system. Fastool, also designed for composites, is a new system that allows the user to centre and tighten the carbon mould in just one step, thereby reducing the time required for the assembly process. A patented design, it comprises two tapered bushes, a tapered pivot and a square nut.

specialinserts has introduced new solutions for composite materials

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

A new self-clinch version of the Deform Nut also demonstrates specialinsert’s drive for continuous innovation, in this case to provide greater security in sheet metal applications. “All the time,” says specialinsert, “we look for little but good solutions, improvements which can deliver real advantages in niche applications.” The markets, though, are diverse – the development of composite fastening technologies has already led specialinsert to supply applications in aerospace, train fittings and furniture, automotive and even construction. Until recently specialinsert has concentrated within the Italian domestic market. Two years ago, it began to focus more strongly on developing export business and now has an export specialist based in its Milano office. Export sales are made to resellers rather than users and currently focus on pressure plugs and pins. specialinsert has already developed partnerships across Europe, as well as Brazil, Russia, China, Australia and the Middle East. specialinsert recognises, unquestionably, that the market and its needs are constantly changing and evolving. “We are committed to constant improvement so that we can provide even better solutions and stay ahead in the market.”

BORN TO FIX

Deform-Nut SC introducing the new fasteners experience

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Creating value added The Vorpa Group (Vorpa Srl and Vorpa Officine Meccaniche snc) is celebrating 36 years of activity in fixings. Since its establishment Vorpa believes its business is characterised in two particular ways: offering an excellent production quality level and always looking at the future in an innovative way. Some numbers

Quality of service

The Vorpa Group facilities extend over four production and logistic units for a total covered area of 7,500 square metres. It also has 6,000 square metres of outdoor service areas for handling of products and 700 square metres dedicated to offices. Vorpa employs 45 people and has over 3,000 different items in its current production catalogue. Its own brand is distributed in the national territory by a dedicated sales force of 25 agents to a variety of building and hardware wholesalers and retailers. Vorpa also exports all over the world, primarily in Europe and specifically to eastern European countries and the Mediterranean area through a wide range of local distributors.

Vorpa says its ‘permanent integration service’ allows it to have an innovative style of relationship with its customers, giving it the ability to modulate its service to the real demands of the customers. “Our goal is to create value-added for the customer even in the service, optimising the action of our human resources and exploiting the potentials in the entire company organisation, because only the outcomes matters.”

Winning management Vorpa has a team of specialised commercial and technical employees helped by a fully computerised system that handles customer orders within a few hours. The order management system operates with the aim of keeping the delivery time to a minimum.

The forefront of logistics The main warehouse extends over 4,500 square metres with a capacity to deal with orders of standard products within 48 hours all over Italy and 72 hours abroad. The management of the goods means that they are separated and spread over four units, allowing Vorpa to optimise processes and stay a step ahead in terms of efficiency and agility.

Integrated technology Vorpa highlights that it constantly invests in the latest equipment and the development of advanced managing techniques. It explains that it uses the most up-to-date machines for cold forging and chip forming. The combination of advanced technologies, highly qualified staff and carefully selected raw materials, enables it to assure the accurate realisation of each part. Vorpa also has a network of selected reliable suppliers which, it says, offer the highest quality outsourcing.

Professional products Vorpa has a wide range of fixing systems listed in its catalogue, including specific product lines dedicated to each trade channel and customers with individual requirements. This includes: • • • • • • •

Heavy and middle heavy duty anchors. Scaffolding anchors. Resin anchors for building applications. General and long series fixings. Cladding and pipe fixing. Sanitary fixing. Self-service products.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Certified quality Vorpa Officine Meccaniche snc has UNI EN ISO 9001:2000 certification. Quality standards are ensured through statistical process control through all production phases up to final inspections and including in-house laboratory tests. “We are proud of our production model, which we have created by introducing innovative theories, along with a know-how in anchoring and experience matured in the field.”

European Technical Approvals In recent years Vorpa has achieved several ETAs and has a CE marking which, in cooperation with prestigious European laboratories and institutes, allows it to offer fixing systems that are characterised by high performance levels and safety.

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Making it right first time

TLM

Tortona For more than 30 years TLM has specialised in designing and manufacturing high performance thread rolling, chamfering and pointing machinery, as well as machines for assembling screws and washers.

LM is not a large company, a conscious decision by its owners to remain at a scale where they are very directly involved in the design of solutions for its customers. From the beginning Pietro Luigi Sorli established this link by personally identifying the needs of the customer, designing a very specific solution, and ensuring its production and delivery. “Even though we are quite a small company, we are committed to supplying quality machines.” It’s a statement born out by the choice of, particularly larger diameter, thread rolling technology from TLM by many of Italy’s leading fastener producers. TLM is also recognised for the capability of its equipment to roll threads with consistent accuracy post heat treatment. Of course, cost is an important consideration but it would not be the first time a customer has purchased an alternative machine purely on price only to find they have to purchase twice –to have the TLM machine that really could do the job. “We normally follow the request of the customer,” says TLM. “You cannot today sell standard machines. Everyone requires some level of customisation.” That means the customer providing a product sample or drawing, then TLM works to develop an effective solution. The design process reflects the two generations now involved in the business. At first look the design office is dominated by a traditional drawing board. On closer inspection there is also advanced computer aided design technology. While Mr Sorli senior relies on hand and eye to design, his son Francesco applies modern technology. Fransceco admits though, before he could use C.A.D. he had to demonstrate his capability on the drawing board. The constant need to upgrade and develop equipment to meet new customer requirements also pervades the company. “Our vision is clear,” says Francesco Sorli, “we believe the company must invest in the people and skills to be able to solve the customer’s problems.” Many of those people have worked in the company for over twenty years, providing the depth and flexibility of skills that ensures TLM machinery is reliable and long-lived. “We build our machines so they do not give us problems and do not give the customer problems.” It is a ‘prevention is better than cure’ approach that reflects not just the care of TLM’s reputation but also the impracticality for a small business to squander resource in resolving after sales problems that should never have existed. It is probably also the best recommendation and assurance for using TLM machinery.

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a name to remember

Leonix Fasteners

Leonix may be a new name amongst Italian producers of stainless steel and high-grade alloy special fasteners but that doesn’t mean any lack of technology or expertise.

eonix moved into its modern 5,600 square metre facility in Chiuduno in May 2009. Two sisters and a brother, who separated amicably from Inoxviti to develop special fastener making capability, manage it. As general manager Laura Cattinori explains, everything Leonix produces is to drawing and customer specification, primarily in stainless steel but with a growing demand for special materials, including titanium, duplex and other special alloys. Leonix has been careful to identify niche opportunities in the market, particularly where the customer will benefit from advice and technical service, for example in choice of material and in adapting product design to achieve economic production. “We sell the service and expertise together with the products,” says Laura Cattinori. Production equipment is modern and progressive, selected to meet the demanding requirements of complex parts and sophisticated materials. That includes multi-die SACMA heading machines with inline induction heating, the largest a four die long stroke header with inline wire straightening and linear feed. With ten people in the business Leonix has adopted lean principles from the beginning, including process monitoring on all the machinery. Production capacity ranges from M5 - although products down to M3 are possible – to M20 by 300mm long. An in-house tooling department already features advanced CNC and spark erosion machinery. With tooling material stocks held on hand,

Leonix aims to be highly responsive to customer needs. “We are more flexible and capable of responding with small batches and shorter lead times than Far Eastern suppliers,” says Laura Cattinori, “plus technical support is here, on hand in the same time zone.” Already certified to ISO 9001 and aiming for TS 16949 by the end of 2010, systems were instituted from the beginning to codify tooling development, ensuring it is linked to the drawings and specifications for each special part. The Leonix laboratory, province of Laura’s sister Monica, who has 8 years experience in quality management, is testament to the company’s approach to quality assurance. A brand new torque tester and spark gas spectrometer are surrounded by an array of other testing equipment. It is the third member of the family, though, says Laura, in whom Leonix’s technical expertise is ultimately invested. Her brother, Piermario, is responsible for the tooling and production operations, for as she puts it, the mixture of craftsmanship and industrial expertise fundamental in meeting the requirements for special parts and ensuring their on time delivery to consistently high quality standards. A triumvirate of family talent, then, driving a new business that has already made its mark despite market conditions. As the demand for specialised fasteners relentlessly grows, Leonix is set to become a familiar name across the European fastener market.

Sede Legale: Via Divisione Acqui, 14/A 24060 Telgate (BG), Italia Sede Operativa: Via Lago Maggiore 4/12 - 24060 Chiuduno (BG), Italia Tel: +39 035 838 649 Fax: +39 035 838 175

email: info@leonix.it web: www.leonix.it

YOUR PARTNER IN STAINLESS STEEL SPECIAL FASTENERS

Q u a l i t y

Experience

Professional

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Reliability and honesty Metallurfica Virol Srl was established in 1973 as a family run business which was the sole supplier of an important French bolt-seller.

hroughout the years Metallurfica Virol felt it necessary to improve its product range along with expanding its customer base. This has seen it move into the international market, supplying some of the most important European companies, and offering not only washers but products used in electricity and joinery. Along with its range of special products Metallurfica Virol also produces washers DIN 125, DIN 9021, DIN 440, DIN 1052, DIN 436, UNI 6592, UNI 1749, AFNOR NFE 25/513 Z-M-L-LL, as well as DIN 127/B-UNI 1751 and NUTS DIN 934, DIN 982, DIN 315 and DIN 1587. Metallurfica Virol explains that because it is a direct producer, and due to its variety of productions plants, it has the opportunity to offer a wide variety of products. “Our company has always distinguished itself by its reliability and honesty in its relationship with suppliers and customers, and we look forward to continuing this with all new customers.”

New laboratory equipment for Vipa Vipa SpA, based in Rolo, Italy, recently introduced a new 1000x magnification microscope to its laboratory that includes special software, and is designed to analyse steel structures.

ipa explains that the latest laboratory equipment is very important because it is used constantly to check all 8.8 screws in stock, size by size, lot by lot. Vipa says that only with this type of analysis is it possible to assure that the screws it supplies conform to the new standard ISO 898-1: 2009, which is frequently emphasised by some operators. Vipa points out that the very accurate controls of the new electronic microscope showed that more than 85% of the screws in stock, manufactured before the release of the new norm ISO 898-1, already corresponded to the new standard. In any case, Vipa emphasises, that its 60 tonne capacity tensile strength test machine ensures the last word on this issue. The new standard has been operating from September 2009 and is employed to control all new supplies to Vipa. “The evolution of the European market will be mostly oriented on technology, and we are not only growing in our operative systems but also on service opportunities; developing the mission in the EEC; of offering all customers always more options and selections of products suitable for all types of business.”

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Packaging Precision Corti Domenico S.r.l. Lecco

svaldo Corti will tell you that it all started with nails. His father originally had a business making nails but as with many commodity fasteners there came a point when the price of imported nails reached a level 25% below the cost of European raw material. The decision was made to close the factory but the UK company that had supplied its packaging equipment asked Mr Corti to represent them in Italy. In this way Corti began to sell packing machines to large and small Italian fastener makers. It became clear, however, that the UK machine was not really competitive for the market so Corti began to assemble its own machines. By the 1980s Corti was selling machines to Russia, Ukraine and eastern Europe. In 1997 the company sold a machine, indirectly, to a major importer of fasteners, which was destined for Taiwan to modernise the packaging from one of the importer’s major supplying factories. For Osvaldo Corti it was a clear signal of the way in which the European fastener market was changing. Corti Domenico is a small company - there are nine full time employees – dedicated to supplying customised packaging solutions. Its largest customer remains one of the biggest Italian fastener manufacturing groups – a testament to the effectiveness of its packaging solutions. It supplies many other businesses in the traditional steel processing area between Milano and the Italian lakes, including many spring making companies. The company has adopted a project management approach – clearly identifying the customer’s needs and then designing a system to specifically meet those needs. Once the order is obtained Corti Domenico then sources the individual components and elements and carries out the assembly under its own rigorous quality regime. Crucially, says Osvaldo Corti, the software and control systems at the heart of each line are designed and produced entirely in house. All the elements of the line are appropriately certificated and Corti Domenico, as well as operating commercially in a number of languages, provides technical drawings, manuals and other important information in English. Like many Italian SMEs Corti Domenico benefits from the continuity of its work force – “One man who has worked long term for our company,” says Osvaldo Corti, “was recently joined by his son, who will carry out the same role. Such stability is an important part of our business and the way in which it is successfully, and repeatedly, meets the clients needs.” Corti Domenico will integrate any number of different packaging elements when customising a line for an individual customer. These include weighing equipment with standard discharges from 200 grams to 25 kilograms, fully automated with a

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Corti Domenico has been supplying packaging technology since 1978, specialising now in the supply of complete lines particularly for small metallic and plastic parts, as well as powders, springs and special wire forms. range of stored programs to control weight and count of different components. Where required fine-feed or multi-discharge systems with their own vibrator are provided. Automatic carton erectors are available for boxes including those with separate lids, three-flap boxes and trays and the systems are able to handle cartons in flat, corrugated, microwave and other cardboards. Typical output of units featuring hot melt or line spray glueing is 25 to 40 boxes per minute. Carton closers also have automatic systems, featuring pneumatic transfer inside the closer and hot melt or glue line setups. Alternatively customers may require vertical bagging systems, which are designed for a wide range of articles in metal or plastic. Product identification and traceability is achieved using continuous or intermittent printers, which can include bar codes and drawings as well as a variety of text. At the end of the line there are options for palletizers, with automatic pick-up and a double conveyor for box transport and store. Carton transfer systems provide up and down movement, onto an accumulating table in stainless steel coated with Teflon. Corti Domenico also offers a semi-automatic packaging line, complete with vibrating hopper feed, a weigher with automatic up/down chute, box presentation system, box accumulating rollers and a control and synchronisation cabinet. Similarly, an automatic packaging line for boxes can be offered, able to erect cartons with hot-melt, fill product from a high speed weigher, close cartons with hot-melt, label and palletize. Commenting on recent years Osvaldo Corti is quick to confirm that Fastener Fair Stuttgart 2007 was “a most efficient exhibition” from which the company was still supplying lines until Spring 2009. During the recession he says the company took advantage of the period of lower activity to develop and design new machine types, in order, once again, to be able to precisely meet the needs of new and existing clients as the market recovers.

www.cortidomenico.com

We can answer your packaging needs CORTI DOMENICO Srl has been working in the field of packaging since 1978 and is specialized on projecting, making and supplying complete lines made with machines assembled and synchronized to get a sequence of operations for fully automatic packaging cycle. We are packaging products such as small metallic and plastic parts, springs and special wire forms, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. Corti Domenico Srl has widen its commercial network abroad reaching European Community countries, C.I.S. countries and others. We are applying, bagging, boxing, cartoning, checking, closing, counting, dosing, feeding, gluing, labelling, opening, taping, palletizing, parallelizing, weighing, wrapping.

Automatic line up to15 kgs.

Multihead weigher

Corti Domenico S.r.l. Via Seminario, 34 - 23900 Lecco - Italy Tel: +39.0341.498344 Fax: +39.0341.493802 Web: www.cortidomenico.com email: info@cortidomenico.com

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Solving problems with complete surety UBK San Donato

UBK has been a well-recognised fastener supplier in the Italian market for over forty years. While the domestic market remains a dominant part of this San Donato based distributor, UBK has a growing export programme for a specialist range of products.

BK was founded in 1967 by the current managing director, Mr Pietro Maggione, carrying the name Unbrako Srl. Mr Maggione had previously worked for Unbrako selling its socket screw products in the Italian market, and was offered the Italian distributorship for the brand. In 1994 the company name changed to UBK Srl and later to UBK SpA. The Unbrako programme remains an important part of the UBK product portfolio, but has been joined by a number of other high grade fastener brands, including Mubea, Nord Lock, Mikalor and Bulten Stainless. UBK’s Italian distribution network encompasses a network of distributors and agents, which cover the whole of the Italian market, primarily supplying resellers of fasteners and related products. The majority of UBK’s sales are made in the Italian domestic market but the company is keen to develop its export business, of which more later. There are nineteen people in the business including Mr Maggione’s son and daughter. In addition to its distribution network UBK employs two external sales representatives. UBK operates from two side-by-side modern warehouses virtually backing onto Milano’s Linante airport. One of the warehouses is dedicated to incoming and main storage, the other to outgoing goods. The latter houses a well equipped laboratory capable of extensive dimensional and selected material tests. While most of the products offered by UBK, while high grade, are standard, the company does also supply special products to its customers, particularly in the automotive sector. The emphasis, though, is on service – UBK has invested in computer systems, as well as physical storage and inventory to ensure it can meet its customers’ requirements “dynamically and efficiently”. The close relationship with principals, like Unbrako, Nedschroef, and Bulten, says Mr Maggione, ensures UBK can satisfy the requirements of its customers. The UBK programme comprises entirely high-grade products, providing the possibilities, continues Mr Maggione, to solve problems for customers with complete surety. Unbrako’s range of grade 10.9 and 12.9 hexagon socket screws, in both Metric and UNC-UNF threads, remains an important part of the UBK offer. The company also strongly promotes the DURLOCK® self locking screws for the capabilities of solving problems in vibration vulnerable applications. On a similar theme UBK distributes Nord-Lock’s patented self locking washer, designed to be particularly effective in

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

ensuring the tightness of joints in the presence of vibration. UBK highlights, in particular, the availability of the Nord-Lock product in AISI 316 stainless steel and the fact that the programme covers a very wide range of dimensions, making Nord-Lock invaluable in a wide range of applications. Bulten Stainless manufactures both standard and special fasteners in high strength stainless steel materials, with mechanical properties comparable to alloy steel grades 8.8 and 10.9. Bumax 88 and 109 are invaluable, says UBK, for applications where good mechanical performance is required in addition to the normal properties of stainless steel – corrosion resistance, resistance to temperature change, and anti magnetic characteristics. Mubea produces springs to DIN 2093 and is, says UBK, a leader in this product category, best known in applications where high quality is a prerequisite.

For the export market UBK currently focuses on its range of pressure plugs, both conical and cylindrical, designed primarily for the hydraulics industry. UBK’s stock range includes types Gas NPTF Dry-Seal, NPTF Levi-Seal, and DIN specifications 906, 908, 910 and 7604. The range is completed with matching caps and special magnets. UBK plans to further extend its range of high grade products, as well as introducing complementary programs – for example the recently added gear wrench range from the USA.

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top quality service

or Ambrovit, strategic drivers ranging from prompt delivery, customer care, high quality and advanced technologies – make it much more than a usual supplier of screws. “We are a partner who lets its customers work with deep satisfaction.” Ambrovit has more than 1,500 customers located across Europe, to which it despatches approximately 165 shipments per day. Its geographical location, not far from Milan, Turin and Genua, allows Ambrovit to offer an efficient and quick delivery, wherever the final customer. Ambrovit constantly updates its range and is committed to offering products which are both technically advanced and commercially competitive. Quality of service is also an important issue: “Our idea of quality is especially focused on service, because a customer’s satisfaction is based not only on a product’s quality, but also on good relationships, punctuality and lack of mistakes in delivery. That’s why we have invested a lot in technology and software over the years.” Ambrovit’s quality control system is based on ‘tailor-made’ software, targeted at ensuring quality standards are at the highest level. In order to guarantee a high quality, reliable and consistent service level, constant random checks are carried

out to intercept possible non-conformities. Controls, both visual and dimensional, are carried out with the help of dynamometric keys, gauges and testing machines. Also, all packaging and shipping operations are carried out within the company. This means that all screws sold by Ambrovit can be packaged according to customer needs, either in labelled boxes, cartons or in recyclable plastic bags. Labels can also be personalised with customer logos, designs and descriptions, so that no box will be like another. A recent innovation at Ambrovit is the installation of a new automatic warehouse, provided by LCS Srl, consisting of a high bay warehouse and a material handling system. The high bay warehouse consists of four single deep aisles, each one served by a MSINGLE stacker crane. These cranes are 24 metres high and can manage 22 storage levels and 86 locations along the aisle. The warehouse has an overall storage capacity of approximately 16,000 pallet places, corresponding to a weight of approximately 15,000 tonnes. Each stacker crane can perform 30 double cycles per hour; this means that a machine can store 30 pallets in an hour and retrieve as many at the same time. In addition to the high bay warehouse Ambrovit also has a semi-automatic warehouse with a total storage capacity of 4,000 pallet places. In the goods-in area all pallets are checked in terms of profile, overload, runners and clearance between runners. Pallets unsuitable for automatic handling are rejected so that an operator can resolve the fault pointed out by the system. After being rearranged, pallets are checked again before being transferred to the high bay warehouse. To avoid material flow overlap in the front area of the high bay warehouse a conveyor system has been installed on two

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Ambrovit was founded in 1997 by a group of managers who already had several years experience in fastener production and distribution. Since the beginning it has maintained an ambitious mission of innovation and modernisation whilst retaining its strong Italian industrial and commercial values.

levels: incoming flow on ground floor and outgoing on a four metre high mezzanine. Pallets coming out of the warehouse are let down by means of an elevator and can be sent directly to the shipping area or to the commissioning area. In the commissioning area boxes are picked by single SKU pallets. The quantity of

boxes is specified by the picking list. Once picked, the single SKU pallet is checked in terms of profile and sent to the high bay warehouse. This cycle is repeated until the customer order is completely fulfilled. So that orders are carried out quickly the system has three picking bays, each one consisting of a double pallet display with a table in the middle used for packaging activities. During order consolidation the operator is supported by a PC drawing all its information from the Warehouse Management System LogiWARE developed by LCS. Built in 2009 the new logistic premises has allowed Ambrovit to extend its business to countries such as Germany, eastern Europe, France, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Hungary, Spain, Finland and Switzerland. “Thanks to our international vision and open-minded attitude we have learnt how to improve our service level in order to be able to offer both quality and punctuality, so that we are always beside you in your fixing work”.

S I S T E M I

D I

F I S S A G G I O

F A S T E N I N G

S Y S T E M S

heavy&metal

Ancoranti meccanici - Mechanical anchors

sistemi di fissaggio

速

w w w . b o s s o n g . c o m BOSSONG S.p.A. Sistemi di fissaggio e consolidamento

VdS

ETA

Fire Resistance

A S S O C I A T O

Confindustria Unione Industriali

European Technical Approval Option 7 non cracked concrete

European Consortium of Anchors Producers

ETA Option 7

M E M B E R

ETA European Technical Approval Option 1 cracked and not cracked concrete

ETA Option 1

O F

Associazione Italiana per il restauro architettonico, artistico, urbano

Zona Industriale 2 - Via E. Fermi, 51 - 24050 GRASSOBBIO (Bergamo) Italy - Tel +39 035 3846 011 - Fax +39 035 3846 012 - info@bossong.com

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Inoxdadi develops business Inoxdadi Srl, based in Gallignano, Italy, was established in 1973 and originally manufactured and distributed stainless steel nuts around the world. Since then Inoxdadi has added screws and washers to its product range and is increasingly more and more committed to introducing special materials.

he company states that “We always want to be up to date with the latest technological research and developments involving new performing materials, to make sure that Inoxdadi is at the forefront of the innovation field.” To satisfy its growing customers’ demands for items in special materials, Inoxdadi has structured a new purchasing department which is focused on particular materials and has already bought in new machines to work on sophisticated and technologically advanced materials like inconel, incoloy, hastelloy, nimonic,

titanium, duplex, monel 400, super duplex (W 1.4410 and W 1.4501), 254SMO, and various others. Inoxdadi says that these advanced materials have a great resistance to corrosion caused by acid, alkali, caustic, oxidising or chlorated chemical agents. Inoxdadi also points out that the advances materials also feature high mechanical properties, resistance at elevated temperatures, are good quality and offer long lasting endurance in a variety of different industries such as petrochemical, marine, aerospace and nuclear.

Next generation of hose clamps Nordic Metalblok, based in the Treviso province of Italy, is a manufacturer of metal hose clamps.

Kloj.it

02/2010

t its Treviso base it undertakes all aspects of the production cycle from processing the raw material (stainless steel strip) through the pressing and assembly operations to final despatch. Nordic Metalblok‘s original brand identity of MEB has evolved to MEBTOPQ which it says reflects the design and quality of the new generation of metal clamps, produced from technologically advanced automatic machines. Nordic Metalblok highlights that it has three main product groups which are: • Metal hose clamp MEBTOPQ: Produced to DIN 3017 standard, in 9mm and 12mm on fully automatic machines controlling quality at all stages of production. Applications for this range include automotive, industrial and hydraulic markets. • Flexible metal clamps, VERYFLEX and EXTRAFLEX: The flexible metal clamps feature a threaded band, smooth inside and tilting housing with screw. Nordic Metalblok explains that this design allows quick and easy assembly and disassembly whilst retaining a secure connection thanks to the automatic locking feature. A wide range of sizes are available up to 1,300mm diameter. • Strip steel banding: Allows the user total flexibility in producing their own clamps in any size. Contained within a patented dispenser, the banding is complemented with boxes of housings and screws. More technical details about Nordic Metalblok products and materials, together with the company profile are available on its website.

M E T A L

H O S E

C L A M P S

www.nordicmetalblok.com

PRODUTTORE DI FASCETTE STRINGITUBO IN ACCIAIO MANUFACTURER OF METAL HOSE CLAMPS

Via E. Minato, 3 · 31039 Riese Pio X (TV) Italy Tel. +39.0423.7485 · Fax +39.0423.74866 info@nordicmetalblok.com · www.nordicmetalblok.com

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Prepared for any situation Rivit Srl, based in Bologna, is an Italian company that focuses on the production and distribution of fixing systems and tools for sheet metal working and assembly.

stablished in 1973, it came to develop a wide range of products (blind rivets, threaded inserts, self-clinching, welding studs, pin and collars, latches, cage nuts, spring clips) and related tools for their installation. Rivit explains that it is well-rooted both in the domestic and international markets, and abroad it operates in over 32 countries. To further develop its projects, Rivit built a large and modern production and design location, which includes an automatic warehouse that provides and supports a state-of-the-art logistic system, to ensure speed and efficiency when filling commercial orders. Evolution and technological innovation play a key role within Rivit, but the direct relationship with its customers remains its main aim to focus on. “As a matter of fact,” the company explains, “the heart of the mission is the full satisfaction of

the customers, which becomes a stimulus for us to grow and offer ourselves as a valid partner.” Rivit points out that it can offer a wide choice of different products and that each product range includes relevant tools for their application. For example there are tools for rivets and threaded insert, stud welding tools, presses and hand tools for fasteners, as well as a variety of other tools. The complete selection of Rivit products is illustrated on its new website. “The wide range of available items is enriched by our valueadded customer service, which includes selling of spare parts, design and engineering services, allowing us to face any possible situation.”

Italian Fastener Associations Many fastener manufacturers in Italy are represented by UPIVEB, recognised worldwide for its commitment to supporting and promoting its members’ businesses. UPIVEB is a member of the European Industrial Fastener Institute. More information about UPIVEB, including its membership, can be found at www.upiveb.org

he Union Distributori Itiliani Bulloneria (UDIB) represents the interests of a group of fastener distributors in Italy. It is a member of the European Fastener Distributors Association. More information about UDIB may be obtained by visiting the EFDA website www.efda-fastenerdistributors.org

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Winning Technologies® the key Since its foundation in 1939 SACMA has designed and manufactured cold forging machines, constantly growing and continuously improving, enabling it to gain worldwide recognition.

ithin the strategy of supplying machines with the highest technology levels, SACMA continues to improve and develop new models of progressive cold formers and combined bolt makers, supplying them to the ever growing market of net-shape parts producers. SACMA is in no doubt that its Winning Technologies® have transformed it into a modern and successful company. Foremost amongst these Winning Technologies® are:

Solid casting

The main frame is a fundamental element for performance of any machine, particularly of a cold forming machine, because it imparts rigidity, precision and reliability throughout its life. Among the different methods of manufacture SACMA has chosen a monoblock casting made of perlitic spheroidal cast iron, normalised and stabilised by ageing for over 12 months, to guarantee maximum rigidity with the highest level of stability under heavy loads. SACMA selects the best suppliers of castings and applies constant monitoring of conformity to its own technical specifications to guarantee constant quality. A natural characteristic of this material is its ability to suppress vibration, which combined with close tolerance machining of the casting, enables the machines to produce high precision parts for many years.

Desmo Drive double cams imparts to the whole system a control of position even at maximum production speed. The multiple adjustments, timing of the transfer phase, variation of the clamping force, variation of the opening/ closing speed of the fingers, together with the absence of springs, allows the transferring of long parts and of the shortest parts to take place in safety at maximum speeds.

Warm forming

The application of a warm forming system to horizontal forging machines extends the possibility of making net-shape parts of more complex shapes and permits work with special materials which could not be forged cold. In order to meet these new requirements in the industry, SACMA has developed special machines, incorporating induction heating units in the feeding areas. The typical temperature range of warm forming applications is between 400°C and 900°C. High frequency induction heating is obtained by means of special coils that can be fitted outside or inside the main frame of the machine, between the feed rolls and the cut-off quill. There is specific cooling of the coils and of the frame and the temperature of the wire is read by specific optical pyrometers. The WF application can then be completed with temperature control of the die box and of the coolant liquid.

Transfer system

The real heart of high speed horizontal cold formers is represented by the transfer mechanism: only with a precise and infallible grip can one obtain best results of efficiency and productivity. The precise movement of the transfer fingers, determined by a smooth oscillating mechanism generated by

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

SACMAform®

Modern fastener manufacturing companies must be able to respond promptly to the production enquiries they receive from all potential customers. It is therefore necessary to have available a technology that can reduce time for evaluation of the capability and development of the forging process of new parts, to facilitate the choice of the most suitable machine for production. SACMA, with the cooperation of the mechanical and application engineering department of Padua University, developed the SACMAform® application software, which gives tool designers a valid method and assistance for the initial engineering development of a product. Starting from a tool progression design and the characteristics of the material, the SACMAform® software offers a simple and intuitive method for calculation of volumes and forging loads, together with other necessary data for evaluating the economics of the project. A large library of materials, specific data and examples, useful for tool design, are included in the software.

Tool design

The constant evolution of the forging world forces tool design engineers to develop tooling technology to greater levels, in order to produce increasingly more complex, special and difficult parts. Today, in the planning stages of new investments, it is all the more important to be able to rely on the support of a trustworthy partner who has experience in tool design and forming progression, to develop a suitable forging method to manufacture the parts in question. The long term experience and knowhow, possessed by SACMA, in the analysis of forging problems and in the research of suitable technical solutions, which are then shared with the customer, makes it a valid partner to be of assistance during the critical stages of development, to bring the project to a successful solution in the shortest possible time. A team of project engineers, assisted by modern design and calculation software, work together with the customer to reach the best manufacturing solutions for the industrial development of the product. With the co-operation of other leading companies in the industry, SACMA is also able to suggest efficient turn key solutions.

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May 2010

italy

Fastener + Fixing Magazine provides a unique reference guide that offers the industry a fast and easy way to source both current and upcoming product Catalogues. Use this convenient service to call, fax or email the companies to request a copy of their latest Catalogue and up to date product information.

Ambrovit Srl

BBA Srl

Thanks to the new automatic warehouse that can store up to 20,000 pallets, AMBROVIT allows prompt delivery, satisfaction for all your requirements, high quality products, use of advanced technologies and much more; These are the strong characteristic qualities that distinguish Ambrovit from the traditional screws suppliers.

A manufacturer of standard blind rivet nuts and the new Bulge Control Technology series of high performance rivet nuts. Known for excellent product quality and significant inventory levels, BBA provides the highest levels of service to it’s distributors. BBA is now seeking more distributors to join our growing network.

email: sales@ambrovit.it www.ambrovit.it

email: info@bbafasteners.com www.bbafasteners.com

Carlo Salvi

Corbetta Srl

European-Quality and attention to technical details characterize Carlo Salvi machines.

We have been producing high quality forming screws, rivets and pivots according to drawing for 40 years. The recent generation change allows us to adapt our experience to the fast market changes. Our mission: Highest quality and flexibility for a product entirely manufactured in Italy.

Carlo Salvi trademark is synonymous with high precision and reliability. Continuous evolution and patented equipment make our machines unique. The Carlo Salvi technology is designed for the future. Our team is constantly developing innovative solutions. email: carlosalvi@carlosalvi.it This made us the world leader in Cold Forming Technology and Innovation. www.carlosalvi.it

email: info@fastdevsrl.com www.fastdevsrl.com

email: corbettaviti@corbettaviti.it www.corbettaviti.it

Fastdev Srl

Friulsider Spa

FASTDEV S.r.l. is a software company LEADER in information technology solutions for the Fasteners market. Our solutions are installed and working in Italy, Germany, Spain, France, UK, Switzerland, Romania and Poland. “Join us at Fastdev, you’ll find the best partner to manage your Business”.

Friulsider S.p.A., one of Europe’s leading manufacturers in Fixings and Fasteners, offers a vast range of fixings including numerous certified products and innovative solutions. Friulsider’s management policy of continual improvement ensures the highest quality production and service as validated by the accreditation ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certificates achieved in the early days of their conception.

tel: +39 0432 747 911 www.friulsider.com

www.fastenerandfixing.com

C ata lO G U E R a C K

tel: +39 0119 619 433 www.gebfissaggi.com

G&B Fissaggi

Growermetal

30 YEARS OF FIXING EVOLUTION

Growermetal is a modern familyowned company located in Calco, Italy. Since 1950, Growermetal is a leading manufacturer of security washers, standard washers, as well as special parts according to customer specifications.

Experts in production of anchoring systems we are able to offer a large line of nylon, steel and chemical anchors certified according to the strictest regulations such as CE Certification, Zullassung and Fire Resistance Test. The new Catalogue 2010, totally restyled in graphics, presents new products and fixing guide. Quality System Management certified according to UNI EN ISO 9001:2008.

tel: +39 039 95 35 300 www.growermetal.it

ENGLISH-GERMAN

GSE Sas GSE SAS is since 1993 the main reference of European standards and, soon, American fasteners. The founder, Robert Greborio, invented and created the software Screws@2000 which, with the help of various normative institutes, allowed to make available to worldwide users this unique instrument.

tel: +39 0382 175 0079 www.eurofasteners.com

Currently, this tool is considered the “Bible” of screws and it is recommended by manufacturers and certification bodies.

World leading designer and manufacturer of thread rolling and shank pointing machines for screws, bolts and special fasteners also rolled after heat treatment with or without washer assembly units.

the GUIDE TO THE SYSTEM • FÜHRUNG ZUM SYSTEM

tel: +39 0131 87 161 www.ingramatic.com

Our sales offices worldwide, together with our engineering departments, cooperate closely with customers in order to come up with best technical and manufacturing solutions.

Inoxdadi Srl

Mecavit Srl

Manufacturers and exporters of stainless steel and brass nuts, bolts and washers. Producers of nuts and washers in Aluminium, Copper, Monel, Duplex, Nickel Alloys, Hastelloy, Titanium, ASTM A194 Gr2H and 2HM, Stainless Steels like AISI 316Ti, 904L, etc

MECAVIT, screw manufacturer with thirty years of activity and experience, is a leader in the Italian market of special and standard screws in carbon and stainless steel. The range of production is highly specialized in both socket and 6 lobes small dimensioned screws in different kinds of high resistance carbon steel. Please contact us to find out more.

tel: +39 (0) 363 914 959 56 www.inoxdadi.com

tel: +39 0542 670 560 www.mecavit.it

Nordic Metalblok Srl

RIVIT Srl

Founded in 1971, Nordic Metalblok is an Italian manufacturer of metal clamps. Original brand identity of MEB has evolved to MEBTOPQ to reflect the design and quality of the new generation of metal clamps, produced from technologically advanced automatic machines. Our range of clamps have many applications like in ventilation and air-conditioning, automotive and spare parts, industrial and hydraulic sector.

Founded in 1973, Rivit is a European leader for fasteners and tools, proposing a complete programme of fixing systems, tools, machines and technical support for the whole sheet metal universe (automotive, electronics, household appliances, sheet metal working, air-conditioning, building, roofing, metal door and windows frames, etc.).

www.nordicmetalblok.com email: export@nordicmetalblok.com

Ingramatic Spa

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

email: rivit@rivit.it www.rivit.it

ENGLISH-GERMAN

C ata lO G U E R a C K

the GUIDE TO THE SYSTEM • FÜHRUNG ZUM SYSTEM

Sacma Limbiate Spa

Sala Punzoni

World leading designer and manufacturer of Cold Forming, progressive heading, screw making, bolt making and warm forming machines for production of standard fasteners, special fasteners and special parts used in the Automotive Industry, Aerospace, Construction, Electrical appliance and general industry up to M30 and 300 mm.

Sala Punzoni srl, established in 1966, is a company manufacturing standard and special high speed steel and carbide punches to customer drawing and high speed steel flat dies for thread rolling. Nowadays the company is the leader in Italy and even in the international market, always updating its productive and planning processes in order to maintain the best standard of manufacture.

tel: +39 341 633 237 www.salapunzoni.it www.creartcom.it

tel: +39 02 99 45 21 www.sacmalimbiate.it

FLEXIBLEQUICKTOP

FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING QUICK DELIVERY TOP QUALITY

HOT-FORGED SCREWS: LARGE DIAMETERS, VERY LONG OR VERY SHORT SCREWS STUDS, SPECIAL SCREWS.

SOCIETÀ COSTRUZIONE BULLONI S.R.L. Via L. Braille, 27 - 20035 Lissone (Italy) Tel. 039.46.23.76 - Fax 039.46.54.20 www.scob.it - info@scob.it

email: info@scob.it tel: +39 039 462 376

tel: +39 0522 658 900 www.vipaspa.it

Scob Srl

Tecfi Spa

Manufacturer of mechanical connecting parts. • Fasteners hot-forged, high tensile, metric and inch sizes. Diameters from M10 to M64, lengths from 200mm to 1000mm • Grade 10.9 HV steel construction Bolts • Studs and Threaded Rods. • Bi-Hexagonal/12 PT Bolts • Turned and precision tooled parts • Special to Customers Specifications/Drawings

TECFI S.P.A. is an Italian company specialised in design, production and merchandising of fixing systems with an own brand. Our daily work strongholds are: the employment of selected raw materials, a large stock availability, quick delivery service, focusing on customer satisfaction and extreme respect for environment. tel: +39 0823 883 338 email: sales@tecfi.it

Vipa Spa

Viteria Fusani Srl

Vipa S.p.A leader in the business of fasteners; a reference company for its services and product quality. At the moment the head office ground lays over 130,000 sqm. The warehouse is the major part of it; with modern technology systems, software and hardware, to maximize the efficiency in the production and distribution of all products. The wide spaces allow availability of 40,000 different types of fasteners in a wide range of treatments ready for prompt delivery.

Not far from Milan, since 1955 Viteria Fusani has been producing standard screws and special screws to customer design. Production range size from Ø 1,6 to Ø 8. Metric screws, self-tapping for plastic materials, dual thread self-tapping, for wood, for chipboards, self-forming with trilobated profile. Different types of materials and treatments. email: info@viteriafusani.it www.viteriafusani.it

Catalogue Rack July 2010 Coming up in the next issue... Fastener Fair - Budapest Exhibitors Contact: Claire Lake email: claire.lake@fastenerandfixing.com • Tel: +44 (0) 1727 739 150 www.fastenerandfixing.com

iNSiGHt

the art of connecting “We resolve the problems of our customers by achieving the impossible,” says Dresselhaus chief executive, Hans Werner Patzke. It is an ethos that has animated the company to become one of the leading suppliers of screws and fixings in Europe.

“

Enthusiastically striving to keep quality, service and reliability at the highest level. These are the promises we make and keep every single day,” emphasises Mr Patzke. In that day more than 50 million Dresselhaus screws and fixings are required in production plants or from retail shelves throughout Europe and beyond. It is a logistical challenge that Dresselhaus meets through a combination of long experience, the highest standards in quality and safety, and the application of both modern technologies and highly skilled personnel – which all adds up to a price/performance ratio that ensures the satisfaction of Dresselhaus customers throughout the global market. The process of refining that ratio started in 1950 when Joseph Dresselhaus established under sole proprietorship the business that continues to carry his name in Bielefeld. By 1957 the company was able to move into a newly built office and warehouse facility in Ziegelstrasse, Bielefeld. It added high tensile bolts and setscrews to its product range and began to export. In 1959 the company launched its JD-59 chipboard screw in Dresselhaus’ own packaging. By the mid 1970s, still under Joseph Dresselhaus’ personal leadership, the company had established itself as

an important supplier to the furniture industry, extending its range to include furniture fittings. It had also developed a strong reputation supplying the hardware retailing sector and also agricultural and mechanical engineering industries. In 1977 the management of the business moved into the hands of Heinrich Dresselhaus and the company became a limited partnership. Throughout the 1970s and the 1980s it continued to expand, establishing additional locations across Germany. By 1985 Dresselhaus’ program for hardware retailers had been integrated under the brand “Dresselhaus Systeme”. By the end of the decade it was supported by state of the art packaging facilities. In 1994 Dresselhaus relocated its head office and main logistic centre to a newly erected building in Herford-Diebrock, just outside Bielefeld. Two years before its 50th anniversary the company transformed its legal status to GmbH & Co. KG. Today, in addition to the head office and main logistic centre at Herford,

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Dresselhaus has four main warehouses and two sales offices across Germany, as well as a dedicated packing plant for screws and furniture fittings. It also has a sales office in Aumetz, France. New developing markets are serviced through operations in Poland, Russia and Turkey. As a group Dresselhaus now employs some 770 people, more than half directly involved in the logistics and storage operations of the business. Over 400 people are based at Herford, with 178

dedicated to administration functions. The company operates a stringent quality management system to ISO 9001:2000 for

Fasteners technology Furniture fittings DIY Systems Dreika®-applications technology Direkt-C-parts management

Joseph Dresselhaus Befestigungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG Zeppelinstraße 13 • D-32051 Herford Postfach 1464 • D-32004 Herford Tel.: +49 52 21 9 32-0 • Fax: +49 52 21 9 32-4 00 E-Mail: info@dresselhaus.de • Internet: www.dresselhaus.de

The «art » of connecting – Dresselhaus.

iNSiGHt which it has held certification since 1995. In 1996 it also achieved certification for both environmental management to ISO 14001 and health and safety management to OHSAS 18001. The group holds inventory of some 50,000 line items and has storage for 60,000 pallets of product. In total some 273,000 cubic metres of storage, utilises a combination of modern high-rack storage areas for bulk inventory and small order picking warehouses. A modern fleet of more than fifty company-owned trucks operates in conjunction with commercial carriers to ensure prompt and reliable delivery to Dresselhaus’ European customers. In a typical year Dresselhaus ships over 80,000 metric tonnes of products. Those products are used throughout the furniture and woodworking industries, where the company offers not just individual screws and fittings but also complete assembly kits and other optimal solutions. In the mechanical engineering sector, Dresselhaus products will be found in agricultural machinery, capital goods, steel construction, and both commercial and passenger vehicles. Standard fasteners are complemented by a growing service in special parts, with the products often supplied packed in poly bags for cleanliness, traceability and convenience. Industrial customers’ needs for security and reliable supply of an ever more diverse range of C parts are satisfied through the Dresselhaus DIREKT supply service. DIREKT leverages advanced based database technology to manage customer inventory and provide immediate customer access to statistics via the internet. Bar coding technology is used to check inventory levels and ensure accuracy throughout the complex replenishment process, which ensures a customer’s assembly lines or production process operates efficiently and without interruption. Dresselhaus’ long standing

competence in packaging also means parts can be presented in plastic bags or cardboard boxes, labelled specifically for the customer including with bar codes. Where required Dresselhaus also supplies kits including a variety of parts, particularly for after sales or installation operations. Throughout, quality is assured by Dresselhaus stringent management systems and advanced in house testing facilities. Dresselhaus is also a reliable and highly respected wholesale partner, offering a wide assortment of products and attractive presentations for point of sale. Packaging options are tailored to meet customer requirements and retailers of all kinds, from steel goods and automotive parts to electronics and building supply stores, can readily develop sales to their specific customer sector

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

in the confidence that they are backed by one of the most committed and reliable partners. For the hardware retailer a comprehensive merchandising system features windowed boxes for consumer convenience and uses an appealing colour guidance system to help locate the right product. For the retail partner the visual advantages of the system are complemented by slim stock holding supported by the Dresselhaus logistics network, which avoids unnecessary capital lock-up. The modular point of sale system also makes for simple upgrade. Sound impossible? Not to Dresselhaus, past masters in the art of connecting… and making the impossible seem really rather simple.

Germany France

Slovenia Croatia Bosnia & Herzegovina

Serbia

interview

Robert Shieh

President Brighton Best International What is Brighton Best International’s niche? BBI has several core strengths. First, our financials are second to none in the master distribution industry. Brighton-Best is backed by the Ta Chen Group, a US$1 billion dollar company, and a consortium of some of the largest banks and institutions in Taiwan. Second is our inventory. Although the market has softened, we continue to invest in our inventory levels. Currently, Brighton-Best has as much tonnage on-order and on water as the company does on-hand in the entire United States. We are doubling our inventory, focusing on medium carbon, low carbon, and stainless. Our third strength is our IT systems. Everything developed for Brighton-Best has been developed in-house by our IT staff of 40 professionals. This system is constantly evolving and changing to better accommodate the needs of our distributors and of Brighton-Best. Finally, we have some of the most respected individuals in the industry working for BBI. In the past 12 months, we have expanded 15 of our warehouses across the US, completely revamped our IT systems, and changed the way we sell to our distributor base, all while achieving the highest sales in Brighton-Best’s history.

Why should distributors buy from a master distributor – what’s the benefit versus going overseas and purchasing directly? We have certainly seen distributors looking to purchase overseas, and if it makes sense for those companies to do so, then it is their responsibility to do what is best for their company. However, there are a lot of hidden costs to purchasing direct. The first is commodity exposure. Having purchased stainless for the past 29 years, I am all too familiar with unpredictable commodity prices. Fortunately, both BBI and TCI have a strong backing financially to not only weather these storms but also to shield our distributors from these commodity fluctuations and risks. The second hidden cost is the inventory carrying costs. There’s at least an opportunity cost of 5% per annum on the capital deployed to purchase inventory, whether that’s the interest rate on the line of credit, or opportunity cost for putting cash into a bank and collecting that interest. Not to mention the additional costs to overhead (personnel to handle the inventory), infrastructure (additional warehouses needed to handle stock), and taxes on inventory assets at the end of the year. Inventory is a master distributor’s bread and butter, it is what we do and what we do well, thus freeing our distributors to focus on servicing their customer base while not having to worry about commodity prices or inventory holding costs.

How has Ta Chen (TCI) been able to transform the stainless industry and how will BBI transform the fastener industry? When I first started at Ta Chen, I focused on the pipes/valves/ fittings product group. Today, this group accounts for only 18% of

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

TCI overall sales. TCI was the only distributor to bring all these different product groups under one roof, and this presented enormous benefits to our distributors who relied on our stock. They no longer had to seek out these product groups through multiple phone calls to multiple master distributors. Distributors could easily find what they needed either online or through a TCI representative, and reduce their cost of purchasing. The same you can see at Brighton-Best. Where the industry was fragmented previously between sockets, hex heads, low carbon, and stainless providers, now distributors can find all these product groups at BBI. The second reason I would say is trust. Over the course of the past 8 years, TCI’s distributors developed a trust in our website and our pricing. For example, at TCI, we currently conduct over 75% of our sales online. In LA, the percentage is 90%+. TCI customers no longer call in to quote or place orders because they know that the web price is the best price not only from TCI but also in the industry.

What is your leadership style and how do you manage a 3,000 person workforce? It is impossible to tell 3,000 people what their job functions are down to every single detail. I have a management philosophy of “Structure / No Structure.” The no-structure means that each manager at Ta Chen or Brighton-Best needs to liberate its people to do what they believe is in the best interest of the company. When I hire someone, I look for only a few things. I look for heart – is this a good person, is he or she supporting a family; for eagerness – is this person willing to learn and go beyond their basic job description; and lastly for dedication – does this person believe in BBI’s value proposition and will this person stay for the long-term in our company. My only job from there is to make sure each employee is doing what he or she is good at and to place them in a situation where they could succeed. One of my most basic beliefs is that if a person fails at TCI / BBI, it is my fault. All I ask from the employees is that they believe in what they are doing.

How do you work 16 hours a day managing two large companies in eight countries with over 3,000 employees? One word goes through my mind all day, and that’s appreciation. I appreciate the opportunities that have allowed me to build my companies. I appreciate all the hard working employees at Ta Chen and Brighton-Best. I appreciate my family, friends, and partners who have stuck with me through the past 29 years. Lastly, I appreciate our customers who have continued to support us through good and bad times. When you appreciate what you are doing, it no longer becomes work.

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insight

bigHead’s big future bigHead Bonding Fasteners Ltd, based in Bournemouth, UK, was last featured by this magazine in 2004. Since then the company has gone through a management buyout, organisational restructuring, and a streamlining of the production process, all whilst still providing high quality unique products to customer specifications.

he bigHead fastener was invented in 1966 by Ken Stanley, who established bigHead Bonding Fasteners Ltd to make the product in the UK. bigHead fasteners today still shares the original bigHead design: a flat perforated head, which locks the product securely into position and spreads the load, that can be welded to a wide choice of studs, nuts, collars, pins and other fixings to offer versatility. The secure integration of the fastener into the material creates a strong anchor point that was previously unachievable in composites and plastics. Ken retired in 2006 when there was a management-buy-out backed by private equity company EPIC. However, from 2006 to the end of 2007 bigHead started to stagnate and wasn’t achieving what the investors had expected. Which is why, at the beginning of 2008, Matthew Stevens was appointed managing director of the company. Matthew immediately set about re-organising and modernising the business and making the whole production process more efficient and effective. “We did this quite radically,” explains Matthew. “Firstly we slimmed down the product line from 2,000+ standard products, all coming with a promise of next day delivery, down to 400 standard products. These 400 standard products actually accounted for 95% of our sales, so it turned out to be a simple decision.” “We also made changes to the organisational structure of the business by standardising the packaging, as well as adopting a more disciplined approach to pricing and volume orders. This meant that for standard products we would still accept a lower order quantity, but for the non-standard products we would require a higher order commitment.” bigHead also introduced Lean manufacturing, which enabled the company to become more efficient and streamlined. “Lean manufacturing did yield a lot of big wins for us,” comments Matthew. “It enabled us to re-organise the factory, create more space, get rid of unnecessary checks on documentation and reduce double handling. By re-organising our stores, for example, we dramatically reduced the distance our product travelled during production, which helped reduce lead times and energy consumption. Also, by establishing clear internal performance measures and standards we can now give customers clearer information more quickly and consistently than ever before.” bigHead is planning to continue the Lean manufacturing process this year and is sending everyone in the company on a Lean manufacturing course. “In five months time every bigHead team member will have a Lean manufacturing qualification,” says Matthew. “I am confident the experience will empower them to make their jobs easier and more enjoyable.” Matthew is keen to point out that throughout the re-structuring the focus was always on the customers. “It was important that we stayed true to the core values of the business, as we realised that it was not just the unique products but our team’s flexibility and expertise that helped us stand out from the crowd.” bigHead restructured in 2008 before the recession hit in 2009, which Matthew says put the company in a good position to pull through the recession and

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

an even better position coming out of it. “Even though last year was a tough year, we still received on average twelve new customers a month and whilst we did notice a drop in certain orders, there were always other business opportunities to go after.” The bigHead fasteners are best suited to high end manufacturing and niche applications. bigHead’s client list includes big names such as Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, F1 McLaren, Lamborghini and Sunseeker. “Our customers want something very specific and strong to support their design,” says Matthew. “We find that a lot of our new business comes from recommendation by other companies, and our sales approach is definitely a case of ‘pull not push’.” Last year alone bigHead worked with its customers to supply over 600 non-standard products. All of which were custom designed to make sure that the customer got exactly what they needed for their application. “It is our ability to work with customers and create a customer specific designed product that allows us to constantly attract new customers,” says Matthew. “For example, we can make prototype products which we send to the customer to allow them to fix into their product. The customer can then send their test pieces back to us so that we can do tensile and shear load testing and complete a full test report for them, to make sure that the bigHead is fit for purpose.” Matthew is keen to point out that one of the reasons for bigHead’s success is that it manufactures and tests all its products in-house, ensuring total control and flexibility to make products of the highest quality.

“We have a range of both fully automated machines and manually operated machines that enable us to make all the standard and non-standard products that our customers require,” points out Matthew. “We also have testing facilities that allow us to carry out a whole host of tests to ensure that our products are of the highest quality, which is why we are able to control the defect rate, which was down to 0.4ppm last year.” One of the larger machines in the bigHead factory is the twinhead automatic welding machine that bigHead helped design and build in 2006. The twinhead is capable of producing two sizes of bigHead simultaneously at a production rate of some 2,000 per hour. The machine consists of two auto-welders built on a single chassis fed by twin bowl-feeds, with feeder tracks leading directly to the eight weldheads on each side. Each weld, incorporating up to six weld cycles at varying current

and hydraulic pressures, takes less that half a second. Three separate sensor systems check up to six parameters, to give the weld a tailored melt and optimum grain structure. This allows for studs from M4 – M8 thread to be welded to heads from 15mm to 38mm in diameter, either in mild or 316 stainless steel. “We use the automatic machines for our high quantity orders and the other machines for the smaller runs and the trickier products”, explains Matthew. “To manufacture our products to the standard we require however, you need to have dedicated staff that are experienced and skilled.” When talking about bigHead’s future Matthew is only too keen to tell us what bigHead has planned. “We are going to continue to develop the business within the UK, but are also looking to expand overseas, especially in mainland Europe.” Matthew adds: “We have been very good at reacting to situations, but now we are looking to be more strategic in going after specific opportunities and markets.” “We have already started to appoint distributors in central Europe and are receiving a lot of interest from European companies who have been struggling to come up with their own a solutions for certain applications. They are pleased to find an established fastening solution that is flexible to their specific needs.” Matthew highlights that in the past bigHead has been very UK focused, but now he believes there is an opportunity to expand the business. “If we can replicate in Europe what we have done in the UK then there is no reason why we can’t double the size of the business within five years,” says Matthew. To assist the expansion into Europe, bigHead’s new website will be available in French, German and Italian from early June. The old bigHead website used to receive 1,200 unique visitors per month, but bigHead is hoping that by updating the website and making it multi-lingual it will enable a whole new range of potential customers to visit the site, which will increase traffic flow and potentially result in new customers. “For the first time visitors are able to build their own bigHead fastener with a simple and innovative design tool,” highlights Matthew. “Our customers know what they want and we want to give them the tools to make it easy.” bigHead has also included a simple standard product selector with over 400 combinations, as well as a template to download for the more artistically minded who want to sketch their fastener design. They then simply email or fax it back to bigHead, who will analyse the product to see if it is viable or offer an alternative solution. The new website also focuses on the staff at bigHead, with every team member being present on the site from production right through to customer service. “We thought it was important to show who is in the bigHead team and what they do”, explains Matthew. “We have several members of staff who have been with the company for over 20 years and have a tremendous loyalty to the company.” The new website will also feature over 40 case studies of bigHead customer applications and more detail on the design and testing services available at bigHead. A new addition to the website is a blog section, which Matthew hopes will enable bigHead to chat with customers and distributors about products, as well as letting customers and distributors know about the interesting projects it is working on. “Hopefully the blog will allow us to engage with visitors to the website and build up a dialogue with them and find out what their needs are. It would be great to create a bigHead community on the blog section.” The new website, coupled with bigHead’s planned expansion into Europe, are all signs that bigHead is a company that is moving forward and looking to build on the outstanding reputation it has warranted in various industries. With a product range that is undoubtedly unique and the ability to work with customers to create specific non standard products, there is no reason why bigHead will not be able to achieve Matthew’s aim of doubling the size of the business within five years, if it doesn’t achieve it sooner.

How will you use yours? For over 40 years bigHead’s design and manufacturing has been trusted by industry. Versatile and strong, embedded or surface bonded, bigHead fasteners can simplify product assembly and save time.

Visit our website:

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bigHead – the original bonding fastener. +44 (0)1202 574 601

c o n s t r u ct i o n f i x i n g s

Changing fixing specifications… …or “What do you say to Jake, Marie and Allison” By Mark Salmon, Independent Fixings Consultants Distributors of construction fixings are often asked for products which are specified and are of a brand they do not stock. Changing the specification to an alternative is an accepted practice, which must be allowed, but there are pitfalls to be avoided. Mark Salmon, of Independent Fixing Consultants, outlines what they are in an unashamedly frightening manner and goes on to advise on how specifications maybe changed in a way that will safeguard your liability and your peace of mind. How’s your imagination? Working well today? Well mine’s on top form so let’s try this scenario then. A contractor, Alistair Maculhinty who you’ve known for years, comes into your trade counter and asks for a particular fixing. It’s a brand you don’t stock but you do carry another brand, which supplies a similar product so you offer them a fixing of the same basic type, diameter and length. Maybe you even compare the recommended loads of the specified product and your approved alternative and while the alternative is not quite up to the value of the original it’s pretty close – “similar” we might say. So you feel confident that the one you are offering is a reasonable alternative and satisfies the qualification in the original specification of “Fixplus Strongabolt M16 x 200 or similar approved”. He goes away happy because he can get on with the job. Some time later, while the building is being commissioned, part of the structure collapses and a construction worker is killed. His name is Ben. He was a widower with three children, Jake aged 5, Allison who is 6 and Marie who’s 9. Marie has never got over the death of her mother in a car crash a year ago and is dreadfully withdrawn and introverted. She relies on her dad for emotional support once he’s home from work, or used to. The police are involved as are the Health and Safety Executive. The construction details are examined, along with the debris, and the alternative fixings are discovered. Specialists are called in to consider the difference in the performance of the specified fixing and the alternative. They find a significant difference once the particular parameters of the actual job are taken into account.

The alternative is fairly close in tensile performance but much weaker in shear than the original. You hadn’t known that the application was mainly a shear loading. The HSE talk to the engineer, who specified the fixings and ask him if he was asked to approve the alternative fixing. He reports, quite accurately, that he was not approached on the subject. He relaxes somewhat. They go to see Alistair Maculhinty to ask him about how he came to use an alternative. This interview, is three days after the “accident” and Alistair has hardly slept since it happened. This interview lasts nearly all day. They go into all his background as a contractor and ask about the way he buys stuff and the quality of people he employs, the training they’ve had and what systems he uses for controlling projects. He sweats a lot – that may be something to do with the alcohol he’s been knocking back to try to sleep. He tells them that he came to your trade counter and asked for the specified fixing

and was told that you didn’t stock it but that you could supply an alternative. He tells them you looked at the load data of the two fixings and that in your judgement it was close enough and was therefore a good alternative. He says he relied on your expertise as a distributor of the fixings. He starts to relax a little once they’ve taken this bit down in their note books. They come to you. Your interview lasts even longer and again they go through your operation with a fine toothcomb. How long have you been selling fixings? Where did you gain your knowledge of fixings? What is your policy when someone asks for a fixing you don’t stock? Where is this written down? What did you ask the contractor about the application at the time? It goes on and on. They go away saying they will be back. They go back to the two fixings manufacturers concerned and ask them for more detail about their fixings and the way they work. They put the application

“OK, so that was just my imagination running away with me and none of the characters or incidents described are real. That said, it could all too easily be a reality.”

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c o n S t r u ct i o n f i x i n g S details through the design processes for both fixings. They discover that the original fixing was pretty marginal but just acceptable under that manufacturer’s criteria but the alternative does not satisfy them. More investigation reveals that the contractor had not used a torque wrench to tighten the fixings and the condition of the bolts in the debris suggests maybe they weren’t tightened much at all. They go to see Mr Maculhinty again and ask him if his men were trained in how to install the anchors. Did they have a torque wrench? He starts drinking again. The papers have been reporting on the story on a regular basis with lots of details about how Jake, Marie and Allison are struggling to understand what’s happened and why they have had to go and live with an aunt miles away. Your company is mentioned as having supplied the fixings. Order levels seem to have dropped off a bit. You’ve not been sleeping. The police come back to see you a week later with the HSE investigators. You relax a bit when you hear that the anchors may not have been properly installed. They ask you if you had offered training to the contractor for his staff on how to install the anchors. You say no – we never do – no one does - there are instructions on the box. Do you supply torque wrenches? No. Why not? They have more and more questions. Now you’re really sweating. The weeks go by. Now and again you are visited by the authorities and asked

a barrister for four hours the first day and six the second. You can’t believe the detail he goes into about your company, your background, your knowledge. He seems to be constantly changing tack, first asking you about one thing, then another, then back to the first thing. You become confused, you struggle to remember what you have said in answer to the early questions. Your mouth is even drier and you are asked to speak up. If you feel bad you can’t believe what’s happened to Alastair Maculhinty. He seems to have aged about twenty years and looks dreadful, as if he hasn’t slept for weeks – which is pretty accurate, because he hasn’t. On the last day of the trial you are taken to one side and told that the authorities will almost certainly be charging you with negligence contributing to manslaughter. The likely sanction if you are found guilty will be a hefty fine. You don’t know whether to be relieved or not, at least you won’t go to prison. You just want it to be over. One thought constantly nags away at you, especially at night as you try to sleep. The thought that one day you might come face to face with the three children; Allison, Jake and Marie. What would you say to them? OK, so that was just my imagination running away with me and none of the characters or incidents described are real. That said, it could all too easily be a reality. Whenever an “accident” does happen the investigations are very thorough, they do take a long time and it is very harrowing for those caught up in it. And the problem is that accidents rarely happen because of one isolated factor. They involve several things coming together. This makes everything very messy. The experience of being in a witness box owes little to my imagination, however. I have been involved in two court cases as an expert witness and found it one of the worst experiences of my life - and I was just there to tell them how fixings work! I was being made to feel like a criminal and the questioning was intense, very long – in one case a day and a half - and, at times, very nasty.

“ …the problem is that accidents rarely happen because of one isolated factor. They involve several things coming together. This makes everything very messy.” more questions. They don’t get any easier. For pity’s sake it was only a few boxes of fixings! The order value was only £220! After nine months Alastair Maculhinty is taken to court along with one of his managers. You are called as a witness. All the time you are aware that they may take you to court as well. When you are in the witness box you feel more nervous than you have ever been, your hands are shaking so you grip the sides of the box, your throat is dry. You are questioned by

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

So what should we do when asked for an alternative and why is a load comparison not enough? And if the loads weren’t quite up to it would a proof test or two have been a good idea?

“ …for many applications the performance of the ﬁxing is severely inﬂuenced by a whole range of factors…” The point is that for many applications the performance of the fixing is severely influenced by a whole range of factors from the concrete strength and direction of loading, edge distances and spacings within a group, to the way the load is applied through the fixture. And when these factors change, the mode of failure may change. When a fixing is chosen for any sort of safety critical application – and most jobs fall into that category – the procedure which must be carried out to select the right fixing is very complicated, frequently requiring use of manufacturer’s software. Fixings which may appear “similar” on the face of it may actually work rather differently when the different modes of failure are taken into account. Comparing headline values from a catalogue is, therefore, just not thorough enough. Site testing to a proof load is sometimes thought to be a satisfactory way to “approve” an alternative. In fact it is quite unsatisfactory as it does nothing to explore the safety margins that are needed in any safety critical application. So when an alternative fixing is proposed a selection process needs to be carried out which is as thorough as the application warrants – almost as if there were no existing specification, although this does obviously point toward a fixing that is most likely to work. It sounds awkward, I know, but if you involve the manufacturer of the brand you supply in these cases I’m sure they will support you in offering alternatives which are safe and will let you sleep at night.

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exhibitions

Connecting solar business Intersolar Europe, the international exhibition for solar technology, will take place from 9th – 11th June 2010, at the new Munich trade fair centre in Germany. Horst Dufner, Intersolar Europe project manager explains the importance of the event and the role that the field of installation technology holds within the solar industry.

ntersolar Europe in Munich is one of four continental events which make up Intersolar, the world’s leading exhibition for the entire solar industry. Intersolar Europe is currently the largest of our international events. In 2010, the exhibition will occupy 130,000 square meters of exhibition space in twelve halls. Around 1,700 exhibitors from all over the world will present their products and services. More than 60,000 international visitors are expected to attend in 2010. In addition to Intersolar Europe, Intersolar North America in San Francisco was launched in 2008. This was followed in 2009 by Intersolar India, which will take place again this year in Mumbai (14th – 16th December 2010). New to these events is Intersolar Asia, which was represented for the first time in 2010 with its own pavilion at SOLARCON China in Shanghai.

Development of solar energy

The development of solar energy is crucial for ensuring longterm global energy provision. Many countries around the world have come to recognise the future potential of solar energy production and are promoting its development in various ways. The German Renewable Energies Act (EEG) has been emulated by many countries worldwide and has provided significant impetus for the industry. It is particularly encouraging that, alongside manufacturers of photovoltaic modules and solar collectors, the skilled trades and companies in the field of installation technology are also benefiting from the upturn in the solar industry. A relevant part of Hall C4 at Intersolar Europe will be occupied by companies from the field of installation technology, who will present their latest solutions and products.

innovations in the fields of photovoltaics and solar thermal technology. For this reason, the organisers of Intersolar Europe honour the solar industry’s most innovative companies, for the third time in 2010, with the Intersolar AWARD. This is awarded in the categories ‘Photovoltaics’, ‘Solar Thermal Technology’ as well as in this year’s new category “PV Production Technology”. The Innovation Exchange serves a double purpose – both for presentation of the Intersolar AWARD and as a platform for innovation. This is the place for visitors to find out about the latest trends and most recent products in the international solar industry. Exhibitors at the exhibition will present their latest developments and services within a series of presentations.

Networking at the Intersolar Europe Conference

As part of Intersolar Europe, the Intersolar Europe Conference will take place from 7th – 11th June 2010. This year, over 2,000 attendees from all over the world are expected to attend the various conference events. International experts representing associations, science and industry will open up insights into the latest developments in the industry. Against a backdrop of current and future market developments, the conference will turn its attention to the daily working practices of decision makers and developers in solar industry companies.

Connecting solar business

Intersolar is also an important gauge of the industry’s innovative strength, acting as a platform for pioneering technologies and

Through international Intersolar exhibitions and conferences, we aim to bring people and markets together to promote international collaboration within the industry. Our objective is to provide decision-makers from industry, commerce and the skilled trades with a platform for making cross-border exchanges with manufacturers, suppliers, institutions and associations within the solar industry. We work closely with national and international associations in order to meet this objective.

Nestinox offers solar solutions

WASI Solar at Intersolar 2010

Nestinox, a European distributor of stainless steel fasteners, will be exhibiting at Intersolar Europe in Hall C4, stand 147, and highlights that its range of stainless steel fixings is ideal for the solar industry, as they do not rust and are corrosion free.

WASI Solar will once again be exhibiting at this year’s Intersolar in Munich in Hall C4, Stand 562, and will be focusing on specific solar solutions.

The Intersolar AWARD and the Innovation Exchange

estinox explains that with Nestinox Solar fixings (A2 stainless steel) solar panels and complete photovoltaic systems can be fixed with ease and reliability. Nestinox has a wide range of stainless steel fixings that are used in the solar industry such as self-tapping screws, treatment of screw thread, hexagonal bolts and nuts, hammerhead bolts, hanger bolts, security screws, sealing rings, as well as thread end and technical sprays. In addition to all the common DIN fasteners Nestinox also offers specials made by special turning and pressing processes. “Where these specials are concerned we can prove particularly helpful in finding the right solution for customers.”

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

he specific solar solutions that WASI Solar will focus on at Intersolar includes assembly solutions for solar systems on all conventional roof forms. WASI Solar explains that it has a simple and versatile system which consists of only of a few components but which is able to offer many individual possibilities, and ensures that all available photovoltaic elements (modules) can be fastened quickly and securely. Another focus of WASI Solar at the exhibition will be the mounting solutions for photovoltaic systems according to individual customer demands. The experts at WASI do the drawings, develop and test - together with the customers their own unique special system or part. Elements for the industry such as aluminium profiles and small parts round off this year’s stand presentation of WASI Solar. It is an offer especially for those customers who need aluminium parts as per drawing.

The Specialist for Fastening Technology

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Stainless steel fasteners for photovoltaic and hot water installations

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adapter sheet stainless steel A2

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c o n S t r u ct i o n f i x i n g S

Kee Safety gets a handle on things Fabricated handrailing structures are 20% more expensive to build than similar handrailing constructed using standard tubes and fittings, says tubular structures specialist Kee Safety.

ee Safety has carried out a comparison study on a typical 16m handrailing structure – one assembled using standard tube and fittings from the Kee Safety range whilst the other was fabricated on site, connected using traditional welded joints. The study shows that a Kee Safety structure provided a 41% saving in labour which contributed to an overall 20% cost reduction in handrailing assembly. Working with Kee Klamp® fittings also demands minimal time, effort and expense in the production of detailed drawings, prior to assembly on site. “These findings confirm the view of more and more contractors and specifiers across the country”, says Ian Page, product manager at Kee Safety. “Structures assembled using Kee Safety fittings are quicker and more cost-effective to construct. They also eliminate the hidden costs associated with fabrications, such as, the requirement for tailored fabrication drawings, extra site visits, transport and the cost of welding consumables.” Kee Safety supplies the leading Kee Klamp® fittings range to contractors, architects and specifiers. This selection of galvanised malleable cast iron fittings allow pre-cut lengths of standard tubing (from 21.3mm to 60.3mm) to be connected together to form handrailing and other types of tubular framework structure. Kee Safety highlights that using Kee Klamp® fittings results in a finished structure with uniform appearance which meets guaranteed design loads. Kee Safety also points out that all fittings within the Kee Klamp® range incorporate an integral socket screw which locks the fitting securely onto its tube to give an excellent slip load performance. The extensive range ensures that they can also cope easily with any changes in direction or gradient, and accommodate requirements for adapting or extending an existing structure. Fittings are available in a powder or anti-bacterial coated finish.

More from the heavyweight performer fischer endeavours to set new standards in steel anchors by adding to its distinctive range of FBN II anchors famed for having two possible anchorage depths, standard and reduced, with highest tensile load bearing capacity.

hese characteristics are now available in four different finishes; FBN II (zinc-plated), FBN II A4 (stainless steel), FBN II fvz (hot-dipped galvanized) and FBN II GS (large washer for timber) to complete the range of ‘heavyweight’ fixings. Short versions of the FBN II, marked with a letter K, are also available for reduced anchorage depths. The FBN II and FBN II A4, have European Technical Approval Option 7 for non-cracked concrete (ETA-07/0211) and fire approval up to F120 which is verification of the high safety standards in all areas of application. fischer explains that a reduced number of hammer blows and a few turns of the nut, using a calibrated torque wrench, is all that’s required to fully set the anchor in the drill hole. The advanced design of the cone and the expansion clip guarantees an even, maximum load bearing capacity in very small spacing and edge distances in non-cracked concrete. fischer also says that users will appreciate the ‘firm feeling’ when setting the FBN II. “With the addition of the FBN II A4 and fvz to the existing range of anchors we are now able to provide fully comprehensive and technically advanced solutions for steel connections to concrete.“

from concept to reality Lindapter’s new Hollo-Bolt® Flush Fit was specified as a structural steelwork connection in HafenCity’s Brooktorkai quarter in Hamburg, Germany, securing a wide spanning glass roof and multi story windowed front without the fixings being visible.

rchitect GMP (Gerkan, Marg and Partners) designed the Brooktorkai quarter utilising clinker-brick facades as a reference to nearby historic buildings, while marrying with clean, modern lines of large glass enclosed open spaces. The prominent glazed feature of the Germanischer Lloyd building guarantees expansive views over the old warehouse district and creates a striking entranceway to the company’s new head office. The Lindapter M12 Hollo-Bolt® Flush Fit was used to construct the glazing support frame with a connection design that included splice joints inside the adjoining pre-drilled SHS sections, allowing the fixings to be simply inserted and tightened with a torque wrench for a rapid installation. Lindapter points out that the cost effective solution required no specialist equipment or labour and dramatically less work at height in comparison to traditional welding or through-bolting methods. Also, the resulting steelwork is not only structurally sound, but aesthetically pleasing, presenting a clean symmetrical appearance. Lindapter’s latest innovation merges the technical advantages of its distinguished Hollo-Bolt® with the aesthetic benefits of a discreet fixing. The Hollo-Bolt® is independently approved as a primary structural connection and is the only cavity fixing to feature in the SCI/BCSA joint publication ‘Joints in Steel Construction – Simple Connections’. Typical applications include: primary & secondary steelwork, cladding, balconies & staircases.

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

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Powers has the answers Using post installed rebar to combine concrete structures should not be time consuming, says Powers Fasteners.

onstructors who work with new balconies, bridge renovations, house renovations and closing of gaps in concrete floors, know all about structural integrity of concrete constructions, explains Powers Fasteners. By using post installed rebar for the connection of existing and new concrete, the installation depths can vary up to 2 metres. With those depths a good installation can be very difficult, according to Powers, but with the right tools it shouldn’t be very time consuming and you can meet the requirements written in the approvals. Powers Fasteners emphasises that it is continuously improving and innovating new fastening solutions according to the highest possible approvals. For post installed rebar Powers received the ETA approval (ETA-09/0296) for AC100-PRO, a two component adhesive that can be used for anchorages as well as for connecting post installed rebar. At the beginning of April 2010 in Germany the highly acclaimed “Zulassung für Bewehrungsanschluss” was also granted for Powers AC100-PRO. New at Powers is the ‘post installed rebar case’. With this case the installation of rebar with large depths is made easy. Using special drilling aids its easy to drill holes up to 2 meters in a straight angle. Also the cleaning of the hole and filling it with the adhesive can be done to meet the high demand for the “Zulassung für Bewehrungsanschluss”. In combination with the Powers ‘post installed rebar case’ and AC100-PRO the company says it is now possible to combine concrete constructions and use the calculation methods for reinforced concrete.

Simpson unveil new product packaging Simpson Strong Tie has recently unveiled new packaging for its complete builder’s metalwork product range of connectors and structural systems.

he new packaging has been redesigned with a retail experience in mind, using a bright white box which can be placed directly on the retailer’s shelf, featuring a perforated tear top and large colour label clearly showing what the product is as well as what it does. Simpson Strong Tie highlights that the new style of box makes merchandising much easier as product remains in the carton, reducing manual handling. Also, since the display box stock is replaced when stock is replenished, the product display is much more likely to remain clean and well organised. Simpson Strong Tie explains that this retail style label benefits the stockist and end-user alike in that it conveys much more information, making it far easier to identify and locate the required connector. “We set out to develop a packaging solution which is eye catching and informative, bringing the end-user even closer to our products and providing our distributors with ever more effective point of sale support. However, it also needs to withstand transit – so we made it tough as well as smart,” said Chris Sanders, marketing manager at Simpson Strong Tie.

thunderbolt gives tai lightning boost Tai Woffinden is hoping to ride like a thunderbolt when the new Speedway Grand Prix season gets underway thanks to a boost from his new sponsor.

hunderbolt™, the all purpose fixing anchor, has sponsored Tai, who is the British U21 Speedway champion, and is tipped as one of Speedway’s up-and-coming stars. Recognising the talent and potential of this 19 year old British rider, Thunderbolt™ has agreed a two-year sponsorship deal that will help to boost Tai’s chances of achieving his dream of challenging for the World Championship title. Chris Honer, managing director at APT, the distributor and patent owner of Thunderbolt™ products commented: “Tai is extremely talented and shows the enthusiasm and talent to become one of the best riders in the world and we are delighted to be able to support him and help him achieve his potential.” Tai, who is busy preparing for the new season, said: “The support and interest from Thunderbolt™ has given me an extra boost to really make my mark this season, and I am really proud that such a renowned brand has shown its confidence in me.”

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

c o n S t r u ct i o n f i x i n g S

froth-PAK offers sealant solution The FROTH-PAK foam machine from Dow Building Solutions has been specially-designed as a foamed-in-place polyurethane sealant to help control air leakage from buildings and insulate gaps, cracks, cavities and joints in the building envelope. It can also be used for sealing-in doors and windows and at roof/wall intersections.

ow Building Solutions explains that in response to builders’ demands, the system now comes with a redesigned INSTA-FLO Gun, a sturdy, lightweight applicator which helps the operator control flow rate, reducing overspray and waste, a safety mechanism to protect against accidental discharge, and a range of speciallydesigned nozzles to suit different application requirements. “FROTH-PAK has been a favourite with builders for many years because it’s not only a great sealant, it also resists moisture, insulates, gives structural support and dampens noise,” said Alex Crisp, account manager for Dow Building Solutions. Dow Building Solutions highlights that the portable FROTH-PAK

system is made up of two pressurised tanks, linked by hoses to a dispensing gun. The contents of the tanks react when dispensed and produce a froth-like substance which quickly expands to up to five times their original volume. The foam solidifies in about 60 seconds, curing to become a solid, permanent structure in around five minutes. The foam adheres to most surfaces, including wood, metal, masonry, glass and most plastics. Dow Building Solutions also offers STYROFOAM-A blue extruded foamed polystyrene insulation, GREAT-STUFF polyurethane foam sealant, and INSTA-STIK polyurethane adhesives as well as a range of accessories designed to help improve the energy efficiency of buildings.

roberlo’s perfect Duo Roberlo, a European manufacturer of chemical products with 40 years experience and international presence in more than 80 countries, says that it has introduced a real innovation in the field of polyester putties for the DIY market called DUO.

oberlo explains that its new range of putties will achieve the same level of quality that a professional does, combined with the facility and functionality that users require to carry out home repairs. Roberlo also highlights that the DUO system is ready to use straight away and contains the exact mixing ration. DUO also offers a longer potting life than traditional methods is easy and simple to apply and is a lot safer and cleaner. The DUO range includes the following products: • DUOWOOD: To correct wood surfaces in interior or exterior applications. • DUOSTONE: Suitable for bonding and filling natural stones or solid surfaces. • DUOCAR: - Metallic: To repair car body or other metallic surfaces. - Fibre: Reinforced putty to increase mechanical resistance of medium repairs, polyester parts or rusted metallic areas. • DUOMARINE: To restore the marine industry surfaces such as polyester, wood or steel. • DUOFIX: Polyester based anchoring resin, suitable for hollow materials and medium loads.

helifix keeps museum standing Built in 1886 and closed in 1964, a Grade II listed engine house at the former Tottenham sewage works in the London Borough of Haringey, UK, was suffering from cracked masonry and failed arches. It has now been made structurally secure, using Helifix masonry repair products, fully renovated and turned into the Beam Engine Museum.

ith its restored and operational Wood Bros. beam steam pumping engine forming the principal exhibit, this local heritage museum provides an interesting focal point for the regenerated and landscaped Markfield Park. When the site was closed in 1964 the large arched windows of the engine house were bricked up to prevent vandalism. Before these bricks could be removed and the windows reinstated the arch lintels had to be secured using grouted CemTies which were installed through the arches and into the brickwork above by Helifix approved installer, Bearings Structural Repairs. The building also had various vertical cracks in the masonry, many as a result of vibrations caused by the operational beam engine. To repair the brickwork Bearings installed the Helibeam System which involved grouting over 300m of stainless steel HeliBars into different mortar beds above the arches. These secured and reinforced the masonry, stitched cracks and redistributed the loads to restore full structural integrity. “Helifix systems were specified by NPS Property Consultants as they are fully proven, can be rapidly installed, thereby avoiding any delays on site, and are fully concealed, so did not alter the visible appearance of this Grade II listed museum.”

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

c o n S t r u ct i o n f i x i n g S

recent european technical Approvals for fixings Here is a list of recent ETAs granted in the last three months to fixings products, following the agreement with the European Organisation for Technical Approvals. It is important to note that existing ETAs may be amended or withdrawn so this list should not be considered definitive. For further information and a full list of valid ETAs you should visit EOTA’s website, www.eota.be

ETA NUMBER

TRADE NAME

HOLDER

ETAG 001 Metal Anchors for use in Concrete (all parts) ETA - 09/0313

SMK Nail anchor MDN 6

SMK Maister GmbH u. Co.KG

ETA - 09/0342

MKT Highload Anchor SLZ

MKT Metall-Kunstoff-Technik GmbH & Co KG

ETA - 09/0349

Berner SIMPLEXanchor B A4

Berner GmbH

ETA - 09/0357

FM-MP3 - evo A4

Friulsider S.p.A.

ETA - 09/0359

MUNGO MIT 600 SE

MUNGO Befestigungstechnik AG

ETA - 09/0382

Berner SIMPLEXanchor B

Berner GmbH

ETA - 09/0383

TOX Wedge anchor B/B-U

TOX-Dübel-Technik GmbH & Co KG

ETA - 09/0387

Berner SIMPLEXanchor BZ A4 or HCR

Berner GmbH

ETA - 09/0388

Berner SIMPLEXanchor BZ

Berner GmbH

ETA - 09/0395

Würth Screw Anchor W-SA/S

Adolf Würth GmbH & Co KG

ETA - 09/0404

TOROFIX Vinylester Styrene Free

INKA YAPI BAGLANT ELEMANLARI SANYI VE TICARET A S

ETA - 09/0405

Berner MULICOMPOUNDsystem PREMIUM II for rebar connection

Berner GmbH

ETA - 09/0407

G&B Fissaggi injection system GEBOFIX PRO VE-SF for rebar connection

G&B FISSAGGI

ETA - 09/0415

VR-4

ANCLAJES QUIMICOS SL

ETA - 09/0416

Halfen Highload Anchor HB-SZ

Halfen GmbH

ETA - 10/0012

fischer injection system FIS EM

fischerwerke GmbH & Co KG

ETA - 10/0060

Teckfi High Performance anchor HVE Rock

Tecfi S.p.a.

ETA - 10/0074

FM-MP3 evo

Friulsider S.p.A

ETA - 10/0076

Through bolts SITA ACCIAIO S1K, SI1K and SIH1K

G&B FISSAGGI S.r.l.

ETA - 10/0087

VJ Technology Injection system HPE 385 for concrete

VJ Technology

ETA - 10/0091

ANKROCHIM SF 800 for post installed rebar connections

PLAKABETON

ETA - 10/0092

Ankrochim SF 800 adhesive anchor

PLAKABETON

ETA - 10/0106

Injection System R-KEA+ for rebar connection

Rawl France SARL

ETA - 10/0127

Oriental DAN and DIAL Wedge Anchors

Oreintal Multiple Enterprise Lt

ETA - 10/0146

DFX

Outifix

ETAG 014 Plastic Anchors for ETICS ETA - 09/0394

fischer termoz CN 8

fischer Unternehmensgruppe

ETA - 10/0028

BRAVOLL PTH - SX

BRAVOLL spol. s r o.

r o f d n a l o g s n H i r a f l a St ee e

n e t s fa

f e th

You need good quality fastening elements. Coated and packaged as desired, and delivered to you in time. That is possible. The Stafa Holland team is ready for you. Feel free to discuss with us what precisely you would like to have, and when, and we will get into top gear for you. As a stock keeping importer we can quickly deliver a wide variety of screws, bolts, nuts, threaded rods, washers, anchors, as well as a broad range of additional materials. We offer highly competitive prices, deliver our orders strictly on time throughout Europe, and have been known to guarantee high quality fastening elements for more than thirty years. See for yourself. Just send us an email or call us on 0031-495 599888. We will be more than happy to discuss our stock, our prices, and our production with you.

Stafa Holland

Den Engelsman 18 P.O. Box 2670 6026 ZH Maarheeze The Netherlands Tel: 0031-495 599888 Fax: 0031-495 599876 Email: info@stafa.nl Internet: www.stafa.nl

exhibitions

wire shows international quality wire 2010, the international wire and cable trade fair, and Tube 2010, the international tube and pipe trade fair, were once again staged at the Dusseldorf Messe from 12th to 16th April 2010. Organisers reported that the shows were proof that business is once again picking up after the economic problems last year.

oachim Schäfer, managing director in charge of wire 2010 and Tube 2010 at Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, said: “Over the years Düsseldorf has become the international platform for two key sectors of industry. Global contacts are forged and orders placed here for the years ahead.” He goes on to say: “The trade fairs therefore took place at precisely the right point in time. Companies are now investing again so as to gear up for future competition or re-pitch themselves.”

Almost 69,200 trade visitors from over 100 countries attended the shows to gather information on the latest

machinery, equipment and products from the wire, cable and tube processing industries, with the figure slightly down from the record attendance of 73,600 in 2008. Visitors primarily represented industry (81%) followed by trade (8%) and skilled crafts (3%). Just fewer than 2,400 exhibitors (compared to 2,200 exhibitors in 2008) were at the shows, occupying a total of 100,000 square metres of net exhibition space. This broke down to 1,219 companies in the wire halls and 1,181 companies in the Tube halls. The ranges on display in exhibition halls 9 to 12 and 15 to 17 included wire making and processing machinery and equipment, tools and process engineering auxiliaries, as well as materials and special wires. To add to this, innovations from the fields of cable, measuring, control and regulation technology as well as test engineering were on show. Special areas such as logistics, conveying systems and

Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

packaging complemented the ranges. A very welcome re-organisation was the location of exhibits in Halls 15 to 17: forming presented the latest technologies in Hall 15 whereas Hall 16 hosted the latest processes for spring making. All applications related to wire and cable, wire and cable machinery as well as glass fibre machines could be found in Halls 9 to 12 and 16 to 17. The majority of fastener manufacturing technology exhibitors were based in Hall 15, with approximately 145 companies exhibiting. The opening Monday was relatively quiet, with Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday picking up. Friday saw the volcanic ash cloud hit Germany with nearly all flights grounded. This led to Friday being even quieter than customary for a five day show, with visitors assumingly trying to arrange how they were going to get home. However, it was not only the visitors that were concerned about getting home. Exhibitor Weighpack International, based only three hours drive from Düsseldorf in Den Haag, Netherlands, also suffered from the chaos caused by Icelandic volcanic ash. “As a matter of fact,” explained managing director Dries Kout, “I ended the show with the two engineers scheduled to break down our stand stuck in the US and one Chinese salesman, three Brazilian agents, an Iranian customer, a Jewish agent and three US

exhibitions customers to look after in the Netherlands – another experience never before encountered in the fastener business.” As far as the show was concerned Kout was happy with how it had gone. “The attendance was very international as usual, with many visitors from South America coming with a definite investment approach.” He added: “European automotive fastener manufacturers still felt quiet for new machines, but there was a lot of interest for reconditioned and used equipment.” Overall the consensus within Hall 15 was that although the visitor numbers appeared to be lower than previous years, the quality of the visitors made it a very good show. Jerry Bupp, CEO at National Machinery, felt that visitor volumes did seem down, but the geographic spread was wide ranging. “The show was excellent with multiple sales closed during the exhibition to customers from varied geographic locations,” he said. There were also new opportunities: “we were able to make contact with some new clients, with promising potential for subsequent orders, as well as further communication with established customers.”

“The show seems to support the idea that our industry is on an upward swing,” assessed Bupp. “It may be slow and cautious but it is at least in recovery mode.” North America, though, was “barely represented” in contrast to strong representation from South America as

well as Europe, with visitors from across Asia, many from China, some from India. Schwer + Kopka GmbH was extremely pleased with the quality visitors to its stand. “Our records indicate that visitors travelled from 21 different countries which is an improvement from the last event. We do feel there was a slight change in the attendee “mix” with a significant increase in attendance from Asian firms while visitors from North America were reduced,” explained Thomas Kopka, managing director of Schwer + Kopka GmbH. He added, “We were exceedingly pleased with the results of the exhibition having received well over 25 orders which included several new clients.” Nakashimada, the Japanese cold header manufacturer, reported having a good show, with visitors to its stand coming from Germany, Turkey, Poland, Brazil, India and China, with Nakashimada saying that the majority of visitors brought drawings or samples and were looking to do “real” business. The range of international visitors was also noted by Altrimex, a packaging solutions specialist from Hellmond in the Netherlands, who received some serious contacts over the five days. “The interest in our products has shifted to the Middle East and Latin America, as most of our interesting leads came from these area,” commented Laurens van Osch, operational manager at Altrimex. In fact the portion of international trade fair visitors was up on previous years with 63% of trade fair visitors to the wire show travelling to Düsseldorf from abroad. wire alone was attended by 35,000 trade visitors from 70 countries such as United Kingdom, France, USA, Italy, India, the Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, Turkey, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Poland. The next edition of wire and Tube will take place once again at the Düsseldorf Messe from 26th – 30th March 2012.

100 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

m a n u fa ct u r i n g t e c h n o lo g y

San Shing focuses on precision The six station ‘Precision Series’ nut former, introduced by San Shing Fastech Corp earlier this year, is now available to the market. San Shing explains the main characteristics and precision elements that have been added to this series. Accurate feeding system

The ‘Precision Series’ is equipped with a linear wire feeding system to ensure accurate wire feeding, in this way ensuring both product stability and longer tooling life. Furthermore, feeding adjustment is a lot easier compared to a feeding system with ratchet wheel, as it eliminates that difficulties associated with replacing the ratchet wheels.

Touch screen colour display

Additional features incorporated in this model involve the application of electronics that make it possible to visualise position and status of the machine on the system’s control screen.

Forging pressure and blank thickness detector

The forging pressure detector minimises tooling damage, and the thickness detector, which is available on the sixth station, monitors blank thickness and is shown on the touch screen display as a reference so that operators can adjust the punch position.

Abnormality inspection and record

Main ram with overarm and PKO system

A clear alarm message informs the operator of the position of the error helping to rectify the problem in a quicker time.

The main ram with overarm design enhances the stability during high speed movement, increasing the precision of the forming process and also extending tooling life.

Crankshaft with brass-alloy bush and double lubrication system A bias eccentricity crankshaft design, held by a brass-alloy bush, along with double lubrication system helps increase the service life of the machine.

102 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

The San Shing ‘Precision Series’ nut former has been tested for several years in the company’s own fastener division and has proven satisfactory to meet the new challenges of the fasteners and precision parts market. San Shing says the new series represents another great nut former option to meet the demand for higher precision.

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Electronics meets mechanics – a story of perfect integration More than nine years have elapsed since the well-known manufacturer of progressive and combined headers, SACMA Limbiate, decided to adopt BRANKAMP technology to create a customised monitoring system, compatible with the complex applications of its machines. This article demonstrates the technological development of monitoring devices over the years and their progressive and logical integration into the electronic controls of SACMA’s machines. Introduction Towards the end of 2000, SACMA Limbiate asked BRANKAMP to develop a stress monitoring system, based on a modular concept, enabling it to comply with the increasing and multifaceted demands for security and control of various press and rolling operations. Except for accuracy of control, SACMA also requested the design of a simple control interface and a rapid procedure for adjusting the parameters of control, so as not to add further to the duties of the machine operators. The decisive factor in the practical realisation of such a project was also the perfect and synergic interfacing of BRANKAMP’s command functions with the electronic controls of the presses, especially with regard to the combination presses. Thanks to the use of the most modern electronics and the most efficient programming technology, it has been possible for BRANKAMP’s engineers to gradually meet such a demand with a complete set of devices, which on the basis of the specific requirements of the client, can fulfil complex automatic control functions, protecting machines and equipment, and monitoring the quality of manufactured components.

Initial advantages gained from the First SC 500 devices Initially, the SC 500 device was brought on to the market to control, in tonnes, the total strain measured on the load-bearing framework of the press. In the months following its introduction to the market, the SC 500 device proved that apart from general security and adjustment support functions, it was also able to identify detailed process monitoring functions. Thanks to the optimum control of the entire force curve, it is, in fact, also possible to detect anomalies, linked to very minor stress variations in even the most complex workloads. These include marked alignment errors during the insertion of the component in the matrix and the loss of the component during transportation. A special, self-adapting software package enables the accuracy of continuous control to be maintained within the time, without having to continuously adjust the limits manually. This occurs during ordinary temporary production, in the morning in the process of feeding the cold forming machine or after the feed process at the end of the lunch break. In the years following its introduction, the SC 500 device was improved, including the provision of a colour graphics screen.

104 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Adjustment support based on indicators expressed in kNewtons The exact measurement of the total load expressed in kNewtons has enabled the set-up phases of the press to be supported, indicating incorrect adjustments or any imbalance of the total load on the machine ram. Such support has been valued both on the presses with classic product modification as well as on the presses fitted with rapid modification equipment. In particular, on the new SACMA ‘Series 6’ presses the SC 500 system provides valuable help by giving calibration marks, which the operators can use as reference indicators, in order to reduce the costly machine set-up times to a minimum.

Monitoring of the rolling process using SC 600 In the months following the completion of the SC 500 unit, particular attention was drawn to the development of the SC 600 device, which was conceived and designed to carry out quality monitoring and support the adjustment of the rolling process on the combination presses. A further impetus, relating to planning, was given to the system controlling the rolling process, by SACMA’s acquisition of Ingramatic.

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m a n u fa ct u r i n g t e c h n o lo g y With Ingramatic, which has always built renewable rolling machines, BRANKAMP has customised further the techniques of monitoring and adjustment, adapting them to perfectly match the demands of the market. This allows even more accurate quality control, and, as is already the case for the presses, the possibility of measuring workloads expressed in tonnes and measured on the adjustment ferrules of the flat dies. Such a feature enables tool change times to be shortened, by informing the operator of the current load exerted by the individual ferrules. These can then be regulated until the correct workload is reached for the manufacturing process being monitored. Such data, expressed in kNewtons can then, for example, be noted down on the data record sheet of the component, and used as a reference during every adjustment.

monitoring units equipped with specific sensors for the most critical presswork stages. In particular, the SC 700 unit has been developed for the monitoring of alignment errors in the production of extruded, flanged headed screws, allowing the monitoring of minimal alignment defects. Thanks to customised adjustment electronics, the SC 700 system is in a position to provide accurate monitoring of orders of various sizes. This is superior to the standard system operating the automatic adjustment during a brief phase of selflearning. Such a function allows the highest level of accuracy to be achieved, without the need for the particular procedure of manual adjustment.

Integration of the devices into SACMA’s PC In order to simplify the control logic, and to make it quicker and more intuitive, SACMA Limbiate perceived the necessity of developing a technology that centralises in a single terminal the command functions of all the important functions of the machines. Achieving this objective immediately involved BRANKAMP engineers, who assessed the possibility of integrating CE, selected by SACMA Limbiate into a Siemens’ PC. Until that time, such a complex integration into Siemens’ industrial PC with WINDOWS CE operating systems had never been carried out on a global scale. It would, therefore, be treated as a ‘guinea pig’. Thanks to a close relationship with the Siemens’ research and development centre in Erlangen, Germany, BRANKAMP’s programmers succeeded in realising the most efficient unit. Based on a completely redesigned electronics monitoring system of BRANKAMP’s, this unit permits the representation and the control of the monitoring devices, operating directly from SACMA’s command centre.

Adjustment of the rolling phase taking into account the stress of vertical machining Apart from monitoring the horizontal force exerted by the adjustment ferrules while operational, a team of engineers from Ingramatic and BRANKAMP have made a thorough examination of the vertical components for the stresses of the rolling process. In fact, such stress bearing components are tightly linked to the adjustment of the thread. The minimisation of the vertical stresses of the rolling process is an indication of an optimum adjustment and is synonymous with minimum wear and tear of the dies. By identifying the stress level, this also enables the correct adjustment of the dies to be pinpointed, saving precious time during the set up phase of the machine. The adjustment of the phase, based on evaluating the vertical force (taking account therefore, of the influences of speed, for example the variance of the film of oil on the runners, rather than the dynamic conduct of the operator), maximises the shelf life of the tools. In practical situations concerning tempered components, it has been noted that, in comparison with the adjustment using the classical method, dynamic adjustment, based on vertical force, has more than doubled the shelf life of the tools.

Monitoring the alignment errors In order to monitor the irregularities and defects, which cannot be detected by the load-bearing framework, specific solutions have been developed in a third phase, using appropriate

106 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

The integration of the stress monitoring devices has fully answered SACMA’s positive intuition. It is aimed initially at simplifying the control logic and, thanks to the accurate graphics of SIEMENS’ terminal combines very well the visual display of the stress indicators with that of the key data of the machine. The operator now has an individual control interface equipped with the same user logic and can quickly switch from stress analysis to monitoring of mechanical functions, while remaining in the same computer screen. Uniform control logic and optimum interfacing of the various functions are the result of this integration, which translates in practice into improved and more efficient working conditions on a daily basis.

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m a n u fa ct u r i n g t e c h n o lo g y

Two SMART ‘jewels’ at wire 2010 Until a few years ago thread rolling required traditional machines, with slow production speeds and long, difficult set-up and change over times, requiring a highly skilled operator. According to SMART the only real innovation in an industry where threading is done by machinery designed over 70 years ago, was displayed at wire Düsseldorf. Its new NG S, asserts SMART, demonstrates all that modern technology can offer. It’s key features include:

Direct drive by a high density torque motor

This enables SMART to offer maximum torque from 0 speed, which allows for quick and easy set up with adjustments of the main slide as small as 1/100mm, thanks to a simple electronic hand wheel. This new solution eliminates the traditional belt and flywheel transmission, typical for this kind. A further important advantage is represented by the great energy savings, characteristic of this technology and reflecting its simplicity and efficiency. The ‘consumed’ energy is equal only to that required directly by the deformation of the part, and is less than that required and consumed by any other rolling machine, equipped with a traditional kinematic transmission.

The blank introduction is driven by linear motors

This is the same system used on the entire family of SMART threaders. Developed over 10 years ago, it is appreciated worldwide for its performance and ease of use. This system permits quick, simple, precise adjustments, which eliminates inconsistency. The elimination of springs and cams, normally used in traditional systems have solved the problems that forced continued machine adjustment, depending on speed and the wear. The servo driven Smart system, in addition to the real advantage of great simplicity, offers a 0.01mm precision blank position control through the entire machine cycle, which is controlled by dedicated software. All introduction adjustments are made with the same electronic hand wheel. Extremely user friendly and precise, it also allows the opportunity to memorise all the set up positions by part number, making them easy to recall for complete repeatability of production. The linear motor makes it possible to modify other important parameters, such as the pressure against the moving die and the synchronisation of the finger - in order to achieve the precise set up of the machine. The threader displayed at wire 2010 was also equipped with a Schwer + Kopka process monitor, able to monitor the perfect die match position during the running of the machine. It also

108 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

suggests to the operator “how” to correct the position of the dies, using the servo system. The feed rails and vibrator vertical positioning is also achieved by a servo system, with the same precision available as on the other axis of the machine. A very attractive, soundproof front cover, and a complete integrated floor pan complete the machine. Using the latest 3D cad systems, Smart has designed a very complex honeycomb structure, derived from the aircraft industry, providing superior structural stiffness and guaranteeing incredible rigidity. This allows very high tensile strength parts to be rolled with very long thread lengths without any apparent stress. SMART says that, “in spite of the perplexities of a “traditionalist” public, who didn’t think such a modern and efficient machine was possible, the enthusiasm combined with real interest brought immediate commercial success, higher than its greatest expectations”.

New pointer range

SMART has created a totally new range of pointing machines. Applying what is described as state of the art technology, SMART says the two new M12 and M24 models allows for set up and production of parts previously thought impossible on traditional pointing machinery. The new machines are fully equipped by servo motors that are able to move all components directly. This guarantees, says SMART, perfect accuracy, no maintenance and above all, a tremendously easy and repeatable set up. The software of the NP initially asks for the geometrical characteristics of the final shape of the blank. It then proposes a functional cycle, which can be modified by the operator. Secondary, the operator may move directly on the control panel the electronic cam profile optimal for a certain job, with the possibility to modify the stroke, the clamping force and the introduction cycle. An integrated brushless motor drives the spindle, naturally in “direct drive” configuration. The extremely high torque, available at any rotating speed, and the performance of this electro spindle are many times better, says SMART, than every other competitors’. These new concept pointers can be used as standalone machines or can be mounted directly on any thread rolling machine.

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m a n u fa ct u r i n g t e c h n o lo g y

Frontline of thread rolling Saspi Talleres, a fastener machinery manufacturer for over 40 years, explains that it has always been on the frontline of innovation and technology when it comes to the advancement in equipment.

aspi offers a complete line of flat die thread rollers from M2 to M45 high-speed thread rollers, as well as a complete line of rotary thread rollers through 12mm diameter. All machines can be supplied with high-speed washer assembly units (sems), with Saspi also offering separate washer assembly units that can be mounted on other makes of thread rollers or even a completely self-contained washer assembly unit which can be placed behind most existing thread rollers. Saspi highlights that all of its machines come with a touch screen control and standard motorised controls to raise and lower feed rails and vibratory feeder. Saspi also offers as an option a complete touch screen setup, which includes hydraulic clamping of die block, hydraulic clamping of dies and opening and closing of feed rails for a complete wrench-free setup of the machine. Saspi points out that job numbers can be stored into the memory and recalled when needed with all setup dimensions. The operator would simply type in the job number from the touch screen key pad and all rail adjustments are moved by servo motors (height and width) to the original set up. Also, Saspi has added an automatic eccentric option to its thread rollers for matching the dies, which is controlled through a touch screen as well as a process monitor integrated into the touch screen. The touch screen and process monitor can also be viewed from a remote location.

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m a n u fa ct u r i n g t e c h n o lo g y

U Queen Machinery has successful show U Queen Machinery Co Ltd, established in 2010 and originally Fu Wei Machinery Co Ltd, exhibited at the recent wire + Tube trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, and reported receiving a lot of interesting visitors, with the show proving to be a great opportunity for U Queen Machinery to publicise its new brand.

iss Cathy Yi, sales manager at U Queen Machinery commented: “If we simply judge it from our primary purpose of exhibiting, we have to say it was a great success. Our goal was to highlighting that we are a representative of Micro Forming Machines, and I believe we did this very well. Even the volcanic eruption in Iceland near the end of the show didn’t put us off, it simply added to a memorable experience. We will definitely exhibit again in 2012.”

Double success for Simufact Simufact Engineering GmbH, a provider of software and services in the area of bulk metal forming, announced strong visitor interest in the company’s trade show presence at both wire 2010 and the Hannover Show.

imufact explains that in Düsseldorf, as well as in Hannover, a large number of engineers and managers used the opportunity to visit Simufact’s stand to catch up on the latest offerings in forming simulation and process optimisation. “The trend to optimised manufacturing processes in the forming industry continues and the need for practical solutions has even increased through the economical crisis”, said Markus Merten, sales manager at Simufact Engineering GmbH. “During this year’s wire in Düsseldorf we noted a growth in booth visitors of about 25% compared to the last show in 2008. We were able Hafren 2009 July A5 Advert:Layout 1 6/7/09 14:32 Page 1 to make numerous new national and international contacts and used the opportunity to maintain existing customer relations.

The simulation of the patent-registered threads forming technology of Sieber Forming Solutions also drew a lot of attention to our booth.” Simufact highlights that at the shows examples of threads forming cases were used to show how innovative forming processes can be developed with process simulation, based on creative ideas. “The analysis of material flow, tool loads, and process forces enabled a robust, series-ready process in an optimal and cost effective manner. The powerful ‘parallel computing’ of Simufact. forming helped to solve the task in the shortest time and to realise the solution subsequently.”

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m a n u fa ct u r i n g t e c h n o lo g y

new thread rolling head uses Bluetooth® LMT’s Fette division has developed a totally new type of thread rolling head that uses Bluetooth® communications technology between the head and control system on a CNC machine tool, in order to control the rolling cycle and monitor the process.

vailable, from LMT (UK) in Coventry, UK, the LMT Fette ES 16 ‘intelligent’ radial rolling head will roll form threads between 12mm and 22mm diameter and up to 29.6mm thread length in-cycle on almost any CNC machine tool. The tool head can be used either statically or in rotating applications and be mounted on the machine via shank or flange fittings. LMT says that the thread rolling process is significantly faster for producing external threads and, because the material is cold formed under mechanical pressure, provides a stronger thread with an improved burnished surface finish. Within the rolling head is an integrated power amplifier, a contact sensor and a magnet to control the rolling cycle which is initiated automatically from the CNC control system through the Bluetooth wireless interface. The on-board, long life battery that powers the lifting magnet to actuate the head is guaranteed to perform more than 10,000 work cycles and can be quickly exchanged and recharged. In addition, an integrated interlock, via a cam plate, prevents the rolling head accidentally opening during the rolling process and the internal electronics are encapsulated so that they are shielded from any possible external influences.

A mini control panel displays data such as battery condition, confirmation of the Bluetooth connection and ‘Ready to Process’ indication signals that can be generated up to 50m away. “An important advantage achieved with the design of the electronic head is the simplification of the normal mechanical elements. For instance, pressure and tension springs and triggers are eliminated enabling service and repair to be performed more easily and setting up the three rolls for each size of thread is very straightforward. Both left and right hand threads can be rolled.”

SK load monitor improves thread roller performance

Schwer + Kopka GmbH has announced that the newest release of its SKROLLmaster die match set up software is now available for the SK range of load monitors, and has been successfully tested on ﬂat die rolling machines made by Hilgeland, Ingramatic, E. W. Menn, Saspi, and Smart.

he unique features of the die match set up software help the operator to verify if roller dies are in optimum alignment. The graphic indicator screen of the SKROLLmaster constantly informs the operator of the adjustments needed to bring the dies back into an optimum (matched) set up. The system is designed to give instant machine and die adjustment information. The software can be used on any manually-adjusted machine or fully automatic die match system. “Mismatched dies commonly cause premature tool wear, thread laps as well as other quality issues. SKROLLmaster has proven to extend die life and improve set up times vastly. Even less experienced operators are now capable to achieve perfect die match and superb thread quality with the assistance of the SKROLLmaster system.”

finding thread rolling solutions HEROSLAM, a specialist manufacturer of thread rolling tools since 1942, says that its main focus is always to create possibilities for new profile forming projects and to give the longest possible useful life to its supplied dies.

EROSLAM explains that it is one of the few suppliers who are able to supply the whole range of dies used for thread rolling, including flat dies, cylindrical dies and planetary dies, all of which are produced in its own facilities, for the whole process. HEROSLAM also highlights that it has developed its own raw material compositions, together with its steel supplier partners, and also has its own exclusive coatings that give its dies the longest correct performance lifetime. “Our technical team looks forward to finding a solution to new challenges from our customers, which should create a long-term relationship and a reciprocal knowledge increase.”

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insulation ﬁxed safely PREBENA Wilfried Bornemann GmbH & Co. KG has expanded its pneumatic stapler range with the 9X-WP130 and 9X-WP160 products.

he 9X-WP130 is suitable for wide crown staples type WP from 75mm – 130mm, and the 9X-WP160 is suitable for wide crown staples type WP from 75mm – 160mm. The DIN 1052:2004-08 manufactured and tested wide crown staples WP, are mainly used for the fixing of insulation and PREBENA says give insulation a strong holding. PREBENA highlights that both products feature ergonomic design and balanced weight distribution, allowing for long working hours without fatigue. The tools also feature high power and safety devices, as well as short magazines to allow user to reach difficult posts and corners. Similar to other PREBENA tools, the 9X-WP130 and the 9X-WP160 are delivered in a robust craftsmen metal case.

uKaS acknowledges norbar expertise The Norbar Torque Tools calibration laboratory, based in Banbury, UK, has achieved an extended level of endorsement from the government recognised United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), being awarded UKAS accreditation for performing calibrations to 108,500N.m of torque under BS7882: 2008.

orbar says that it offers a range of independently accredited capabilities that very few laboratories in the world can match. Norbar can offer calibrations of over 100,000N.m for projects such as measuring torque for fasteners on massive oil and gas pipelines down to 0.005N.m for delicate scientific calibrations. Neill Brodey, managing director, explains that precision engineering expertise is at the core of all Norbar’s manufactured products and equipment: “We put the same level of consistent quality and accuracy into a 200N.m Norbar torque wrench as we employ in more specialised equipment. Users across all sectors from vehicle aftermarket to mining can have total confidence that our products are fully fit for purpose as calibrated. Our range of experience in torque means that our technical consultation, service and support are second to none.” Norbar calibrates and recalibrates both its own equipment and that of competitors to international standards. The laboratory was previously accredited for up to 6,800N.m with a traceable, non accredited service to 100,000N.m.

long service the key J. Newsome Tools Ltd, a UK tool distributor based in Sheffield, says that it continues to maintain its enviable record for long service.

arketing manager Malc Sellars is the most recent staff member to join the ‘quarter century’ club. Malc started as a salesman in the 1980s and has been involved in many aspects of the firms progress since. During this period he has achieved a virtual 100% attendance record. Last year also saw Neal Statham and warehouse manager Stephen Owens hit the 25 year mark. They are the team leaders in Newsome’s Sheffield warehouse and are well respected by the customers they come into contact with. “In difficult trading times, with short-term contracts common in many companies it’s refreshing to see the virtues of a strong family business bucking the trend and proving the values of longevity and loyalty, commented Martin Newsome, MD at J. Newsome Tools Ltd.

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triton XlS shines bright Carl Kammerling International, a supplier of quality tools for professional trades, has enhanced its range of screwdrivers with the introduction of the C.K tools Triton XLS – a range of general purpose screwdrivers that C.K says is designed to deliver professional quality at an affordable price.

arl Kammerling highlights that the Triton XLS range boasts an array of features normally associated with higher priced screwdrivers, such as a large, soft grip, tri-lobe handle for exceptional comfort and high torque turns, along with anti-roll flats, to prevent the screwdriver rolling away on sloped surfaces. C.K also points out that a toughened alloy steel blade along with the injection moulded dual component handle provides the ultimate blade to handle bond, offering excellent durability. The Triton XLS range features colour coded handles, which feature tip type marking on the dome of the handle making each screwdriver easy to identify. “In meeting the ever changing needs of busy tradesmen, the Triton XLS range is available in a variety of formats, consisting of a slotted parallel tip, slotted flared tip, phillips and pozidrive screwdrivers.” The Triton XLS range also features two 5 piece insulated screwdriver sets, manufactured in accordance to IEC 60900:2004 and tested to 10,000v. To house the Triton XLS range, Carl Kammerling has launched a new merchandising system which it says is stylish and infinitely flexible. The merchandising system can be integrated with existing slat wall or peg metal displays, used as a counter display unit, as well as a dedicated single or double-sided free standing unit.

it’s all hot air The traditional, slow way to side lap weld built up roofing felt is with LPG and a naked ﬂame. This method of laying felt is fast becoming a thing of the past, due to customers, specifiers and the UK health and safety authorities now insisting that the operation to be carried out by hot air only. Sievert says that it has recognised this market shift and has produced a full range of purpose built machines which are both reliable, quick and give a perfect depth weld with a faultless bead.

ther key features of the TW5000 that Sievert highlights include an automatic four wheel drive system, the ability to weld wrinkle free at up to 7 metres a minute on inclines up to 30 degrees, a welding temperature between 200°C - 660°C and internationally proven quality and after sales support. Sievert UK business development manager, Chris Harper commented: “In this difficult market, contractors need to cut costs. This machine can cost as little as £35 a week to finance – where else can you hire a professional who can weld bitumen safely and wrinkle free, at up to 7 metres a minute for that price? It also welds single ply membranes to perfection. With such a vast range of professional flat roofing tools, we can make the difference between contractors winning or losing tenders.”

Softfinish® rules Wiha Werkzeuge GmbH, with headquarters in Schonach in the Black Forest region of Germany, has introduced the Wiha SoftFinish® with scale, a screwdriver with a blade that can be used as a pocket rule at the same time.

iha highlights that the advantages of this multifunctional measuring tool are clear: whereas until now two tools were needed at the same time for fastening and measuring, the Wiha SoftFinish® with scale combines both functions within one product. That means no more annoying swopping around of individual tools. The user not only saves time but always has one hand free for other tasks. Wiha explains that the permanent millimetre scale is clearly legible and is deeply applied to the blade, which helps simplify precise reading for depth, inner, outer and step measurements in the range of 20mm to 110mm. “The ergonomically formed SoftFinish® handle means that with the new SoftFinish® with scale the user doesn’t have to do without comfort. The multi-component handle with soft zone made of skin-friendly material ensures optimal power transmission and best results.” The Wiha SoftFinish® with scale also includes a Wiha ChromTop® round blade, which is made of high-quality chrome-vanadium-molybdenum steel. The screwdriver is available in three models: slotted, Phillips and Pozidriv®.

116 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

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to o l S

having a nose for it According to Gage Bilt buying a rivet gun is only half the job when considering special fastening applications. The user also needs to think about which nose assemblies to use, especially in hard to access areas.

age Bilt is able to manufacture a variety of nose assemblies such as straight, right-angle and offset for nearly every fastener. It can offer straight noses as short as 1 inch and as long as 12 inch. It makes three different configurations of right-angle nose assemblies to help users reach around corners, and it manufactures five distinctly different offset nose assemblies. Gage Bilt can also create an edge to centerline nose assembly as small as 0.180 (less than 3/16 inch). This nose assembly is capable of installing 3/16 inch blind rivets in any material. Gage Bilt’s other offset designs vary in length and height. Some of these noses are capable of installing 3/8 inch diameter blind rivets and lock bolts. Gage Bilt also manufactures an installation tool that incorporates a nose assembly inside the piston. The total overall length of the tool and nose assembly is less than 3 1/8 inch. “If these nose assemblies aren’t enough to get you into the space required because of interference from the tool, we can offer you a split tool design. We have three different split tool configurations; an inline version whose standard hose length is 3 feet, a split handle version whose standard hose length is 8 feet and a combination eccentric/offset tool to provide the easiest access of any systems available in the marketplace.”

new lever riveter Tecfast Verbindungssysteme GmbH says that it has used its many years of experience and its continuous motivation to innovate in the development of the new TECTOOL TF 608 lever riveter for blind rivet nuts.

ecfast explains that many lever riveters can only be operated with a great deal of force, and the process of fitting several blind rivet nuts one after the other can becomes a tiring exercise. However, the TF 608 reduces the force required to set blind rivet nuts by 30%. The new lever riveter for blind rivet nuts can also be used straight out of the box, which Tecfast says helps save time and effort. Tecfast points out that thanks to the spring-back effect and the positioning of the upper handle, the risk of overloading the lever riveter is a thing of the past. Preventing any overloading

of the thread in the blind rivit nut also eliminates the risk of breaking the threaded mandrel in the tool. The TF 608 lever riveter for blind rivet nuts is designed for use with M5 – M10 blind rivet nuts and M5 – M8 blind rivet bolts. The riveter is supplied in a plastic case that also includes nosepieces for M5 – M8 blind rivet nuts. A nosepiece for M10 blind rivet nuts and nosepieces for M5 – M8 blind rivet bolts are available as an option. “A range of TECNUTvario blind rivet nuts, the new standard in the field of blind rivet nuts with maximised clamping ranges, is also included in the box.“

felo adds to range Felo-Werkzeugfabrik Holland-Letz GmbH, based in Neustadt, Hessen, Germany, has introduced the LocTec® and the M-Tec to its range.

he LocTec® is a screw system that was developed by Arnold Umformtechnik (screw) and Felo-Werkzeugfabrik (driving tool) that Felo says sidesteps all the disadvantages associated with existing safety screws. The special flank geometry on the screw drive allows only inward penetration by the screw (clockwise). Any attempt to drive it out (counter clockwise), even using the locking bit that was used to fit it, will result in the fitting tool being driven out automatically. This means that the fastening can only be undone by elaborate mechanical adaption of the screw head, e.g. by drilling out the screw. Felo points out that the LocTec® features several advantages such as the fastening torque is accurately transmitted, no chip fragments occur, there is no need for any additional work steps, there is no risk of damaging the end product, and it offers the same processing speed as conventional fasteners. The other product that Felo has introduced is the M-Tec Nutdriver. Felo explains that conventional nut-drivers struggle when the nut is sitting on a long threaded bolt and when the screw or nut has to be operated in a difficult to reach space. Felo says that the M-Tec nut-drivers solve these problems with ease. A spring-loaded magnet holds the nut or screw and allows easy and safe placement in difficult spaces. On threaded bolts the magnet is pushed deep into the socket tube. M-Tec nut-drivers are available as screwdrivers for mechanics and electricians, T-handles and sockets for ratchets and power-tools.

118 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

m a n a g e m e n t + sy s t e m s

Ramtac settling in Suppliers of business computer systems to SMEs in the distribution industry, Ramtac Computer Systems Ltd has recently completed a total premises move.

amtac bought and completely refitted R & R House; which is almost directly across from where Ramtac has been based for the last 11 years in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, UK. Ramtac explains that despite the recession it has taken on over 250 new customers, including some major companies, in the last 5 years. “As such we had completely outgrown our old premises”, commented Gary Mason, software support manager. “We needed more customer training rooms, additional space for our fast

growing engineering department, and our staff numbers had grown to some 35 people with a plan for over 40 before the year end”. The new premises comprises of nearly 5,000 square feet on two floors with over 30 car parking spaces; the facility backs onto a stretch of the 200 year old Grand Union canal. “We are delighted with the new facilities and the fact we have stayed in Berkhamsted, because we are so handy for London and all the major motorways – it is so easy for our customer base to visit us for meetings and additional training and for us to see them,” explained Mark Gurney, sales manager at Ramtac.

A secret weapon called VECTA EJOT UK, a provider of fastening solutions, has been a long term user of VECTA Intelligence Sales Solutions and believes that VECTA has proved to be an invaluable secret weapon in supporting growth, efficiencies and profitability.

nitially used by EJOT UK as a management tool, its use has more recently been expanded to equip and empower the field sales team. VECTA is a sales intelligence solution that provides businesses with instant access to sales information in a way that is intuitive, easy to use and accessible where and when needed. More importantly it combines sales information with CRM and will automatically monitor sales data to prompt sales teams of issues and opportunities to be addressed. Howard Jennings, EJOT UK sales manager explains: “VECTA is an extremely powerful yet intuitive and easy to use tool that provides us with fast, accurate and relevant information about our sales trends and customer performance.” He adds: “Looking after our customers and sales team has always been an important part of our strategy and this has become even more essential during recent years of the recession. VECTA ensures that our sales team is fully abreast with up to date information of sales, gaps and trends within their own territory and prompts them of anything requiring attention or investigation this means that they are able to cover more ground as time can be spent productively on well informed and valuable conversations with our customers. Most importantly, VECTA has proven to be an invaluable tool for our margin analysis which has helped us to improve profitability even during the recession. Our sales team would now be lost without it”.

Solarsoft’s new technology Solarsoft Business Systems, a UK supplier of specialist Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems for SME manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors, has announced new dashboard technology that it says brings more clarity and precision to management decision-making.

olarsoft explains that the latest release, Solarsoft Dashboards 3.0, cuts through the clutter of traditional reporting systems to give owners and managers a clear presentation of the key facts and trends underpinning their business performance. Sporting a revised look and feel, Dashboards 3.0 gives endusers direct access to a broader range of performance data. Solarsoft highlights that more charts have been added and more intuitive ways to drill-down to line item details have been included to make the system easier to use than ever. New dashboards have been added too: the Sales Order Management Dashboard allows users to view orders received but not yet despatched. The Production Dashboard allows businesses to analyse good product and scrap rates and to see the causes of downtime and labour or material inefficiency; and the Finance Dashboard allows businesses to analyse aged debtors and creditors and have a complete 360 view across all ledgers.

120 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

“Getting reliable and up-to-date information about what is happening within your business can be complicated,” comments Steven Hargreaves, product director at Solarsoft. “Most business owners know what their top selling products are, but they don’t necessarily know which customers are buying those products. Our dashboard technology has been designed to give business owners and managers instant access to key performance indicators, including sales and stock analysis, supplier price and delivery performance, and credit and cash flow forecasts.” Hargreaves continues, “Dashboards 3.0 gives manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors much faster access to management information from any department, whether that’s sales, production, finance or warehousing. The new release also provides a much deeper insight into sources of profit and cost. You can now quickly compare current and historic performance or ask ‘what-if’ questions about the future with just a few clicks of a mouse button.”

m a n a g e m e n t + sy s t e m s

Everything legal A recently published reference guide, entitled ‘Legal Requirements for Document Management in Europe’, informs readers about the legal aspects of document management in several important European countries. The guide provides an overview of critical legal guidelines in a compact, multi-lingual format. DocuWare co-president Juergen Biffar helped initiate the publication.

n a clean, well-organised format, the legal aspects pertaining to electronic, long-term archiving of documents are spelled out for Germany, France, UK, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Spain. The legal guidelines are explained in an easily comprehensive manner and printed in both a language spoken in the country as well as in English in a separate column. This way readers from all seven countries, as well as companies who have European subsidiaries, can get a quick overview of the different European laws and make sure they are operating in a legally sound way in these countries. The guide is directed at both system providers as well as users. The guide was created through the “Taxes and Law“, Competency Centre of the VOI – (Association of Organisation and Information Systems also know as Voice of Information) under the direction of certified accountant Stefan Gross (of the firm Peters, Schoenberger & Partner) along with Juergen Biffar, co-president of DocuWare AG. The publication is free to download and available from www.docuware.com. It can also be ordered in paper-format for a nominal fee of 15 euros from VOI.

Access releases ADM Pro Access UK Ltd, the mid-market consulting, software and solutions provider, has released Access Document Management Pro (ADM Pro), bringing with it a number of features to help organisations manage their documents more effectively.

ccess highlights that its document management software enables staff to easily collaborate, with the latest documents delivered automatically to group and/or individual inboxes, ensuring everyone stays in the loop at all times. This is backed by powerful search tools that make it easy to locate paperwork quickly and find specific information within each document, even if the filename or location is unknown. John Beech, managing director for Access’ software division, commented: “Today’s mid-market businesses have to keep track of so much documentation that it can be difficult for staff to maintain this information in an organised fashion. Our document management solutions provide a cost-effective method for businesses to take control of the paperwork within their organisations, helping staff to be more productive as a result. Furthermore, it can be easily deployed to every part of the organisation.” ADM Pro provides a full audit trail by storing a complete

list of ‘transactions’ against each document. This means each time something is created, filed, checked in/out or deleted, the system creates a secure audit trail, making it easy to track each document at any stage of its lifecycle. Complete with version history, which eliminates the risk of multiple copies by preventing staff from working on a document simultaneously, organisations can be sure that all relevant staff are granted access to the most up-to-date information. Access highlights that the Microsoft SQL-based solution, also provides powerful retrieval facilities and unlimited capacity, which allows advanced content search based on tag values. This means that any documents supported by Microsoft Indexing Services, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, can be searched, as well as any text documents or PDFs where the file is text-searchable. This includes all documents output from Access Dimensions, making it very easy to locate, for example, a specific keyword within supplier invoices.

Mecalux offers downloadable software Mecalux, a specialist in the design, manufacture, sale and services of metal racking, automated warehouses and other storage solutions, says that it has now made it easier for customers to download its warehouse management software, EasyWMS®, from its website.

ecalux explains that its latest software version was created with the aim of being an even more accessible storage solution, and that the software will help companies enhance their storage performance as well as improving overall warehouse efficiency by up to 50%. EasyWMS® was created, developed, and registered entirely by Mecalux at its technological centre in Gijón, Spain, and R+D department in Barcelona, Spain.

122 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

“The EasyWMS software is high quality, offers guaranteed performance and technical standards and is backed by leading companies. Such references prove that EasyWMS® is a trusted warehouse management software, which boasts the highest technical quality.” Mecalux is both a Microsoft Gold and Oracle Partner, as well as a SAP Certified Partner. The software is also certified for Windows 7.

m a n a g e m e n t + sy s t e m s

ogl Computer to provide Webservices OGL Computer has announced that it will expand its internet business services with the launch of OGL Webservices, providing eCommerce, website development and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) services to fastener and fixing distributors wishing to maximise or develop their business online.

GL explains that due to its investment and the success of the prof.ITplus eShop eCommerce module, coupled with its increasing web-based expertise, OGL Webservices will provide a commercial advantage to any distributor wishing to build its on-line strength. OGL also highlights that its eCommerce services will develop and enhance a business’ online selling power and its online trading efficiency by providing automated integration of stock, order information and customer details between a website and a management software system, removing the need for third-party intervention. OGL Webservices eCommerce will be compatible with a wide variety of stock management software systems, including the Sage range, meaning that a distributor can transform its website, or develop a brand new website. Website development, a professional website design service, also forms part of OGL Webservices’ portfolio. Drawing on the experience of creating websites specifically for fastener distributors, OGL can tailor a website’s design specific to a company’s needs and commercial objectives. Website development can provide facilities including Content Management Systems (CMS), enabling user-friendly editing of website content by the end user themselves, through to the development of security-code

accessed online customer portal areas. The third strand of OGL Webservices, SEO and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) services can boost a website’s online presence, utilising the expertise of OGL’s developers to increase a website’s search engine ranking and increase its visibility and traffic online. Analysing and adapting a website specific to a customer’s objectives, OGL’s developers can boost a website with SEO, meaning that the website will feature more prominently in the results of search engines. “Our investment in complete website skills means that we will be able to present the possibility of effective web-based marketing to our prof.ITplus customers as well as fastener distributors who may use other types of business software, thanks to the upcoming launch of OGL Webservices,” says OGL’s software sales manager, Simon McGuire. “Leveraging our expertise in the fastener and fixing marketplace gives OGL the knowledge and ability to promote the sector’s distributors in the most effective way online.” He adds, “Whether a fastener distributor’s commercial objective is to increase sales or to improve the service offering to existing customers, an effective presence on the internet is key, hence the need for OGL Webservices.”

A complete Business Solution for the Fastener & Fixings Industry Sales & Purchase Order Processing Customer & Supplier History Management Reporting P.O.D. Imaging Delivery Route Management Warehouse Automation / Bar-coding EDI & E-Commerce Financial Accounts Stock Control Full Contact Management (CRM)

Merlin Business Software is a multi-user, fully integrated order processing, stock management and accounting system for distributors, merchants and stockists.

Call us on:

 01246 457150  info@chatsworth.co.uk

www.chatsworth.co.uk

a n a ly s i s

New report on Russian sheet metal sector Mack Brooks has published a new market overview on sheet metal working in Russia. The report is one of a series of sector reports developed to support exhibitors and visitors at the group’s specialist business-to-business exhibitions.

he report acknowledges that Russia has suffered considerably as a result of the global financial crisis, expecting the effects to only begin to ease during 2010. While heavy reliance on the international commodity markets has caused problems for the country, Russia has a relatively robust economy and a population that faces setbacks with stoicism. Moreover, says the report, although major projects initiated before 2008 were held back they were by no means abandoned. As the first signs of economic recovery begin to show the report sees no better time to consider entering the Russian market. The report provides a detailed analysis of the political and commercial structure, as well as infrastructure, prevailing in the Russian Federation. Russia is the largest country on earth, spanning some 17 million square kilometers although, with a total population of a little over 140 million, population density is low and there are significant population concentrations to be recognised when considering development in the Russian market. Large areas of the energy supply, transport and communications market as well as heavy industry remain under state control – “the economy is of strategic importance for out safety,” Vladimir Putin once stated. The report gives consideration to the rampant progress of privatisation in some other sectors but notes evidence the government has recognised the downside, particularly to international business relations. The global financial crisis left clear marks on Russia, according to the report, which details the impact on a range of economic indicators. However, it sees increasing prosperity among the population, ensuring constant growth in private demand for a vehicles, electronics, household equipment and consumer goods. Credit is gauged to be relatively easy for Russian consumers to access. Russia’s traditional industry,

however, still does not have the appropriate products to meet consumer demand, in terms of either quality or quantity. The report explores the continued absence of SMEs, which it sees as a special peculiarity of the Russian economy. Detailed consideration is also given to the development of special economic zones and their implications for the overall Russian economy and business opportunities. Looking specifically at the sheet metal sector, the report places Russian production in a world context and explores the continued development and upgrading of steel production – assessing its capabilities to meet the demand of new, more demanding, consumers in, for example, the automotive and electrical appliance sectors. The automotive industry, the report notes, has discovered this market in no uncertain terms setting, it quotes, the Russian bear dancing even more furiously. It explores the current and potential development of the Russian automotive industry, looking specifically at production clusters and the activities of world vehicle brands in Russia. It also considers the structure and maturity of the automotive supply market. Turning to other important sheet metal consumption sectors, the report considers in some detail, the white goods industry in Russia, construction and civil engineering, and shipbuilding. Looking briefly at the machine tool industry relating to sheet metal and then at research in Russia, the report concludes with an assessment of the outlook and some pertinent considerations in approaching the Russian market. “If you want to work steadily and successfully in Russia, it takes years, not months,” the report quotes, perhaps omitting to add that thorough preparation is a prerequisite. Annexed to the report is a substantial list of sources for additional information and further research. The full report is available for purchase at 150 euros by visiting www.brooksreports.com

BLECH Events 2011: Stand reservation for sheet metal working exhibitions in growth markets has started For BLECH Russia 2011, which will take place from 15th -17th March 2011 at the Lenexpo exhibition complex in St. Peterburg, the stand booking has started.

large number of exhibitors at the previous show have already reserved their stand space again. At the previous show, a total of 170 companies from 20 countries presented their products and services to an audience of 3,500 trade visitors. After its successful launch in November 2009, the dates for the second BLECH India, trade exhibition for sheet metal working, have now been published: BLECH India 2011 will take place from 14th – 17th April 2011 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai. Companies interested in exhibiting will find extensive information on the new show website. BLECH Russia and India are part of a series of dedicated sheet metal working exhibitions in growth markets organised by EuroBLECH organisers Mack Brooks Exhibitions. The next EuroBLECH, the world’s biggest technology exhibition for sheet metal working, will take place from 26th – 30th October 2010, in Hannover, Germany.

124 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

a P P l i C at i o n t e C H n o lo g y Amy Williams recently won a gold medal for Great Britain in the women’s skeleton at the Vancouver games, and helping her hurtle down the ice track on her very high tech sled were several metres of tesa tapes.

any parts of the sleds used by the British bob skeleton team employ tesa 4651, a premium acrylic paste coated cloth tape, to optimise performance. On the special grade mild steel ‘saddle’, the part that the athlete holds onto at the start of the run, the tape provides a reliable grip on various surfaces ranging from powder coated polymer, zinc or spray paint finishes. The tape is also used to fasten different types of foam padding on the top of the sled where the athlete lies. On the underside of the sled known as the bellypan, which can be made from carbon fibre sheet or GRP and finished in gel-coat, lacquer or paint, it is used to optimise air flow and hence speed, by covering the holes where the runners fit. Most athletes also use the tape along the edges of the sled where the bellypan meets the padding, again to enhance aerodynamics. tesa explains that tesa 4651 is based on a 148 woven rayon fabric and natural rubber adhesive and is a 310µm thick very strong cloth tape that is suitable for a multitude of applications. Offering high adhesion on smooth and rough surfaces, excellent tensile strength of 100N/cm and temperature resistance up to 130ºC, tesa highlights that users benefit from straight tear edges and conformability. The tape can also be written on and is offered in a wide choice of colours. Jeremy Smith UK marketing manager for tesa UK, who has sponsored the British bob skeleton team for the past four years, said: “It’s pretty special to be involved with an Olympic gold medal winning team, and of course it proves that our tape product can deliver in one of the most demanding and competitive applications in the world.”

spirol sets its sights A manufacturer of after-market tactical riﬂe sights has now specified Spirol Helical Grooved Pins in place of solid dowel pins in the assembly of a folding rear sight. A Spirol CRD Automatic Dual Pin Insertion Machine has also been specified to install the pins.

pirol explains that the Spirol pin both absorbs hole tolerances and provides positive retention. As part of the assembly process, the operator loads the sight into a fixture nest, and then activates the insertion machine. The inserter advances, simultaneously installs the Helical Grooved Pins, retracts and resets. Spirol points out that this machine/pin combination has improved production four-fold and virtually eliminated all scrap. The manufacturer has also replaced a slotted spring pin within the assembly with an automation-friendly Spirol Coiled Spring Pin and now uses a Spirol PR Automatic Pin Inserter with a custom designed fixture to ensure trouble free pin installation. “The operator places the assembly into the fixture, locates the fixture on to a post and then gently pushes the assembly forward to compress the spring. The assembly then moves over an alignment pin, and the machine is activated to automatically install the Spirol Coiled Spring Pin.”

Heinz soyer wins innovation award Heinz Soyer Bolzenschweißtechnik GmbH recently won the Federal Prize 2010 for excellent innovative performance at the Internationale Handwerksmesse (IHM trade show) in Munich, Germany.

he Innovation prize was awarded to Heinz Soyer for its PTS-500 NC stud welding machine with teach-in operation. Heinz Soyer explains that the PTS-500 NC stud welding machine enables the easy and automatic positioning of weld studs. It allows studs and pins from 3mm - 10mm in diameter and 40mm in length to be precisely and fully automatically welded in accordance with all known stud welding processes. Heinz Soyer highlights that the main advantages of the stud welding machine is that it is easy to use, both automatic and manual operations are possible, it includes a simple control operation via a joystick, as well as optional program storage and transfer via an external PC. “Full automation and the high work efficiency of the PTS-500 NC stud welding machine allows metal-working craft enterprises to save time and lower energy costs.”

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a P P l i C at i o n t e C H n o lo g y

Bonding with araldite® Araldite® engineering adhesives from Huntsman Advanced Materials are being used on a new luxury high tech boat.

he designers of the luxury high tech boat, which is subject to impact and vibrations because of its short length (8.5m), had to be sure that the bonding characteristics of the adhesive combination they chose would withstand the stress. After prototypes were made with RenShape® BM5460, trials moved on to adhesives from Huntsman where a number of combinations were trialed. The designers found that Araldite® 2015 was far superior to other formulations on the basis of better reactivity, efficiency and quality. Particularly important in their decision making process was the need for a medium time for bonding application (more than 30 minutes/less than 2 hours), low price and less odour during application and polymerisation. “This boat will set the standard for structural bonding in the marine industry. There are plans for other yachts to be bonded with the same Huntsman products. This year more than 25 boats will be delivered as a result of Huntsman and Gaches Chimie working closely together to deliver efficiency and quality.”

itW Plexus opens the door A major UK garage door manufacturer has been able to improve its production process and utilise faster bonding adhesives, thanks to advanced methacrylate technology available from ITW Plexus Structural Adhesives.

he company had been producing its garage doors using the wet-hand lay up technique for many years. Plexus introduced them to a more advanced process utilising Plexus’ MA 320 adhesive. This has enabled the garage door producer to change from a galvanised to a powder-coated frame which can be bonded into the door in less than 30 minutes. After successful trials, Plexus put together a comprehensive service package incorporating a special bulk adhesive dispensing unit (to ensure the adhesive could be used in a consistent way), timed deliveries and full ongoing technical support. As a result, this has given the company a competitive edge and it has agreed a sole supplier agreement with Plexus. ITW Plexus specialises in the design and manufacture of sophisticated structural adhesives for the bonding of materials used in such diverse markets as transportation, marine, automotive and construction. The company is a division of Performance Polymers Europe, headquartered in Rushden, UK.

a pp l i c at i o n t e ch n o lo g y

Lindapter hits a home run The new US$425 million Target Field ballpark features an inspiring 1,988 tonne steel sunshade canopy that sweeps around the stadium, with a 7,432m² glistening soffit safely suspended overhead with Lindapter steelwork fixings.

he 40,000 seat, open-air Target Field is the new home of Minnesota Twins, an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The curved canopy presented a challenge to the connection design due to the connecting beams varying in size and angle throughout. The engineers also had to meet a vital criterion of accommodating up to 22.3kN of wind load, while the contractor favoured a simple to install, universal connection that could be used on both primary and secondary steel sections. Lindapter provided a single solution that exceeded these requirements with the Type LR Girder Clamp connection system, independently approved to a safe working load of 58.8kN at a 5:1 factor of safety. The self-adjustable assembly is compatible with flange thicknesses of 3mm to 20mm, while an over-sized slotted location plate enables simple adjustment to fit variations in beam width and connection angle. Lindapter explains that the efficient connection allowed the canopy risers to be easily aligned into position, allowing a faster installation in comparison to more time consuming conventional methods such as drilling, or repeated tack welding and grinding, thereby reducing on-site costs. Lindapter also highlights that as the installation did not require hot working it was not necessary to renew the corrosion protection at over 1,200 connection points and more importantly, the structural integrity of the primary steel was maintained. As the canopy construction largely consisted of elevated and overhead work, eliminating drilling, welding and grinding contributed greatly to the overall safety of the project.

Rotabolt goes into battle RotaBolts are being used on one of the most advanced tactical military bridging systems in the world. The latest version of the Dry Support Bridge (DSB) from WFEL uses over 1,000 RotaBolt® tension control fasteners to help assure its structural integrity.

he DSB has a special lightweight construction featuring a series of aluminium modules which are pinned together using steel jaws. The design of the jaw system relies on a guaranteed clamping force across the bolted joints. “We use RotaBolt tension control fasteners on each of these critical friction joints because we can rely on them to achieve and maintain the necessary clamping force and assure structural integrity” commented Jim Field from WFEL. “We have used their tension control fasteners on our bridges for many years and we know we can rely on them.” The new DSB can be deployed in under 90 minutes by just eight soldiers using a single launch vehicle. It can span a gap of 46 metres and carry up to 120 tonnes of load. An added benefit is that during the assembly process in the field, the RotaCap on top of each RotaBolt can be very quickly and easily ‘finger checked’ to see that the correct tension or load has been achieved. “When a standard bolt is tightened using traditional practice the clamping force or tension across the joint is completely unknown,” commented Rod Corbett from RotaBolt. “Our fasteners not only achieve the correct design tension but they continue to monitor and maintain it throughout the life of the joint.” The DSB’s primary use is to support the momentum of attack and then ensure supply routes to the battlefield. The American Army has been using the original DSB system since 2003 and the latest version from WFEL has seen an increase in its load capacity and span.

128 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Fo C u s o n s ta i n l e s s s t e e l & n o n - F e R R o u s

May 2010

stainless steel & non-Ferrous materials This issue’s Focus On is dedicated to Stainless Steel & Non-Ferrous Materials. Suppliers of products within this market sector have provided details of their capabilities along with up to date contact and product information.

Coming up in the next issue…

turkey

Contact Claire Lake Tel: +44 (0)1727 739 150 email: claire.lake@fastenerandfixing.com

Apex Stainless Fasteners

Axiom Enterprise Co., Ltd

Apex Stainless Fasteners have further increased both the depth and range of their stocks. The full range is highlighted in the company product catalogue, available on request. A large inventory of Stainless Steel Fasteners enables the company to continue the focus on Trade Sales both in the U.K. and in export markets. The products include metric, unified and imperial thread forms in A2, A4 and A4-80. Recent additions to the range include an enhanced range of security screws, Din 975/931/933 up to M36 in A4-80 and a full stock range of high quality cut and chamfered allthreads to DIN 976B.

There are a wide series of Stainless Steel and Non-Ferrous Metal Materials for applications on our most qualified fastener products in an extensive range of supplies to the various Industries.

As one of the few major European Stainless stockists with a manufacturing division (Aerotight Manufacturing), the company is capable of producing high quality special parts in addition to the well established Stainless Steel Aerotight self locking nut. The company is now established as one of Europe’s major stockists of Stainless Steel Fasteners and is well placed to meet the needs of Fastener distributors worldwide, whether it be for full pallet loads or small box shipments available on a same day despatch service.

tel: +44 (0) 1788 537 979

www.apexstainless.com

130 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Stainless steel precision parts made by machine turnings are recommended with Grade SUS303 & 416 while by cold forgings we make use of an assorted grades of A2-Stainless Steel (SUS302HQ, 304, 305 & XM7), A4-Stainless Steel ( SUS316 & 316L ) as well as SUS201, 410 & 430 and so on. Furthermore, we do provide Cold Forged Stainless Steel Screws with Non-Magnetic Treatments, especially for the Direct Screw Fixings on Thread Cutting Screw & Thread Forming Screw product categories and etc. As for the series of Non-Ferrous Metal Materials, they are mainly applicable on our fastener components such as for Copper Base Alloys in the Environmental Brass; Naval Brass (CDA 462/464); CDA 510 Phosphor Bronze & Silicon Bronze (CDA 651, 655/661) and Aluminum Alloys of 2024-T4 & 6061-T6 etc. Try us on SIZE and fasten your upcoming product demands from our most affordable & satisfactory performance on operations for you in the days ahead! email: axiom@ms6.hinet.net

Fax: +886 7222 2020

m at e R i a l s Deepak Fasteners / Unbrako

Dejond Cold Forming

“UNBRAKO - The World Leader” - produces Stainless Steel and Steel Fasteners in Unbrako & DFL Brand at different locations of the world for the enormous applications such as: • Construction / Building (CE Certified) • Petro-Chemical Projects • Water Board Agency (WRC Certified) • Solar Projects • Machine Constructions • Automotives • Shipbuilding • Aerospace Parts • Electronic Goods

Dejond manufactures the industry’s top quality brand of cold formed tubtara® blind rivet nuts.

We are also proud to say that we excel in various coatings done in-house in our manufacturing plants to meet the customer requirements. To name a few: HDG, Mechanical Galvanizing, Electro Galvanizing (Zinc, Copper & Cadmium), Sheradising Coating, Geomet Coating, PTFE Coating, Delta Protekt & Rilsan Coating (with WRC approval) for Water Board Industry of UK, Europe & USA.

A few years ago we felt a clear need in the market for a Tubtara® effective in environments demanding enhanced corrosion resistance. Taking up this challenge we started developing an additional product range in STAINLESS STEEL 316. We initially targeted applications exposed to chlorides and salt water as in marine, offshore, chemicals, food or paper & pulp industry. Today we also supply the general industry with a wide choice of styles. Our stainless 316 Tubtara® has proven its effectiveness in circumstances where corrosion or higher temperatures are critical and a long-term solution is required.

In 1989 Dejond was the first to start coldforming blind rivet nuts in STAINLESS STEEL 304. Nowadays this Tubtara® programme is extensive and includes open and closed end versions from M4 till M10, with round or hexagonal shanks and different head forms.

As facts speak louder than words, Our claim of being World Class Fasteners Manufacturers is authenticated by the following certifications credited to us by various World Level Organizations: ISO 9001:2000 (Certification No - FM 551489), ISO / TS 16949:2002 (Certification No. - TS 549578), WRC Approved (Certification No - PT/285/0609), BS EN ISO 9001:2008 (Certification No. - 24919) & CE Certified (for the Construction Fasteners as per CPD - EN 15048 & EN 14399), PED certificate (Pressure Equipment Directive - PED/97/23/EG) & Achilles approved supplier .

Besides stainless steel, Dejond’s actual Tubtara® programme also offers a wide range in steel and aluminium. Our ISO 9001/2000 accreditation, short delivery times and strong technical and commercial support show our commitment to total customer satisfaction.

email: unbrakosales@unbrako.com

tel: +32 3 820 34 36

Fax: +91 161 277 4400

www.dejond.com

Fabory UK

Hindustan Inox Ltd.

FaBoRy’s non-Ferrous range

HINDUSTAN INOX Ltd. is one of the largest manufacturers of Stainless Steel Round Bars and Wires and have achieved the quality standards to match the need of customers across the globe in more the 60 countries. With its modern facilities, experienced management and employees, Hindustan has established itself as business partner for its customer and not just being another supplier.

FABORY’s standard range consists of over 52,000 items including non-ferrous fasteners, which boasts at least 800 categories and over 2000 lines, in both metric and imperial (coarse and fine pitches) ranging from standard hex bolts to the more unusual. BRASS – CU2 (cold-formed), CU3 (turned)Plain and nickel plated – Hex products; Thumb, book, wing and machine screws; Dome and sleeve nuts; Plain, lock and cup washers; Woodscrews; Rivet bushes. COPPER – Sealing rings, washers, Mushroom head rivets, Split pins. KUPRODUR – Hex products PHOSPHOR BRONZE – Lock washers ALUMINIUM – Sopral P40, P60, P65, AG3 and Dural – Hex products; Machine and self-tapping screws; Studding, Plain, lock, cup washers; Sealing rings; Round and countersunk head rivets; Hand wheels. TITANIUM – Grade 2 – Hex products, studding, nuts, washers. VARIOUS PLASTICS – Seals, Dubo rings; Nylon hex products, binder screws, caps, rosette; Handles. PERMAGLAS – Studding and nuts. STAINLESS STEEL grades A1, A2, A4 (classes 50. 70, 80) – Hex, eye and socket products; Diameters < M4; Retaining rings; Pipe plugs; Machine and self-tapping screws, including Phillips; Washers including 90 degree countersunk.

At Hindustan, we are committed to building value for all the partners in the value chain. This included our customers, suppliers and our employees. We strive to compete in the global marketplace by focusing on our values & sustaining those values in every branch of business. As a global player, we are committed to maintain world-class quality standards, efficient delivery schedules, competitive price and excellent customer relationships. Our main task now is to fulfill our promises timely and reduce costs by being more efficient & passing the cost savings to the customer.

For further information please contact FABORY

For any inquires regarding stainless steel bright bars, stainless steel wires, stainless steel threaded bars & stainless steel welded pipes.

tel: +44 (0) 121 556 3474

email: sales@hindustaninox.com

email: sales.faboryuk@fabory.com

www.hindustaninox.com

www.fastenerandfixing.com

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Fo C u s o n s ta i n l e s s s t e e l & n o n - F e R R o u s Inoxdadi S.R.L.

Lederer

INOXDADI S.R.L. is one of the most important producers of stainless steel and brass nuts, washers and fasteners certified ISO 9001.

Fasteners made of Stainless Steel: Screws, Nuts, Bolts, Thread Rods, Washers, Pins, Studs, Rivets and lots more!

For the great experience developed on the field of nuts for over 30 years, INOXDADI S.R.L. can boast a wide range of items produced in various grades of stainless steel such as: AISI 304, 304L, 316, 316L, 316Ti, 321, 309, 310, 314, 904L, Duplex – W. 1.4462 – W. 1.4529, W. 1.4923, Monel 400, Hastelloy, Titanium besides aluminium, brass, steel and zinc plated. Upon request, all the items produced can be provided with certificate of chemical test.

Lederer is one of Europe’s most specialized suppliers for highquality fasteners made of stainless steel. Our decisive strengths: an optimally equipped warehouse with more than 25,000 articles, committed, highly qualified staff and a full service concept.

“INOXDADI S.R.L.” is specialist in production of: • shear nuts • cage nuts • hex nuts • pressed insert nuts • weld nuts • flange nuts • square nuts • lock insert nuts • domed cap nuts • wing nuts • castellated nuts • flat washers • spring washers • special nuts and washers

Retailers and wholesalers all over the world rely on the experience that Lederer provides. The name “Lederer” now stands for more than 40 years of experience with fasteners made of stainless steel, both normed and standardized parts (ref. DIN, ISO and others). This development is the expression of our customer-oriented corporate philosophy – products or services are not the focal point of everything we do; you, the customer, are the focal point. We are not satisfied until you are!

tel: +39 (0) 363 914 959 56

tel: +49 (0) 2333 8309 18

www.inoxdadi.com

Nestinox

Owlett-Jaton

nestinox has been specializing in stainless steel fixings since 1979. and in the process we’re making a name for ourselves in the Benelux, and beyond!

stainless steel – Continued success!

The Nestinox stainless steel fasteners are used in various industries: • Construction / building • Solar • Yacht- and shipbuilding • Food • Machine construction • Greenhousing • Etc. Aside from our extensive range of stainless steel fixings such as bolts, nuts, screws, washers, machine feet, concrete fixings, studs, roofing- and cladding screws etc. (both A2 and A4, DIN / ISO), Nestinox is the ideal place to turn to for special pressing and turning according to drawings / samples. To show you some of the possibilities, a new “Specials” leaflet is now available at Nestinox. In this leaflet a small selection of the various possibilities is shown, such as: punching, powder coating, cold pressing according to drawing, turning and screw thread treatments For further information on our stainless steel fasteners or Specials, please contact NESTINOX: tel: +31 (0) 499 339 000 email: sales@nestinox.com

132 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

www.lederer-online.com

The Stainless Steel Fasteners product range continues to expand at Owlett-Jaton, now established as a leading supplier of Stainless Steel fasteners. This complements the already comprehensive range of fasteners, fixings, ironmongery, and hardware, making OwlettJaton the largest supplier to the distributor and merchant trade. This product range includes Bolts, Setscrews, Studding and Nuts in metric, unified, and imperial threads, together with Machine Screws, Self Tapping Screws, Woodscrews, Chipboard Screws, Washers, Cup Square and Coachscrews; all are available in A2 and A4. Recent additions include Security Screws and Thread Forming Screws. The Stainless Steel department is headed by Olive Farry and Ian Phillipps, both are based at Stone and support the regional sales teams throughout the U.K. The sales office network is another strength of Owlett-Jaton and allows prompt processing of customer orders and enquiries by experienced staff. Owlett-Jaton offers an unparalleled ex-stock nationwide, next day delivery service to you. Just one call to your local sales office gives you access to our comprehensive product range. tel: +44 (0) 1785 819 819

Fax: +44 (0) 1785 816 239

m at e R i a l s Raajratna Fasteners

Schäfer & Peters

We are specialised in the manufacturing of Stainless steel Fasteners having an annual capacity of 4,200 MT under Brand name RaaJ. We are an ISO 9001:2008 certified company. We are exporting 75% of our production capacity to countries including Germany, Italy, U.K., Spain, Austria, and other major EU countries, Australia, Middle east and USA. With the support of our customer we have emerged as most reliable quality supplier of Stainless steel Fasteners. We supply standard products like DIN 933, DIN 931, DIN 912, DIN 603 ,DIN 571, DIN 7380, DIN 7991, Self tapping screws, DIN 975/976, DIN 934 etc. and products as per customer drawings.

your special in stainless steel fasteners. an independent and reliable partner. We carry a stock of over 25,000 different products from the DIN/ ISO standard parts sector which are available to you immediately. Our logistic partners guarantee shortest lead times worldwide. We combine quality and service. Take advantage of our excellent business connections.

We supply the product as per customers packing qty and labels as per requirements. We supply products in Grade A2-70/80 and A4 - 70/80. We are part of RAAJRATNA group having annual sales of USD 125 Million engaged into manufacturing various stainless steel products like wire, Strips and welding consumables.

email: naresh@raajfasteners.com

sales@raajfasteners.com

tel: +49 (0) 7941 6094-0

email: info@schaefer-peters.com

Stainless Threaded Fasteners

Washer Factory

the Complete Corrosion Resistant Fastener Distributor

We are the premier manufacturer of non-standard washers and light pressings, offering a quick turnaround in steel, stainless, copper, brass and other exotic materials, especially duplex stainless and nickel alloys.

STF are one of Europe’s largest distributors of Stainless Steel and Brass Fasteners. Operating from 50,000 sq. ft premises in the heart of the West Midlands of England. STF carry over 10,000 product lines in stock, all of which are available for same day despatch worldwide. Our extensive range of products and services includes;

We strive in all that we do to maximise customer satisfaction. Technical advice is offered freely, where required and we believe in treating customers fairly so if we know that a standard washer is available we will say so.

Stainless Steel, A2 , A4 and A4-80 - A full range of Metric & Imperial Threadforms. Security Fasteners, A2 - Vandal -Pruf™ range of screws complete with Tooling. Brass Fasteners – A full range of Metric Threadforms. Philidas® Allmetal Self-locking Nuts – A2-80 Class & A4-80 Class, the re-usable Self - locking nut. Special Fasteners, can be supplied in all grades of Stainless Steel, Brass and other Non Ferrous Alloys including Titanium, Aluminium, Hastelloy & Duplex materials. Marine Products, Stainless Steel Marine Hardware & fittings, wire rope, chain and prepack fasteners , available with eye catching point of sale display stand options. Quality, Registered to BS EN ISO 9001-2000.We are committed to offering quality products and a first class customer service. We can also offer I.S.I.R., PPAP Level 3 and 3.1.b certification on request.

Our production team has many years of washer making experience. Whilst traditional methods of manufacture are employed, our flexible approach, extensive tool stock and skilled work force mean that we can offer a fast turn around. Having a national supplier base we are able to quickly source most materials (including non-metallics). Products can be supplied in any surface finish ranging from simple zinc to organic plating, they can be heat treated or machined.

For a friendly, helpful service please contact STF for all your Corrosion Resistant Fastener requirements.

We currently supply to a diverse customer base across many markets including construction, automotive and white goods. In many cases our products are far from the standard perception of a washer, take a look at our web site to see some examples of what we can do! We have no minimum manufacturing quantity or minimum charge so for a friendly fast and reliable service supported by a quality product please contact us.

www.stf-fasteners.co.uk

tel: +44 (0) 1902 865 777

tel: +44 (0) 1902 490 490

www.washer-factory.com

www.fastenerandfixing.com

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i n n o vat i o n s

Automotive Spring Pins® Down the other fasteners!

Introducing the Automotive Spring Pin® from Vogelsang Jörg Vogelsang has engineered a product to incorporate the features of a coiled spring pin into a much more cost effective engineered –spring pin which is named “Automotive Spring Pin”. Through sophisticated tool design, pins are non-scarring to soft host materials, prevent interlocking for automatic feed systems, and are capable of sustaining dynamic loading. Jörg Vogelsang is convinced that the “Automotive Spring Pin” can provide significant cost savings for customer’s existing applications. Engineered solutions Some may believe their choice of non-threaded fasteners is limited to generic low cost spring pins or the often times cost prohibitive coil pins. In reality, there is an exciting alternative that the engineers at Jörg Vogelsang have developed. Specific pins designed to satisfy today’s demand for higher quality, reliable non-threaded fasteners with a cost reduction to boot. The “Automotive Spring Pin” provides features that enhance assembly: rounded chamfers with no burr to prevent galling or scarring, special dimensioned slot design to prevent interlock for automatic feed and to prevent galling and scarring when inserted, tight overall length tolerance, circumference geometry for full radial tension to sustain dynamic loading, reduced preload to reduce the insertion force and to prevent the damage of the insertion hole while maintaining the holding force, and a 100% controlled process to provide the accurate measurement, heat treatment and elimination of extraneous materials. All of these design features increase quality of production, allow automatic insertion and reduce cost.

Flexibility & customisation The Jörg Vogelsang engineers, responsible for developing the “Automotive Spring Pin” have over six decades of experience in engineering metal forming technology, and can create cost reduction solutions for existing and new coiled pin applications. The “Automotive Spring Pin” offers a selection of materials, diameters and geometry; and provides equal – or superior – quality to the standard coil pin products with savings of 25% – 30%. In conclusion, the technical innovations are limitless.

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adhesive at the double Loctite’s Double Bubble is a new general purpose, single use, five minute two part epoxy resin adhesive, which Loctite says is suitable for maintenance applications that demand fast setting.

pplications include the repair of electrical and electronic components, tools, items of furniture and automotive parts. Double Bubble can be used on a variety of substrates, including metals, wood, ceramics, glass, stone and concrete, and the epoxy can sustain temperatures of -40°C to +80°C. Double Bubble is available in boxes of 50 x 3g sachets and comes complete with pallets and mixing sticks.

new CHunKy sorta-Cases® System Cases (UK) Ltd has added two new CHUNKY Sorta-Cases® to its specialist range of storage cases.

ystem Cases highlights that these new plastic cases are incredibly tough and ideal for storage of fasteners and components for contractors, especially those that want to see clearly inside the case. The CHUNKY Sorta-Cases® are produced from solid robust plastic and have removable plastic compartments. The two snap-fit catches are made from aluminium as is the grip handle cover. The cases have solid clear plastic lids to allow easy view of the contents. “We are well known for our steel System-Case® range, which is used throughout various industries, and believe that our cases offer stockists and wholesalers more choice and real quality.”

Standard Listed – you know who’s best! But contact us for all the rest . . .

Tel:

+44 (0) 117 – 972 8560

Fax:

+44 (0) 117 – 972 8570

Email:

sales@avonstainlessfasteners.co.uk

Non-preferred Metrics – Intermediate Sizes Short and Long Lengths – Slotted Grub Screws A4/80 Bolts & Socket Caps – 6 Lobe (TX) Drive Screws All Metal Self-Locking Nuts – Studding Connectors And many more . . .

Online Product Guide: www.avonstainlessfasteners.co.uk

Unit 10, Riverside Business Park, St Anne’s, Bristol, BS4 4ED, UK

pr o d u ct s Optimising surface finishing You’re never in a fix with ForgeFix tesa UK Ltd has launched two new masking tapes for surface finishing operations, which it says offer enhanced tensile strength, greater conformability and suitability for die cutting.

he two new masking tapes have been developed especially for the jobbing coater sector to mask areas required not to be coated, and according to tesa are easy to tear, apply and remove. tesa also highlights that both tapes offer cost effective performance across a broad spectrum of finishing technologies such as electrostatic powder coating, stove enamelling and other treatments such as anodising and E-coating. Constructed with PET polyester backings and featuring silicone adhesive systems that can withstand temperatures up to 220ºC for 30 minutes, the tapes can be removed in one piece without residues and leave a sharply defined edge. Additionally they are suitable for conversion into die cut discs which are widely used throughout the finishing industry. Custom shapes and formats can also be produced to suit intricate or repetitive masking requirements. tesa explains that tesa 50650 is a blue polyester/silicone tape which has been designed for use on irregular shapes. It has a thickness of 55µm which makes it highly conformable, a tensile strength of >40N/cm due to its slim proportions and its adhesion to steel is 3.5N/cm. tesa’s other new tape is the tesa 50600, a green polyester/ silicone masking tape that raises the performance bar for general purpose powder coating tapes. tesa 50600 features a thickness of 80µm, a tensile strength of >90N/cm and offers adhesion to steel of 4N/cm. Typical applications for the tapes include masking of electrical grounding points, sealing holes, protecting threads and bearing surfaces.

ForgeFix, a UK distributor of fixings, fastenings and associated products, says that the challenge of fixing light to medium weight items into plasterboard is set to get a little easier thanks to its new Plasterboard Fixing Kit.

ompact enough to be stored out of sight and out of the way until a plasterboard fixing job arises, each kit comprises of some 200 different items all separately contained in a neat, convenient and easy to carry case. ForgeFix highlights that the contents of the kit includes high performance screws as well as specially designed fixings which benefit from a cutting tip for piercing plasterboard skin and a countersink feature which ensures better screw location and a flusher fit against plasterboard surfaces. In addition, these fixings can be used with alternative screws, are ideal for refixing into existing plug or anchor holes and can be removed along with any screw for cleaning or decoration. Each kit is also completed by its own specially selected screwdriver. This has been chosen by ForgeFix on the basis of its ergonomic design, its firm drive and its ability to achieve higher levels of torque at lower levels of exertion. Commenting on the launch of the new Plasterboard Fixing Kits, Mike Smith, sales and marketing director from the business, said: “ForgeFix is bucking the trends and rewriting the rulebook when it comes to fixings and fastenings. People may think all products and all suppliers are part and parcel the same, but we’re determined to stand apart. We’re committed to making a difference and to adding value – whether that’s through sector leading levels of customer service or innovative new products like our Plasterboard Fixing Kits.”

Precision Technology Supplies Ltd

For details of the complete range and your free copy of our Micro Screws Handbook, please visit our website. www.microscrews.co.uk The Birches Industrial Estate, Imberhorne Lane, East Grinstead, West Sussex. RH19 1XZ U.K. Tel +44 1342 410758 Fax +44 1342 311464 Email info@pts-uk.com Internet: www.microscrews.co.uk

pr o d u c t s

TWINNUT offers additional coatings TWINNUT GmbH, designer and manufacturer of the patented separable screw nut system, is now offering additional coating options.

WINNUT products have always been available in various steel materials, especially stainless steel which TWINNUT highlights is the main choice for applications under harsh environmental conditions or just to follow regulatory rules and obligation. The problem is that stainless steel does not provide maximum strength in comparison to other steel materials, although TWINNUT points out that FK 8 for the collar version (according to 6331) is more than adequate for several applications. As a contribution for continuous improvement TWINNT GmbH is now offering separable screw nuts made from heat treatable steel with optional nickel-plating. “This will allow the perfect combination of strength class FK10 and ruggedness. Also zinc flake coating features higher process

efficiency in comparison to other alternatives and ensures price – performance competitiveness. Certainly this type of anti-corrosion coating protects against hydrogen embrittlement and is clear of chrome IV. All other well-known properties like catch and separation lock can also be combined with this feature.” TWINNUT explains that the conception of a separable screw nut allows applications in hard to reach applications and generates enormous time savings due to the decrease in screwing processes. TWINNNUT products are available at many distributors world wide and directly from TWINNUT GmbH.

Final piece to the jigsaw Southco says it has added the final piece to its ‘total off-highway service’ jigsaw by introducing a new range of products, which will provide OEMs and end-users with the ultimate in single sourcing solutions.

he final piece is a new range of rotary action latches and actuators, available in a wide choice of sizes and strengths for direct, remote or multi-point actuation and developed in partnership with OEMs. Southco highlights that the new range complements and enhances its existing range of industry-proven rugged, durable, high performance and good quality access hardware solutions. “Southco's off-highway access hardware solutions are tried and tested, robust and durable. They provide greater security and lower overall cost of ownership than available from other manufacturers for OEMs and end-users. We recognise that it’s difficult for customers to choose the right latch, the right actuator and the right cables so, as a system integration specialist, rather than just offering a latch we can offer a complete system,” comments Alex Wakeley, industry manger for Transportation at Southco.

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new snap-line® compression latch FDB Panel Fittings says that its new Snap-Line® compression latch is a significant advance in compression lock technology.

he Snap-Line® compression latch combines quick snapin design with planetary roller cam motion, enabling soft compression of door gaskets from 10mm to 20mm. FDB Panel Fittings explains that the new half-turn IP65 latch is expected to find favour with designers, manufacturers and installers of vibration prone control equipment. This is expected to include construction machinery, process plant, motor vehicles, railway rolling stock, HVAC installations, and various other manufacturing equipment and material handling machines where electrical or electronic enclosures are needed.

“The elegant low profile latch utilises D·SNAP® technology for push-in IP65 assembly, either RH or LH as a complete pre-assembled unit without tools and with perfect alignment. Additionally, the unusual roller cam, combined with a powerful planetary action, ensures a firm gasket pull down with low operator effort. Panel gauges from 0.8mm to 3.5mm can be accommodated with industry standard square and double bit inserts offered as standard.”

Fast turnaround for maintenance and refit projects

Fastenings manufacturer and distributor TR Fastenings, has boosted its catalogue with a range of plastic consumables, stainless steel and aluminium commodity products and chandlery to provide a one-stop shop for marine refit and maintenance.

R Fastenings’ core marine product range includes A4 and A2 stainless steel fasteners for salt and freshwater applications respectively, as well as anti vibration mounts, nuts, clips and washers. “Adding complementary consumable and commodity products to our catalogue ensures that we can continue to compete aggressively on price, without compromising on the world-class service standards that have made us a leader in the global market for industrial fastenings.” Most products are available from stock for next day delivery or same-day collection.

dirak snaps into action DIRAK has expanded its SNAP-Joiner product offering to include a joiner with an integral grounding clip to address concerns for grounding in electrical applications across many industries.

IRAK explains that the new 1-043SL SNAP-Joiner combines the function of mechanically connecting two sheet metal panels together while simultaneously creating an automatic and secure metal-to-metal connection between two coated or uncoated sheet metal panels, meaning that just one of the two panels has to be grounded. The teeth of the grounding clip are designed to ensure penetration of painted or powder-coated surfaces therefore establishing an electrical connection between the merged panels in all applications. After installation, the grounding clip is still visible, allowing for visual inspection. If the grounding clip is present, the connection is present. DIRAK points out that an added feature of the new 1-043SL SNAP-Joiner includes the ability to remove the joiner from the face of the joiner. The actuation tool can be inserted into the slot on the face of the SNAP-Joiner. Once the tool is inserted and turned clockwise, the tool remains captive in the slot allowing the user to pull the SNAP-Joiner from the panel. The 1-043SL SNAPJoiner requires a cut-out of 30mm X 14mm (1.177 inches X 0.547 inches) on a sheet metal panel and can join two panels with a combined thickness of 3.6mm to 9.1mm (0.142 inches to 0.358 inches).

LNG plant uses radolid caps RotaBolt has supplied over 13,000 Radolid high performance protective caps for bolts and studs to Foster Wheeler, a engineering, construction and project management contractor.

he Radolid caps are for a new LNG plant that is being constructed in Western Australia and are being used to protect and extend the product life of a wide range of bolts and studs from 1¾ inches diameter, up to 3½ inches in diameter. The caps being used are the SW locking caps for hexagon bolts and nuts. RotaBolt highlights that the caps are suitable for any bolting application offering protection from accidental damage and corrosion. They feature a special clamping edge and sealing lip making them easy to fit and providing highly cost effective protection in hostile environments. “The extensive range of caps, manufactured in Germany, offer almost total protection against corrosion, humidity and operational damage and can be used in a wide range of applications and environments. They provide protection in industries such as offshore, wind energy, engineering, processing, manufacturing and transport. They reduce maintenance costs and down-time and help to improve operational efficiencies. “

pDie r Anzeige o d uwirdct s übermittelt. als pdf-Datei Dateiname: rey32903-041310-02 erstellt/geändert: 13.04.2010 - 16:46 dk

Master Bond highlights that its fiberglass adhesive EP33 facilitates the reliable bonding of fiberglass to a variety of different substrates, and has been specially designed to overcome CTE mismatch complications.

Fastener & Fixing Europe Magazine 01.05.2010 1/2 Seite, hoch (102 mm x 297 mm) EUR 990,– 4c

Hold on a moment!

High performance fiberglass adhesive

Medium: Erscheinungsdatum: Format: Preis:

P33 cures at room temperature, and produces durable, high strength, and tough bonds between fiberglass, wood, metals, vulcanised rubbers and many plastics. Master Bond points out that the cured fiberglass adhesive composition is an excellent electrical insulator with superb dielectric performance. It also maintains an impressive strength profile of 220 Kg/cm² (3,100 psi) in shear even after exposure to temperatures in the 205°C to 235°C range. Curing can be accelerated to as short as 1 hour at 95°C. “EP33 is remarkably resistant to thermal cycling, high radiation levels and chemicals, including water, oil, and most organic solvents. This unique combination of properties advocates EP33’s use in the electronic, electrical, computer, construction, metalworking, automotive and chemical industries.” EP33 is available in premixed bi-packs and cartridge/gun packaging for convenient dispensing as well as in standard pint, quart, gallon and 5 gallon containers.

90 % C-parts don't turn you on? Take another look. As a Reyher customer you profit from ... • one of the biggest and best ranges of threaded fasteners • top-class supply reliability plus order-management simplicity • resupply flexibility and friendly service second to none

✱

By the way, the lady drove straight to the office, where you can reach her by dialling +49 40 85363-0. She knows everything about C-parts management and Reyher.

www.reyher.de

Holding Parts Together

Ausdruck verkleinert

Ihr Ansprechpartner: Thorsten Riemann Telefon 040 526788-15 Fax 040 52640550 E-Mail info@ds-media-team.de

Quality Plastic Fasteners at Competitive Pricing! Precision Plastic Fasteners We are the source when you require the finest products in the industry. Volt Industrial Plastics can design, build, and produce plastic fasteners in many sizes, strengths, and colors. Volt’s excellent customer service team can provide the information and products you need. We offer our customers (including the automotive, medical, electronics, furniture, signage, and specialty items industries) a wide variety of products.

Quick Service

With over 500 million items in stock, same day shipping is available for most catalog orders.

CHAT LIVE with Volt online! Custom Orders

If you do not see what you need in our catalog or online, call us Volt’s in-house tooling has the capabilities to create what you’re looking for.

BAGGING available

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Excellence in stainless steel Wagener & Simon WASI GmbH & Co.KG is a specialist for stainless steel connecting elements and can offer rust free connecting elements made of A1 to A5 in all strength classes. Wagener & Simon WASI GmbH & Co.KG highlights that its product assortment is divided into four categories:

WASI Norm

WASI NORM includes fasteners made of rust-proof stainless steels available in grades A1 to A5 and all strength classes and of various other special materials. The product range consists of items standardised according to DIN or ISO and all other common international standards. These products include screws, nuts, rings, washers, pins, rivets, threaded rods, pipes and hose clamps.

WASI Maritim

WASI Maritim offers a premium selection of stainless steel products mainly used in water sports. This product range covers anchors, chains, bitts, deck equipment such as cleats, railings, locks, catches, hooks, hinges, wire ropes of all kinds, clamping elements including tighteners, terminals, clamps, thimbles, blocks, turnbuckles and forged shackles. Furthermore, the Maritim products can also be used in other areas such as agriculture and horticulture, architecture and for food and sewage technology.

WASI Spezial

WASI Spezial is able to meet all the needs for non-standardised connecting elements. Amongst these there are non-standard elements and DIN-like components as well as custom-made parts as per drawings of all materials and with special surface treatments. Next to the conventional services for CNC, milled parts and plain turned parts, WASI Spezial also supplies punched, bent and lasered parts as well as cold and hot-formed parts made with multi-stage presses. Furthermore, the patented levelling adjuster elements enable the optimum adjustment and alignment as well as levelling of machines.

WASI Solar

WASI Solar offers high-class, long-lasting and easy to install solutions made of stainless steel and aluminium for photovoltaic systems of all mounting types.

For Further information: Tel: Fax:

01384 424767 01384 424833

sales@martynprice.co.uk www.allgrip.eu

po box 48, Stourvale Road Lye, Stourbridge dy9 8qf

SpecialS Photography & Design by Neil Terry Printing, Rugby 568000.

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More Click Fit grommet?

Anixter Component Solutions says that its new Click Fit Snap-In Protection grommet is something completely new to the market due to its revolutionary two-component seal with integral cable anchorage.

nixter explains that through innovation and advanced production technology, the design offers many of the advantages found in conventional cable glands. Apart from the cable anchorage, the Click Fit grommet is compact, self-adjusting to its surrounding wall thickness, clickfixed in place, has a membrane seal, is waterproof, requires very little effort to install, and according to Anixter saves up to 90% on assembly time compared to conventional threaded cable glands. The installation requires no tools and an integral pop-out membrane provides a permanent seal until pierced by a cable or pipe. Each size of Click Fit grommet accommodates a wide range of cable and pipe diameters; for example, the M25 can be used for cables and pipes ranging in diameter from 4mm to 13mm.

New bolt line from Tapco

Because of its compact design, the Click Fit grommet only protrudes 5.7mm outside the enclosure. The range covers hole sizes M20 and M25, snaps into panel sizes from 0.5mm to 5mm, seals up to IP67 and provides cable anchorage to EN 50262 (Type A). Standard colours are black, white and grey (RAL 7035). “We are always looking to introduce new and innovative products to the market that offer our customers both technical and commercial benefits,” said Andrew Fletcher, technical director for Anixter Component Solutions. “This product offers features never before seen in a snap-fit flexible grommet and challenges the conventions of cable sealing.”

HETRA’s hidden deck fastener HETRA ApS recently introduced the HETRA G-5 hidden deck fastener, which was developed in Denmark and is manufactured in Taiwan.

ETRA, based in Horsens, Denmark, is dedicated to making fastener and installation solutions for wooden and composite decks. HETRA explains that the G-5 is very effective, economical and easy to install. “The G-5 is available in stainless steel or in steel coated with EMC, which has performance of more than 1,500 hours in SST and more than 20 cycles in Kesternich, chrome and nickel free.”

Tapco Inc, based in St Louis, MO, USA, has introduced a new line of zinc plated No. 1 Norway and Fanged elevator bolts in 18 different metric sizes.

apco explains that the metric bolts either meet or exceed the requirements set by ISO property class 5.8 and are all held in stock. Tapco has also recently introduced new metric nuts and washers, available in both zinc and stainless steel, and highlights that it continues to include in its inventory the Imperial series in 38 different sizes. “Our other products include non-metallic and fabricated elevator buckets, abrasion resistant sheeting, hanger bearings, and drag flights.”

146 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

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Go with the Flowform® Arnold Umformtechnik, a manufacturer of intelligent joining solutions and a development partner for the automotive and electrical industries, has developed Flowform® screws which it says is in response to the increasingly complex requirements for sheet metal joining.

hese trilobal (triangular) screws utilise the technology of flow-hole forming in the fabrication process. Arnold Umformtechnik explains that Flowform® is a cost optimised solution that offers higher process reliability for threaded fastener joints and considerable advantages over alternative sheet metal joining methods such as ease of loosening, accessibility, positioning, reassembly with threaded fasteners and freedom from fabrication residues. A Flowform® screw works by heating the sheet metal with a combination of axial force and relatively high driver speed. After the screw penetrates the material, the trilobal shape causes a metric thread to be formed in the host material, which can accept a standard metric screw if repairs are necessary. After controlled-torque assembly, the formed hole adapts precisely to the shape of the screw. This assembly process eliminates the necessity for additional securing components, as well as the need for various component preparation steps such as drilling or punching. Fabrication options with or without prefabricated holes in the clamping plate are also possible. The decisive factor here is the thickness of the component to be clamped. “Compared with previously used standard self-tapping screws, Flowform® screws have considerably higher pullout and preload forces, as well as higher over torque values. The special triangular cross-section of the fastener results in better performance than conventional systems with a circular cross-section.”

ALLBOLTS LTD

Unit 18 Fortress Close, Brome Industrial Estate, Eye, Suffolk IP23 7HN

Tel: 01379 872910 Fax: 01379 872915

allbolts@btconnect.com

P r o d u ct s

Doncaster develops stud welding hand gun Doncasters Group Ltd, a manufacturer of precision components and assemblies, has announced the development of a motorised stud welding hand gun designed specifically for the shipbuilding and transportation industries.

anufactured at Nelson Stud Welding, one of Doncasters’ Fastener Systems facilities in North America, the NS-50M offers guaranteed precision resulting in improved manufacturing efficiency. ”The shipbuilding industry demands accuracy, reliability and repeatability” said Ken Caratelli, president of the fastener systems division at Doncasters. “The NS-50M stud welding gun decreases drop time inconsistency that is often caused by spring wear and weld orientation. This is the first stud welding gun that provides

mistake-proof mechanical stud welding gun adjustments.” The NS-50M is a programmable gun lift with plunge presets. The gun enables a manufacturer to weld up to a half inch diameter stud weighing as much as two pounds. The gun weighs 2.6 pounds with a half inch stroke and is 6.5 inches in length. Doncasters highlights that the lift and plunge can be programmed in the Nelweld® N1500i™ computer controlled inverter, along with other essential process variables. Qualified procedures can be saved in presets or Stud Expert™

programs thus eliminating the need for the operator to manually set up the gun for each type of stud in production. “When developing this gun, we focused primarily on how to eliminate the many variables associated with stud welding,” said Doug Phillips, director of product management - equipment at Nelson Stud. “The gun includes LED indicators for automatic monitoring and the simplified set-up eliminates the need for mechanical lift adjustments during operation.”

BÜLTE gives you washer faced wing nuts BÜLTE has added the washer faced wing nut to its enlarged range of plastic fasteners and says that the nut is the ideal choice for when hand tightening is required.

ÜLTE explains that the integral washer removes the need for a separate washer and reduces assembly time, as well as ensuring even load distribution and surface protection. BÜLTE washer faced wing nuts are available in M6, with other dimensions available on request. The thickness of the washer is 2mm and the diameter is 21mm, and the nuts have a working temperature range from -30°C to +100°C. The standard material used for the washer faced wing nuts is polyamide 6.6 which offers advantages in comparison with steel such as it doesn’t rust, it is clean and insulating, and also extremely light. BÜLTE says that it has seen an increase in polyamide specified products in various industries, due to polyamide 6.6 offering resistance to traction and heat, as well as its electrical and chemical resisting characteristics and its elasticity. Washer faced wing nuts are suitable for all sectors of industry, such as electronics, electrical, automotive, food processing, plastics, metalworking, furniture, sports, medical, printing and ship building. Alternative materials are available, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, on request. Other colours, including blue and black, are also available.

Alcoa launches new thread repair kit

Alcoa Fastening Systems (AFS) has launched a new Recoil® thread repair kit for the UK market.

he new Pro XL Series, which replaces both the previous Pro Series and standard range, now contains a combined tap wrench and installation tool, with the tap holder set in its handle, a drill, magnetic tang break-off tool and up to 15 inserts (kit contents differ depending on thread form and diameter). AFS explains that the magnetic tool enables blind-hole tang removal, ensuring none are left in the application after installation, whilst a pivotal tool holder provides users easy access to and neat storage of the kit’s components. Its HSS taps are suitable for use on aluminium, magnesium, cast iron and most machinable steels. Recoil thread repair kits are predominately used to repair damaged threads in a variety of automotive applications such as wheel bolts, spark plugs, brake callipers, oil sump and drain plugs; as well as a number of electronic, power generation and other general industrial applications. “Recoil is an established, well respected, consistent and reassuring brand of products that provide quality solutions to customers. This new kit is easier to use with all of the components contained in one easy-to-store, ergonomic and robust box but at the same price as the previous version,” explains Jay Sahadew, marketing manager at AFS.

150 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

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w. gr

We have all standard parts in stock.

Socket + Hexagon Head Screws

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For more Information please contact our sales department

10.01.2008 17:08:51 Uhr

comprehensive stock range up to M24 12.9 custom-made finishing (turning, drilling, grindling) Graewe GmbH & Co. KG D-57413 Finnentrop-Weringhausen

stud bolts ++ extension bolts ++ threaded rods and studs ++ anchor bolts ++ hexagon socket head cap screws

93 ++ D 3+ I + D N 91 IN 2 EN ++ D ISO IN 40 EN 14 ISO /4 01 476 7+ 2 + + + 1/ 93 IN ++ D Have All. Sounds Great.

p r o d u ct s

Huntsman adds fourth category to range Huntsman Advanced Materials says that due to the increasing need for specialised adhesives it has introduced a new range of composite bonders, for assembling dissimilar materials, which with the addition of silane modified polymers, adds a fourth category to the Araldite® range.

he new additions are the high strength composite bonder Araldite® AW 4858/Hardener HW 4858, the highly temperature resistant Araldite® AW 4859/Hardener HW 4859, both epoxy based, and a pair of silane modified polymers, one component, moisture curing adhesives, Araldite® 2060 and Araldite® 2061. Huntsman explains that both the above mentioned epoxy based adhesives are available in cartridges, and display lap shear strengths of up to 40MPa on composite parts. In addition, the methacrylate based adhesive Araldite® 2048 has been developed especially to meet the need of bonding untreated composite parts. In contrast to high-strength epoxies, this product is more balanced in terms of strength and flexibility, and is performing well even on otherwise difficult to bond surfaces. With the introduction of a pair of silane modified polymers, the current Araldite® range of epoxy, polyurethane and methylmethacrylate adhesives is extended. Huntsman highlights that both silane modified products are highly flexible, paintable and show superior durability and weather resistance. Huntsman points out that all the products mentioned are phthalate-free, with Araldite® 2060 and 2061 not even carrying a hazard symbol. “Adhesives have numerous advantages over mechanical joining techniques. This becomes even more obvious when it comes to the assembly of dissimilar substrates as well as lightweight composite parts. Bonding allows a uniform distribution of strain and stresses across the joint, which makes it the ideal technique to join composites of different constitution. The new additions to the Araldite® range will help any company which is looking for better ways of joining dissimilar materials to achieve more efficiency and cost savings,” comments Bodo Wixmerten, technology manager at Huntsman.

Keeping workplaces moving Workplace equipment provider Slingsby is celebrating 60 years of the tubular footiron truck which is the oldest product in the company’s extensive 35,000 product range and is a familiar sight in businesses and other organisations around the world.

he trucks, which Slingsby started supplying in 1950, have a large 200kg capacity and fold up which means they appeal to workplaces of all shapes and sizes. Dominic Slingsby, managing director of Slingsby, explains: “The success of this footiron truck is amazing and comes down to it being a top quality, long-lasting product that is extremely well made. More than a quarter of workplace accidents are still associated with manual handling so demand for it looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.” He adds, “Since it was first introduced into Slingsby’s product range, the design has remained virtually unchanged. The only real difference is that customers can now choose to have foam tyres fitted instead of the original pneumatic tyres which eliminate the risk of punctures.”

JCP Construction Products are the specialist fixing division within the Owlett-Jaton group of companies. We currently have a vacancy for:

Technical Sales Representative Covering Essex, East London, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk We seek a self-motivated individual to work as part of a team of 9 covering the U.K. to promote the range of JCP products to re-sellers of construction fixings. The role also involves providing product training and support on construction sites on behalf of our customers. Previous experience calling on fixing specialists, engineering merchants and construction supply companies is preferred together with a sales background.

T.I.Midwood & Co Ltd require a Regional Sales Executive for the North-West of England T.I.Midwood & Co Ltd is one of the UK’s largest and most consistently successful importers and wholesalers of screws fixings and power tool accessories, trading under the TIMco, Addax and FirmaHold brands. The company is now seeking to appoint a Regional Sales Executive for the North West of England. Experience of selling to stockists and distributors in the building / construction sector would be seen as essential, and a good knowledge of the fastener industry an advantage.

We offer a highly competitive salary, bonus scheme and company car together with all the usual benefits you associate with working within a large national company.

This is a full time position with a competitive package, including a company car.

Applications should be sent together with a current C.V. to:

To apply please send a covering letter and a full CV to: Mr P. N. Gill Managing Director T.I.Midwood & Co Ltd, Green Lane, Wardle, Nantwich, Cheshire, CW5 6BJ

Nick Beardon General Manager JCP Construction Products Unit 07 Princess Court Horace Road Kingston-upon-Thames Surrey KT1 2SL Tel: 0208 546 6545 Email: nick.beardon@owlett-jaton.com Web: www.jcpfixings.co.uk

www.TIMcouk.com

Job Advert 2.indd 1

New Business Development Manager Central/Southern England Fasteq are an award winning, privately owned Industrial Fastener and “C” class supply chain solutions company, who are leaders within their field with HQ located in Central Scotland. The position of New Business Development Manager has arisen for a proven executive with experience in selling to the Aerospace, Defence and Military markets Responsible for identifying business opportunities throughout the UK, based from home, we are looking for an individual who is self motivated with a strong desire to succeed and consistently achieve targets. Must be able to forge long term partnerships with customers and be comfortable negotiating at Senior Management/Director level. You must be able to demonstrate a proven sales background, with experience of selling to Aerospace and Defence, OEM, Automotive and similar. We seek a proactive, accountable and responsible team player who is looking for a challenging rewarding career within a very successful company. Excellent Salary and OTE, Car Allowance and company benefits. Apply by email to rona@fasteq.co.uk with relevant details.

Fasteq Ltd Fasteq House Unit 9 Mill Road Industrial Estate Linlithgow West Lothian EH49 7SF www.fasteq.co.uk

28/04/2010 16:54:29

p r o d u ct s

Reyher launches new catalogue F. Reyher Nchfg. GmbH & Co GmbH, based in Hamburg, Germany, recently presented its new catalogue at the International Hardware Fair Cologne and Hannover Fair.

eyher highlights that the 728 page catalogue includes one of the most comprehensive programmes in the industry, with DIN, ISO and other standard components available, all with over 99% availability. In addition to a variety of new items, there are also substantial additions, especially in the ISO range and surfaces, e.g. zinclamella coating. Information about services that benefit Reyher customers in industry and commerce can also be found on the opening pages. Similarly, the technical information section has been updated and expanded. Reyher has also recently introduced the RUV, which it says will leave a lasting impression within the construction industry. The threaded RUV can be used in virtually any design in conjunction with a reduced shaft bolt Z-DIN 7964. Due to its unique geometry, which allows it to be easily screwed on over a metric thread, the RUV ensures that the screw will have a secure grip for any desired construction after it has been screwed on over the existing shaft. “The new Machinery Directive requires that fastening systems, after the removal of protective devices, must remain attached either to the devices themselves or to the machine. The threaded RUV is a simple and problem-free solution that can be retrofitted at any time. Lengthy and costly design changes to meet the requirements of the new Machinery Directive, are not necessary when using the RUV elements.”

ACT Fasteners & Components................. 19

Ingramatic spa........................................ 55

Action Can............................................. 115

Italbolt Inox Service Srl.......................... 57

Adolf Pühl GmbH & Co. KG..................... 35

JCP Construction Products Ltd............... 153

Advance Spares..................................... 147

Lederer.................................................... 16

Albert Pasvahl GmbH & Co..................... 89

Leonix Fasteners..................................... 63

Alca Fasteners......................................... 93

London Screw Company Ltd................. 152

Alfran Fasteners.................................... 129

Lusavouga............................................... 95

Allbolts.................................................... 97

M&W Fastener Co.,Ltd............................. 27

Alloy & Stainless Fasteners Inc,............. 21

Machine Screws Limited...................... 117

Ambrovit................................................... 9

Martyn Price (Bolts & Nuts) Ltd........... 144

APT........................................................... 15

Masons Fasteners Ltd........................... 127

Arpel (Chilterns) Ltd.............................. 115

Metallurgica Viro Srl............................... 65

Ashish International................................ 45

Multiple Overseas Exports.........................7

Autonic Engineering Ltd....................... 110

Nakashimada Engineering................... 101

Avon Stainless Fasteners...................... 136

National Machinery................................ 99

Baker & Finnemore................................ 19

ND Industries................................105, 111

BAS Components.................................... 81

Net Civata............................................... 41

Bendfast................................................ 139

Ningbo Londex Industrial....................... 25

Beneri S.p.A......................................31, 39

NOF Metal Coatings Europe S.A........... 109

Berdan Bolt & Nut Co.Ltd..................... 137

Nordic Metalblok.................................... 72

bigHead Bonding Ltd.............................. 85

Nord-Lock Ltd........................................ 105

Birlik Baglanti ........................................ 47

Norma..................................................... 83

Birmingham Coldform............................ 23

Orbit International Corporation Ltd...... 136

Blakeacre................................................ 11

Ornit Blind Rivets.................................. 117

Bontempi Vibo........................................ 53

Pinstructure............................................. 11

Bossong SpA........................................... 71

Precision Technology Supplies Ltd....... 138

Bralo...................................................... 135

Prelok.................................................... 107

Brighton Best....................... 1, 6, 8, 10, 12

Ray Fu................................................... 140

Bülte Plastiques SA............................... 115

Reyher................................................... 142

Can-Eng Furnaces.................................. 110

Rivit Srl.................................................. 155

Chatsworth Computers Ltd................... 123

RLS Tooling Ltd...................................... 105

Chemfix Products Limited....................... 89

Rotor Clip................................................. 46

Ching Chan Machinery.......................... 113

San Shing Fastech Corp........................ 103

Ergonomic perfection

Corti Dominico........................................ 67

Schnorr Adolf GmbH & Co. KG................ 47

DIV D.O.O................................................. 81

Schröder Schrauben.............................. 151

Dörken MKS-Systeme GmbH................ 156

SD Products........................................... 107

Bäcker Plastics Technology, based in Erndtebrück, Germany, has specialised in the production of control elements for more than 30 years.

Dresselhaus GmbH & Co. KG.................. 79

Shanghai Minmetals............................. 147

DS Fasteners........................................... 25

Shin Chun Enterprise Co Ltd................. 149

E.U.R.O. Tec GmbH.................................. 91

Smith-Bullough Ltd............................... 129

Earnest Machine Products Ltd................ 43

Specialinsert Srl...................................... 59

äcker explains that under the trade name of ‘PlacoGrip’, it manufactures indexing bolts, tensioning levers and handles to a high standard of quality and are all characterised by a perfect design. Bäcker highlights that the very favourable price/performance ratio should be of interest to trade partners in Europe. Bäcker has also announced that a new catalogue has just been published and is available free of charge on request.

EDP (BML Office Computers Ltd).......... 123

Spirol..................................................... 139

154 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 63 May 2010

Electra Engineering Services................ 141

Stafa Holland BV..................................... 97

Everest Metal Industries......................... 23

Star Fasteners......................................... 93

Fastbolt............................................... 2, 49

Taipei International Fastener Show........ 29

Fastener Fair - Budapest........................ 37

Tecfi S.p.A.......................................... 50, 51

Fastener Fair - Stuttgart......................... 13

Tecno Impianti SRL.................................. 73

Fasteq.................................................... 153

TI Midwood........................................... 153

Fixi Srl...................................................... 97

Titibi......................................................... 89

FK Moore & Sons Ltd.............................. 47

TLM.......................................................... 62

Forward..................................................... 5

Top Screw Metal Corp. Ltd.................... 121

Fwu Kuang Enterprises Co. Ltd............... 25

TransTechnology Brasil......................... 119

G & B Fissaggi Srl.................................... 72

Trojan Special Fasteners Ltd................. 107

Global Fasteners Sdn Bhd....................... 87

UBK SpA.................................................. 69

Goebel GmbH........................................ 145

Unbrako................................................. 125

Graewe GmbH & Co.KG......................... 151

Vipa SPA.................................................. 64

Growermetal SRL.................................... 43

Vlier Products.......................................... 17

Hafren Fasteners................................... 111

Vogelsang GmbH........... 23, 117, 134, 151

Heco........................................................ 19

Volt Industrial Plastics, Inc.................... 143

Heinz Soyer GmbH.................................. 93

Vorpa Officine Meccaniche snc.............. 61

Hugo Benzing GmbH & Co KG.............. 127

WASI...................................................... 129

30 YEARS DÖRKEN MKS-SYSTEME

DELTA® protects surfaces.

1980 was a good year: Radio plays disco music. The world is busy with the Rubik’s Cube. And rust meets its match in Dörken MKS-Systeme.

ll 5 O&S, ha 3 5 booth B

Our success story began back in 1980 with a hose clamp for Volkswagen. Since then, our DELTA-MKS® systems have been used by all major car builders. And over the years we have continued to develop innovative and pioneering products, such as DELTA-PROTEKT® for screws with various friction coefficient ranges, or the highly effective 2-in-1 product, DELTA-PROTEKT® KL 105. Find out more about our past and future at www.doerken-mks.com/30