Torque Direct – Issue 01 – November/December 2022

Publisher

Jerry Ramsdale Jerry@torque-direct.com

Editor Hayley Everett Hayley@torque-direct.com

Deputy Editor

Rachel King Rachel@torque-direct.com

Contributing Editor

Jonathon Harker Jonathon@torque-direct.com

Sales Manager UK Claire Warman Claire@torque-direct.com

Sales Manager International Harry Whyte Harry.whyte@torque-direct.com

Sales Manager USA & International Thomas A. Keenan Tom@torque-direct.com

Circulation

Tracy Howell Tracy@torque-direct.com

Head of Production Luke Wikner production@torque-direct.com

Designers

Dan Bennett production@torque-direct.com Victoria Arellano production@torque-direct.com

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Disclaimer

Although the utmost care is taken to ensure that information contained herein is accurate and up to date, 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. 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 of Stag Publications Ltd. Copyright Entire contents copyright © 2022 Stag Publications. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the

INSIDE THIS ISSUE EDITOR’S COMMENT

INTRODUCING TORQUE DIRECT

WELCOME to the first edition of Torque Direct, our new title geared specifically towards the end-user fastener, tool, adhesives and coatings industries.

With an audience of more than 30,000 engi neers and decisions makers from around the world, Torque Direct is the new sister title of the established Torque magazine, which serves the distribution trade.

It has been a challenging couple of years for the global manufacturing and engineering industries. From the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic to the more recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, supply chain disruptions, raw material shortages and economic turbulence have stifled progress in many fields. An uncertain future lies ahead in many respects; international trade tensions are heightened and talk of a global recession hardly paints an encouraging picture for business.

We believe that now, more than ever, is the time to ensure those in the manufacturing and engineering sectors remain in-the-know about how these global issues could play out for their respective markets, businesses and customers.

Torque Direct’s mission is to provide the latest technical content, market insights, application articles and case studies to keep our readers informed on the current trends, issues and inno vations relevant to the international fastener, tool, adhesives and coatings industries.

This launch issue will give you a taste of what to expect from Torque Direct going forwards, featuring insights from key companies, experts and engineers who are leading the way in these areas. Torque Direct will be published quarterly, and will soon be complemented by a compre hensive website and newsletter.

DEWALT introduces the Impact Connect system

DEWALT has launched the DEWALT IMPACT CONNECT system, a new line of attachments to quickly convert select impact drivers into fast, powerful cutting tools. Designed to improve user productivity, the system is rolling out with two attachments: a Copper Pipe Cutter Attachment (DWACPRIR) and PVC/PEX Pipe Cutter Attachment (DWAPVCIR) that quickly attach to select DEWALT 20V MAX and other pro grade 18V Impact Drivers, turning them into powerful cutting tools.

“The DEWALT IMPACT CONNECT line is a revolutionary new addition to the wide range of tools and accessories tradespeople typically reach for on the jobsite,” said Doug Redpath, President, Hand Tools, Accessories & Storage, at Stanley Black & Decker. “Instead of purchasing separate dedicated pipe cutting tools, IMPACT CONNECT attachments leverage the power of users’ current impact drivers to perform the job quickly with less cutting effort.”

The new DEWALT IMPACT CONNECT attachments are the first offerings within this DEWALT platform and are ideal for pipe fitting, plumbing, HVAC, and home renovation. Designed to boost user productivity, the attachments require 100x less cutting effort than a manual cutter and with the quick change brace system, the attachments are connected in seconds allowing for seamless conversion from pipe cutting tools to a traditional impact driver.

www.dewalt.com

NEW SUPERBOLT NXT BOLT TENSIONER

SUPERBOLT, an inventor and standard bearer for multi jack bolt tensioning, has introduced Superbolt NXT – a revolution ary bolt tensioner that is up to 30% faster to install than existing solutions.

Safely reducing the installation and maintenance time of tightening large bolts is at the core of Superbolt technologies, and with Superbolt NXT, Nord Lock Group is taking those capabilities to the next level.

Everything has been designed with user simplicity, safety and speed at the forefront. A typical M76 multi jackbolt tensioner can have up to twelve individual jackbolts, whereas the M76 Superbolt NXT achieves the same secure preload with just eight. This, plus a new knurling grip layer to support with handling during installation and removal, and other user friendly features elevates Superbolt NXT.

The key improvement has been reducing the number of jack bolts required to tighten the bolt, as a small decrease in jackbolts can deliver a large decrease in the tightening time. To achieve this, design engineers had to rethink this critical component.

“We worked with some of the best steel mills and heat treat ment partners in the world to get the right materials and processes to increase the strength of our jackbolts,” said Max Bastiaansen, R&D Project Manager for Nord Lock Group. “Now, we can offer the customer an equivalent preload with less jack bolts, so it’s faster and easier to install with less torque.”

Superbolt NXT also features a black oxidised coating for corrosion protection, laser markings to guide installation and an anti slip knurling grip layer.

www.nord-lock.com/nxt

New Rubix capabilities brochure

Rubix, a UK supplier of industrial maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) products and services has released a new brochure which high lights the breadth of products avail able from leading manufacturers, and its range of services to help keep customer businesses running.

Split into easy to read sections, the new brochure provides a look at the portfolio of products available through Rubix, from bearings, power transmis sion, and fluid power through to tools and health and safety products. The brochure then highlights exclusive brands distributed by Rubix, plus the range of specialist technical and engi neering services available, such as condition monitoring, maintenance and repair, customisation, assembly and installation, and engineering and automation solutions.

The logistics services Rubix offers are also included, such as Vendor Managed Services like Invend, Inscan and Insite which are designed to improve the process of managing fast moving consumables.

Featuring a clear layout with full colour illustrations, the ‘Rubix Capabilities’ brochure also includes a section on eProcurement services offered by the company.

Committed to providing customers with valuable cost savings, Rubix aims to increase production uptime, reduce total cost of ownership and streamline transactions, to help achieve signif icant cost efficiencies and work towards a more sustainable future.

www.uk.rubix.com

BOSCH POWER TOOLS ENTERS DRYWALL CATEGORY

Bosch Power Tools has announced the launch of a new tool category, drywall, with the GTB18V 45 18V Brushless 1/4 inch Hex Screwgun and GCU18V 30 18V Brushless Cut Out Tool. The tools are intended to enable precise performance in an ergonomic design for convenience and comfort.

The GTB18V 45 18V includes variable speed for controlled operating speed and the GCU18V30 18V features soft start technology to reduce start up torque – both include brushless motor technology to provide power and get the job done when working with and cutting through drywall. The tools are designed for efficiency that brings the power of a corded product, without the cord.

“We are excited to break into the drywall category with two new tools, created to elevate the workers’ user experience across drywall projects,” said Corey Hinkel, product manager for Bosch Power Tools. “The GTB18V 45 screw gun’s well balanced design allows users to operate it comfortably between thumb and index finger, while the GCU18V 30 cut out tool features an ergonomic slim grip designed to provide comfort when holding the product. These tools, along with others on Bosch’s growing 18V platform are designed to tackle industry issues head on and prioritise the worker’s needs through ease of use and saving time.”

Hardware solutions for the electric vehicle industry

TR is actively working with a number of organisations involved in the design, manufacture and development of electric vehicles (EV), battery pack modules (EVB) and electric vehicle charging units for both commercial and residential use.

TR is able to supply an extensive product range and has the necessary technical knowledge, expertise and experience to support this industry. TR’s qualified engineers and sales staff are on hand to advise designers, production and purchasing teams on a number of matters, from Design for Manufacture (DFM) to new fastener technology, sourcing insight and cost reduction.

TR is a major component supplier to the light and heavy vehicle sector. TR supports a number of Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive manufacturers, providing a comprehensive range of industrial fasteners and Cat C components.

THE ADVANTAGES OF SPIROL STANDARD SLOTTED PINS VS ISO 8752

SPIROL manufactures two types of Slotted Spring Pins: SPIROL Standard Slotted Pins and ISO 8752 Slotted Pins. SPIROL Standard Slotted Pins offer significant advan tages as compared to ISO 8752 Slotted Pins, which were orig inally designed to function as Dowel Bushings. Dowel Bushings are used in conjunction with bolts and isolate bolt threads from shear planes.

Conversely, SPIROL Standard Slotted Spring Pins were designed to perform one of the following pinning functions without the addition of any other fastener: hinge, alignment, retention, stop, or hub/shaft connection. While both SPIROL Standard Slotted Spring Pins and ISO 8752 Slotted Pins can be effective in an assembly, SPIROL Standard Slotted Spring Pins are easier to install and superior in form, fit, and function.

Whilst both pins are of great quality and a high standard, the SPIROL Standard Slotted Spring Pins have a few extra advan tages that make this product an asset to any assembly. SPIROL’s application engineers will work alongside your design to make sure that you are using the most effective and efficient fastening solutions in your product.

www.spirol.com

SPIROL Standard Slotted Pin sits deeper in the hole to facilitate installation

ISO 8752 Slotted Pins are often difficult to install because the chamfer diameter is not much smaller than the hole

ADVANTAGES OF SPIROL STANDARD SLOTTED PINS

Slot width narrower than the wall thickness, thus preventing the pins from nesting or interlocking.

Rounder pins, which in turn results in better conformance of the pin to the hole wall and eliminates the edge of the slot damaging the hole during insertion.

Smaller expanded (pre-insertion) diameter which results in lower insertion force and smoother insertion.

Lower stress in the spine of the installed pin. This results in longer pin life in shock or fatigue applications.

Ability to use automatic vibratory feeding of pins for installation without interlocking.

Plating of pins for additional corrosion resistance or appearance without “touch marks” or the bonding or nested pins.

FLEXIBLE PROTOTYPING

The engineering and manufacturing industry is moving at an increasingly fast pace due to the continuous strive to make product development and prototyping more flexi ble and efficient.

Every field of manufacturing uses the concept of prototyp ing. In the context of engineering product design, a prototype is a preliminary version of the end product which is used to evaluate the design, test the technology, analyse the working principle, and provide final product specifications. Engineer ing product design and, more significantly, new product devel opment both require the use of prototypes.

Recently, the industry has been adopting a style of prototyp ing called ‘rapid prototyping’ which entails creating a proto type quickly for the purposes of evaluating a part or its features from a visual and functional perspective. Sometimes, individual parts are rapidly created separately and assembled to test the prototype product, and this is usually achieved through 3D printing.

Although a viable solution for design purposes, 3D printing does not always provide the material properties to truly test prototypes for their given uses. This is where standard compo nents can be used to further enhance the product design process.

Norelem’s customers predominantly work in areas such as maintenance, toolmaking, and special machinery. The workers in these industries have specific needs when it comes to the product development process which cannot be fulfilled by rapid prototyping processes such as 3D printing. Standard components, on the other hand, are readily available and qual ity compliant, making them an ideal solution for prototyping.

Norelem offers services that make the ordering of standard components better suited to the product design phase, includ ing the provision of CAD data and supporting technical infor mation. All products have short delivery times, which facilitates a fast construction process from design to completion.

Norelem CEO Marcus Schneck explores how standard components can enable flexibility within prototyping and product development.

Why choose standard components?

Although many customer needs cannot be met by rapid proto typing processes, this is not to say that standard components should only be used as an alternative. In fact, we would argue that there are many reasons why standard components should be used even in scenarios where technologies like 3D printing would be viable.

All of norelem’s common standard components have been designed to increase efficiency and flexibility in the develop ment of prototypes. Therefore, many of these components are single articles that can be easily incorporated into a larger exist ing assembly or that can be used in conjunction with each other to create an entirely new one. Additionally, all of norelem’s stan dard components can be modified when customers have special wishes, such as a different thread length on a clamping lever. However, all components can be modified, whether it’s changing the colour, length, or other product attributes.

Moreover, norelem’s standard components are extremely high quality, meaning they are unlikely to break or deform under the stress of testing. This also means that the products have a long lifetime and can therefore be used multiple times for differ ent prototypes, making standard components more sustainable and economical. In fact, some may purchase products with the sole intention of them being used to make prototypes.

When used in conjunction with the accompanying technical documentation and assembly instructions, norelem products offer a reduced downtime and therefore a lower energy consumption. In order for prototyping with standard compo nents to be more efficient, the products have to be used correctly in the first place.

Selecting components to ensure flexibility

When deciding on which standard components to purchase, engineers should first consider whether the components can be adapted to the requirements of the prototype. This includes

the material of the products, too. Norelem standard compo nents are available in a variety of materials, which ensures that the customer can find whatever material is suited to their needs. For example, A4 quality stainless steel components can be used for saltwater applications, while standard components in ceramics will perform even in high temperatures.

When it comes to materials, this flexibility provides a clear price advantage for customers. It offers customers the option the save on the components that will perform with less expen sive materials, so they can opt for the more costly components where the choice of material is of paramount importance for the performance of their prototype.

The importance of the material used for the standard component largely depends on the application that the part will be used for. In some cases, a strong and durable material like steel will be required, while in other cases a more cost effective material like plastic might suffice.

Making prototyping easier

Despite rapid prototyping becoming more and more common place in the development of prototypes, standard components certainly have their place. Norelem’s standard components provide the high quality, flexibility and durability expected of a final product, and so it stands to reason that they would be used in the make up of a final product, too.

Overall, norelem provides many services to help engineers and manufacturers select the right components for the purposes of prototyping and product development. Services such as technical support, norelem’s key account, online shop ping platform with fast shipping, The Big Green Book, and free CAD data, are all designed to make the choice of the right stan dard component as straightforward as the click of a button or a short phone call.

www.norelem.co.uk

Norelem supplies 70,000 standard products related to standard machinery, operation and automation.

SPECIALISING IN SELF-CLINCH

Zygology

“ We don’t use self clinch fasteners because our customers complain they keep falling out of the panel.”

I have lost count of the number of times I have heard this from customers, but why is this such a problem? Self clinch is essentially a very simple technology – but there is plenty that can still go wrong.

Essentially, self clinch fasteners flow and form the panel material into special recesses in the base of a fastener as it is being pressed into the metal using a squeezing action. So what do users need to know when using them?

Choose your materials wisely

Firstly, the fastener must be harder than the material it is being set into. If this is not the case, the fastener deforms during installation and can come loose at any time. Aluminium and steel self clinch fasteners are especially hardened so that they can be installed securely into aluminium or mild steel panels without a problem. Standard CLS or FHS stainless steel self clinch fasteners can be installed into steel or aluminium, but should not be installed into 300 grade stainless panels.

If you need to install a stainless fastener into stainless steel, PEM offers either 400 grade fasteners or especially hardened SP 286 grade fasteners which will install into 300 grade mate rials. In a nutshell, always use the correct grade of fastener for the material you are using.

Use the correct equipment

As we have already mentioned, self clinch fasteners must be installed using a squeezing action. This means using a press; hammering and other impact methods are a strict no no. Fly presses can be used if they can generate enough force, however many users underestimate the loads required to install a fastener. For instance, setting an M4 S nut into a steel panel can require up to 2.75 tonnes of force to install it whereas an M5 nut can require up to 3.9 tonnes. An FH M4 stud on the other hand can require nearly three tonnes while an M6 stud can require up to 4.5 tonnes. Generating these forces is well beyond the capabilities of many manual presses, and often of the operators using them.

At the very least, installing self clinch inserts with a manual press is going to be anything but consistent. Zygology and PEMSERTER/Haeger offer a complete range of presses suit able for simple single shot installation through to multi bowl continuous feed.

Additionally, when working with thinner panels special tooling

is required to allow the panel material to flow correctly during installation. If incorrect tooling is used, the material has nowhere to go and the fastener can be easily deformed rather than installed correctly. This results in the fastener being simply wedged into the hole and failure at some point is almost inevitable.

Be wary of cheap alternatives

The industry is currently flooded with cheap but extremely poor quality self clinching fasteners primarily from Asia. These fasteners are responsible for a high proportion of instal lation failures and other quality issues we are asked to inspect. The standard of fastener manufacture can be amazingly poor, causing a multitude of issues.

Such issues include poorly formed under head clinch elements which require higher installation forces, and even then a correct bond is not created. We have also observed certain fasteners are either too hard, meaning they can be brit tle and fail under load, or not hard enough leading to deforma tion during installation. Fasteners within a single batch can also be inconsistently too soft and too hard.

Elsewhere, we have seen stainless steel fasteners which are not actually stainless at all, and fasteners from a single supplier sourcing parts from bucket shops which can display any or all of these characteristics at any time.

Don’t compromise on quality

All of the above factors make it almost impossible to get reli able and consistent results, even when you think you are purchasing parts from a single source.

When looking at most assemblies, the fastener cost is normally a very small percentage of the total cost of the assembly, so saving even 50% on the fastener cost actually renders very little overall saving, and quite often just a few pence. Given that a fastener failure can require an entire panel to be scrapped or re worked, using poor quality fasteners is unwise. PEM manufac tured parts are made to the highest quality standards in state of the art factories primarily in Galway in Southern Ireland or North America, adhering to stringent quality processes and offering full quality documentation and product traceability.

Given that a part costing so little can have a direct impact on the quality of the work produced and the image of your company, why even think about trying to save on such important parts?

www.Zygology.com

”PEM-MANUFACTURED

Over 3,500 visitors travelled to Las Vegas for IFE 2022.

RECONNECTING THE INDUSTRY

This year’s International Fastener Expo proved in-person events are making a strong rebound…

The International Fastener Expo (IFE) once again returned to the halls of the Mandalay Bay Convention Centre in Las Vegas between 17 19 October 2022. In addition to providing several new features, this year’s edition saw 450 exhibitors showcase their products, technologies and services to visitors on the tradeshow floor.

More than 3,500 attendees hailing from 36 countries around the world gathered in Las Vegas for the three day event, which Show Director Morgan Wilson says proves international events are making a strong comeback: “It was clear our indus try was ready to be back in person and reconnect with each other,” he adds.

Networking events

This year’s show provided attendees with even more opportu nities to network and learn, starting with IFE’s annual golf tour nament, which kicked off on the morning of the 17th October. The tournament saw record breaking attendance with more than 145 players taking to the course at Bali Hai Golf Club. The day’s events continued with a welcome reception at Mandalay Bay’s Daylight Pool, where over a thousand attendees came together for an evening of networking, music and dancing.

There were opportunities to network during the show itself, too, through a range of educational sessions presented on the Session Stage that offered attendees insight and knowledge on topics such as e commerce, inflation, 3D printing, productivity, and the next generation workforce. Additionally, UnleashWD and Executive Producer of We Supply America Dirk Beveridge presented a keynote speech titled “Innovate! How to create relevancy in the age of disruption.”

Meanwhile, the new IFE Match app helped to bring atten dees and exhibitors together in a new ‘smart’ way to discover new business opportunities, explore educational sessions, and build a digital itinerary during the show. Over 350 meetings were arranged through the app, and attendees can watch back the educational talks for 30 days post event.

Award winners

As always, the Hall of Fame and Young Fastener Professional of the Year awards took place during the first day of the show. The new inductees into the Hall of Fame include Andy Cohn of Duncan Bolt, Tim Malone of Spring Bolt and Nut Manufactur ing, Rick Rudolph of Rick Rudolph Associates, and Joseph Voll trauer of Volt Industrial Plastics.

Bryan Wheeler of Star Stainless was also inducted into the Hall of Fame after being crowned Young Fastener Professional of the Year.

New and old exhibitors

The exhibition floor opened its doors to veteran exhibitors like Brighton Best International, Goebel Fasteners, Nucor, Star Stainless, Parker Fasteners and more, as well as some first time exhibitors including Alox and Optimas Solutions. In total, 30 new exhibitors made their debut at IFE this year.

The Torque Direct team was also kept busy at the show, speaking to visitors and exhibitors alike about key industry trends, new and upcoming product launches, and innovative technology advances. The majority of exhibitors reported their experience of the show had been a positive one, both in terms of visitor numbers and quality throughout the event.

“As always, we hope that attendees can come back from the show inspired, with new ideas, and new relationships,” adds Wilson. “We hope IFE brings everyone together to overcome challenges moving forward.”

IFE will take place again next year at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas between 9 11th October, 2023.

fastenershows.com

”IT WAS CLEAR OUR INDUSTRY WAS READY TO BE BACK IN PERSON AND RECONNECT WITH EACH OTHER,“

Volt Industrial Plastics was once again in attendence at IFE 2022.

Advance Components celebrated its 50th birthday at the show.

The annual golf tournament provided networking opportunities and friendly competition.

Rapid Industrial Fasteners was set up in 1983 and has been working with end users from the beginning. Founded to supply to end users, the firm prides itself on its rapid response to customers. “That philosophy underpins the company,” explains managing director Richard White. “End users are naturally more demanding than distributors. They tend to have fewer suppliers and if you have delays in getting items to them then they will look elsewhere and you can soon fall off their radar.”

He adds: “We are independent, we’re a distributor and a manufacturer. We do a good job and we work really hard. So, we tick a lot of boxes.”

Distribution & manufacturing Rapid’s programme of investment saw it move to a new ware house earlier this year, with 720 pallet locations. The new warehouse has provided them more space and, most crucially, a facility more suited to the growing business. “It works for our business now. It allows us to pick product quicker and more accurately with carefully laid out stock locations.”

The new facility supports Rapid’s commitment to high stock levels. “We offer a complete supplier solution. We have regular

import cycles of standard items working with the Far East for large volume parts, and we have solid relationships with key wholesalers in the UK. We are committed to high volume stocking so we can support schedule orders and feed them through to end users when it’s convenient for them.”

That supply solution was significantly enhanced in 2019 when Rapid Industrial Fasteners when it set up its own manu facturing floor.

“We used to use lots of subcontractors to turn around orders for special parts, but we were frequently let down and timescales drifted. That was disastrous for us,” explains White. “It meant we weren’t always able to get products to customers when we wanted to. It meant we couldn’t be as consistent as we aimed to be. Now we are a UK manufacturer, so we have more control.”

Despite the obvious disruptions of recent years, from mate rial challenges to Covid and pricing fluctuations, the machine shop is now well established.

“Our manufacturing workshop literally started from scratch, with four walls and a roof in an empty unit. Now we are a fully fledged manufacturer. It completes the Rapid Industrial Fasteners package.”

Quality and experience

With over 150 years cumulative experience, Rapid Industrial Fasteners is well versed in common challenges facing end users. Subsequently, it is well used to producing parts in kits, branded, just in time, via Kanban on site or in any other manner. Or as White succinctly says: “We aim to take away any headaches end users have with fasteners. We have the experi ence to fix their problems.”

Rapid Industrial Fasteners has worked with end users across many sectors, including renewables, engineering construction, defence, petrochemicals, general manufacturing, the water and flow sector and many others.

Its distribution side benefits from its manufacturing quality system: “We have tools for Positive Material Inspection (PMI), we routinely issue 3.1 and 3.2 material validation certificates, and our quality system is robust. We have ISO 9001 Quality Management System certification, tested by SGS, a higher end reputable testing agency. We offer complete traceability.”

West Midlands located Rapid has customers overseas, including Spain, Germany, Poland and Slovakia. This export market growth has largely come organically, rather than

through aggressive expansion. “As we are based in the Midlands it only makes sense for us to supply European customers with special parts, they will have more local options for standard parts. But we now have depth and experience in exporting to Europe, so we can service customers there with no problem. There is no learning curve.”

“People buy from people”

Rapid’s doors are open to customers to view the manufactur ing facility first hand: “Customers can come and see the machines and staff and what we can do. We have a good company culture, we work well together and with customers. We work hard on developing that team mentality and it passes through to customers.”

Relationships have been key to the success of Rapid Indus trial Fasteners, with that old adage “people buy from people” put into practice.

“Our goal is to have happy customers that will keep coming back. We’re willing to make it happen for them, whatever they want. Whether it’s a specific way of packing the part, changing the part number, branding it… we will do what they want, not what is convenient for us.”

Controlled expansion is viewed as the way forward: “When we start working with a new customer we are realistic because we know relationships develop over time. We are happy to do little bits of business and we won’t demand to do everything from them. We have to earn our customer’s trust. It can be hard work, but business develops out of it and people trust us to look after them.

“We are good problem solvers and are market aware, even for things we are not normally associated with. We can get customers out of trouble. We’re passionate about what we do and it is our belief that we are an asset for any end user.”

www.rapidfast.co.uk

”WE’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT WE DO AND IT IS OUR BELIEF THAT WE ARE AN ASSET FOR ANY END USER.“

THE IMPORTANCE OF THREAD LOCKING

There are several different methods to address the prob lem of vibrational self loosening in threaded assemblies, such as the use of various double nuts, spring washers and nylon inserts to lock threads and maintain the desired clamp load. However, these methods are limited through their inability to tackle the gap that exists between the threads of the bolt and nut. Although appearing tiny to the naked eye, this gap is still large enough to allow side to side movement of the bolt within the nut caused by operational vibrations. Eventu ally, this movement will cause the bolt to loosen regardless of the mechanical device used to lock it.

When a threaded assembly fails, the effect can be catas trophic in terms of worker and plant safety. According to Henkel, adhesive thread locking has its merits as both a stand alone solution and in complementing a mechanical thread locking device like the ones listed above to effectively reduce the impact of costly failures, repairs, maintenance, and down time within industrial environments.

“There are benefits from using mechanical thread locking devices but, due to the remaining gaps between the threads, their ability to withstand vibrational loosening is compromised,” explains Paul Marshall, Marketing Head at Henkel UK. “This is where thread locking adhesives really come into their own. They resist vibrational loosening and shock loads by filling all the voids.”

Henkel introduced what it claims was the world’s first ever anaerobic thread locking adhesive almost 60 years ago through its LOCTITE brand, and this technology remains at the core of the company’s product portfolio today.

“Anaerobic means the adhesive will only cure in the absence of air,” continues Marshall. “This enables the adhesive, when applied to a bolt, to stay a free flowing liquid almost indefi nitely until the nut is applied. With no air in the contact areas, the adhesive soon solidifies to a tough thermoset plastic which locks the joint and prevents fretting corrosion.”

The Threadlocking e-book details the merits of adhesive thread locking

Global chemical firm Henkel outlines the advantages of thread locking in preventing issues caused by selfloosening and improving plant safety.

Although a relatively mature technology, Henkel’s LOCTITE brand continues to break ground in this area with a continu ously growing range of thread locking adhesives offering vari ous viscosities, strengths, cure speeds, hardness and flexibility.

The firm’s LOCTITE 270 high strength formulation is engi neered to completely fill all gaps between the thread in order to prevent any free movement of the bolt within the nut. As a result, the assembly is completely vibration proof. Addition ally, the liquid thread locker seals the threads against humidity and dust in order to prevent corrosion and surface erosion.

The adhesive’s medium strength counterpart, LOCTITE 243, is formulated to allow disassembly with hand tools for servicing. According to Marshall, the latest formulations of these two prod ucts provide higher performance on various metals even without the use of an activator. This means that they are equally effective on iron, copper, brass and steel assemblies as well as on passive substrates like stainless steel, aluminium and plated surfaces.

The temperature resistance of the latest formulations of LOCTITE 270 and 243 has been increased from 150°C to 180°C in order to extend their scope of application. The products’ toler ance to oil residue on the parts to be locked has also been improved, meaning they are suited for use within industrial envi ronments where it is often difficult to remove all contamination.

“Continuous development of product chemistry has resulted in other important developments such as the LOCTITE Health and Safety range,” Marshall adds. “Thread lockers such as LOCTITE 2400 and 2700 require no hazard labelling so users can be assured they are adopting the best practice in terms of workplace safety.”

www.henkel-adhesives.co.uk

Thread locking can improve worker safety within aggressive environments like mining

Adhesives specialist Intertronics has unveiled a new single part “instant” moisture resistant adhesive designed specifically for environments with high humidity. Called Born2Bond Aquafast, the adhesive is a low odour and low bloom medium viscosity cyanoacrylate (CA) adhesive that offers excellent adhesion to a variety of materials.

Notably, the adhesive is able to withstand immersion in water after bonding and posseses a service temperature of up to 120˚C.

Once cured, Aquafast forms strong bonds with metals, plas tics and rubbers. The adhesive’s extremely low water absorp tion rate of 0.8% over 24 hours allows these bonds to maintain their strength when submerged in water, most solvents, and oils. It is therefore suitable for applications within electronics and appliances, outdoor lighting, power tools, and interior and exterior automotive aftermarket applications.

“It’s generally thought that cyanoacrylate adhesives have poor moisture, temperature, and humidity resistance,” says Ben Swanson, Chief Commercial Officer of Intertronics. “These historic trade offs have limited the usage of cyanoacrylates in applications where high temperatures, humidity, and/or mois ture are present.”

Featuring a fixture time of 15 seconds, Born2Bond Aquafast is low blooming and translucent when cured, allowing manu facturers to benefit from productivity advantages in applica tions where visual aesthetics are important. Additionally, the material’s service temperature of between 40 and 120˚C is far higher than a typical CA’s recommended maximum operating temperature (around 80˚C).

“The Born2Bond range means that manufacturers using cyanoacrylates will no longer have to compromise,” Swanson adds. “Aquafast will greatly broaden the potential uses of cyanoacrylates into applications where water or humidity resistance may have previously hindered their use, meaning more manufacturers can benefit from the rapid curing and strong bonding CAs offer.”

TYPICAL PROPERTIES

BORN2BOND AQUAFAST

Colour Transparent

Viscosity (cps) 150

Fixture Time (sec)

Substrate dependent 10 – 80 Bond Strength (MPa) 18

Temperature Use Range (°C) -40 to 120

Refractive Index (ABBE) 1.45 – 1.46 Glass Transition Temperature (°C) 115

Volume Resistivity (Ohm.m) 1.2·1014

Specific Gravity (g/mL) 1.07

With its substantial moisture and humidity resistance, Born2Bond Aquafast displays small reductions in adhesion strength after 1,000 hours in environments with high relative humidity. The adhesive’s hot strength has also been tested, yield ing high adhesion performance in environments up to 120˚C.

The material is supplied by Intertronics in both bottles and bulk containers in order to meet the supply requirements of both small and large scale production lines.

www.intertronics.co.uk/product/born2bond-aquafastmoisture-resistant-cyanoacrylate-adhesive/

EJOT’s Application Engineers have access to prognosis and forecasting software that has proved pivotal for designers and can impact positively on prototype and testing budgets.

No other fastener OEM knows e -vehicle assembly inside and out, like EJOT.

EJOT’s pedigree as a fastening innovator goes hand in hand with automotive manufacturing’s own backstory - pretty well since day one.

And given that our fastening products and systems provide application-specific solutions for all modern engineering materials, their commonality supports modern engineering goals to build lighter, build stronger, build smarter.

No surprise then that EJOT has been working academically with design teams world-wide, to bring our fastening technology into electric vehicle assembly, and to all peripheral application developments, for some time.

If you’re involved with any area of EV design, at any stage, at any leveland you’d like a solutions-based conversation, then call or email our team:

T: +44 (0) 1977 387 040 E: industrial@ejot.co.uk

Bringing it together.

Build lighter. Build stronger. Build smarter.

CHAMPIONING THE EV REVOLUTION

As the automotive market continues to evolve in light of environmental and economic pressures to reduce carbon emissions, the electric vehicle (EV) market has become one of the fastest growing to have emerged in recent years.

According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest Global Electric Vehicle Outlook, sales of EVs doubled in 2021 to a new record of 6.6 million, with more now sold each week than in the whole of 2012. Despite strains within global supply chains, this momentum continued into 2022 with two million EVs sold worldwide in the first quarter of the year. Further emphasising the rapid growth of the sector, the report reveals nearly 10% of global car sales were electric in 2021, four times the market share in 2019.

The success of the EV market is being driven by several factors, the most important of which is sustained policy support. Public spending on subsidiaries and incentives for EVs nearly doubled in 2021 to almost $30 billion as a growing number of countries announced ambitious vehicle electrifica tion targets for the coming decades, while some have pledged to phase out internal combustion engines completely. Mean while, many car manufacturers have announced plans to elec trify their fleets that go further than policy targets, and which will see large numbers of new models launched to the market in the coming years.

In order to keep up with this shift towards electrification, the whole automotive supply chain is working to adapt to these changes through new developments in technology, cost saving initiatives, and lightweighting techniques. As OEMs seek to future proof their supply chains it is critical that suppliers also react and adapt, and automotive fastener suppliers are no exception. Fasteners will undoubtedly play a major role both in terms of new and specific applications surrounding electrification, and in terms of unique technical requirements.

Designing for EVs

Mechanically, EVs are far simpler than traditional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars, as many of the major systems found on the latter are simply not required for EVs. For example, EVs have single digit moving part motors, single speed transmissions and no fuel systems, exhaust, turbo or superchargers.

As such, EV technology places new challenges on the auto motive fasteners sector. Not only are there a vast number of fasteners required in the manufacture of EVs, but the tech nical requirements can differ significantly to ICE applica tions, and be more demanding.

Fastener applications therefore require fresh thinking, from new concept designs for vehicle interiors and in car technol ogy, to reducing the weight of battery casings and improving ease of disassembly at the end of a component’s life.

EV battery design

Specifying the right automotive fasteners for EV battery applications is one such key consideration. By design, EV batteries need to be as lightweight as possible in order to optimise vehicle performance and reduce energy consump tion. They also need to be both water and airtight while remaining fully serviceable. Additionally, some of the connected components must be conductive, while others require isolating properties to ensure safety.

Torque Direct looks at the major role automotive fasteners will play for new and specific applications in vehicles as electrification continues to shape the future of mobility.

As car manufacturers move away from using standard steel in motor housings in favour of materials like aluminium, plas tics and composites, fasteners capable of handling various temperature and tolerance demands are also required.

Charging structure challenges

Fasteners are not only required within EVs themselves but also in the charging infrastructure that powers them. As more and more EVs hit the roads, more charging connectors and loca tions will be required to keep them going.

As EV battery technology develops, so will the requirements of the components within EV charging units and connectors. A whole range of fastening solutions will need to be optimised and developed to meet these unique demands, from sheet metal fasteners and thread forming screws to security fasten ers and cable management parts.

Already, there are many different components that are assembled into plastic parts within EV charging units. Given the ever higher charging voltages, currents and structural components, the use of fibre reinforced plastics and polycar bonate materials is rising, and so is the need for high perfor mance fasteners suited to these applications. Within EV chargers themselves, many components are assembled on aluminium housing, and these assemblies are critical in ensur ing electrical performance.

Improving vehicle lifecycles

Alongside the emphasis on lowering carbon emissions, the focus of EV sector is increasingly shifting towards improving on the circular economy and recyclability of its vehicles and their components. Once a vehicle or battery reaches the end of its economic life, there is often the opportunity to reuse or repurpose its parts.

Therefore, ease of disassembly for battery pack removal is key, and with the right fastener engineering choices this can be significantly improved. Additionally, the correct positioning of fasteners is vital to enable easy access to the battery pack

for maintenance, as is the development and use of coatings that prevent fastener damage from galvanic corrosion. Going forwards, the right selection of fasteners will help the EV sector meet eco design criteria in order to retain maximum value at the end of a vehicle’s life and play a part in preparing extended producer responsibility regulations for the disposal of their manufactured products.

Opportunities and challenges ahead

According to the IEA, the greatest short term challenges within the EV sector are the soaring prices for some critical minerals essential for battery manufacturing, as well as supply chain disruptions caused by Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In the longer term, greater efforts are needed to roll out enough charging infrastructure to service the expected growth in EV sales.

Despite these challenges, there are huge opportunities for fastener suppliers in particular to drive forward standardisa tion within the EV market in terms of charging plug and unit compatibility between different car models, and in the lightweighting and performance of EV batteries and other essential components.

www.iea.org

The consideration of assembly and new materials and their recyclability will also be key pillars in further advancing EV technologies of the future.

Notes: BEV = battery electric vehicle; PHEV = plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Electric car stock in this figure refers to passenger light-duty vehicles. “Other” includes Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Thailand. Europe in this figure includes the EU27, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

Sources: IA analysis based on country submissions, complemented by ACEA: CAAM: EAFO: EV Volumes: Marklines.

EV TECHNOLOGY

MODULAR DESIGN AND STANDARDISATION

As innovation within the electric vehicle (EV) market continues to gather pace, many manufacturers are looking at how modularity can improve the design, performance and overall lifecycle of current and future vehi cles. Naturally, this move towards more modular designs is placing new demands on fastener manufacturers to develop products capable of meeting the requirements of more inte grated components.

With 34 locations in 18 countries, TR Fastenings is at the forefront of fastener design and supply to the global automo tive sector, in particular with the Tier 1s. The rise of the EV market has presented new opportunities – and challenges –for the fastener provider. The company’s engineering, research and development capabilities enable it to work closely with its customers to develop bespoke products that are not only opti mised in terms of design and performance, but also in regard to their recyclability, assembly efficiency, and overall lifecycle.

“Now, EV manufacturers are looking at modular design as a completely new concept,” says Sven Brehler, director of engi neering at TR Fastenings. “This is a great opportunity for us, as the initial design and concept of the application is where we can ensure fasteners become an integral part of the whole design early on. This specifically works well when looking at lightweighting, for example.”

Working with its customers from the beginning of the design process allows TR to not only optimise the design of the fasten ers required for a specific part, but it also improves the overall sustainability of the vehicle.

“For example, let’s assume that a vehicle has an average lifespan of 12 years, after which it will need to be taken apart so that its components can be recycled and reused,” Brehler explains. “Anything that we do not get right up front, we will pay for later on. It’s becoming much more important to also look at the reusability and recyclability of the products used in EVs at the early design stage.”

Whereas in the past automotive manufacturers have leaned towards gluing or welding parts together to create permanent fixings, the increasing importance placed on improving the lifecycle of new vehicles means it is important that these units can eventually be taken apart. In fact, we are already seeing assembly methods changing in other industry sectors through the new ‘Right to Repair’ legislation in Europe.

“The move towards modular design is where it gets inter esting,” Brehler adds. “With every new development, it opens the door for us to look at reapplying or developing new prod ucts and bespoke items that will ultimately improve the recy clability and sustainability of future vehicles. Embracing modular design can help to elongate the life of not only the parts themselves, but also of the entire vehicle as it allows vari ous components to be replaced, which has often not been possible previously.”

Although known widely for supplying threaded fasteners, TR Fastenings also supplies bespoke products such as compression limiters and plastic components increasingly used in assemblies, such as battery housings. Such items are designed in line with new technical challenges posed by the rapid acceleration of EVs and battery technology, requiring capabilities such as heat and cable management, conductivity and electrostatic finishes.

“With lightweighting, we are seeing more aluminium and high tensile steels being used, which pushes the boundaries of current products,” Brehler explains. “We are also seeing requirements for silver plated and tin plated parts for connec tivity, as well as special plastic parts that work as a barrier or in closing the battery packs or cable management. The EV market is providing many more opportunities to develop new products with our customers.”

Of course, the rapid advancement of EV technology is not without its challenges, Brehler admits. In particular, the sector is currently lacking standardisation. He gives EV charging plugs and units as an example, the compatibility of which often varies between the vehicles of different manufacturers. With no globally agreed standard, people have little choice but to replace their charging units when they purchase a new vehicle, which is both costly and creates unnecessary waste.

This is also seen on the battery side, Brehler observes. As there is no standardisation for the chemistries used within batteries, they must be separated individually in order to be disposed of or recycled.

“It is not only the development of new products, but also the application of new products which is becoming very impor tant,” he says. “Being able to integrate an existing fastener that has already been tested and proven into a customer’s applica tion is just as important as developing your own product. So, if you can find a new application for a fastener that has already been tried and tested, you have already covered that part of the process.”

Sven Brehler, director of engineering at TR Fastenings, discusses how intelligent fastener design could help to future-proof the electric vehicle sector.

Sven Brehler (left) director of engineering at TR Fastenings.

TR supplies bespoke products for the EV market that are increasingly used in assemblies, such as battery housings.

This is something that TR Fastenings is keenly focused on: “This is actually driving the technology forward and helping to further develop the existing products we have.”

An example of this is the company’s EPW Self Extruding Screw, which Brehler says was developed initially for the white goods sector. The TR team has developed this even further as the product has potential to be used for the EV market.

“We have seen a lot of innovation, ideas and technology from the electronics and telecom industries moving into the existing automotive market, and that is why we are seeing so many changes in design and development,” he says. “We are able to take our experience and expertise from other industries and apply it to the EV sector.”

This transfer of knowledge and innovation has also been seen in the Formula One market: “Formula One is moving towards the electric vehicle and they are pushing the industry forwards massively,” Brehler observes. “We can see them adopt some of the technologies we are looking at, especially lightweighting, through looking at different types of screws

that push the boundaries and drive weight down. Taking things apart is also extremely important in Formula One, so we can see those benefits already carrying through from differ ent industries into the mainstream EV market.”

Returning to the need for improved modularity and stan dardisation in the EV market, Brehler believes the two concepts go hand in hand.

“The lifespan of EVs is going to increase due to less moving parts and other factors such as autonomous driving leading to less wear and tear, which means there will be a greater focus on the coatings on fasteners within these vehicles,” he explains. “Corrosion will be one of the major feats we have to overcome, because you can’t take a corroded fastener out of a vehicle, which will impact the recyclability process. How will we take apart a vehicle in 30 years time? That’s what everyone is talk ing about now, and that is what will prompt global standardi sation within the industry going forwards.”

www.trfastenings.com

”BEING ABLE TO INTEGRATE AN EXISTING FASTENER THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN TESTED AND PROVEN INTO A CUSTOMER’S APPLICATION IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS DEVELOPING YOUR OWN PRODUCT.“

BUILD LIGHTER, BUILD STRONGER

Governments around the world have been driving the need for carbon dioxide reduction for many years, culminating in global shift towards commercial electrification.

EJOT’s dominant market for industrial engineering thread forming screws is historically automotive, largely driven by its product portfolio based on a foundation of parts rationalisa tion – reducing the number of fastening products in assemblies – allied with higher joint strength performance. In Germany, the firm’s development teams have been working with vehicle manufacturers and academic institutions as part of the ongo ing process towards electrification.

“Fastener development, product modifications and new join ing systems allied to differing vehicle construction materials and methods have all evolved during this period and they are part of the electrification revolution we are already seeing,” says EJOT’s UK Sales Manager for Industrial Fastening Solutions Steve Wynn.

As he explains, the obvious mechanical difference between combustion driven vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs) is that the latter has no conventional powertrain, which is instead replaced with a motor and electric control unit (ECU).

“We are seeing a shift in product deployment across the range,” he says. “For example, the escalation in the need for printed microcircuit boards – usually set into a light aluminium casting – is the domain of EJOT’s micro screw range. These thread forming screws provide the performance at a miniaturised level that designers would normally expect to achieve with much larger screws, as an alternative to solder ing, gluing, clipping or welding.”

Meanwhile, EJOT’s ALtracs Plus thread forming screws offer great potential for EV applications as they act as heat sinks –removing heat that is dispersing throughout the system – whilst providing a strong and vibration resistant join, Wynn continues.

“Electrification has created a shift in the prevalence of prod ucts such as micro screws, which are deployed already to a lesser extent in combustion vehicles,” he adds. “But in addition to providing the benefits outlined above, the demand for e

connectivity within the vehicle – the ‘infotainments’ that are prioritised by a new generation of vehicle buyer – is also increasing the requirement for these types of joining solutions.”

Lighter and stronger products Engineering for the EV sector is largely dominated by the need to build lighter and stronger parts, and in turn this has led to the advancement of many new engineering materials. Carbon fibre is one such material, sought after for its light weight, versatility, and high strength.

EJOT’s product range has responded accordingly with the development of products such as the EVO PT self tapping thread forming screw. The latest generation of the PT which revolutionised fastening into thermoplastics back in the 1970s, the EVO PT has the benefit of an optimised locating point and depth independent installation torque that enables a uniform tightening torque in production at different screw lengths.

“Another technology with great EV potential – already used by the automotive sector for conventional vehicles – is EJOWELD,” says Wynn. “This is an example of how EJOT has worked to develop joining systems outside of thread forming technology.”

EJOWELD is a friction weld system that was developed in conjunction with a premium German vehicle manufacturer who sought to take weight out of traditional vehicle design. The solution was to deploy high strength boron steel as the core structure for body in white structures, a move that offered extreme strength benefits in a much thinner material than those traditionally used. As such, the solution demanded a new approach to joining secondary allots to the main vehicle body, culminating in the development of EJOWELD.

“Other EJOT systems outside of the traditional thread forming portfolio can be found where lightweight foam and composite materials are being utilised for the same kind of ‘weight to strength’ ratio prerequisites being engineered into EV structures,” says the UK Sales Manager. “The TSSD is one such fastening system – this thermal adhesive bonding boss provides a secure boss for the EJOT DELTA PT screw or a direct fastening element.”

Steve Wynn, UK Sales Manager for Industrial Fastening Solutions at EJOT UK, outlines how the firm’s extensive product offering is bringing strength and lightweighting benefits to the electric vehicle market.

A battery box in diecast aluminium complete with EJOT ALtracs Plus fasteners

Innovative EV applications

Many of EJOT’s work with OEMs on specific fastening assem blies are subject to NDAs. However, Wynn explains how one major German vehicle manufacturer uses the company’s fasteners for the complete power electronics assembly within its electric and hybrid vehicles.

“This includes the plugs and connections, circuit board, elec tric contacts, seal cover for the internal cooling unit and hous ing cover,” he reveals.

In terms of specific applications where EJOT’s fastening prod ucts have been deployed on EVs, he gives the ALtracs Plus as an example. One vehicle manufacturer uses this to secure the PCB onto a heat sink so the screw assists with the heat transfer, while another major German manufacturer uses it for the connector housing for DC adaptors as well as the HV/LV filter in the vehi cle’s power electronics and WR and PWR DC/DC units. It is also used alongside the EJOT Delta PT screw for fastening the battery back and WR DC/DC unit by another automotive manufacturer.

materials, particularly when parts that are lightweighted also become more flexible in many cases.

“This highlights the necessity to work years in advance of new vehicle assemblies to ensure the joining technology is tested and available for when the need arises,” he explains.

Opportunities ahead

When asked what opportunities lie ahead for EJOT in the EV market, Wynn highlights the need for charging points to match demand for EVs as an obvious focus: “EJOT’s EVO PT screws are already being deployed in this area – up to 50 fastening elements are used in home wall charging stations and so the EVO PT screw’s direct fastening capability in plastics has many advantages,” he says. “It is supported by EVO CALC, a prognosis programme that can be used in the development phase for advance computation of the screw joints saving time and costs.”

With more EVs becoming commonplace on our roads, the need to charge with speed, economically and in multiple loca tions is an area the company is keen to be involved with.

“The need to design strength using lightweight materials is here to stay,” the UK Sales Manager continues. “It therefore follows that engineering materials such as carbon fibre mould ings may present cost issues now, but as demand increases then costs will fall.”

Additionally, environmental and sustainability concerns go beyond vehicle mechanics alone. “Whilst vehicle manufactur ers are ticking boxes to build lighter and stronger, the emer gence of recycled plastics as a modern engineering material is one our design teams are already involved with, initially with the need to determine fastening performance in comparison to original material compositions,” he adds.

www.ejot.co.uk

Additionally, the Delta PT has been deployed within several battery related applications for a prestige German car manu facturer which uses the screw for fastening the lithium battery, the onboard charger circuit board securement and as a casing fastening for the battery.

As Wynn points out, there are notable differences in the manu facturing requirements of EVs and combustion engine vehicles.

“It was initially thought that new materials required for EV construction would make adhesive solutions a more attractive, dominant approach to fastening and they would gain the market share,” he says. “However, while this has partially become true, mechanical fastenings are still a strongly preferred option, in part due to the hurdles of curing times and fumes from associ ated with using adhesives.”

The key challenge, he adds, continues to be designing mechanical joining systems for thinner and more lightweight

”WITH

A typical application for EJOT fasteners is the power electronics in EVs

A radar sensor unit featuring EJOT micro screws

The EJOWELD Friction Welding system which is used in the automotive sector

CHANGING SPACES

Precision Technology Supplies has experienced a lot of change recently, with more on the horizon. Sales director Andy Knight shares the latest updates from the business and what is coming up…

Changes are afoot at Precision Technology Supplies Ltd (PTS), with new developments, a new location, new product ranges and IT infrastructure updates. After successfully navigating the past few years, PTS continue to push ahead with its long term plans to further support its customers in over 120 countries worldwide.

“Business remains robust despite the many headwinds the last few years have produced,” says sales director, Andy Knight. “PTS management and staff have faced the same challenges as most of our customers, with Brexit, Covid, global supply chain issues, stock shortages, sanctions and the war in Ukraine. Despite all these issues, we continue to forge ahead with our long term plan with the full support of our staff.”

PTS is currently implementing a fully automated Warehouse Management System (WMS) which consists of barcoding all stock to give customers more information on country of origin, more traceability and better automated invoicing documenta tion for customs clearance. This will also streamline its ware house with faster order picking and despatch.

A long awaited warehouse move to a much larger local premises is on the cards for 2023. This will allow PTS to bring together all existing sites into one larger, more automated warehouse, resulting in day to day logistical and order picking time benefits.

PTS is also continually updating its IT systems, implement ing the latest technology and data streams. Together with the well known PTS e commerce website www.pts uk.com, which recently won the Torque Website of the Year 2022 Award, plans are ongoing to streamline the world of fastener distri bution and offer our customers a better, more transparent and quicker service.

PTS stock holdings continue to increase quickly and more product ranges have been added, the most recent being Titanium Grade 5 Fasteners. “We’re always on the lookout for complemen tary ranges that have a strong brand and mature market already to add to our Bumax, Nordlock, AMPG, Philidas and Evolution ranges,” says Knight. “With over 35,000 metric products and 10,000 imperial products we like to offer a complete basket of the best quality stainless steel fasteners to our customers.”

“When PTS were acquired by Trifast PLC in 2018, we under took a review of many policies that were needed to meet Trifast’s Corporate expectations. As well as the long estab lished ISO 9001 accreditation, we have updated our policies around sustainability and our carbon footprint,” Knight adds. “Quality and customer service are at the very core of what we do here, which is why the company continues to grow.”

Moving forward, what else is on the horizon for PTS? “There will no doubt be many headwinds for our industry but PTS’ financial strength, strong global partnerships and large diverse customer base across a wide range of industries mean that we continue to take the long term view and push forward, taking advantage of opportunities as they arise along the way. PTS will continue to invest in resources to grow the business and meet customers’ requirements,” explains Knight.

In particular, Knight highlights the firm’s quality control and its ability to modify existing parts as key advantages for its customers. Additionally, customers are benefitting from the firm’s onsite and offsite managed stock control systems, customer specific packaging and labelling, coating and finish ing to customer requirements, and patch locking and pre applied adhesives offerings. Paired with fast and efficient worldwide delivery, PTS is enjoying a strong market position within a wide range of industrial and engineering sectors.

www.pts-uk.com

”QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE ARE AT THE VERY CORE OF WHAT WE DO HERE, WHICH IS WHY THE COMPANY CONTINUES TO GROW.“

KEEPING IT SIMPLE AND REACTING FAST TO CUSTOMERS

CAdams is a proud family business trading for two centuries. The highly reactive company manufactures and stocks threaded bar up to M64 diameter and stocks a full range of metric and imperial nuts up to M100 diameter in differ ent property classes and finishes. The long established firm prides itself on dynamism, fast reactions to customers and key to the business and culture is that quality of the product comes first.

C Adams is a small operation that gets big results, supplying all kinds of projects, says owner Nick Parkes: “I think we are a unique business. We are dynamic in our response to customer requests. We are energetic and we jump on orders. “We have a really simple set up. There are 14 staff and everyone knows their exact role. That’s how we get amazing results from such a small operation.

“We react to customer orders quickly and we have a lot of steel to back it up.”

While steel supplies were one of the many challenges facing the industry in 2021, C Adams benefited during the period from some long standing supply relationships. Parkes believes C Adams was one of the first to import steel and its long term relationships have paid off, helping ensure supplies in these tricky times. Sticking to its specialism has also paid dividends for the firm, says Parkes: “We are not a ‘pile it high’ firm. We are a bit different and we are proud of it.”

Quality steel

Involved in many significant infrastructure projects over the past decades, C Adams knows quality is key. An in house labo ratory provides assurance for customers: “We use high grade metals and they are all tested here.”

Inside the lab, C Adams staff now produce videos alongside more traditional certification for customers during testing: “We cut a section of a threaded bar for testing and nowadays we video the whole process, so we send that to customers along with the testing certificate. That’s a service that is getting more popular. It gives us confidence when you test the product yourself and see the results on the steel you are making parts

from and ultimately will be used on safety critical infrastruc ture. The test of the business is ensuring all products leaving our warehouse meet the correct standard. The company is also ISO 9001 and 14001 registered.”

The lab is equipped with hardness and tensile testing machines and thread gauges up to M90 diameter. Studs and nuts are all batch identified, fully traceable and can be stamped with whatever customers want or with the CA mark. Knowledge and expertise at C Adams is at the level where in house engineers can also perform repairs on machines on the floor when needed.

History: In the blood

Naturally Nick Parkes’ background with the family firm goes back a number of years. His grandfather, Edward G Parkes, built the current unit in the 1960s, while the business itself dates all the way back to 1806, when it was founded by Charles Adams himself.

Mr Adams was originally a saddle maker in the Black Coun try. Over the decades, the company diversified into leather belt making and even began to supply oil in the 20th Century. Parkes’ grandfather took on the business in 1963 and in ’67 moved the firm to its current home in Wednesbury. In the 1970s, the firm’s nuts and bolts business took off and in the

Stocks include metric and imperial nuts up to M100 diameter in different property classes and finishes

C Adams manufactures and stocks threaded bar up to M64 diameter

C Adams is a manufacturer and supplier of imperial and metric industrial nuts and threaded bar. The long-established firm prides itself on dynamism and fast reactions to customer orders, explains owner Nick Parkes to Jonathon Harker…

‘80s began machining. Parkes adds: “I used to come in after school and answer the phone. I was always interested in the mechanics of the operation.”

Despite that longevity in the business, there’s still plenty of potential for the business to develop, adds Parkes, UK Manufac tured parts and quick lead times are becoming more important as we move through the decade so further continued investment in new machinery, staff, steel stockholding and warehousing space will enable us to be nimble and flexible to customer demands,” he says.

C Adams was open throughout the Covid lockdowns, initially with skeleton staff for a short while, before ramping back up to normal levels. Now, things are busy for the company. Despite container issues now persisting for 12 months, the supply rela tionships mentioned earlier are helping provide a constant flow of materials and work. Customer expectations in terms of delivery have increased over the years, but when you go the extra mile they really appreciate it, says Parkes. Machines are constantly running, he adds: “We can make a lot in a day and we can react quickly if required to.”

Looking ahead, the firm wants to expand, with adjacent land already in the company’s ownership. “We’re a dynamic company, backed with hard work and effort. The machine shop can be a dirty place, but the product is always quality. We are proud to have our name on it.”

C Adams supplies direct to the rail, civil, construction, water, electricity, engineering and manufacturing sectors.

www.c-adams.co.uk

Studs, nuts, washers and fully assembled certified parts are C Adams' speciality.

www.c-adams.co.uk

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING FLEXIBLE

Formed during the COVID 19 pandemic, SCG Engineering manufactures, stocks and distributes fasteners and related products throughout the UK and Europe for use in a wide range of applications and market sectors. The business was formed after identifying a lack of knowledge and technical support within the industry, says Director Shaun Collinson, and this presented an opportunity for a new company with technical expertise at its core to enter the market.

“The various supply chain issues that challenged the indus try during the pandemic also created an opportunity for us,” “We have the technical expertise to remanufacture standard stocked products to make bespoke ‘one offs and specials’ to meet the specific requirements of our customers. We are proud to stamp our products ‘Made in England’.”

According to Collinson, quality, quick turnaround times and flexibility are the key pillars of the firm’s service offering, backed up by the technical expertise of its employees who together hold more than a century of experience in the fastener industry.

“We needed that technical knowledge behind us when start ing the company,” he explains. “A lot of companies come to us and ask for a particular part or specification, and although we are not engineers we can advise them on a huge range of prod ucts and remanufacture them to meet our customers’ needs.”

Despite still being fairly new on the scene, the company has already worked on some big projects, Collinson says, and has grown to become a multi million pound company. With more than 17,000 products in stock, the company stocks finished fasteners ranging from M6 M52 as well as semi finished blanks for machining in house. Galvanised, zinc plated, self coloured, and stainless steel finishes are available, in addition to various other special coatings.

Regarding its in house manufacturing capabilities, SCG Engi neering can produce fasteners ranging from M6 M100 and up to three metres in length, in material grades: mild steel, 8.8,10.9 A2/A4 stainless steel plus super duplex, non ferrous and Exotics. This not only gives the firm the capacity to replenish its own stock products, but also enables it to fulfil high volume bespoke and special requirements in house.

SCG offers galvanised, zinc-plated, self coloured plus various Xylan coatings.

“We are proud to be a UK manufacturer stocking UK manu factured products,” says Collinson. “We also offer cheaper options if cost is an issue with ranges of imported products for cost driven markets. Our full range of off the shelf galvanised fasteners is available for next day delivery.”

SCG Engineering supplies and distributes products for a wide range of heavy duty applications requiring reliability, durability and precision. The company carries stocks of most standard fastener products including nuts, bolts and all threads in common sizes, and works with customers in a vari ety of market sectors to fulfil their bespoke and special project manufacturing requirements.

In particular, SCG Engineering has supplied products to firms active in the petrochemical, energy and water supply, marine, agricultural, highway infrastructure, rail and construc tion industries for a range of projects and applications.

The company is also looking to further expand its capabili ties with the acquisition of a small hot forging manufacturing company. The deal is currently under negotiation, and if completed could give SCG Engineering the ability to manufac ture fasteners over 1.5 metres long from M10 M45 with greatly increased flexibility.

“This will considerably improve the swiftness of supply,” Collinson says. “If a customer can’t afford the wait time to receive that product from abroad, we can get it made and manu factured within a month. This is particularly good for time conscious projects and also gives our customers the opportunity to broaden their horizons and look at different options.”

Like many in the fastener industry, Collinson says that SCG Engineering has been impacted by the global increase in mate rials costs and has had to cater for inflation, but that this is something the firm has managed to deal with effectively.

“Sourcing materials has changed, we had to bite the bullet and source and stock raw material from outside the UK,” he explains. “The shortage of steel and price increases has meant we now stock our own high grade, hot rolled and fully certi fied steel for manufacturing.”

It is this flexibility, alongside the business’ technical expertise and stock range, that has enabled it to grow so quickly over the past 18 months, Collinson adds: “We feel it has got very dogmatic and stale in the industry. You ring up a company and if they don’t have the part you need, they seldom offer an alternative. We give the customer different options and are proactive in finding the right solution for them, and that’s where we see our difference.”

www.scgengineering.co.uk

The company has more than 17,000 products in stock.

CATCHING UP IN COLOGNE

EISENWARENMESSE – The International Hardware Fair finally returned to its live format with strong international visitor numbers and exhibitors keen to get down to business in Cologne.

After a hiatus of more than four years due to pandemic related cancellations and delays, EISENWARENMESSE – International Hardware Fair, made a successful comeback in Cologne with around 25,000 people attending the event to see what the 1,400 exhibitors had to offer. The relaunch saw visitors from 125 countries discover products and innovations from every aspect of the hardware industry over four days. The spectrum of products presented ranged from tools and accessories to building and DIY supplies all the way through to fasteners, fixings and fittings.

“The sense of relief at finally being able to meet face to face again after such a long time and do business in person could be clearly felt among all our exhibitors and trade visitors throughout the entire trade fair,” says Oliver Frese, Chief Oper ating Officer of Koelnmesse. “You had the feeling that a big family was getting together again after a long time apart.”

Although smaller than previous events, with exhibitors spread across three halls, there were still other elements such as the EISEN Award 2022, DIY Boulevard and the EISENforum that provided plenty of additional inspiration and ideas. With organisers and exhibitors happy with the overall quality of those in attendance.

“The trade fair was a success, especially in the context of the ongoing travel restrictions in Asia, the acute energy and raw mate rials crisis, and the geopolitical situation in many countries,” Frese adds. “The feedback from our exhibitors about the business contacts they’ve made is positive across the board. Clearly, compa nies made a strategic decision to attend the Eisenwarenmesse –International Hardware Fair – the decision makers were here”.

The coveted EISEN Award was presented once again, this time, Koelnmesse partnered with the German hardware trade association Zentralverband Hartwarenhandel (ZHH) to gauge who was the top in their field. From the more than 50 innova tive products submitted, the expert jury selected the three prize winners of the EISEN Award 2022 powered by ZHH.

The prize winners include the AluTec hammer by Picard. The carpenter’s hammer boasts a unique combination of aluminium and steel, which enables previously unachievable ergonomics. The second winning entry was the Go! SMART measuring tool by SOLA Messwerkzeuge. At just 8 cm long, it brings the analogue and digital worlds together and fulfils the functions of a spirit level, an inclinometer and a protractor. And the final EISEN Award winners for 2022 was ToughBuilt with its Scraper Utility Knife – the world’s first two in one. The patented knife allows users to switch between a utility knife and a scraper with the flick of a thumb.

End users were catered to at this year’s event with the specially formatted DIY Boulevard. In cooperation with the manufacturers’ association Haus & Garten, the DIY Boulevard offered manufacturers the unique experience of being able to design the POS in line with their branding with a display of their merchandise as well as the chance to make direct contact with end customers. 56 DIY suppliers took advantage of the situation and utilised the exhibition area covering a total length of 272 metres to show their wares to interested visitors.

Like all shows, opinions will differ on the event, but the mood seemed generally positive. “The EISENWARENMESSE – Inter national Hardware Fair is the most important platform for our

Chemofast were one of the 1,400 exhibitors in Cologne

Over 25,000 people visited the International Hardware Fair

industry,” says John W. Herbert, General Secretary of the Euro pean DIY Retail Association (EDRA) and the Global Home Improvement Network (GHIN). “It’s both a barometer of trends and a trendsetter. In other words, it’s the networking platform for the global hardware trade. I’m very happy to be in Cologne, meeting so many colleagues from all over the world.”

Paul Samms, Director of Licensing at Stanley Black & Decker, adds, “We’re over the moon to be back at the EISENWAREN MESSE after a break of more than four years. Our international customers have told us that they travelled to Cologne for the trade fair especially because of us. The EISENWARENMESSE –International Hardware Fair is the ideal place to tap into new areas of the market and find new retailers.”

And while making new contacts and developing relation

ships is always a key component of any

oppor tunity

timated as

e.V.) explains, “The EISENWARENMESSE – International Hard ware Fair is particularly important for the specialised trade because it provides the opportunity to maintain relationships with international contacts and establish new ones. The trade fair is a chance to get an overview of all the innovations and to be inspired by the other manufacturers.”

The next EISENWARENMESSE – International Hardware Fair Cologne will be held from 3 6 March 2024.

www.eisenwarenmesse.com

trade event, the

to discover innovations in the sector can’t be underes

Thomas Dammann, Managing Director of the Central Association of the Hardware Trade in Germany (ZHH

The EISENforum was the location for inspiration and awards

YIN AND YANG

“If you go back to 2020, the organisation was realigned to represent the global reach that we have, and our aim to be closer to our customers,” Harms adds. “That differentiates us, and it has been nice to see the collaboration between our teams since the move to dual CEOs, and this is really a testa ment to the great work our teams have been doing.”

Combining expertise

With 35 years of experience within the fastener industry, Tuffy has held leadership positions across a range of commercial, sourc ing, and operations roles. At Optimas, Tuffy leverages his broad knowledge of supplier capabilities to match with customer needs and demands to drive efficiencies for the firm and its partners.

Last month, global industrial manufacturer, distributor and service provider Optimas announced Mike Tuffy, former President of Optimas International, and Daniel Harms, former President of Optimas Americas, would be head ing up the business as Dual CEOs. The decision to implement a dual CEO structure arose from the firm’s organisational model established in 2020 with the goal of achieving autonomous yet connected business units to bring Optimas closer to its customers and suppliers.

Torque Direct caught up with Tuffy and Harms at the recent International Fastener Expo (IFE) in Las Vegas to find out how the pair are working together within the new structure to take the business to new heights.

“It has almost been like a year long interview process,” says Tuffy. “We’ve been working together for over a year as Presi dents of International and the Americas, but we in essence did much more than the President’s role, and so the transition has been easy. Daniel and I work well together; we have comple mentary skills and our teams have been brought closer together as a result.”

“All of the things we do in helping our customers and being integral to their needs, right from design engineering at the beginning of the process all the way through to the end, is to change the perception that fasteners are always last,” he says. “We are starting to work very closely with our customers in the beginning to simplify and consolidate their thousands of SKUs and bills of materials, and that is the added value we can bring.”

Harms, meanwhile, brings two decades of supply chain experience to the Dual CEO role, having built and guided high performing teams to deliver operational excellence across numerous industries through a data driven, problem solving approach. He joined Optimas as President of the Americas to shape the direction of the company’s rapid growth.

“Optimas has a really strong foundation for business and for growth. We have great customers, great suppliers, and a lot of talent in our teams,” he explains. “But we were growing rapidly to the point where we knew we needed new systems and new technologies to set the pace for the future. Those types of changes are pretty seismic, and so this transformation came in agreeing upon several transformational changes such as driving our data and analytics forward.”

Some of the innovations Tuffy and Harms have spearheaded over the past year include establishing specialised business

Optimas’ new dual CEOs Mike Tuffy and Daniel Harms provide an update on the progress of their transformational business strategy and vision for the company’s future.

Optimas has a data-driven product offering of over 50,000 SKUs.

Dual CEOs Mike Tuffy (left) and Daniel Harms (right) are leading Optimas through a transformational period of growth.

intelligence teams to activate the power of Optimas’ ERP, demand planning and inventory management applications. Through this, the firm has been able to deliver greater automa tion and supply chain assurance to its global network of customers. Additionally, the firm has reimagined the organi sation of its supply chain with a category based structure that streamlines communication and order execution while enhancing relationships with its suppliers.

The yin and yang

According to the Harvard Business Review, during periods of dual leadership nearly 60% of the companies listed in the S&P 1200 and the Russell 1000 stock indexes between 1996 2020 generated an average annual shareholder return of 9.5%, a significantly higher number than the average 6.9% for each company’s relevant investment index.

“As the idea was being kicked around by the board, that arti cle landed on my desk and I thought we ticked all the boxes,” Tuffy says. “It’s not common, but it does work really well. It’s like the yin and the yang and benefiting from those comple mentary skill sets. And, as the data suggests, for the periods of time dual CEOs run organisations, they actually deliver a higher return on shareholder value than periods of single CEOs, and this is what we believe is going to happen for Optimas.”

Not only has the move enabled Tuffy and Harms to leverage each other’s skills and knowledge, but it has also created a healthy competition between their teams within the business, Tuffy adds.

“This increases that drive to excellence within the different business units which our customers then bounce off, and this is important as we have many global customers,” he explains. “This isn’t just a PR exercise, it’s about having a single source of truth regarding data, facts and numbers which helps instil the right mindset in our teams.”

Optimas’ future vision

Regarding their vision for the future, Tuffy and Harms have developed a three year plan for the growth and development of the company, with one important aspect of this being the engagement of their teams.

“We are both passionate about people in every aspect of the organisation,” says Tuffy. “It’s not just about growth, of course we want to grow the business, but within that you have to build a structure where each department has a plan of how to do that. And this is really interesting from a people perspec tive, because they then know that they are investing their time in an organisation that is actually going somewhere.”

Harms echoes this point: “Talent is such an important part of our vision, one of the most rewarding things we have seen is the growth of our teams throughout this transformation and how they have been able to shift the culture in a different direction. There’s a lot more we want to do but it’s clear to see how far we have come already.”

Alongside people, growth is also an important part of the company’s ongoing journey, Harms adds.

“We want to get to a billion dollars and beyond, that’s a goal we want to achieve. We have had to do all these foundational things like building our data architecture and the single source of truth, and now we are seeing that momentum start to take hold. This is accelerating as we diversify our customer portfo lio – we want to continue to compete in new countries and new verticals and take our data driven product offering of over 50,000 SKUs to the marketplace.”

www.optimas.com

The company has embraced new systems and technolo gies over the past year

Optimas is delivering greater automation and supply chain assurance to customers.

”OPTIMAS HAS A REALLY STRONG FOUNDATION FOR BUSINESS AND FOR GROWTH. WE HAVE GREAT CUSTOMERS, GREAT SUPPLIERS, AND A LOT OF TALENT IN OUR TEAMS.“

WINDS OF CHANGE

Running over four days at Messe Hamburg, WindEnergy Hamburg aimed to bring together the entire wind energy and hydrogen industry to present the most recent innovations and novel technologies the onshore and offshore wind industry has to offer.

More than 1,400 international exhibitors took part in the trade show, while around 30,000 visitors from some 92 coun tries descended on the messe in the form of visitors.

Dr Robert Habeck, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, emphasised the importance of the show as a flagship event for the wind industry in his opening address: “It is a great pleasure to open the world’s leading trade fair for inshore and offshore wind energy here in Hamburg,” he said. “The roll out of wind energy and the expan sion of renewable energy in general has become more urgently needed and more important than ever. An accelerated energy transition is the key to a secure and sustainable energy supply, not only in Germany, but right across Europe.”

Four years in the making

With the last in person WindEnergy Hamburg taking place in 2018 due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the event was “urgently needed” according to the President and CEO of Hamburg Messe and Congress, Bernd Aufderheide.

“After four years without WindEnergy Hamburg we are excited to see well filled exhibition halls again and experience an unreservedly positive mood,” he says. “The global wind energy industry was in urgent need of an opportunity to meet in person and discuss the pressing issues in these times of an energy and climate crisis.”

In fact, this year’s event was the most international WindEn ergy yet, with more than half of exhibitors hailing from 37 different countries. The key topics addressed throughout the duration of the show centred around the digitalisation of permitting processes, the upgrading of electricity grids, wind turbine upscaling and floating offshore wind turbines.

Meanwhile, a conference programme was introduced for the

This year’s WindEnergy Hamburg brought together key players in the renewable energy sector to showcase the latest innovations the industry has to offer. Among the exhibitors were several fastener manufacturers that are supplying their products to a rapidly growing and increasingly vital market…

”THE GLOBAL WIND ENERGY INDUSTRY WAS IN URGENT NEED OF AN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET IN PERSON AND DISCUSS THE PRESSING ISSUES IN THESE TIMES OF AN ENERGY AND CLIMATE CRISIS.“

WindEnergy Hamburg returned for the first time since 2018

first time and saw 78 percent of visitors partake in numerous panel discussions. The sessions were designed to encourage knowledge transfer and the sharing of ideas between audience members across a wide range of related topics.

Aufderheide adds: “Once again it became clear that renew able energy can be one of the keys to overcoming our chal lenges, and the H2EXPO & Conference is a perfect match for what WindEnergy Hamburg stands for.”

Fasteners for wind power

Numerous innovative technologies and products were on display during the show, ranging from new turbine blade designs to more efficient motors and from the development of eco friendly materials to improved energy capture systems. A sizeable contingent of fastener manufacturers and suppliers

were also exhibiting at the event, for many of whom wind power is a key market.

For instance, coatings developer Dörken presented its corro sion protection range to visitors, with its zinc flake coating receiving particular interest as an alternative to other corro sion protection systems.

“WindEnergy Hamburg was a great information transfer for us,” says René Rother, Key Account Manager Industrial Coat ings for Dörken. “We reached a broad spectrum of national and international visitors and discussed optimisation potentials together. The supporting program with presentations also gave us exciting, new insights.”

Rother himself lectured in the Speakers’ Corner on how to make hot dip galvanized fittings even better, adding: “”It was very nice to finally get together again at this trade show. We are already looking forward to the next WindEnergy Hamburg in two years!”

Other notable names from the fastener and tool industries with a presence at the show included Nord Lock, Reyher and Atlas Copco, among others. As the wind energy market contin ues to gather steam over the next couple of years, the demand for new and innovative fastening solutions only looks set to grow. It is likely, then, that we will see a greater number of fastener firms exhibiting at the next edition of WindEnergy Hamburg, scheduled for 24 27 September 2024, as more and more companies look to enter the market.

www.windenergyhamburg.com

Over 30,000 visitors attended the global on and offshore event in Hamburg.

Business is flying for the Insert Company right now and the company believes treating all customers the same – and maintaining its stock – have been cornerstones behind its success.

Sales Director Kevin Broome picks up the story: “As a business, we are flying. Some people might dismiss that as price increases, but we are seeing new customers and genuine growth.

“We get customers who order a sample from us online and then it goes from there. We are a company where we treat everybody the same, whether they buy a few parts off us or a million parts off us. We want their business.

“We treat all our customers as important and it can grow from there – you never know who that person or company will develop into.”

That philosophy has paid off for the Insert Company, gaining some big name clients at home and abroad, including Siemens in Germany. The approach of valuing each customer equally and ensuring open, honest communication channels has contributed to the firm’s growth in recent years, with mutual respect of the utmost importance, Broome says.

The Insert Company is known for offering threaded inserts for wood, plastic and metal. Another growing part of the busi ness is specials – the firm gets a lot of parts manufactured in the UK for customers, whether turned metal parts, metal presswork or plated finishes – or a combination of those.

The company sells into a wide array of sectors ranging from medical to furniture to automotive. During the Covid 19 pandemic, the firm supplied ventilator manufacturers and those who worked on constructing the UK’s Nightingale Hospitals. As a result, the company has gained several new customers within the medical field while its number of furniture manufacturing customers has continued to increase steadily.

“We’re always looking to save people money, and we believe we are quite competitive in the marketplace. The products we sell, we’ve always had in massive volume. And, with years of experience in the areas we specialise in, we have all the right contacts,” Broome continues.

Despite the current economic turmoil the UK finds itself in, the Sales Director believes the company is in a strong enough

position to ride out the oncoming challenges: “We’ve got enough cash in the bank and we’re not just active in one sector, we’re in around four to five sectors and we don’t pigeon hole ourselves. When one sector goes quiet, another tends to pick up, which has been seen recently with our furniture manufac turing customers.”

He continues: “The business world is experiencing all these challenges right now, but we haven’t noticed any. We’re grow ing month by month and the vision is to eventually move into a new premises within the next 12 18 months. We need bigger premises – we’ve got two units but we need more space to keep up with our customers’ demands.”

Thanks to strong cash flow, the Insert Company is in a position to hold massive amounts of stock: “We can buy six or 12 months’ worth of stock at a time – we don’t work hand to mouth.”

Online trade continues to be strong for the firm and the website often serves as an introduction where new customers order samples and go on to become regular customers making big orders.

Broome concludes: “I’m very happy with the business. The key is having the right members of staff and a philosophy of the customers coming first. The big thing is trust, if we say we will do something, we will do it and fulfil our promises. Our philosophy is trust and respect, and off the back of that we have grown massively, it’s a win all day long.”

www.theinsertcompany.com

”WE’RE ALWAYS LOOKING TO SAVE PEOPLE MONEY, AND WE BELIEVE WE ARE QUITE COMPETITIVE IN THE MARKETPLACE.“

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Sustainable mobility was the overarching theme of Innotrans 2022, with innovative fastening solutions also featuring high on the agenda.

Leading manufacturers and business heads from across the global rail transport and mobility industry gathered at Innotrans 2022 in Berlin to share the latest technolog ical innovations, news and trends in the sector.

Alternative drive systems, battery electric and fuel cell powered buses and trains were the hot topics of conversation at the trade fair, which saw in excess of 137,000 visitors roam the show floor across four days. 2,834 exhibitors from 56 countries presented a huge range of products and services geared towards the mobility sector, of which there were 250 “world innovations”, 128 vehicles, and 14 buses.

Some of the most notable showcases included Siemens Mobility’s Mireo Plus H next generation hydrogen powered train and Hitachi’s pioneering battery hybrid Blues Train, which is capable of switching between battery, electric and diesel power to more than halve carbon emissions. On the bus front, Solaris presented its hydrogen powered Solaris Urbino 18 Hydrogen 18m long vehicle, while Van Hool and Ebusco demonstrated their own all electric bus models.

“Innotrans is the most important gathering of the industry and after four years we were delighted to finally meet our customers and partners in person again,” said Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility. “Taking our slogan ‘Destination Digi tal’, we presented Siemens Xcelerator, our new digital business platform, which we want to use for open digital interfaces that will enable a continuous data exchange between all sub systems of the railway network. That will help our customers to establish sustainable, comfortable and cost efficient rail transport systems of the future.”

Knowledge sharing

Alongside the exhibition, Innotrans also offered a compre hensive supporting programme composed of wide ranging discussion rounds, lectures, and events. Visitors were given the opportunity to find out all about the latest topics and trends in the mobility sector, including driverless rail vehicles, tunnel construction, smart public transport, and innovative passenger experiences.

According to the post event survey conducted by Inno trans, 90% of trade visitors were ‘highly satisfied’ with their visit, many of whom attended in a decision making capacity, the organiser said.

Fasteners in focus

With reliability, speed and punctuality at the forefront of the rail and transport sector, new lightweight materials are being increasingly used to make trains faster and more economical. Additionally, the desire for shorter throughput times and leaner maintenance of trains and railway tech nology is placing unique requirements on fasteners.

As such, Innotrans 2022 provided an important plat form for fastener manufacturers and suppliers active in the rail and transportation sector to showcase their prod ucts. The likes of Lederer, Ferdinand Gross, Nord Lock, Teckentrup and Growermetal had a presence at the show, the latter showcasing its complete range of washers for railway and transportation applications, including a new innovative fastening technology developed in house at its R&D laboratory.

Innotrans returned to Berlin for the first time since 2018.

The HEICO Group also had a substantial presence at the exhi bition with its bolt locking and tensioning systems. The company presented its HEICO LOCK wedge locking systems, with the range’s combi washer arousing great interest among visitors. The HEICO LOCK combi washer is the latest product in the bolt locking system and offers the advantage of pre assem bling the bolt and locking device. The combi washers are char acterised by a plastic inner security ring with small locking tabs that prevent the washer pair from slipping off after being placed on the bolt, allowing the user to have both hands free while installing the bolted joint during component assembly.

Additionally, HEICO also offers the option of delivering the combi washers pre assembled on the required bolt in order to further increase efficiency during serial production of in the field.

“Innotrans surprised us in a very positive way,” says Tobias Grobe, Head of Sales and Marketing at HEICO. “We gained remark able experiences at the various trade fairs this year, so we were very excited about Innotrans. We were again able to establish numerous interesting contacts this year while also deepening relationships with our existing customers in the railway sector.” www.innotrans.de

”ALTERNATIVE DRIVE SYSTEMS, BATTERY-ELECTRIC AND FUEL CELL-POWERED BUSES AND TRAINS WERE THE HOT TOPICS OF CONVERSATION AT THE TRADE FAIR.“

The exhibition was supported by a programme of discussions, panels and lectures.

The HEICO-LOCK combi-washers took centre stage at Innotrans 2022.

NEW INNOVATIONS FOR HYDRAULIC BOLTING

From the outset of the wind industry, hydraulic torque appli cations have been paramount in delivering the high levels of torque required to ensure the structural integrity of the tower, nacelle and blades. More recently, construction firms have been reducing the number of hydraulic wrenches being used, in favour of electric and battery operated torque tool ing, primarily due to cost, speed and ease of use.

However, with the latest offshore wind turbines being much larger, capable of generating up to 14MW of power each, much bigger bolts and higher torque values are neces sary, so the need for hydraulic torque equipment has returned to the fore. With safety, performance, ease of main tenance, quality and cost efficiency being key drivers for turbine operators, Atlas Copco has invested significantly in the development of its hydraulic wrench offering.

Oil and gas faces the same health and safety concerns as the wind sector. According to research by the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers in 2021, 35% of injuries sustained were caused by tool handling incidents or dropped objects. Over 80% of these were in environments where hydraulic torque equipment was used.

Innovation within the hydraulic torque market space has been limited; even the market leaders are using tooling that has been around for over a decade. Challenging the status quo, Atlas Copco has launched a brand new hydraulic torque wrench line, called TorcFlex. Designed specifically to provide greater value in terms of ergonomic safety, accuracy, performance and cost efficiency to multi industry, TorcFlex models include the TF Square Drive Tool and TFX Direct Fit Tool. These are complemented by a market first Co Axial single hose and coupling that’s over four times faster in set up than previous generations with better manoeuvrability and zero risk of hose tangling with free moving couplings.

Capable of delivering torque levels over 42,000Nm on the Direct Fit tools and 35,000Nm on the Square Drive Tool, TorcFlex addresses both assembly and maintenance demands of major turbines, maintaining a tool accuracy of 3% whilst focusing on the user’s experience and prioritising safety.

One of the most innovative features is the retained reac tion arm. All other wrenches available today have a reaction arm that needs to be fully disengaged, so that they can be repositioned on the application. This is not only time consuming but also a dangerous drop hazard. Working at height is an obvious risk, so having a retained reaction arm that can be easily transferred increases safety for everyone working on the turbine.

TorcFlex also features an integral square drive retainer. Whilst other tools on the market have a separate drive retainer which has to be removed and re engaged when changing direction, Atlas Copco’s square drive assembly is now a single piece with a spring loaded button mechanism, which allows the user to change direction easily.

All hydraulic wrenches are also supplied with a new inno vative support handle. The handle can first be positioned in multiple positions on the wrench, but then the head can be indexed by the operator, without it being removed like all other designs. As it’s supplied as standard and not an acces sory, safety is being prioritised.

Atlas Copco is well known for delivering innovation and focusing on the user’s experience, and it is really exciting to launch this new product to market. Our goal is to help our customers complete their operations in a quicker, safer and smarter way, and we truly believe that the TorcFlex will be a game changer in the market.

www.atlascopco.com

Rhodri Williams, global product manager – Hydraulic Torque at Atlas Copco, explains how the company has developed a new hydraulic wrench that focuses on the user’s experience.

The TorcFlex TF Square Drive Tool prioritises safety.

The TorcFlex TFX is designed to be safer, more accurate and more ergonomic.

With industrial processes becoming increasingly automated and integrated across the globe, factory systems need smarter, more intuitively connected equipment to aid manu facturing teams. STANLEY Engineered Fastening, a division of Stanley Black & Decker, boasts a wide array of integrated products to help industries maximise their return on invest ment (ROI) across their different processes.

One such example is the firm’s cordless BR12PP 8 Smart Rivet Tool which is designed to enable seamless blind rivet fastening assembly operations The BR12PP 8 is a light weight, battery powered blind rivet setting system with a powerful 8kN of pull force that can install breakstem rivets in the range of 3.2 4.8mm. Programmable with full process monitoring and error proofing capabilities, the tool enables operators to program up to 16 different rivet jobs.

“The BR12PP 8 provides our customers and partners the best in smart, cordless, and programmable rivet setting tech nology,” says Sean McGain Harding, Director of Global Prod uct Management (Tools & Automation) at STANLEY Engineered Fastening. “With a lightweight, ergonomic design and industry leading features, this fastening tool helps teams gain significant operational advantages to boost

productivity and quality cost improvements.”

The BR12PP 8’s intelligent process monitoring leverages accurate precision force and stroke measurement sensors and settings to ensure the right rivet is being used for a particular application in order to reduce the risk of expensive reworking. Meanwhile, the system’s error proofing capabilities are enhanced by a selectable pressure switch that checks the rivet is located correctly in the application before the installation cycle can start, therefore reducing operator errors.

“The cordless capabilities improve operator safety and reduce fatigue by helping them move easily around applica tions without the hazards and constraints of compressed air lines,” McGain Harding continues. “The reduced rework and elimination of pneumatic lines contribute to a smaller carbon footprint as well to further establish our ongoing carbon neutrality initiatives.

He adds: “Our blind rivet setting system, which is powered by long lasting and readily available DEWALT lithium ion batteries, is all set to be launched soon in Europe to help industries in the region leverage the best of what STANLEY Engineered fastening has to offer.”

www.stanleyengineeredfastening.com

Known globally for its patented electronic, cordless and hand torque tools, Gedore also develops specialist tool kits to fulfil the requirements of its customers.

The firm’s Capture Lite torque analyser range enables companies to quickly and easily check their torque tools in order to minimise errors on the production line.

Equipped with a simple single button operation, the Capture Lite ensures tools used in production lines are set to the correct torque. The electronic testing device is available in seven models ranging from 0.02 3000Nm with first peak, peak and track func tions.

The Capture Lite is designed for a wide range of production environments within the automotive, aerospace, military and defence, elec

tronics, marine, oil and gas, renewable energy, and food and drink sectors, among others. Suitable for testing all hand torque tools, the device has a tolerance of +/ 1%, which means its accuracy is the best in its class, according to Gedore.

The Capture Lite’s versatility and portability means it can be used on production lines or on site, working off a battery power bank or a laptop USB. The device can display data in excel for recording and viewing information.

Gedore’s Capture product family also includes the Capture Hub and Capture System which provide full traceability and cover a range of between 0.02 1500 Nm. Engineered fastening has to offer.”

www.gedore.com

SHORTAGE?

Since the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, anyone involved in industrial supply whether on the supply side or the demand side is acutely aware of how severely the global supply chain has been disrupted and largely remains so to this day.

Whether it is a factory or distributor that has shut down, pallets stuck on a container ship that cannot unload its cargo, or a shortage of truckers causing delays during the last mile, if you are reading this article there is a very high probability that your company has experienced the chaos that occurs because of delayed or cancelled deliveries.

Unfortunately, even the best production planning in the world cannot anticipate all the variables when the whole world goes awry all at the same time.

Aspen Fasteners has recently launched its Fasteners911 emergency sourcing program to try to help those who find themselves in the unenviable situation of having a production or assembly line go down because of an unanticipated short age of industrial fasteners.

The company’s DNA in the fastener industry traces back over 60 years, in which time it has amassed an in stock inven tory of over 150,000 unique SKUs. The firm has developed a global network of partners that supports this inventory and supplements its catalog with millions of hard to find items that can be shipped globally within 24 hours.

More recently, Aspen Fasteners has focused on expanding its relationships with factories that can produce for fast deliv ery, meaning deliveries can be measured in days and weeks instead of months and years. The company has also expanded its network of factories that specialise in small runs that can often compensate for requirements that would normally be “off the shelf” quantities.

Customers that find themselves in a position where they cannot find the fasteners they need are encouraged to reach out to Aspen Fasteners, the company says, adding: “We will literally go to all corners of the Earth to help.”

www.aspenfasteners.com