NEW PRODUCTS
At the center of growth: Fasteners Supply and demand have weighed heavily on the home improvement and construction industry in the past 18 months. And the role of the most common product at any job site — the fastener — has been through a tumultuous year. But also a year marked by growth, innovation and expansion. Executives and experts who spoke to HBSDealer for this Fastener eBook special report made clear that supply chain disruptions haven’t stopped the industry from rolling out new features and benefits – mainly to address speed and efficiency. But there’s also stories of durability and availability that have factored prominently in 2021. And no one said it was easy. “It’s been an effort in agility all year,” said Hillman Group’s Tim Ferguson, vice president of fastening and the hardware segment. Phil Lail, president of Pan American Screw, used the word “chaos” to describe some of the challenges facing the
fastener market. And at Midwest Fastener, Glen Gevaart, vice president of hardware sales, says in addition to responding to an influx of demand from new customers, the company revamped its entire construction fastener category during the pandemic. Meanwhile, residential construction marches on through headwinds that include a labor shortage and volatile pricing. With supply bottlenecks pressuring sales upward, year- overyear median new home sale prices are up 18.7%. (Only 21% of current sales are under $300,000). The stakes are high for suppliers. And many big brands are responding by reshaping their product mix — and reshaping their business — to steady the flow of construction. HBSDealer’s 2021 Fastener eBook, containing more products, insights, videos and interviews, is available at HBSDealer.com/report.
Pandemic moves
One impact of the pandemic for Portage, Mich.-based Midwest Fastener has been an opportunity to revamp the entire construction fastener category, said Glen Gevaart, VP of hardware sales. The company’s improvements start with updating the opening price point BuildRight brand elevating the product mix with the newand-improved SaberDrive. New to the line is the SaberDrive Platinum version that specializes as a deck screw. Included in the list of benefits is durability. It achieves 2,500 hours in the industry-standard salt spray test. As the name implies, the product is blasted with salt water until it rusts. A 2,500-hour rating is a long way from what used to be considered sufficient (500 hours) and is at the top of the range of what’s considered a high-quality fastener.
Speed wins
Across the board, the solution that everyone seems to be looking for these days is speed on the job site. “The guys on the job, they’re jammed right now,” Ferguson said. “With the labor shortages and pent-up demand for remodeling and new construction—they can’t afford to be slow, and they don’t have time for a call back.” New from the Hillman Group for 2021 is the new Fas-n-Tite Fence Post Screw, which installs wire or panel fencing without a hammer or pre-drilling. Use in place of traditional fencing staples on wire up to 6 gauge. Easy to install and remove with a drill or impact driver, the Fas-n-Tite Fence Post Screw installs 10-times faster and is 3-times stronger than traditional fence staples. For all woods including pressure treated lumber. Hammer-free installation saves your fingers with the screws coated for corrosion resistance. They are available in 3 sizes for small tasks or big projects.
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 HARDWARE + BUILDING SUPPLY DEALER
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