Fastener-World Magazine No.186_Global Version

ISO 9001:2015

ISO 14001:2015

Advertisers Index

167 310EXPRESS COMPANY (Japan)

Security, Tamper Proof, Anti-theft Screws...

176 A-PLUS SCREWS INC.

Chipboard Screws, Customized Special Screws / Bolts...

172 ABC FASTENERS CO , LTD 聯欣

Drop-in Anchors, Expansion Anchors, Wire Anchors...

112 ADOLF WüRTH GMBH & CO. KG 德商阿道夫

88

Screws, Screw Accessories, Tools, Chemical-technical products...

AEH FASTEN INDUSTRIES CO., LTD. 鉞昌

Clevis Pins, Dowel Pins, Hollow Rivets...

50 AIMREACH ENTERPRISES CO , LTD 盛融

Stainless Steel, Flanged Head Bolts, Hexagon Head Bolts...

23 ALEX SCREW INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. 禾億

Button Head Cap Screws, Button Head Socket Cap Screws...

90 ALISHAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LTD. 奧立康

Fastener Tools, Bolts, Screws, Nuts, Stamping Parts...

199 ALLOY & STAINLESS FASTENERS, INC (USA)

Bolts, Nuts, Studs, Sockets, Washers, Bent Bolts...

82 AMBROVIT S.P.A. (Italy)

Chipboard Screws, Combined Screws, Machine Screws...

153 AMPLE LONG INDUSTRY CO., LTD. 寬長

Hollow Rivets, Drive Rivets, Semi-tubular Rivets...

252 ANCHOR FASTENERS INDUSTRIAL CO , LTD 安拓

Drop-in Anchors, Expansion Anchors, Wire Anchors...

57 APEX FASTENER INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. 嵿峰

Nuts, Wing Nuts & Bolts, Turning Parts, Stamping Parts

92 ARUN CO., LTD.

Bi-metal Screws, Chipboard Screws, Drywall Screws...

鉅耕

70 AUTOLINK INTERNATIONAL CO , LTD 浤爵

Automotive Screws, Machine Bolts, Flange Nuts...

96 BCR INC.

Automotive Screws, Piston Pins, Weld Bolts (Studs)...

113 BESTWELL INTERNATIONAL CORP 凱壹

Eye Bolts, Flanged Head Bolts, Hanger Bolts...

219 BIING FENG ENTERPRISE CO., LTD.

36

Blind Nut Formers, Multi-station Cold Forming Machines...

BI-MIRTH CORPORATION

Carbon Steel Screws, Chipboard Screws, Concrete Screws...

2 BOLTUN CORPORATION

Automotive Screws, Bushes, Conical Washer Nuts...

163 BÜLTE GmbH (Germany)

Plastic Bolts, Plastic/Rubber Materials, Precision Plastic Parts...

222

CHAN CHANGE MACHINERY CO , LTD

Screw Head Making Machines...

66 CHAN HSIUNG FACTORY CO , LTD

Wheel Bolts, Twelve Point Head Screws, Weld Screws...

131 CHANG BING ENTERPRISE CO., LTD.

Hook Bolts, Holders / Hooks / Rings, Dowel Screws...

CHIAN YUNG CORPORATION

SEMS Screws

CHIEN TSAI MACHINERY ENTERPRISE CO

84 CHIN LIH HSING PRECISION ENTERPRISE

Automotive Nuts, Brass Inserts, Bushes, Bushings... 114 CHIN TAI SING PRECISION MANUFACTORY

Self-clinching Nuts, Brass Inserts...

216 CHING CHAN OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY CO , LTD

Eddy Current Sorting Machines, Fastener Makers...

42 CHONG CHENG FASTENER CORP

Cap Nuts, Coupling Nuts, Conical Washer Nuts...

224 CHUN KAI MACHINERY CO., LTD.

Straightening Machines, Straightness Measuring Instruments...

214 CHUN ZU MACHINERY INDUSTRY CO , LTD

Cold Headers, Header Toolings, Heading Machines...

197 COPA FLANGE FASTENERS CORP

Hex Nuts, Hex Flange Nuts, Combi Nuts, Weld Nuts...

89 CPC FASTENERS INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. 冠誠

Stainless Steel, Bi-metal Self-drilling Screws...

21 DA YANG ENTERPRISE CO , LTD

Special Automotive Nuts, Special Weld Nuts...

122 DAR YU ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. 達宇

Chipboard Screws, Drywall Screws, Screw Nails...

127 DE HUI SCREW INDUSTRY CO., LTD.

Drywall Screws, Decking Screws, Self-drilling Screws...

183 DE XIN METAL CO , LTD

德慧

得鑫

Machine Screws, PT Screws, Tapping Screws, Chipboard Screws...

148 DICHA SOMBRILLA CO., LTD. 集財

Expansion Anchors, Sleeve Anchors, Nylon Nail Anchors...

41 DIN LING CORP.

Chipboard Screws, Drywall Screws, Furniture Screws...

登琳

68 DRA-GOON FASTENERS INC 丞曜

Chipboard Screws, Phillips Head Screws, TEK Screws...

86 DUNFA INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. 敦發 Bushes, Spacers, Automotive Parts, Tubes, Turning Parts...

78 EASYLINK INDUSTRIAL CO , LTD

Automotive Nuts, Thread Forming Screws...

易連

97 FAITHFUL ENGINEERING PRODUCTS CO., LTD. 誠毅 Anchors, Box Nails, Door/Window Accessories...

69 FALCON FASTENER CO., LTD.

Automotive & Motorcycle Special Screws / Bolts...

鉮達

4 FANG SHENG SCREW CO , LTD 芳生 Shoulder Bolts, Button Head Socket Cap Screws..

81 FAREAST METAL INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. 億萬年 Dowel Pins, Flanged Head Bolts, Flange Screws...

77 FASTENER JAMHER TAIWAN INC. 占賀

Automotive Nuts, Blind Nuts / Rivet Nuts, Bushings...

25 FASTNET CORP 俊鉞

Dowel Pins, Flange Nuts, Weld Nuts, 4 Pronged T Nuts...

109 FILROX INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. 惠錄

Blind Nuts / Rivet Nuts, Tee or T Nuts, Blind Rivets...

145 FONG PREAN INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. 豐鵬

Automotive Screws, Bi-metal Screws, Brass & Bronze Screws...

40 FORTUNE BRIGHT INDUSTRIAL CO , LTD 鋒沐 Cap Nuts, Dome Nuts, Nylon Cap Insert Lock Nuts...

Advertisers Index

62 FU HUI SCREW INDUSTRY CO., LTD. 福輝

Automotive & Motorcycle Special Screws / Bolts...

158 FU KAI FASTENER ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. 福凱

Precision Electronic Screws, Special Screws, Weld Screws...

102 FUSHANG CO , LTD 甫商

Carbon Steel Screws, Chipboard Screws, Concrete Screws...

169 GELA & COMPANY 蕙寶

Expansion Anchors, Eye Bolts, Hanger Bolts...

232 GIAN-YEH INDUSTRIAL CO , LTD 健業

Rivet Dies, Self-drilling Screw Dies, Screw Tip Dies...

190 GINFA WORLD CO , LTD 濟音發

Chipboard Screws, Countersunk Screws, Drywall Screws...

229 GWO LIAN MACHINERY INDUSTRY CO., LTD. 國聯

Handstand Type Wire Drawing Machines, Non-Stop Coilers...

123 HAO CHENG PLASTIC CO., LTD. 皓正

Plastic Box Maker for Fasteners

241 HAO MOU NUTS MFG CO , LTD 豪茂 Nuts and Spacers...

135 HAUR FUNG ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. 豪舫

External Tooth Washers, Long Carriage Bolts, Roofing Bolts...

174 HEADER PLAN CO. INC.

Chipboard Screws, Collated Screws, Deck Screws...

139 HSIN CHANG HARDWARE INDUSTRIAL CORP 欣彰

Anchor Bolts, Anchors, Plastic Fasteners...

161 HSIN HUNG MACHINERY CORP. 欣翃

Cap Nuts, Flange Nuts, Hexagon Nuts, Dome Nuts...

65 HSIN JUI HARDWARE ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. 欣瑞

Bushes, Construction Bolts, Special Cold / Hot Forming Parts...

147 HSIN YU SCREW ENTERPRISE CO , LTD 新雨

Acme Screws, Hexagon Head Cap Screws...

225 INFINIX PRECISION CORP. 英飛凌

Customized Punches and Dies

160 INNTECH INTERNATIONAL CO , LTD 建豪

All Kinds of Nuts, All Kinds of Screws, Automotive Special Screws...

10 J.C. GRAND CORPORATION

All Kinds of Screws, Chipboard Screws...

186 JA DEN ENTERPRISE CORP, LTD

Drilling Screws

31 JAU YEOU INDUSTRY CO , LTD

Chipboard Screws, Drywall Screws, High Low Thread Screws...

250 JERN YAO ENTERPRISES CO., LTD. 正曜

Multi-station Cold Forming, Parts Forming Machines...

38 JET FAST COMPANY LIMITED 捷禾

Blind Nuts / Rivet Nuts, Aircraft & Aerospace Washers...

149 JIEN KUEN ENTERPRISE CO , LTD

Hexagon Nuts, Nylon Cap Insert Lock Nuts, Square Nuts...

159 JIN SHIN CHYUAN INDUSTRY CO., LTD. 金欣全

Automotive & Motorcycle Special Screws / Bolts...

155 JIN SHING STAINLESS IND CO , LTD 竣鑫

Self-tapping Screws, Machine Screws, Chipboard Screws...

118 JINGFONG INDUSTRY CO , LTD

Hex Nylon Insert Lock Nuts, Wing Nuts with Nylon Insert...

209 JIN-YINGS ENTERPRISE CO , LTD

Special Custom Fasteners, Auto/Motorcycle Fasteners… 49

JOKER INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.

Hollow Wall Anchors, Concrete Screws, Jack Nuts...

181 KING CENTURY GROUP CO , LTD

Drop-in Anchors, Self-drilling Anchors, Sleeve Anchors... 58

KWANTEX RESEARCH INC

Chipboard Screws, Drywall Screws, Furniture Screws...

108 L & W FASTENERS COMPANY

Construction Fasteners, Flat Washers, Heavy Nuts...

244 LIAN CHUAN SHING INTERNATIONAL

Weld Nuts, Special Parts, Special Washers, Flat Washers...

LIAN SHYANG INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.

Nut Formers, Nut Tapping Machines

LINKWELL INDUSTRY CO , LTD

All Kinds of Screws, Automotive & Motorcycle Special Screws... 14

LOCKSURE INC.

Custom Washers, Flat Washers, Automotive Screws...

LONG THREAD FASTENERS CORP.

Bi-metal Self-drilling Screws, Chipboard Screws...

MAC PRECISION HARDWARE CO

Turning Parts, Precision Metal Parts, Cold Forged Nuts...

MASTER UNITED CORP.

Chipboard Screws, Drywall Screws, Furniture Screws... 192

MAUDLE INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.

Button Head Socket Cap Screws, Flange Washer Head Screws... 16 MIN HWEI ENTERPRISE CO , LTD

Button Head Socket Cap Screws, Chipboard Screws...

MING CHENG PRECISION CO., LTD.

Precision Parts 212 MING TANG MACHINERY CO., LTD. (WEN YANG) 玟暘

Screw Head Making Machines...

MODERN ALLOY PLATING CO , LTD

Zinc Plating, Lubricants

195 MOUNTFASCO INC.

All Kinds of Screws, Alloy Steel Screws, Automotive Screws...

72

NCG TOOLS INDUSTRY CO , LTD

Tools for Fastening Anchors, Blind Nuts / Rivet Nuts...

80 ND INDUSTRIES ASIA INC.

ND Pre-Applied Processes, Advanced Sealing Technologies...

24 PENGTEH INDUSTRIAL CO , LTD

SEMs Screws, Special Screws, Binder Screws, PT Screws...

137 POL SHIN ENT CO , LTD

Drywall Screws, Concrete Screws, Tapping Screws, Long Screws...

138 PPG INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL INC. 美商必丕志

Chromium-free Coating, ED Coating...

193 PRO POWER CO , LTD

79

107

Screws, Bolts...

PRO-VISA (LIN) INT'L CORP

Self-drilling Screws, Stainless Steel Screws, Furniture Screws...

PS FASTENERS PTE LTD. (Singapore)

Washers, Socket Set Screws, U Bolts, Alloy Steel Screws...

Q-NUTS

Flange Nuts, Weld Nuts, Special Nuts, Spacers...

104 QST INTERNATIONAL CORP. 恒耀國際

Hexagon Head Bolts, Square Head Bolts, Weld Bolts (Studs)...

8 REXLEN CORP 連宜

Clinch Nuts, Clinch Studs, CNC Parts, Stamped Parts...

6 SAN SHING FASTECH CORP. 三星

Automotive Nuts, Automotive Parts, Carbide Dies...

129 SCREWTECH INDUSTRY CO , LTD 銳禾

Machined Parts, Thumb Screws, Micro Screws...

247 SEN CHANG INDUSTRIAL CO , LTD 昇錩

Customized Special Screws / Bolts, Socket Head Cap Screws...

242 SHANGHAI FAST-FIX RIVET CORP. 飛可斯

Blind Rivets, High Shear Rivets, Closed End Rivets...

142 SHEH FUNG SCREWS CO , LTD 世豐

Chipboard Screws, Countersunk Screws, Wood Screws...

140 SHEH KAI PRECISION CO , LTD 世鎧

Bi-metal Concrete Screw Anchors, Bi-metal Screws...

121 SHEN CHOU FASTENERS INDUSTRIAL 神洲

Button Head Cap Screws, Chipboard Screws...

32 SHIH HSANG YWA INDUSTRIAL CO , LTD 新倡發

Flange Nuts, Flange Nylon Nuts With Washers...

168 SHIN CHUN ENTERPRISE CO , LTD 昕群

Automotive Screws, Chipboard Screws, Customized Screws...

144 SHUENN CHANG FA ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. 舜倡發

Long Screws, Concrete Screws, Machine Screws...

91 SHUN DEN IRON WORKS CO , LTD 順典

Fastener Tools, Bolts, Screws, Nuts, Stamped Parts...

191 SIN HONG HARDWARE PTE LTD (Singapore) 新豐

Hexagon Nuts, Hexagon Head Bolts, Blind Rivets...

28 SPEC PRODUCTS CORP

Lincensee Fasteners, Turned/Machined Parts...

12 SPECIAL RIVETS CORP. 恆昭

Blind Nuts / Rivet Nuts, Blind Rivets, Air Riveters...

22 SUN CHEN FASTENERS INC. 展鴻鑫

110

Cup Washers, Flanged Head Bolts, T-head or T-slot Bolts...

SUPER CHENG INDUSTRIAL CO , LTD 世暘

Nuts & Auto Parts, Flange Bolts, Sockets & Threaded Rods...

93 SUPER DPD CO., LTD. 三御

76

All Kinds of Screws, Bi-metal Screws, Carbon Steel Screws...

SUPERIOR QUALITY FASTENER CO., LTD. 鑫程椿

Weld Nuts, Turning Parts, Long Screws, Spring Nuts...

228 TAIHO TOOL MFG CO , LTD (OSG)

Cutting Tools, Rolling Dies, Machine Tools, Machine Parts...

大寶

165 TAIWAN NYLON WASHER CO., LTD. 東佑典

Rubber Washers, Silicone Washers, Plasterboard Nails...

85 TAIWAN SELF-LOCKING FASTENERS (TSLG) 台灣耐落

Nylok®, Precote®, Nycote®, Nyplas®, Loctite®

133 TANG AN ENTERPRISE CO , LTD 鏜安

Customized Automotive Parts and Special Fasteners

20 THREAD INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. 英德

Chipboard Screws, Flange Nuts, Heavy Nuts...

154 TONE DAR SEEN ENTERPRISE CO , LTD 通達興

Semi-tubular Rivets, Solid Rivets, Shoulder Rivets...

47 TONG HEER FASTENERS (THAILAND) CO , LTD

Hex Bolts, Stud Bolts, Socket Cap Screws, Hex Nuts…

46 TONG HEER FASTENERS CO , SDN BHD

156

Stainless Steel Metric Screws, Stainless Steel Screws…

TONG HO SHING INTERNATIONAL CO , LTD 桐和興

Hex Washer Head Screws, Indent Hex Head Screws...

18 TONG HWEI ENTERPRISE CO , LTD 東徽

A2 Cap Screws, Button Head Socket Cap Screws...

Advertisers Index

47 TONG MING ENTERPRISE CO , LTD 東明

Stainless Steel Fasteners, Wire Rods...

171 TRINITY STEEL PRIVATE LIMITED (Sri Lanka)

Paper Strip, Plastic Strip, Wire Coil, Threaded Rod...

196 TSAE FARN SCREWS HARDWARE CO., LTD. 采凡

2 Cap Screws, Aircraft Nails, All Kinds of Screws...

101 VERTEX PRECISION INDUSTRIAL CORP. 緯紘

6 Cuts/ 8 Cuts Self Drilling Screws, Barrel Nuts, Cap Screws...

231 WAN IUAN ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. 萬淵

Punches/Dies of Various Nuts, Screws, Sleeves and Socket Boxes

117 WATTSON FASTENER GROUP INC 華盛

Clevis Bolts, 6 Cuts/ 8 Cuts Self Drilling Screws...

44 WE POWER INDUSTRY CO., LTD. 威力寶

Chipboard Screws, Concrete Screws, Drywall Screws...

204 WEI IN ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. 瑋瑩

Cone Nuts, Spacers, Special Nuts, Collars, Bushings...

26 WYSER INTERNATIONAL CORP 緯聯

Cage Nuts, Cap Nuts, Clinch Nuts, Acme Screws...

34 YI CHUN ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. 誼峻

Cap Screws, Socket Set Screws, Cage Nuts, Automotive Parts...

221 YI SHENG MACHINERY CO , LTD 鎰晟

Self-drilling Screw Froming Machines

74 YING MING INDUSTRY CO , LTD 穎明

Automotive & Motorcycle Special Screws / Bolts...

151 YING YI CO., LTD. 穎翊

Sems Parts, Special Nuts, Pressed Parts...

248 YOW CHERN CO , LTD 侑城

Flanged Head Bolts, Chipboard Screws, Floorboard Screws...

64 YUH CHYANG HARDWARE INDUSTRIAL 鈺強

Automotive & Motorcycle Special Screws / Bolts...

170 YUN CHAN INDUSTRY CO., LTD. 雍昌

Bit & Bit Sets, Hex Keys, Nut Setters, Wrench Sets...

106 YUNG KING INDUSTRIES CO., LTD. 榮金

Dowel Pins, Roll Pins, Self-locking Pins, Cotter Pins, Split Pins...

Machines & Equipment

Tooling / Dies

KWANTEX TTX® DRIVE SYSTEM

The Breakthrough of Taiwanese Fasteners! A Complete Replacement for TX

by Gang Hao Chang, Vice Editor-in-Chief of Fastener World

Taking a giant leap forward in the product R&D in 2020, Taiwan’s leading wood screw R&D-focusing manufacturer Kwantex Research Inc. has successfully developed the TTX® Drive System ( Taiwan TX Drive System) featuring a 6-lobe drive with additional sharp hook design, which can completely replace the existing TX drive and is expected to create a new chapter in the global R&D and application field of wood screws, automotive screws and industrial assembly screws.

No More Disadvantages of the Old-fashioned Drives!

In the past, while users were fastening wood screws, they used to encounter some problems resulted from certain drive designs. For example, the bit did not fit well with the drive, causing unexpected wobbling, drive abrasion, or bit breakage. These problems not only prevented users from achieving expected tight fastening, but also resulted in the unnecessary waste of materials and tools. In such a market with fierce competition, any of these problems will gradually diminish the competitive edge of companies’ products. However, after Kwantex officially rolled out the new TTX® Drive and the mating TTX® Bit, all of the above worries can be eliminated and users can now achieve satisfying perfect fastening results.

● Unique Sharp Hook Design. No Cam-out!

Different from traditional Phillips or Pozi drive (which cam-out usually occurs due to its inclined contact surface, which cannot transfer sufficient torque to screws with larger outer diameters, or which is prone to drive abrasion while fastened) as well as TX, square, Phillips+Square, or socket hex (which the bit cannot fit tight with, insert deep, or which the drive abrasion may occur during fastening), Kwantex TTX® Drive can perfectly fit with TTX® Bit. It goes direct to the bottom and fits tight!

● Higher Torque Transfer

The specially developed sharp hook design allows the mating bit to transfer higher torque, thus users can even fasten screws with only one hand, which is both time and force saving, not to mention that inexperienced users can also finish fastening easily. Kwantex TTX® Drive System is not only applicable to wood screws, but also is applicable to screws for penetrating construction steel and machine screws for steel structure & industrial assembly. Its application range is quite comprehensive.

● 4 Times Longer Service Life

TTX® Bit has a similar design of 6 lobes with additional sharp hooks. On each lobe of the drive, there is a special sharp convex to help achieve tight fastening, avoid slippage, increase the contact surface between the drive and the mating bit, reduce stress accumulation, and optimize torque transfer. The results of more than 10,000 times of torsion and breaking tests also reveal that compared to the traditional TX Bit on the market, the service life of TTX® Bit is greatly increased by 4 times. Its durability is self-evident. On the other hand, TTX® Bit can be also used directly to fasten TX drives of the same size number, showing a very high applicability.

Profile of Kwantex

Established: 1996

Headquarters: Kwanmiao, Tainan

Employees: around 160 persons

Monthly capacity: 1,000-2,000 tons

Speaking of the newly released TTX® Drive System, Kwantex President Jack Lin said, “We are confident that the new product we rolled out this time will definitely be a game-changing one in the industry. Our goal is to produce a type of fasteners that are affordable to everyone and can be quickly and effectively used to fasten products made from various materials and treated with different surface finishes. The angle of the inclined surface of the drive has been meticulously calculated to ensure enough contact surface area and the extra well-engineered hook design, according to the wedge theory, has been also added to achieve stick-fit. Kwantex has been always dedicated to R&D and will continue to roll out more products with excellent design, as we hope to help Taiwanese fastener industry increase its value with the everchanging market.”

Products: wood screws, piercing screws, machine screws for industrial assembly, container deck screws, steel structure screws, concrete screws, customized design special screws

Kwantex contact:

Ms. Tracy Lin (Assistant Vice President (Sales & Marketing))

Email: kwantex@ms18.hinet.net

The Best Way to Creating a Fastener-free Deck Surface

KTX-HDS (Hidden Decking Screw System)

Continues to be a Popular Product on the Market

Kwantex focuses on the R&D in various industry sectors. It not only focuses on the improvement of screw drive design, but also provides customers facing fastening issues with solutions that are more efficient and practical. The KTX-HDS (Hidden Decking Screw System) developed for solving problems in deck fastening is exactly one of the solutions.

In the past, when users would like to fasten decks with existing brands of fastening assistance systems, they used to face problems. For example, their tools could not be adjusted according to different deck gaps; the tools with spring jigs would be easily pushed upward during fastening; the fastening space would be restricted due to the handle design; the tools had to be manually adjusted to reach suitable clip widths; handles were not anti-slip and were heavy.

The new Hidden Decking Screw System Kwantex developed, however, can be adjusted according to different deck gaps (3mm/4mm/5mm/6mm); it adopts the friction mechanism to clip; the tool won’t be pushed upward during fastening; handles positioned in the middle of the tool won’t interfere fastening; it does not require manual adjustment of the clip width; anti-slip handles can be customized to show the iconic colors and trademarks of companies; the tool is also lightweight. With this new product being available on the market, relevant users will definitely enjoy the benefits it brings, such as practicability and eye-pleasing fastening results.

Comparison Between TTX® Bit and TX Bit:

Congrats!!

MAC Precision Hardware Relocates to a New Site

Introduction of International-level

Specialized in OEM parts production for higher-end market applications in Europe and USA, Mac Precision Hardware has continuously impressed the industry with steady sales growth and premium customer service. Facing the external challenges in 2020, Mac still achieved a two-digit annual growth. Being optimistic to the gradual recovery of the global market demand and the possible continuation of order intake, Mac has relocated to a new office building in Renwu (Kaohsiung) since December 2020. The floor plan of the new 3-story building of more than 990 sq. m features a wellequipped office, an inspection laboratory, a storage room, as well as a multiple-purpose employee rest room and a garden of more than 660 sq. m. With such a better workplace, more employees, and introduction of more complete equipment, Mac expects that the customer service capabilities of its sales team will be greatly improved and the service quality it provides to customers will be higher.

Customers’ Full Trust is What Keeps Mac Going Forward

Speaking of the motive of office relocation, general manager Michael Chang said, “over the past couple of years, our sales and number of customers continue to grow. However, our current office leaves no space for further expansion. Considering the long-term development of our company, we then determined to relocate to a new site, which can provide a better work environment for employees in one hand, but also create a more well-established quality control system in another hand. The storage room of the new site can also be used as a transshipment station before products are delivered to customers.”

Mac offers precision parts 100% manufactured to customers’ drawings and about 90% of them are exported to European and U.S. clients. Around 50% of its products are supplied to the automotive industry, while some others are supplied to, say, fasteners, electronics, machinery, and medical industries. In addition to the manufacturing operations in Taiwan and China, Mac is also working with cooperative plants. It will select the most suitable CNC parts processing plant for respective customer’s product demand, in anticipation of creating the best value for each customer’s product.

Reaching 50% Sales Growth in 2020, Mac Offers Service

Based on Its Know-how

The new laboratory has been also installed with X-ray thickness tester, 3D inspection device, hardness testi ng instrument, etc. in order to reinforce the inspection of product dimensions and keep strict quality control over customers’ products.

According to Chang, “What Mac is doing is basically providing service and the best value to our customers. The development of our traditional CNC machining industry cannot depend upon technology and quality only, but, most importantly, has to focus on understanding customers’ needs and help them extend their business reach. We need customers and vice versa, hence, for so long we have always deemed customers as

by Gang Hao Chang, Vice Editor-in- Chief of Fastener World

partners and have been doing whatever we can to fulfil their requests. On the other hand, being both a manufacturer and trader, Mac has our own technique, and we also have a wide knowledge of strengths, manufacturing costs, and prices of our cooperative plants, so we can keep good quality control at all times, which is also the reason that made us achieve the 2-digit sales growth even amid the pandemic in 2020. We would never tell our customers that our price is the lowest, but would do our best to find the best balance between quality and price for them and help them with market expansion.”

The Bull Market Would Return and Mac is Already Well-Prepared!

With many overseas customers being running out of stock and various industry sectors gradually report increasing demands, most plants in Taiwan and China have appeared a sign of significant sales growth since Q4 2020. Forecasting the market development in 2021, Chang said, “I’m optimistic that we should expect to see a very positive growth.”

He added, “Our current orderbook has been scheduled through 2021. Plus, the uprising prices of global raw materials also reflect the growing market demands. We are confident that, with the better workplace and our capable team, we can continue to become an irreplaceable partner of our customers from different countries and cultures.”

Contact: General Manager Michael Chang Email: service@machardware.com.tw

Asian Top Electroplater to Launch Alkalic Galvanizing in March

MODERN ALLOY PLATING CO., LTD.

by Dean Tseng, Fastener World

In line with the U.S./Europe and Above Asia

O n t h e f o r e f r o n t o f i n n o v a t i o n , M o d e r n A l l o y P

E u r o p e a n a n d Ja p a n e s e st a n d a r d s. E a ch ye a r P r e sid e nt Sh i h v i sit s ove r s e a s t r a d e s h ows o f s u r f a c e t r e a t m e n t a n d t o p - n o t c h e l c e t r o p l a t e r s i n t h e U S

a n d E u r o p e t o a c q u i r e k nowle d ge a n d a d o p t a dva n c e d e q u ip m e nt H e s e ek s

t o m a ke su r fa c e t r e a t m e nt a st r e n g t h i n fa st e n e r sup ply ch a i n , t o h elp b r e a k away f r om c om p a n ie s e n ga ge d i n p r ic e wa r a n d i m p r ove fa st e n e r i n du st r y c om p e t it ive n e s s

New Alkalic Galvanizing Line Coming up!

F o r t h e l a s t 15 ye a r s , t h e c o m p a ny h a s e s t a bl i s h e d c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h

A m e r i c a n a n d E u r o p e a n f a s t e n e r i m p o r t e r s a n d b e c o m e t h e i r d e si g n a t e d elc e t r o pla t e r i n Ta iwa n W h e n it c om e s t o Sa lt Sp r ay Te st , M A P h a s t o p p e d t h e A si a n pl a t e r s o n s e a l i n g a n d c o a t i n g p r o c e s s e s a n d c o n t i n u e s t o h o n e i n o n f a s t e n e r a n t i - c o r r o s i o n p e r fo r m a n c e . I t i s a l r e a d y o n p a r w i t h a n d

r ow n

The all-new alkalic galvanizing line features:

● Better result of deep hole electroplating.

● Uniform plating thickness.

● Superior rust and corrosion resistance over acidic galvanizing.

Higher Quality with Lab Certification

A l o n g w i t h c e r t i f i c a t e s a p p r o v e d

b y R e n a u l t a n d D a i m l e r , t h e c o m p a n y b e c a m e I A T F 16 9 4 9 - c e r t i f i e d i n 2 0 18

i o n wh i c h

i s r o u g h ly c o m pl e t e d a n d awa it s ge n e r a t i n g a

c e r t i f ic a t e

Pressing Against Challenges from the Pandemic

P r e s i d e n t S h i h s a i d t o F a s t e n e r Wo r l d

M a g a z i n e : “ T h e l a s t t w o y e a r s h a v e f o r c e d

t r e m e n d o u s p r e s s u r e o n Ta i w a n e s e f a s t e n e r

i n d u s t r y F i r s t t h e r e w a s t h e t r a d e w a r

b e t we e n t h e U S a n d C h i n a , a n d t h e n c a m e

t h e p a n d e m i c , b o t h s e r io u sly i m p a c t i n g o r d e r

i n t a k e a n d d e l i v e r y A s p a r t o f t h e s u p p l y

c h a i n , M o d e r n A l l oy P l a t i n g i s n o exc e p t i o n

t o t h e p a n d e m i c . ” T h e v i r u s c r e a t e s l o n g e r

d i s t a n c e s i n h u m a n c o n t a c t , a n d f o r c e s

r e st a u r a n t s t o m ove d i n i n g a c t iv it i e s f r o m i n d o o r s t o o u t d o o r s T h i s m e a n s

t h e fa st e n e r i n du st r y mu st i m p r ove c o r r o sion r e si st a n c e fo r su r fa c e t r e a t m e nt

t o b e a ble t o c o p e w it h t h e wo rld t r e n d ”

T h e c om p a ny t o ok t h e o p p o r t u n it y t o r ef i n e p r o du c t ion l i n e du r i n g t h e

p a n d e m ic, but i n fa c t fo r ye a r s it h a s b e e n i m p r ov i n g e q u ip m e nt , i nt r o du ci n g

E u r o p e a n e q u i p m e n t , o p t i m i z i n g e l e c t r o p l a t

Contact person:

POLYGOLD & POLYSOL ZINC by Premium Products, Inc.

Innovative

Coating Solutions for Global Fastener Applications by Dean Tseng,

Premium Products, a water-based and environmentally friendly industrial coatings manufacturer in IL, USA, has continued to supply well-known fastener brands worldwide for over 30 years. Over the last 3 years, it has been focusing on increasing sales through new product rollout and gaining new business. “Product development has always been a major focus for us and we are always finding ways to formulate innovative products to provide our customers with the top of the line quality we are known for,” said administrator Michelle Augustine.

Exceptional Coatings for Fasteners & Parts

The water-based POLYGOLD coating developed by the company is a safe replacement for hexavalent dichromate. It has a similar appearance but is environmentally friendly with better performance (excellent adhesion to zinc phosphate and zinc plating) that quickly draws an increase in users. POLYSOL ZINC is an exclusive zinc flake coating with excellent performance (heat & automotive fluids resistant; 1000+ hours against corrosion; non-electrolytically applied; chrome free and no hydrogen embrittlement; used as a basecoat and topcoat

to provide sacrificial protection) at an affordable cost. “We are excited to see the response from our customers when they see the value they can add while saving on cost.” She added, “We recently developed a dip/spin water-based coating with excellent performance and coverage. Our white and blue colors are used as a one-coat product.”

Strong Connection with Taiwan/Asia/World Against Challenges

Business was good for Premium Products before the pandemic. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc globally, but the company has managed through and sales have been coming back. “We hope that once the virus is controlled, there will be enough demand to make up for what was lost. Right now, we place a lot of focus on product development and have been busy looking for new and innovative ways to serve customers.” The company has seen an increase in Taiwanese customers who are manufacturing and coating fasteners and is optimistic of being able to strengthen relationship with customers in Taiwan and all over the globe. It supplies products to a distributor that sells to customers in Asia. Outside of Asia, it supplies customers directly. Domestically, its R&D Team continue to develop new products and improve current ones. “We focus on quality, environmentally safe products and competitive price to create an outstanding value for customers.”

Contact: Administrator, Ms. Michelle Augustine E-mail: michellel@premiumproductsinc.com

Fastener World

OEM/ODM for Brass Inserts and Clinching Fasteners

by Gang Hao Chang, Vice Editor-in-chief of Fastener World

Being an ISO 9001 and IATF 16949 certified and professional automotive and electronic components supplier, Chin Tai Sing Precision Manufactory (CTSP) specializes in the production of standard and customized brass inserts, clinching metal nuts/studs and various components made from stainless steel, aluminum, and many other materials. Headquartered in Shalu (Taichung), CTSP, well-known for its excellent manufacturing capabilities, well-experienced business development & sales team, and unbeatable competitiveness of product performance and prices on the market, has been offering professional OEM and ODM production service to domestic and overseas customers for decades.

Capacity and Quality are Both Recognized by Global High-end Customers

In the factory of CTSP with fully automated facilities, the manufacturing procedures of relevant parts are all under the strict monitoring of senior technicians with over 20 years of experience to ensure the compliance of each process with ISO 9001 and IATF 16949 standards. In addition, the quality inspection room next to the production lines is also equipped with image measurement instruments, optical sorting machines, and automated packaging machines. Through the inspection of quality inspectors on dimensions and appearances and the use of automated sorting machines and packaging machines, detailed requirements of every customer’s order can be met. Moreover, CTSP can also provide valid documents for material certification, RoHS certification, PPAP, IMDS, ISIR, etc. What’s the most important is that all products on its manufacturing procedures are coded with batch numbers, so customers can know exactly the status of each production procedure including material feeding, manufacturing, quality inspection, or packaging with full traceability. The team of CTSP will also regularly meet together to discuss quality anomaly, manufacturing procedure optimization, and new product inspection and

CHIN TAI SING PRECISION MANUFACTORY General Manager: Johny Lee Tel: 886-4-2636-7001 Fax: 886-4-2636-7003

Email: johnylhc@hotmail.com www.ctsp-insert.com.tw

try to find out the best solution. Such a strict manufacturing quality inspection procedure has not only made the monthly capacity of CTSP grow quickly from the initial 10 million pieces to 20 million pieces, but also made CTSP widely recognized by customers from European/US/Japanese high-end markets whom it has been working closely with for years, especially those Japanese customers always making no compromise on quality and taking quite a significant share in all CTSP’s customers. CTSP General Manager Johny Lee said, “In order to offer good quality, we must not only have quality inspectors and precision equipment to carry out strict quality control, but also must hold a firm attitude toward it. Our requirements for quality are not only focused on finished products, but also focused on the procedures of material feeding and all manufacturing procedures. We often assume that all of our customers require 0 ppm in their orders placed to us and try our best to meet or even exceed their requirements for quality, provide them with products at competitive prices, and make them have confidence in the quality of our products.”

Extending Business Reach to the Development of High-end Products to Respond to New Market Demands

2021 is a brand new year and is also a critical year to determine if the industry can go into a full recovery or not. Facing the fierce competition on the market, CTSP realizes that it is important to extend its current product range to cover more products for more advanced market applications, which is also a key to the sustainable development of the company. CTSP is currently reinforcing its development of high precision and high-end products with smaller tolerances (within 0.01 mm), in the future it will also pay more attention to the development of new customers from the aerospace and more advanced industries. General Manager Lee added, “Taiwanese hardware related industry is currently facing the problems like severe labor shortage and the inability to increase capacity, so CTSP will increase more automated production and inspection equipment to achieve the optimal capacity and quality according to each customer’s demand. In this way, we can improve our production performance, save the labor cost, and increase the yield rate. We will also develop more precision products to serve customers from more advanced industries.”

“Piston Nuts for Performance Car Suspension Module” Receives 2021 Taiwan Excellence Award

by Gang Hao Chang, Vice Editor-in-Chie f o f Fastener World

The world’s leading car manufacturers’ critical metallic fasteners supplier “JingFong Industry Co., Ltd.” has recently developed a new type of piston nuts for performance car suspension module, which stood out among many other competitors to win the honor of Taiwan Excellence Award 2021 (transportation category). The is once again a recognition of Taiwan’s relevant industry to JingFong’s technical innovation and product development strength after it received the same award in 2020.

| Complete Termination of Noise and Pollution Medium

This type of nuts is basically for fundamentally solving the problems like noise and pollution medium when chippings are left in the piston oil-pressure valve during installation. The same anti-loosening ability can be achieved without applying glues or altering the module design. The all-metal notched nut can help users achieve more stable driving torque and prevent stripping threads. Pressing notches on nuts can be 100% correctly and precisely positioned via the optical sorting module, creating a more stable driving torque during assembly. With a more mature cold forging process, the surface roughness of a product can be improved to Rz6.3 that significantly stabilizes the friction torque of final screwing. Moreover, through upgrading the tooling design, the flatness tolerance precision of the mounting side can be raised to a maximum of 0.05mm, increasing the tightness of installation with the counterparts. Finished products can be compliant with customers’ specification requirements without having them CNC machined, thus greatly reducing the manufacturing cost.

“In terms of stamping die processing, we generally apply special coatings and use metal load & stamping stress analysis and formulation software to design suitable forming procedures and stamping dies, in order to avoid the excessive deformation load due to the drastic variance of metal, gradually increase the precision of the cold forging process, and prolong the service life of tooling. This is why we can always achieve a very good yield rate of products,” according to the technical division of JingFong.

For offering products of higher quality, JingFong has also introduced the force monitoring module for forming machines to monitor manufacturing quality in recent years. In its quality control laboratory, it also has SCHATZ torque analysis system, Rockwell hardness tester, and plating thickness/micro hardness/surface/salt spray testers, etc. to carry out strict quality control in manufacturing. If necessary, products must also go through automated optical inspection in order to keep the defective rate within 5ppm before shipments. “JingFong’s lab has been certified to ISO/IEC 17025 since 1997 and is able to provide customers with trustable test results and analysis reports,” according to the QC division of JingFong.

| Regional Division of Labor, Getting Customer Service Right to the Point

JingFong has 3 operations worldwide. The plant in Taiwan accepts OEM production orders for special locking fasteners and mainly exports to European and American car assembly and automotive component manufacturers; the plant in Thailand is specialized in the OEM production of standard fasteners and mainly ships to the car assembly and fastener plants in Europe, America, India, and the Middle East; the plant in Germany is a local product distribution and logistics center, which mainly cooperates with German car manufacturers to do just-in-time production and practice vendor managed inventory to help customers reduce their inventory and management costs.

JingFong has been dedicated to the R&D of products for over 40 years. In addition to the recent development of locking nuts for car assembly and automotive components, JingFong has been also working hard to extend its business reach to the R&D of locking construction fasteners. Moreover, the one-stop purchase service that greatly saves customers’ time to look for different supply sources, strict quality control procedures built with automated equipment and approved by certification, and the average lead-time controlled within 75 days (or even 60 days) are all what make JingFong gain so many loyal customers.

Looking into 2021, JingFong said, “We’ll continue to focus on technical improvement, move toward the goal of smart manufacturing, and make every effort to build a highly-efficient production environment. We also hope to expand our business reach to U.S. commercial trucks and global electric vehicles assembly markets. Most importantly, we’d like to offer customers high value added products reaching the best balance between quality and cost, reinforce technical cooperation with external organizations in the R&D of fasteners, and do our best to fully satisfy customers’ expectations.”

JingFong contac t: Alice Chen (Assistant

Manager)

Fastener World News

Industry Update

EU's Anti-dumping Investigation on Chinese Fasteners, a Window of Opportunity for Taiwan

EU has launched the AD investigation on certain fastener products imported from China, including automotive screws and construction small screws. The last time that EU whipped on China's fasteners was 5 years ago. Mr. Tu-chin Tsai (TIFI Chairman) expects an additional order value of USD 1 billion for the Taiwanese automotive fastener industry if EU does impose AD duties on Chinese fasteners. He points out that automotive screws are the main products exported to Europe, taking up over 20% of Taiwan's total export. Germany is the second largest export destination for Taiwan. Other screw products going to Europe include small screws. The U.S. remains the top export destination for Taiwan, taking up over 40% of Taiwan's total overseas sales.

President Mark Wu (QST International Corp., automotive screw manufacturer) thinks EU's anti-dumping investigation on Chinese fasteners means an opportunity for the Taiwanese fastener industry because QST now sells to Europe. Its export value of automotive screws sold to Germany amounts to USD 200 to 250 million per year, taking up 30% of its total export. Most of the products for Germany are sold from QST's headquarters in Taiwan, or manufactured by German steel plants and then supplied locally. Almost none of the products are sold from QST's plant in Xiamen City of China. It is expected that QST will be very likely to see some orders switched from China to Taiwan in the future.

Steel in Short Supply and Strong Demand in Taiwan

Japanese steelmakers have paused taking orders for January 2021 and it follows that steel is in short supply and strong demand. Steel price for the first quarter of 2021 is sure to rise and is expected to continue the uptrend in the second quarter. New records have been set for 9 consecutive years for international iron ore price which has surged 80% since 2020. Taiwan CSC's steel price is to continue the uptrend in January and the first quarter. Demand for wire rods and steel plates is strong. CSC President expects the heyday of the steel market may continue through June 2021. Downstream companies see light at the end of the tunnel with their business operation recovering.

Tycoons expects the wire rod price to continue upwards. The company's export is turning around which is expected to remain so through the second quarter of 2021 and bring remarkable profits.

EU Launches AD Investigation Against Chinese Iron and Steel Fasteners

According to an official journal the European Commission released on December 21st, 2020, EU has launched an antidumping investigation against certain imports of iron and steel fasteners from the People’s Republic of China. The CN codes of products involved this time include 73181290, 73181491, 73181499, 73181558, 73181568, 73181582, 73181588, ex73181595, ex73182100, and ex73182200. A request for a hearing with the Hearing Officer must be submitted within 15 days of the date of entry into force of this official journal. The investigation is expected to come to a preliminary determination with the announcement of a provisional antidumping measure within 7 months of the date of entry into force of this official journal.

Taiwan Fastener Industry Seeks Government Help in Light of RCEP Impacts

Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) met with representatives from Taiwan Industrial Fasteners Institute (TIFI) and other associations at a conference discussing the RCEP impacts on industries. Before the conference, TIFI chairman TuChin Tsai said in an interview that Taiwan fastener industry was ranked third in the world, but that its production value dropped from NTD 176 billion in 2018 to NTD 143 billion in 2019, and it is fairly questionable whether the value can reach NTD 110 billion as a result of the high NTD exchange rate and other countries' high tariffs on Taiwanese fasteners.

According to Tsai, NTD appreciated by 12%-15% over the past 2 years, resulting in an annual loss of NTD 5 billion to Taiwan fastener industry. As a result, he is calling for NTD depreciation. Meanwhile, an average 5%-30% tax is imposed on Taiwanese fasteners exported to ASEAN.

He thinks that RCEP has no impact on domestic electronics, 5G and medical industries, which are strong performers in Taiwan. Taiwan fastener industry is a decent performer in aerospace, automobile and electronics, but faces tough competition coupled with negative factors in exchange rate and tariff. "Without industrial competitiveness, we may need to look towards domestic plant closures or move factories to other countries."

Mr. Tsai Yong-Yu, TIFI vice president and president of Jinn Her Enterprise, said that the industry had already deployed in Southeast Asia as part of Taiwan government's New Southbound Policy. The branches in Southeast Asia aim to export products to high-end markets in the U.S. and Europe and bring competitiveness to the industry, but the pandemic has put a halt to export. With no improvement visible through the second quarter of 2021, he hopes the government will help by ways such as depreciating NTD.

Companies Development

Elgin Expands Range of OE-Grade Fasteners for GM LS GEN III, IV and V Engines

Elgin Industries, a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of engine and chassis components, has added to its extensive range of original equipment-grade fasteners for popular General Motors LS Series engines. It is important to replace head bolts, main bearing cap bolts and other hardware after one use to prevent loss of clamp load and potential engine damage. Each Elgin fastener meets OE specifications and is machined from U.S.-grade materials to ensure superior strength and reliability.

Elgin is the premier manufacturer of push rods, rocker arms, valves, valve springs, camshafts, lifters, timing sets and other precision-engineered components for automotive, high-performance, and medium and heavy-duty engines. The company operates a state-of-the-art engineering, manufacturing and distribution complex in Elgin, Illinois.

Simpson Strong-Tie Moves Minnesota Warehouse to Larger Facility

Simpson Strong-Tie, the leader in engineered structural connectors and building solutions, announced the relocation of its warehouse facility in Eagan, MN, to Inver Grove Heights, MN, seven miles away. The warehouse has moved to a new building located at Inver Point Business Park, 8450 Courthouse Blvd., Building 1, Inver Grove Heights, MN 55077.

The new building is 46,500 sq. ft. larger than the previous facility, and all 19 employees in Eagan have transferred to the new location. The company has invested in the move as a commitment to future growth and to better serve our customers with faster product delivery and Will Call access. The new location provides more dock and office space, a larger training center, more efficient order picking and enhanced warehouse safety.

Better Prospect for Sheh Fung Screws in H1 2021 Due to Strong Fastener Demand in the U.S.

Measures against the pandemic has driven growth in the American DIY market in 2020, and the same goes with Sheh Fung's order bookings and shipment. Sheh Fung is confident of its performance in the first half of 2021. With product prices rising and the DIY business continuing to gain momentum. The company expects a better operating result for H1 2021 over the previous period.

The company grossed NTD 1.56 billion in the first 3 quarters of 2020, up 12.32%, with a gross profit margin of 16.62%, down 2.91%. The operating margin was 8.76%, down 1.43% and the net profit after tax was NTD 108 million, down 12.19% with the EPS at NTD 2.71. Looking at the fourth quarter, the company expects to set a new record by pushing the annual revenue to NTD 2.1 to 2.2 billion, up 15% to 20%.

Japanese Auto Parts Maker Sankei Sets up a Core Factory in Indonesia

Sankei Co., Ltd in Mie Prefecture of Japan manufactures pins, rivets, shafts and other automotive parts. The company has already had bases in the U.S. and Shanghai for production and sales. Now the Indonesia-based plant PT. TIGA KARUNIA INDONESIA has been completed and will act as an overseas manufacturing and supply base.

Sankei has a complete line of part formers to manufacture various automotive precision parts. The Indonesia-based plant along with its other overseas bases will become a core factory outside Japan in the future to provide the world market with high quality and low-cost products.

Expansion of the Aerospace Sector: Aviation Certification EN 9100:2018 for 3d-prototyp GmbH in Switzerland

3d-prototyp GmbH, a Bossard company, has received the official aviation certification EN 9100:2018 in Switzerland. The seal of approval is a prerequisite for supplying the aerospace industry with 3D printed components.

Although a forward-looking technology, additive manufacturing is still used very little in Switzerland. Since October 2020, 3d-prototyp GmbH has been the only 3D printing service provider in Switzerland that is certified according to EN 9100 and already has many years of experience in the production of aerospace parts using high-performance materials (Ultem TM 9085, Ultem TM 1010, Nylon 12, Nylon 12CF).

Acquisition

S.W. Anderson Company Acquires OEM Fastening Systems

S.W. Anderson Company, a specialty and class C component distributor, has acquired OEM Fastening Systems, a specialty fastener distributor in Lawrenceville, Georgia. "We're excited to welcome the OEM Fastening Systems employees to the S.W. Anderson family" stated Jim Degnan, president of S.W. Anderson. "OEM's reputation in the southeast U.S. as a customerfocused product expert aligns closely with S.W. Anderson's value proposition. We look forward to working with our new team members to extend our products and services to OEM’s customer base. "

Tom Smith, president and owner of OEM Fastening Systems, said "combining our reputation for excellent products and services with S.W. Anderson's manufacturer relationships and knowledge base will give OEM customers a powerful partner — one with local, personalized service, and high-tech products from international manufacturers.”

OEM Fastening Systems was started in 1969 as a specialty fastener distributor. OEM assists design and manufacturing engineers in the automotive, appliance, outdoor power equipment, and other markets with fasteners, tooling, and tooling repairs. Founded in 1926 and headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, S.W. Anderson Company supplies specialty and standard fasteners, hardware, slides, and manufacturing components for the industrial manufacturing market. The company provides services to tier manufacturers and OEMs in automotive, commercial vehicle, consumer goods, aerospace, and food & beverage industries, amongst others and has seven sales offices/ distribution centers with over 35 technical sales professionals throughout the U.S.

Association

Taiwan Industrial Fasteners Institute Re-elects

Mr. Tu-Chin Tsai as Chairman

TIFI held a member representatives assembly on December 11, 2020, where the association re-elected the next directors and supervisors. Mr. Tu-Chin Tsai was elected Chairman as anticipated. Three other representatives emerged as vice chairmen and they are Tsai Yong-Yu from Jinn Her Enterprise, Miss Ann Hong from Shih Hsang Ywa Industrial, Mr. Sun Tea-Ren from Jau Yeou Industry. Mr. Simon Lin from Fong Prean Industrial was elected convener of the board of directors and supervisors.

American News

IFE Panelist Kerr: Robots ‘Pervasive’ by 2030

Charlie Kerr envisions more “lights out” manufacturing in the fastener industry. As a panelist in a 2020 International Fastener Expo virtual session on fastener manufacturing, Kerr of Kerr Lakeside recalled when fastener factories began using computers in the 1970s. Remember early cell phones just a few years ago and how fast they developed? he asked. Responding to a question about robots in fastener manufacturing, Kerr noted that while a small robot may cost $12,000 today, robots can work 24/7, don’t show up late for work and don’t call in sick. The first place for robots in fastener manufacturing is in the packaging department, Kerr said. By 2030 robots will be “pervasive,” Kerr declared.

cheap bicycle in 1986 for $100, which didn’t last. But a $200 bicycle in 1990 is still serving him three decades later.

Reacting to pandemic

Matt Boyd of Parker Fasteners envisions much more use of QR codes with end users having all the information “at their fingertips.” Reflecting on the year of the Covid-19 pandemic Boyd said aerospace fastener sales may have declined but health and semiconductor business is up. Military is steady, Boyd added.

Among the products Kerr Lakeside has traditionally manufactured are fasteners for musical instruments such as trombones and trumpets. Given the pandemic, that business has dropped to “zero,” Kerr said. Larry Kelly of Buckeye Fasteners said business took a hit for April, May and June but certain sectors such as food and beverage and medical did well. Buckeye received urgent orders for ventilator fasteners, Kelly noted.

Is there more reshoring of fastener manufacturing?

“Yes for now,” Boyd responded. But that “is not guaranteed for the next round.” There are Covid-related products where customers are seeking the reliability of domestic fastener supply, Boyd observed. “Especially when they want delivery within a week,” he added.

Kerr reported “an uptick in requests for quotes,” especially with certain material grades. But requests for quotes don’t necessarily turn into business, Kerr pointed out. Kerr said some of the searching for alternative product sourcing can move business from China to India, Vietnam or Taiwan and “not necessarily back to the U.S.” Kelly reported an increase in quotes for 2021.

“Freight costs are giving us an advantage,” Kelly said.

Kerr pointed out that “it is not what it costs to purchase fasteners, it is what it costs to own them.” Freight and quality are part of those costs. Kerr cited as an example of costs to own by recalling buying a

The effects of Covid-19 will continue “well into next year,” Kelly expects. Kelly said Buckeye’s 1905 plant is not easy to reconfigure for a pandemic. It is hard to move heavy fastener manufacturing equipment. But Buckeye has created more cellular environment for operators. Operators often have two or more machines, giving them spacing and less operator interaction. The pandemic has made IT personnel the most valuable, Kelly noted. Most manufacturing can not be working from home, Kelly said.

Parker was fortunate to be moving from a 30,000 sq ft building to 68,000 sq ft, allowing some spacing of equipment as part of following CDC guidelines, Boyd said. Parker also spread out shifts. And Parker added a cafe in the facilities so “no one has to leave to get food.” No vendors come to the Parker facility, he said. The pandemic has given the manufacturer “more time to look internally,” Boyd said. “Where can we do better in business?” Also through zoom calls he found they actually “got closer to the customer.” What Parker would have spent on exhibiting at the IFE in Las Vegas could be spent in other ways, Boyd said. In direct contact, Boyd spent more individual time with customers rather than being interrupted on a trade show floor. Parker sales are up “just slightly” for 2020, Boyd said.

Kerr acknowledged he is “not a fan of remote work,” but added that “the way work is done is going to be different.” Boyd finds trucking costs increasing more than materials. Boyd said Parker has been able to hire 18 people. Parker favors hiring people without experience and having the company train them. Kerr Lakeside relies on temporary services for hiring, Kerr said.

Worse than finding employees is having a “plant full of people and no jobs to do,” Kerr said.

Hughes to STAFDA: Underdogs Can Win

Can small distributors compete against Amazon? the president of the Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association asked in his 2020 virtual State of the Industry speech.

“We. Are. The. Underdog,” emphasized Greg Hughes, president of Kinnunen Sales & Rental. “Well, I’m here to tell you: Our. Dog. Bites!” The Oklahoma distributor’s mascot is a dog. “I love being the underdog,” Hughes declared. “I love the challenge of someone saying that I can’t. And in our industry the Big Boys are telling us just that. That we can’t keep up with their ability to attract and keep this next generation of buyers.”

“What the pandemic did was force our brick-n-mortar customers to find ways to ‘per - fect’ their internet buying skills, Hughes said. The customer base is growing younger and “their online love affair grows stronger each day, subsequently kicking our counter-and-field-based customer service to the curb, and the big box stores have increasingly aggressive B2B programs.” “Our customers may be convinced they don’t need us anymore. Are they correct? I mean, we can’t outAmazon, Right?”

After college in Oklahoma, Hughes learned direct selling of fastening-related products to end users with a German-based company. Within two years he became an outside salesperson. “The next few years I learned the art of selling, and I started developing key relationships, one of which was with a hard-working and determined gentleman by the name of Ray Kinnunen,” Hughes recalled. Kinnunen, a concrete contractor by trade, “had grown tired of driving so far to obtain rental equipment and supplies. So with a $400,000 loan and a 4,000 sq. ft. building, he started Kinnunen Sales & Rental, offering a few pieces of rental equipment and some concrete related supplies, including the shots, pins, anchoring and drilling products my company offered.” In 2013, Hughes and his spouse bought the distributorship from Kinnunen.

“Our slogan at Kinnunen Sales & Rental is - ‘Getting You Back to Work’ - and we’ve built a business on that promise.” That required getting the customers and retaining them when they “have the option to purchase our products not only faster, but also in some cases, cheaper from Home Depot, Lowes, Amazon, and whomever pops up online overnight.” “We’ve accepted the fact that in the next five years nearly 75% of our customers - those people we depend on to stay in business - will be Millennials and Gen Z-ers. We’ve ditched the oldguy gripe about how we hate change, or how we hate how these youngsters think…and we’ve made change after change after change, to simply….keep up with change.”

Building Strong Relationships With Our Vendors

Hughes said “opportunities to buy from someone else are only going to continue to multiply as we’ve seen happen at lightning speed in 2020. We’ve got to have reasons for not only our customers, but also our vendors, to hang with us.” One way the “Kinnunen underdog bites back is by building strong relationships with our vendors. Let’s all agree - our vendor partners have a responsibility to their companies, their employees and shareholders to produce results. To that end, servicing the big box stores and various online platforms due to their sheer volume is an option they are unable to pass up, but you know what? Our vendors love us and they know what we bring to the table. We’re the guys who will take the vendor to the jobsite and get their brain and heart involved in our projects. No one at the big box stores or online giants are going to do that. We’re going to make sure our vendors know our partnerships with them are a huge part of our ability to succeed. They are going to feel, see and understand how much we need them, appreciate them, and depend on them to help us take our market share back.” That’s just one way the underdog bites back.

Johnson Tells STAFDA: Ban Paper in Front Office

Investment in Online and Social Media Platforms

Hughes noted many distributors saw sales skyrocket in 2020 because of the surge in online buying. “And how did they get so much business? Because of their investment in online and social media platforms. Their willingness to follow the trends of younger buyersand older buyers - wanting the buy-iton-my-phone convenience.” Now before everyone says, “Yeah, but I can’t afford a million-dollar website with apps,” hear me out, I’ve said that same thing for years. The answer doesn’t have to be that difficult or costly but doing nothing is no longer an option, just like doing nothing wasn’t an option in the formative years of your business,” Hughes advised. “We can’t keep our holier-than-thou attitudes, thinking everyone should come to us because we have a beautiful store on Main Street where the shelves are dusted, the floor is swept, and our employees greet you with a smile,” Hughes said. “We’re going to keep providing those things, but we also have to accept the new religion of apps and online buying trends of this generation, and all future generations.” “We have to reach a market who, for the most part, we don’t see,” Hughes said.

Move your distributorship into the future by eliminating paper in the front office, Andrew Johnson advised the Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association. Johnson, CEO of Shelfaware LLC and a multiple generation distributor, spoke on transitioning distributors to the digital world where they can reclaim “the edge back to small business.” Distributors must have a programmer on the payroll to develop “automatic analytics,” Johnson said. Distributors need a “data dashboard with alerts, triggers.” “Own your data,” Johnson urged.

With data driven inventory, distributors can compete directly with Fastenal, Grainger and Home Depot. The big chains already dominate search engine advertising. Distributors need to “pick and choose” their online presence, Johnson advised. But even websites may get outdated, Johnson cautioned.

“It is about the eyeballs,” Johnson said. “What are they looking at? LinkedIn? Videos?” But they can compete in their niche – such as furniture fasteners.

His own family’s distributorship specialized in O rings.

To compete, a distributor can move into assembly and repair “bordering on manufacturing,” Johnson said. Small distributors can offer customizing.

Not every idea will work, he acknowledged. “There are going to be swings and misses.” Part of his distributorship’s move into the future involved him and his brothers-in-law discussing what each one was good at and not good at.

That must be expanded in companies.

“Team members need to know what they are not good at,” Johnson emphasized. Fastenal has grown in servicing safety & janitorial businesses. Fastenal installed 100,000 vending machines in customers’ locations.

Small distributors need to “stick to what you do well.” Attack competitors “where they are weakest. Use a digital approach to carve out your market niche.”

Marc Strandquist Promoted to Optimas CEO and Opens New PPE & MRO Distribution Center in St. Louis

Optimas Solutions of Glenview, IL, USA, has opened a new distribution facility in Overland, MO, USA. Optimas, a global industrial manufacturer/distributor and service provider, opened the 30,400 ft 2 facility near St. Louis to handle the USA distribution of a new line of manufacturing consumable products focusing on personal protective equipment (PPE) and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO). Optimas Solutions has also promoted President of the Americas, Marc Strandquist, to Chief

Stanley Engineered Fastening to Expand

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear recently announced that executives with Stanley Engineered Fastening, a Stanley Black & Decker company, plan to create some 49 high-paying job positions for Kentuckians with a US$6 million expansion at its Christian County facility. Stanley Engineered Fastening plans to add 30,000 ft 2 to the existing 250,000 ft 2 Hopkinsville facility, which will grow the current business and expand into other products. Once complete, the expansion will elevate the plant’s total employment to 205 workers. Work on the project is expected to conclude in July. Established in 1966, the Hopkinsville facility produces a variety of brackets, plugs, fasteners, inserts, bolts, nuts, rivets and screws.

Executive Officer (CEO). In his new role, Strandquist will oversee planning/ execution of the company’s strategic plan for its regional business groups— Americas and International. Strandquist will continue to oversee the firm’s Americas business unit. In that role, he has ignited revenue growth, service diversification and technology advancements, which also drives improvements in sourcing, operations and customer service across the USA, Canada, Mexico and South America.

Russian News

BelZAN Became the First Supplier of Fasteners for Volkswagen in Russia

The Belebeevsky plant “Avtonormal” (part of the “RT-Capital” of the state corporation “Rostec”) became the first Russian supplier of fasteners for the Russian division (“Volkswagen Group Rus” LLC) of Volkswagen.

An agreement was signed for a period of four years, according to which the company will annually supply more than 9 million parts for Volkswagen and Škoda passenger cars. The plant's products are already used in the assembly of bodies and the installation of units at the Kaluga plant and in a separate division of the mentioned automaker in Nizhny Novgorod. Under the contract, the enterprise has mastered the production of twenty new types of fasteners with increased corrosion resistance.

As noted by General Director of “RT-Capital” Kirill Fedorov, last year, thanks to the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, the authorities of Bashkiria and the state corporation “Rostec”, represented by “RT-Capital”, it is possible to prevent the bankruptcy of the enterprise and begin the process of its stabilizing.

The press release clarifies that the share of BelZAN in the Russian market of fasteners for the automotive industry is about 36 %. The plant is the main supplier to KAMAZ and AVTOVAZ.

New Course for Localization of Auto Components Production for the Recovery of Industry

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, together with the Industrial Development Fund, are planning to launch a grant program for the localization of the production of auto components in the Russian Federation in 2021. “We will launch a grant program for the implementation of investment projects to localize the production of auto components, - said Denis Pak, Director of the Automotive Industry Department, during a meeting with Denis Manturov, Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. - We have already pledged 1 billion rubles for grants."

Pak also announced the intention to introduce a point system for the export of auto components, which will allow manufacturers, as well as enterprises of related industries, to join the global supply chains of global car manufacturers.

Will the new measures help the development of automotive fasteners production? At the exhibition Innoprom 2020 Vadim Sorokin, President of GAZ Group, spoke about the loss of the Russian auto component industry: “The result of the industrial assembly regime was the entry into the market of global platforms with a low level of localization in Russia and the displacement of local platforms. The consequence is a contraction in demand for the Russian auto components, disruption of production chains and the departure of some suppliers. In fact, during this period we have lost the auto component industry".

The Oryol Company to Invest over 100 million Rubles to the Launch of a Fastener Packaging Line

The Expert Council of the Industrial Development Fund (FRP) has approved the issuance of a loan to “SDT-Group” LLC (Oryol Region) for 50 million rubles. The funds will be used to launch a new automated line for fasteners packing. The total cost of the project is 101 million rubles. The new production capacity will be almost 2000 tons of products per month.

New Equipment Put into Operation at “Parallel”

At the end of October 2020, the company “Parallel” (Orel) launched a high-speed press with induction heaters for hot stamping of turnkey nuts of 18 to 30 mm from steel 40X, 09G2S, st.35, st.45. Earlier in October, new equipment for heat treatment of products, longer than 3 meters, was launched. The new heattreating unit was used to manufacture embedded products for the foundation of “The Sun of Moscow”, the largest Ferris wheel in Europe.

Ukrainian Industries in the Fight Against COVID

According to sources from Metiz Magazine, many companies in Ukraine are working partly as a result of COVID-19. Additionally, Ukraine made a definitive AD duty determination on certain steel fasteners from China and the rate of 67.4% turmoiled the market. The situation has just recovered since November 2020. Ukraine staged a strict lockdown in January 2021 to curb the spread of COVID.

The only industry in Ukraine that showed growth is the building industry. To reduce unemployment, the Ukrainian government announced a “Great Building Program” that led to growth of 0.2% over the entire building industry in the first 9 months of 2020. Hopefully the Ukrainian fastener industry could grow in 2021. In 2020, the Ukrainian GDP declined about 6% and the import of steel products dropped 20%. According to World Bank, the Ukrainian GDP growth in 2021 is expected to remain modest at 1.5%, rising to about 3.7% by 2023 and the import will recover in the second half of 2021.

Ale xan de r O sta shov, e ditor of "Fa ste ne rs, Adhe sive s, Tools

Maga

Brazilian News

ZwickRoell: 10 Years in Brazil

The German manufacturer of material testing machines celebrated with all cares needed

April 22, 2020 marked the 520th anniversary of the Discovery of Brazil, the same day that ZwickRoell Group completed ten years of opening its subsidiary in this South American country.

However, it is almost unnecessary to recall the reason that led the company to postpone its commemorative event, which ended up taking place in November 26, in Campinas City, SP, home of ZwickRoell's local subsidiary.

“On a scale of 10, I consider a grade 7, which could be much better, but our start was a little difficult, especially since we spent the first two years operating in a joint venture formed with a local company. But it was in solo activity that we improved the results, especially in the last three years”, commented Gustavo Videira, the Brazilian Managing Director.

As global leaders in machinery and technology for material testing and quality control - with a history that begins in 1854 - Zwick and Roell are individual companies in the same segment and country, Germany, which have joined together since the 1990s.

The Âncora Founder Died

After many years as the founder and owner of R. Simioni store and fastener distributor, in São Paulo State Capital, Roberto Simione and Renato, his son, founded Âncora Fastening Systems, a Brazilian company that combines activities of a manufacturer and importer in fasteners. Since then, the company established in Vinhedo town, SP, has expanded rapidly, mainly in the construction sector, currently operating with more than 200 employees on an area of 25 thousand m² , with 7 thousand m² as the manufacturing floor.

November was the Best Month for the Auto Industry

But the Brazilian sector was haunted by shortage and high prices

According to the monthly survey showed on December 7, 2020, from Anfavea, the Brazilian Automaker Association, November was the best month of 2020. However, almost all industries, not just cars, were haunted by shortage of raw materials, components and constant price increase, as well as the restrictions generated by the pandemic.

In November 2020, 238,200 units of vehicles were produced, a growth of only 0.7% over October, and therefore, the industries are unable to keep up with the increase in demand caused by problems mentioned above. This result is a 4.7% growth over the same month in 2019, a period that there were around 330 thousand units of vehicles in stock, while until the conclusion of monthly report were just 120 thousand units of vehicles in stock. In the factories and in the stores network the stock was just for only 16 days of sales.

However, the year-to-date production at 1,804,759 units was 35% lower than 2019.

Fastener Imports Closed with a 23% Drop

Currency depreciation was good to local producers

The sales of bolts, screws, nuts, rivets, nails and other kinds of fasteners (made of iron, steel, copper, or aluminum) to Brazil closed the year with a drop of around 23%, but seller countries - such as China (with 25% market share by value), USA (16%), Japan and Germany (10%) and Taiwan (5.6%) - were already in recovery, resulting mainly from the second quarter of 2020. In November 2020, US$ 46.87 million (9,765 tons) worth of fasteners landed on the Brazilian ports, while in October 2020 were US$ 43.50 million (9,115 tons). Closing in November, the imports totaled US$ 451.4 million (93,733 tons), with a 22% drop.

SouthWind International: 25 years

One of the most important and solid sales agents of machines and tools for the fastener manufacturers in Brazil

When it comes to machinery and tooling for the fastener industry in Brazil there are two names that work as a guide and reference on the subject: SouthWind International (SW) and the company’s founder, J. Graef.

Founded in 1995, these two names merge as SW market share is growing not only in Brazil but also Latin America and in the US where the company has started a subsidiary in Florida since 2015.

SW’s expertise reaches all fastener production areas, from raw-material preparation, throughout all steps of the production processes, including the inspection and packing of final products.

Some of the companies that SW has exclusivity in Brazil, as the sales agent are Nedschroef, Weighpack, Universal Punch, PTG-Reed, Wrentham Tool Group, Reed Machinery, Tecno Impianti, Videx and others.

by Sergio Milatias, Editor

Indian News

Steel Wire Units May Close Owing to Raw Material Paucity

According to a senior industry body official, steel wire makers, belonging to the labor-intensive small and medium enterprises (SME) sector, are facing acute shortage of raw material. This may lead to the closure of several units.

He added that about 100 units in the organized sector that offer employment to about 500 thousand workers in the country are already operating below 50 percent of their rated capacity, and if the situation continues, several of them will have to close down.

The steel wire makers have appealed to the government to ensure raw material supply and imports of specialized items that are not produced in the country.

“The industry is facing acute shortage of high-grade wire rods, the main raw material for wire production, which has varied application in nation-building,” Tirthankar Banerjee, Secretary-General, Steel Wire Manufacturers Association told PTI.

“The paucity of high-grade wire rods is 50 percent, and it is due to inadequate domestic supply and import restrictions,” he added.

The association has urged the Union Government to ask Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to streamline its specialized wire rods plant at Burnpur and advise Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) and other private steel makers to supply enough raw materials to the SME sector at fair prices.

Punjab Industrialists and Exporters in Trouble Amidst Farmer Protests

In view of the ‘Rail Roko’ agitation by farmers, the Engineering and Export sector in Punjab is facing a major crisis due to nonmovement of containers from Punjab to the port and disruption in supplies of raw materials. Hence, the North Region chapter of Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC India) has appealed to the Punjab Government to come up with a solution to ensure movement of industrial goods and raw materials.

In a recently press conference, Kamana Raj Aggarwalla, Chairperson, EEPC India (NR), said that while the association supports the protesting farmers, the industry in Punjab was up for a major crisis due to non-movement of goods amidst its struggle to emerge out of the severe setback caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the prolonged lockdown.

“All the industries including bicycles, fasteners, hand tools, agriculture machinery, sports goods, hosiery, and auto parts are struggling to get the raw materials. Export of existing orders is getting delayed due to non-movement and unavailability of containers in Punjab. Containers are not moving from Ludhiana dry port and there is scarcity of empty containers for exporters,” she added.

Tushar Jain, EEPC Panel Convenor (Agriculture Machinery), said at least 3,500 customs cleared and ready-to-dispatch containers were stuck in Ludhiana. “Road transport remains a short-term expensive solution but that does not solve the problem completely due to national permit issues and additional high costs.”

Sharad Aggarwal, Industry Representative, said that the buyers are panicking and this situation is fetching a bad repute to the Punjab exporters.

“This can have long-term consequences due to loss of trust of buyers,” he said, adding that the payments of the exporters of Punjab are also stuck as buyers are not releasing the payments without having received the products.

Guneet Rana, Deputy Regional Chairman (NR), EEPC, said Haryana is facing similar protests but is able to move the containers at night. The Punjab Government, he added, should come up with a similar solution with the protestors.

Provided by Abhijat Sanghvi (Fastener Association of India)

The Customized size, imperial size are available with variable embedment depths.

European News

Impact of Covid-19 Less Negative than Feared

After a significant slowdown in business due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hilti Group has reported that initial signs of recovery are emerging. Total sales for the January to August 2020 period decreased by 12.3% to CHF 3.426 billion, and by 7.3% in local currencies, compared to the previous year.

Christoph Loos, CEO of the Hilti Group, comments: “Following the unprecedented slump in our business during the spring lockdown, our figures have gradually recovered since June. We are therefore weathering the crisis better than originally feared, albeit with very large regional differences. This makes us cautiously optimistic, even though the crisis is by no means over and uncertainty remains high.”

While last year got off to a good start, business in North Asia slumped sharply in February 2020 and from mid-March onwards there was a clear downward trend in all markets. After the low point in the 2nd quarter of 2020, a gradual recovery set in. From January to August, total sales fell by 12.3% to CHF 3.426 million. Net income fell by 13.9% year-on-year to CHF 314 million. The result is also burdened by the strong appreciation of the Swiss franc. The negative currency effect, for the period from January to August 2020, amounts to about 5% points in terms of sales.

LISI Group Sees Signs of Improvement for Q3

LISI Group achieved consolidated sales of €923 million in the first nine months of 2020, with an uptick in sales between Q2 (-45.9%) and Q3 (-30.4%) driven by the automotive division.

Third quarter consolidated sales were €286.7 million, down 30.4% on the same quarter in 2019, but up 20% quarter-on-quarter. LISI Aerospace’s Q3 sales were down by 39.6% at €137.5 million compared to the same period of the previous year. This decline is amplified by the deconsolidation of Indraero Siren and LISI AEROSPACE Creuzet Maroc, which represented a decrease in sales of - €28.7 million.

The Fasteners segment, which had enjoyed good momentum before the Covid-19 pandemic, posted a - 34.7% sales decline in Q3 compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year. In North America, markets outside commercial aviation (business, military, and helicopters) could not offset the collapse in demand for commercial aviation. At €121 million, the quarterly sales of the LISI AUTOMOTIVE division recovered to -14.3% compared to the same period of the previous year, after the - 60.1% drop recorded in Q2. In the first nine months of the year, they were down - 29.1%, compared to a decline in global production of - 27.9% over the period under review.

LIGNOLOC® Now with Technical Approval

Earlier in 2020 the German Institute for Construction Engineering issued the National Technical Approval for load-bearing timber connections using LIGNOLOC® wooden nails. After extensive tests and complex calculation models, all expectations of the expert committee were met. The approval enables the planning, design and execution of load-bearing connections in timber frame construction. Planks and panels made of solid timber, wood-based materials, or gypsum fibre, can be attached to wood building materials using LIGNOLOC® wooden nails from Raimund Beck GmbH. In addition, connections can also be made with LIGNOLOC to produce bracing and load-bearing wall diaphragms.

LIGNOLOC is the first collated wooden nail for use in industrial production, made from central European beech wood. The special design of the LIGNOLOC nail point and the large amount of heat generated by friction when the nail is driven in at a high speed cause the lignin of the wooden nail to weld with the surrounding wood to form a substance-to-substance bond. This effect – referred to as lignin welding – has been tested and confirmed by scientists at the University of Hamburg, by means of UV scanning of the cell structure.

Key benefits of LIGNOLOC wooden nails include not acting as thermal bridges and avoiding unsightly wood discoloration or traces of corrosion, as well as causing less tool wear when processing nailed wooden components subsequently. Raimund Beck points out the nails are also ideal for ecological timber construction using 75% less greenhouse gases than when producing steel nails.

Unity is Strength

Specialinsert® highlights its new DEFORM-NUT® SELF-LOCKING deformation rivet is the ideal solution for fixing parts subject to risk of loosening and strong vibrations. Designed, patented and produced by Specialinsert®, this deformable tubular rivet with selflocking thread, also patented, in cylindrical or hexagonal version provides a nylon ring at the end of the thread to friction the screw during assembly. It can be easily installed on boxes, pipes, sheet metal, profiles and on all those supports that do not allow the insertion of nuts inside them.

DEFORM NUT® SELF-LOCKING combines advantages of the classic deformation rivet with the function of self-locking nuts. As well as installation on parts without the possibility of access from the inside, its technical advantages include anti-loosening guaranteed without the use of additional components such as a thread locker or spring washers, as well as a quick assembly of the connecting screw. This is due to not requiring the use of two tightening spanners, unlike the selflocking nut.

Available in galvanised steel and stainless steel, as well as in other different shapes and dimensions, the DEFORM NUT SELFLOCKING features a medium tightening torque for correct installation of M6 – M8, a tightening torque 9Nm -18Nm and traction loads of 13,000N – 21,000N.

GESIPA® Celebrates Its 65th Anniversary

In 1955 a small company named ‘GESellschaft für Internationale PAtentverwertung’ was founded. Shortly afterwards a patent application was filed for the ‘process of producing breakstem blind rivet joints’ and a ‘hand tool for setting blind rivets’.

This was the beginning of GESIPA®, including its first participation in the Hanover trade fair at the end of the 1950s, GESIPA was able to make a lasting impression on many customers from various industries with its blind riveting technology.

Family owned until the end of 2008, GESIPA has now been a member of the internationally operating SFS Group for more than ten years and has established itself as one of the leading suppliers in the sector of blind riveting technology. From the first battery powered blind rivet setting tool to efficient, automatic processing with setting process monitoring, GESIPA blind riveting technology has been meeting the highest demands in industry and trade for 65 years.

Bossard Shows Considerable Improvement in Q3 2020

After the marked decline in sales in the second quarter of 2020, driven by global government Covid-19 measures and their impact, Bossard Group has reported the third quarter showed some recovery – achieving sales of CHF 200.6 million (prior year: CHF 218.5 million).

Bossard underlines that whereas sales had dropped by 17.5% in the second quarter, they fell by only 8.2% in the third quarter (-5.6% in local currency). For the first nine months of 2020, the Group posted sales of CHF 600 million (prior year: CHF 669.4 million), a decrease of 10.4% (-6.5% in local currency). Notwithstanding the strong Swiss franc, the third quarter results give reason for cautious optimism.

As long as the Covid-19 pandemic does not lead to further significant restrictions in the sales markets of the Bossard Group, Daniel Bossard anticipates sales between CHF 780 million and CHF 800 million for the financial year 2020. “We are now seeing a slight recovery in our markets, even though some uncertainty remains as to how they will respond to the resurgence in the number of Covid-19 infections,” added Daniel Bossard.

Bulten Reports Strong Order Bookings

Bulten AB confirmed strong order bookings and increased market shares, thanks to new contracts, for Q3 after the quarter began cautiously following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Operating earnings during the quarter rose to SEK 40 million and primarily reflect the higher sales and production volumes. All employees on reduced working hours or furlough due to the pandemic have been back on full hours since 1st October 2020.

During the quarter, Bulten’s net sales increased by 18.8% and order bookings by as much as 70.2%.

Anders Nyström, president and CEO at Bulten, commented: “The higher sales and dramatic increase in orders indicate that the automotive market is in recovery, and we continue to win market shares as satisfied customers entrust us with new contracts.”

by Marco A G ue r r itore

What is the Future for the Car?

The car-bolt is atavistic. The car cannot exist without bolts and, conversely, the bolt owes its technical evolution to the progress of the car’s design dynamics over time.

The car industry is very important for the fastener industry both in terms of consumption – an average of about 20 kg of fasteners are used in each vehicle – and the quality of the product. Most of the fasteners used in car manufacturing are special, and therefore, technologically advanced.

Today, however, the car industry is going through a period of great uncertainty. The logical question is therefore: “What is the future of the automotive sector?” Many scenarios are opening up and all of them are disturbing. The first scenario is the one associated with Covid-19, which is proving to be more detrimental than the 2008-2009 crisis where the market lost 15% and returned to positive territory the following year. Today, due to the pandemic, the European car market is collapsing.

The real effects of Covid-19 are however highlighted by the negative percentages of car sales in the most critical period of the pandemic, i.e. in April 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. The percentages of some European countries are shown below:

An analysis of the distribution in the decline of sales in European countries shows that they are more consistent in countries where “confinement” has been harsher. In his report, the President of ANFIA (Italian Association of the Automotive Industry) Paolo Scudieri, points out that in the first eight months of 2020 the European car market lost 2.67 million units. In August, a month with traditionally low volumes, the decline in registrations was again more significant (-17.6%), although not at the levels of previous months (June closed at -24%).

The ANIA bulletin states that total registrations in Italy for the month of July amounted to 113,653 units (-10.9%), while volumes in August amounted to 88,801 units (-0.4%). In the first eight months of 2020, total registrations amounted to 809,655 units, a decrease of 38.9% compared to the volumes of the same period in 2019.

The analysis of the Italian car market by fuel type is very interesting, again according to the data released by ANFIA. Cumulatively, since the beginning of 2020, the share of new diesel cars is 35%, with registrations down by 48.5%, while the share of petrol cars stands at 42% with volumes down by 42% in the January-August period. Alternative fuel cars accounted for 23% of total registrations, down by 4%. In particular, gas-fuelled cars decreased by 41% while registrations of electric cars (BEV – Battery Electric Vehicle) grew by 106%, plug-in hybrids by 200%, and non-rechargeable petrol hybrids by 30% and non-rechargeable diesel hybrids by 78%. Electric vehicles, as a whole, accounted for 14% of the market in the period between January and August 2020.

In addition to the market trends, it must be noted that with the advent of the pandemic, the notion of mobility is also changing. Due to the danger of catching the virus,

especially in large cities, more and more people prefer to use private cars instead of public transport. This choice should therefore lead to a surge in the car market. On the other hand, however, it must be considered that, especially in large cities, the deterrent to use passenger cars is the chronic lack of parking and difficulty of circulation. Unfortunately, in recent years many Italian cities have developed without any consideration of the existence of the car. Furthermore, the high concentration of cars causes another drawback i.e. air pollution. This should not only make the authorities more responsible, but also large companies. They should speed up the implementation of their sustainability programmes in order to meet the expectations of consumers. Needless to say, people’s sensitivities and behaviours can change radically and very quickly under the influence of events.

“We have witnessed the forceful emergence of a concept that is not directly linked to the pandemic, but that derives from an idea of wellbeing and the common good in which air quality, especially in large cities, is now considered a priority and no longer just a niche for convinced ecologists,” emphasises sociologist Franco Morace. “This is especially true among the younger generations, who already show a disaffection towards private cars and instead push for new forms of urban micro-mobility. For them, the car continues to be a mysterious object and certainly no longer an object of desire.”

According to the sociologist Morace, the social concept of the car is gradually changing in the minds of consumers. The car as a symbol of social status is beginning to fade, especially among the new generations, it is losing its importance due to a change of mentality because it is less and less the object of desire. Furthermore, what currently dampens the enthusiasm of those who

are about to buy a new car is the great difficulty in choosing the right one. There are so many questions: Diesel or petrol? Petrol or hybrid? Hybrid or electric? Electric or is it better to wait for hydrogen? In short, there are many questions that embarrass, disorient and demotivate potential buyers who could, especially if they live in a city, opt for alternative solutions such as any form of “car sharing”.

A great incentive for the car of the future should come from improvements in automatic driving. The car industry is making a great effort by investing a lot of money in research aimed at completely resolving the problem within a reasonable time period. At present there are 5 levels of autonomous driving. It starts from the first level which consists, above all, of electronic driving assistance with the use of radar and

various sensors, and ends with the fifth level where the car is able to move independently in any direction and in all conditions.

The vast majority of cars sold today have level one and level two driving systems, and therefore with partial autonomy. Moving to higher levels of autonomous driving is not a simple matter; large investments in design and experimentation are required, but the progress of automatic driving will certainly lead to a great revolution in the use and perhaps in the very concept of the car. Automatic driving combined with innovative concepts of eco-friendly motorisation could be the catalyst to give new life to a sector that has been showing signs of advanced ageing for some time.

The entire and important sector of components will also be involved in this phase of renewal, which in 2019 had a turnover of about 170 billion euros and employed more than three hundred thousand people. And within the context of car components, the fastener holds one of the places of honour and must therefore play its role with the usual swiftness and ability. In order to be ready to face future events, fastener manufacturers will have to bring to the table: inventiveness, courage, initiative, professionalism and above all financial commitment. Consequently, the collaboration between the bolt and the car will be as strong as in the past, even during the renewal phase.

TONG HO SHING Wins Customers’ Trust with High Quality Small Screws Being Technology and Quality Centered,

by Gang Hao Chang, Vice Editor-in-Chie f o f Fastener World

Located in Luzhu, Kaohsiung, Tong Ho Shing International Co., Ltd. is specialized in producing stainless steel hex washer socket head screws, flange screws, round head screws, flat head screws, pan head screws, etc. The specifications of its products range from M3.5 to M6 (DIN standards) and from #6 to #14 (IFI standards). In addition to standard products, Tong Ho Shing also welcomes partially or fully customized orders and is capable of suggesting the most suitable tolerances according to customers’ drawings, helping maximize the ultimate performance of customers’ products.

| Mainly Serving Construction and Furniture Application Markets / Well-built Customer Loyalty

Entering the ISO 9001 certified factory of Tong Ho Shing, one will see piles of orderly placed high-quality stainless steel wires already in place for further processing and those heading/drilling/threading machines at the rear end operated by professional technicians are also running at full speed to process the orders placed by European/U.S./Japanese buyers. With strict quality management systems, Tong Ho Shing can deliver products to customers within the most efficient lead times. If customers have requirements for surface treatment or corrosion resistance, Tong Ho Shing also has several associate factories to carry out these requirements and can even give suggestions about red rust and white rust standards according to applications of customers’ products. With its scrupulous service attitude and professional technology complementing each other, Tong Ho Shing has gained lots of loyal customers since its inception in 2011.

Vice General Manager Zhu Xiao Yu said, “Rigorous but flexible management is our biggest know-how. Our management staff regularly go around and inspect the factory and help solve problems of on-site operators. We also process orders through computerized and systematic ERP to effectively keep track of every customer’s order status. If customers’ orders are urgent, we can also make them into a priority and redeploy our staff to process to fully satisfy their demands and avoid shipment delays.”

| Winning the Game by High Quality and Upgrading Facilities & Strengths Continuously

Despite the existence of so many competitors on the global small screw market, Tong Ho Shing still holds a firm presence by offering products with a high quality-price ratio and continuously attracts customers to place their orders. Since the factory relocation from Gangshan to Luzhu in 2014, the number of Tong Ho Shing’s equipment has quickly increased from 10 sets to 60 sets, which means a significant increase in its manufacturing capacity over the past few years. It is also expected that by June 2021 a new office building will be built and the renovation of the factory will be finished.

Vice General Manager Zhu said, “In addition to construction of the new office building and renovation of the plant, we may also purchase two more sets of equipment in order to offer customers higher service quality, respond to new products development demands, increase manufacturing capacity, and create better competitiveness of products.

| Developing More Overseas Customers and Offering Service Closer to Them

In addition to consolidating existing and major European and U.S .customers, Tong Ho Shing is also active in developing overseas customers and hoping to bring its products and service closer to local markets and make them more satisfying to customers. Vice General Manager Zhu said, “We are dedicated to creating a win-win between us and our customers. Although customers are from different countries, our service, attitude, and quality are all the same. As far as Tong Ho Shing is concerned, winning the trust of customers and satisfying their demands with excellent management, leading technology, and conscientious service have been always the most important things of all.”

Tong Ho Shing contac t: Ms. Zhu Xiao Yu ( Vice General Manager) Email: mini952952@gmail.com

Sources: Market Research, Mordor Intelligence, and Report Linker.

Introduction

Increasing development of the construction and automotive industry, adoption of innovative production, growth of smart office and home, technical knowledge accessibility and availability and for sure increasing demand for maintenance, repair and general servicing tasks are the key impacting factors driving the growth of the global DIY fastener market.

With no doubt, the global DIY fastener market was hurt significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic as most economic activities were paused or even totally shut down during the first few months of the pandemic this year. Most major revenue-generating end-users of DIY fasteners such as construction, automotive, commercial renovation, and home improvement activities were affected and leading to a substantial drop in terms of sales. Restrictions, movement control orders and lockdowns disallowed the extensive application of hand tools and fasteners by workers and contractors, thereby affecting destructively the overall revenue generation for the market during this period.

DIY Fasteners and Hand Tools Markets

The global DIY fasteners and hand tools are interrelated and interdependent markets. The global hand tools market was valued at USD22.2 billion in 2019, and is expected to reach more than USD30 billion by 2027, recording a CAGR of about 4% within the next 7 years. The major hand tools which are closely related to the fastener market are hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, rivet guns, and clamps.

The factors such as rise in recovery in the construction industry and growth in industrialization and urbanization drive the growth of both DIY fasteners and hand tools markets. This growth is more obvious in the developing countries which empower DIY culture and it helps to drive the market growth rapidly. Furthermore, the growth in machinery and equipment manufacturing sectors around the globe offers lucrative growth opportunities for DIY fasteners and hand tools market players. However, the current pandemic situation has unleashed a series of exceptional events distressing every industry. Therefore, both DIY fasteners and hand tools markets have been both affected by Covid-19 pandemic and therefore their value chains need to be adjusted or, in some cases, redesigned, more specifically on their distribution channels, to the new normal.

DIY Fastener Market in 2 02 0 and Beyond

by S he r vin S hahidi Ha me dani

Market Drivers

Although the DIY culture still remains as on the most important drivers of DIY fasteners market there are some other main drivers which we review them in this section.

Fast industrialization and increasing applications in household and commercial sectors are predominantly driving the DIY fastener market. The growth in application of fasteners in automobile, construction (and home improvement), electronics, and repair and maintenance are the key drivers of DIY fasteners’ demand.

Increasing industrialization in the world is contributing in the growth of DIY fastener market, more specifically for maintenance and service purposes. A good example is the high demand of DIY fasteners in the automobile sector. Since the growth of automobile market and its maintenance and repair sector are not dependant on any particular region and the automobile industry is successful across the globe, the demand for DIY fasteners in this market is expected to continue its growth. However, as mentioned earlier, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted exports, imports, demand and trends in each and every industry and it is expected to face some economic impacts on the DIY fastener market.

There is another key driver in the DIY fastener market, which is consumer income. Large companies compete through volume purchasing, extensiveness of products, and effective merchandising and marketing while small companies focus on a market segment and compete through the depth of products and superior customer service. Last but not least, the developments in technology and the widespread

usage of cost effective devices and tools have fuelled the adoption of DIY fasteners amongst consumers.

Market Fragmentation

With the presence of both global and regional players the DIY fasteners market has been fragmented. Additionally, with the current pandemic situation, it is expected that companies invest more in the resilience of their supply chains and, in particular, reduce their dependency on China (as one of the largest DIY fastener exporters).

Manufacturers will be constantly focused on technological advancements, design innovations, and improving the product quality with respect to their products to meet the buying nature of their target consumers, due to high rivalry in the market. The competition in the global market will be expected to get more rigid with several price wars, product launches, and strategic alliances in domestic and international markets. Consequently, the profit margins are getting affected as a result of the rising competition among the rivals.

Sales Channels

The traditional key players and large DIY fasteners chains have been forced to adopt new strategies and revaluate their business strategy. E-Commerce and Omnichannels have had a huge impact on the market. If we look at the share of online purchases of overall DIY products, online channels may not be the large percentage of the total sales but when we look into some specific product groups, or type of DIY fasteners and tools online purchases could be significantly high in both volume and value.

As a majority of DIY resources are available online, instore display plays a major role in how DIY consumers learn to manage DIYs. Large retailers have seen a boost in sales by implementing these tactics, but these are not so beneficial for small and local businesses. Most often, small businesses excel over the big box stores, in terms of customer service and store-consumer relationships. The significant number of DIY users are likely to explore products in the store, but they may order those products online. Since the price is mainly the first and key factor for purchasing DIY fasteners, price comparison is much easier for buyers when they go online.

Moving Towards DIFM

There is a new trend in the global DIY market which is expected to penetrate and expand into DIY Fasteners in the long run, which is called DIFM (do-it-for-me). It is expected that DIY fasteners, to some extent, experience the transformation towards DIFM. Apparently, this trend differs prominently based on the product type and category but the current pandemic situation where many people have lost their jobs may impact positively on the growth of DIFM market.

In some countries, mainly European countries which have a large share of the consumers who are getting old to perform DIY jobs, DIFM concept is growing faster. Consumers and end users will start to outsource their work, which will lead to more DIFM and eventually more demand for DIY products including fasteners and tools.

Discovering New Opportunities Amid the Pandemic -

the Fastener Market in Hungary

Manufacturers hope that the pandemic will end in the middle of 2021, but the question is, will things go back to normal? This question is important because the behaviour of most clients has changed and returning to the time before the pandemic is not a realistic idea. The pandemic has forced communities to rapidly change the way they work, communicate, and consume products and services. Previous crisis has taught companies that shortterm action in response to global crises leads to major changes that turn into routine actions. Producers who understand and act on this new habit will have an ample opportunity to grow.

Short-term Pandemic Opportunities for Hungarian Fastener Industry

All economies have suffered because of Covid-19, and Hungary is no exception, but each bad thing that happens may have a good face. Fastener manufacturing in Hungary, demand, supply and workforce availability are affected at the same time. Fastener producers in Hungary are experiencing drops in demand and extreme pressure to cut operational costs. Their supply chains of parts and raw materials, their selling and export system have been disrupted. The other matter was that their office employees could manage their meetings through the Internet, but most factories do not have digital infrastructures to manage via the Internet. On the other hand, World Health Organization Protocol puts an extra pressure on fastener manufacturers, as almost 50% of their employees will be unavailable to do their chores on-site.

Highlighted opportunity: It is time for transformational technology in the Hungarian fastener factories to go faster.

Long-term Pandemic Opportunities for Hungarian Fastener Industry

The coronavirus pandemic is a vital moment for Hungarian fastener industry.

Improve their exported fasteners’ value: Hungarian exported fastener value is around 115 million USD in 2019 and it was estimated to decrease to 90 million USD in 2020, which means a more than 20% decline. For example, European countries have decided to return their production from off-shore supplies to their countries. In an effort to reduce the operational costs, Western producers have lost the ability to produce offshore. Therefore, it is predictable that production lines of the machinery category which is around 85% of GDP in developed countries, will be brought back to the countries of origin through some incentives programs. Western governments are almost certain to use domestic manufacturing as part of their plans to build up strategic resilience in the aftermath of the current crisis.

Highlighted opportunity: Focus on European car manufacturing countries. Bringing the manufacturing back home means Chinese fastener suppliers' power will decrease.

How Can Hungarian Fastener Producers Improve Their Export?

A- Supply Chains Issues: Most suppliers for automotive producers in European countries are located in South Asia; and therefore, it is obvious that their supply chains suffered a lot during the pandemic. They have experienced unbelievable shocks. In the short term, automotive producers must be looking for

b y Behrooz Lot fian

ways to ensure continuity and introduce flexibility. Fastener producers in Hungary that invest in automation can be significant. Automation is the journey of improvement and its result is competitive domestic production. The pandemic has increased the operational costs of overseas production for automotive manufacturers; and therefore investing in automation and robotics will increase productivity of fastener producers in Hungary. New technology creates new jobs in this country and opportunities for smart digital employees will be increased but do not meet the demand for low-skilled labour. On the other hand, Big Data helps fastener producers manage their risks and flexibility; and therefore, increases their opportunities for winning the fastener competition in Europe.

B- Data Infrastructure as a Tactical Asset: In 2017, the Economist announced that data has become the world’s most valuable resource. The COVID-19 crisis has made having access to reliable, real-time data an absolute necessity for coordinating the right response to customers. The fastener industry in Hungry should learn the systems of data gathering and data analysing as the technical tools for finding their right strategy in the market.

How Can Hungarian Manufacturers Change an Opportunity into a Great Success?

In the above paragraphs we talked about different opportunities that Hungarian fastener companies have. An opportunity is valuable for making a corporate success. The following tips can turn into an opportunity for a big success.

1- Based on my experiences, the management engaged in the fastener industry deals in facts and figures, and analytical approach to a problem. “Getting to the bottom of the situation” is the goal. In short, the management deals with reality. However, the successful approach is “dealing exclusively with perception”. What matters to managers who believe perception works, is not the “fact” of a situation, but what’s in the minds of consumers that may or may not correspond with reality. Since perceptions are difficult to measure, these managers often use holistic thinking.

2- Making a strong brand is the key to success, not better products. In this industry, most managers believe that “nothing matters except for high quality products. It sounds so logical; how could anyone disagree? But when you look at the situation from a fastener buyer’s point of view, the “better-product” logic falls apart. Even a fastener expert would find it hard to find any significant quality differences between German, Chinese, American, Taiwanese fasteners. There are significant differences, of course, but they don’t exist in the product. They exist in the mind of the buyer. If the prospect wants cheap fasteners, he or she heads to a Chinese factory. A well-built fastener is Germany’s fasteners and etc.

3- Leave the full line of production and keep your focus. Logic in favour of the fastener managers approach: If you have a full line of fastener products, you are obviously going to sell more fasteners than if you have a narrow line. They have forgotten that selling is the second step in a competitive market with super strong competitors like German manufacturers. The first step is building a brand in the mind. And with a full line, that can be difficult.

The Future Fastener Demand Forecast on Australia and New Zealand

Australia

The market size of fasteners in 2019 was around 700 million USD. The imported fasteners value was around 567 million USD and the exported fasteners value was 133 million USD.

The same story goes with imports in 2020 because of the pandemic. From January to September of 2020, the imported fasteners value was around 390 million USD, which translates to 43 million USD monthly.

Based on this trend, Australia’s exported fastener value can be 520 million USD, which is 8% lower than 2019. The GDP of Australia has declined 7% in comparison with 2019.

In terms of export, Australia’s exported fastener value was around 81 million USD in Jan-Sep 2020 which is 9 million USD monthly, and therefore it is predicted that their export value will be 108 million USD for 2020. It has a 19% decline.

New Zealand

The market size of fasteners was around 115 million USD in 2019 and the imported fasteners value was 110 million USD and the exported fasteners value was around 5 million USD.

The figures in 2020 have changed as below:

In terms of imports, in the first 9 months of 2020, their imported fastener value was around 74 million USD and can reach 98 million USD for the whole year. It means their imported value may decline around 11%. In terms of exports, the figures of New Zealand were very small with 3 million USD for the first 9 months of 2020, and can reach 4 million USD for the whole year, which means a decline of 20%. It seems the trend of these two countries are the same.

What will be the Future of the Fastener Industry in These Two Countries?

Statistics of Australia’s imported fasteners:

Their imported value increased slowly between 2 to 3 percent per month. For example, in December 2019 their orders decreased 17% but they compensated for the lack of orders in the next month. The pandemic’s shocking is shown in their figures completely. A sharp reduction in orders (a 32% decrease) in February when the pandemic started. And after that, the fear of a long-term lockdown caused the orders value of Australian importers to improve. In August, the situation returned to normal because of some news of vaccines and the government learning from the first wave began to control the pandemic better.

The trend of New Zealand's figures is the same as Australia’s with two differences,

1- Their imported fastener value growth was around 15% monthly. 2- New Zealand had stricter anti-pandemic rules so their orders value decreased for 3 months.

So, based on the statistics, the market of these two countries will grow positively, but we should note that the future is not predictable, but will be created. Australian and New Zealand's fastener manufacturers should create their future. It is obvious that their figures are very low. New Zealand’s is much lower than Australia’s. So, the first question is how manufacturers in these countries can create their future.

Statistics reveal that most fastener manufacturing companies in Australia and New Zealand are “national” companies, not “global” companies. But in the future, that is likely to change. The economy is strongly in favour of global companies rather than national companies.

Today, most countries are filled with national fastener manufacturers. The opportunities to build national chains in established categories get slimmer every day. The future belongs to global companies. Fastener manufacturers in Australia and New Zealand that remain "national" will likely face a difficult future. The opportunities for global companies are huge. Even a giant country like China represents only 18 percent of the

b y S harareh S hahidi Hamed ani

global population. A Chinese fastener manufacturer that goes global could potentially increase its revenues more than five times.

Problems with Going Global

When a company decides to go global, it will usually take its existing line of products and try to sell them on the global marketplace. That almost never works.

One of the most-go global principles: The larger the market, the narrower your product line must become. The global market is different than the domestic market. Here are three principles to follow when Australian or New Zealand's manufacturers want to go global.

(1) Narrow down their scope of company. This is the first step in going global. They can’t take an existing product line and try to sell it globally. That doesn’t work.

(2) Leadership in a category. Market their product as the leader in a category in its Australia or New Zealand. But it is clear that finding a category and be a leader in it is so difficult for these manufacturers. So, they must use innovative and creative tools to figure out a positioning strategy that will make them the leader.

(3) Countries own positions. The automobile as the most engineered product, was invented in Germany. That’s why German machineries are in a stronger position in the global market than other countries. This will be a big challenge for Australian and New Zealand's fastener manufacturers because their countries are known as livestock countries. So how they can solve this matter, they may build a fastener industrial zone in Australia and then start to make that area known instead of Australia or New Zealand.

Last Word

Australia and New Zealand are the countries that controlled the pandemic fast. The advantages of global trade are very important for the long-term benefits of almost every country in the world. They must be innovative to create a category in the fastener industry and put themselves as a leader. For this objective, most of them forget and produce everything, they have to put focus. Stop some part of their production line and make narrow company focus then they will be ready for going global. This approach makes them competitor-oriented companies instead of customer oriented companies.

Now they might be thinking, what possible difference does it make? They are customer oriented, not competitor oriented. That’s a mistake. they win or lose in today’s marketplace by being competitor oriented, not customer oriented. A second mistake is to ignore the category you compete in. The category should also dictate your strategy. Most of these companies work in the old categories dominated by Chinese, Taiwanese, German, American companies and Australian and New Zealand's fastener manufactures don’t have any chance to be a leader.

Innovation Alley

Spray-type Rust Remover Applicable to Threads

Japanese Engineer Inc. has added ZC-28 Spray type Rust Remover, suitable for wide spraying, to the "NejiSaurus" kit series.

Features:

1. Instantaneous reaction to rust. Rust removal of small parts completed within 3 seconds.

2. Neutral liquid for safety.

3. The liquid can seep into the tiny gap between the bearing surface and threads when sprayed at screws installed on components.

4. Applicable to automobiles, agricultural machines, pipes and so on.

Low-cost Bolt Loosening Inspection Technology

Shibaura Institute of Technology teamed with PhD researchers from University of Edinburgh and successfully developed a way to evaluate bolt loosening at low cost. They utilized ultrasonic vibrations inaudible to human ears to measure the frequency and axial force at the tip of a bolt through which they can inspect bolt loosening. This process doesn't rely on inspectors' skillfulness and is therefore simple, convenient and lowcost. This technology can be introduced into machines for thread loosening inspection.

Image from Shibaura Institute of Technology press release

U.S. Imports of Fasteners Within the South Korean vs Japanese Market

A n analy sis on U S impor t s of f as tener s f r om S outh Korea and Jap an Has the S outh Korean and Jap ane s e mar ket of f as tener s suf fered dur ing the recent p andemic? Has the U S maint ained a high demand of f as tener s f r om the A sian mar ket s? Have there been any signif ic ant trends in U S impor t s of f as tener s?

by Sabrina Rodriguez

Data note: The data for this article is derived from the US Census trade statistics. US Import and Export Census trade statistics is based on all modes of transportation. That value is calculated in USD by CIF (imports). In this article fasteners are defined as any product under HS Code 7318 (screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, rivets, cotters, cotter pins, washers and similar articles or iron or steel), as well as the subcategories of 7318.

In 2019, the U.S. imported a cumulative 846,251,396 USD of fasteners from Japan and South Korea. Japan made up over 76% of that yearly total, while South Korea contributed a little over 23%. Fast forward to today, the U.S. has reported a total 569,318,362 USD during the first 10 months of 2020. Compared to the same period in 2019, the total value has plummeted by over 20%. It is no surprise to learn how much fastener trade was impacted due to the ongoing pandemic, especially exports from the eastern Asia region. Many of the major fastener manufacturers in Japan and South Korea were temporarily forced to reduce production, while other manufacturers completely ceased production during the start of the pandemic impacting their exports of fasteners to the U.S.

United States Import from Japan vs S. Korea (2019 vs 2020)

Product HS : SCREWS, BOLTS, NUTS, COACH SCREWS, SCREW HOOKS, RIVETS, COTTERS, COTTER PINS, WASHERS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, OF IRON OR STEEL Country of Origin

Understanding the South Korean Fastener Market

South Korea accounted for 23.4% of fastener exports to the U.S. in 2019, and Japan accounted for over triple of that. Similiarly during the first 10 months of 2020, South Korea has exported a total of 26% and Japan has exported 74%. South Korean manufacturers such as Korea Part & Fasteners and Dongkuk Steel are dominating the fastener market and are maintaining a competitive advantage with innovation and technology. These major Korean manufacturers along with several of their closest competitors have maintained a steady stream of exports to the U.S. over the last 4 years. Exports to the U.S from South Korea peaked in 2016 with 220,695,373 USD and have been falling shy of that total ever since.

It was not until February 2020 that the U.S. first faced its first decrease in fastener imports from South Korea. The total imports of fasteners in February dropped to 14,655,110 USD, and then dropped again in June 2020 to 8,797,374 USD. The U.S. saw the highest value of fastener imports in March, followed by the second highest value in October. Judging by the month of October, the last two months of the year appear very promising, however, it is unlikely for the total value of 2020 to reach the total of 2019.

During the first 10 months of 2020, South Korea doubled their exports of 73181550 from 6.48% in 2019 to 13.51% in 2020. Exports of 73182200 also increased by a mere .44% during the first 10 months of 2020 by comparison to the same period of 2019. 73181520, 73181580 and 73181600 continued to be the three highest imported subcategories of fasteners during 2020.

United States Import from Japan vs S. Korea

(Monthly)

Product HS : SCREWS, BOLTS, NUTS, COACH SCREWS, SCREW HOOKS, RIVETS, COTTERS, COTTER PINS, WASHERS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, OF IRON OR STEEL

United States Import from Japan vs S. Korea

Product HS : SCREWS, BOLTS, NUTS, COACH SCREWS, SCREW HOOKS, RIVETS, COTTERS, COTTER PINS, WASHERS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, OF IRON OR STEEL

Is Japan Leading the Fastener Market?

When compared to South Korea, Japan is leading in fastener trade with the U.S. by exporting nearly three times as much as South Korea. Japan has maintained a fastener export value of nearly three times as much as South Korea since 2016, and it looks like 2020 will be no different. On a larger scale, Japan trails Taiwan and China which have consistently proven to be the largest manufacturers of fasteners in Asia.

The largest Japanese manufacturers exporting fasteners to the U.S. are NTN Corporation and Aoyama Seisakusho. These two manufacturers are amongst a large array of manufacturers in Japan supplying the ever long U.S. demand for fasteners. While NTN is headquartered in Japan, many of the U.S. importers of NTN bearings are NTN subsidiaries in the midwestern portion of the U.S.

Fortunately for the Japanese market, manufacturers have maintained a very stable yearly total value of fastener exports to the U.S. As we have been witnessing in 2020, trade has decreased and Japanese exports to the U.S. were no exception. During the first 10 months of 2020, Japan exports to the U.S. decreased by a little over 23% by comparison to the same period in 2019. That 23% accounts for a decrease in value of 126,504,449 USD which is an extremely significant amount. It first became evident in May 2020 when Japan significantly reduced their fastener exports to the U.S. demonstrating how much the pandemic was impacting manufacturing and how much U.S. demand had decreased, even if it was only temporary. The U.S. reported 33,622,337 USD in May, followed by 25,414,355 USD in June and 26,215,306 USD in July. It was not until August that the U.S. saw an increase totaling 34,771,179 USD followed by an upwards trend in the following months.

United States Import from Japan

Japan exports of fasteners decreased across all the subcategories of 7318 during the first 10 months of 2020 by comparison to the same period in 2019. The most significant decrease was within subcategory 73182900 which decreased by 34.7% in 2020. Other subcategories that decreased significantly in 2020 include 73181550, 73181580 and 73181600.

Looking into the Future: Fastener Trade with the U.S.

It is difficult to know if companies will be able to recuperate the revenue lost during this extremely challenging year and end up finishing strong. There has been a significant shift away from trade negotiations with China this year, however, the next presidential administration will likely need to act quickly and renegotiate trade laws with China. Until then, U.S. companies may continue to source fasteners and other steel commodities from other countries to avoid paying exuberantly high tariffs on Chinese goods.

Major U.S. corporations are still in high demand of commodities such as fasteners, especially automotive companies. Chrysler and Toyota are two of those main companies in the U.S. importing fasteners. Other industrial manufacturers in the U.S. are also continuing to source fasteners from foreign markets in order to sustain their own production of goods. As many in the business world would say ‘the show must go on.’ Despite the pandemic, companies are learning to work smarter and become more innovative during these times. Markets around the world are beginning to experience relevant stabilizations when it comes to trade patterns which gives hope for a better tomorrow.

United States Import from S. Korea

RCEP Impact on Taiwanese Fastener Industry

15

Asia Pacific Countries Signed RCEP

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) that entails a big influence on regional economy across the world was signed among 15 countries at the 37th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi City, capital of Vietnam on November 15, 2020. Specifically, it is the world’s largest free trade agreement at a total GDP scale of USD26.2 trillion from RCEP member countries. It covers about 30% (2.2 billion people) of the world’s population and 30% of the world’s export (around USD 5.5 trillion). It has established the world’s largest free trade zone including Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, China, and South Korea. Tariff abolishment rate is as high as 91%. Indian Prime Minister Modi took us by surprise with his last-minute announcement that India will not be a part of RCEP out of two worries: imbalanced trade and domestic trade protectionism. Indian’s decision creates a void in RCEP’s deployment in Asia Pacific economy. Nonetheless, this doesn’t affect RCEP's economic influence. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vietnam Prime Minister and rotating chairman of ASEAN, said the completion of this massive free trade agreement will create a new trade structure in Asia Pacific to foster trade convenience and make for an internationally competitive supply chain in the region, and support the region’s economic entity to recover as soon as possible when COVID-19 comes to an end.

The idea for RCEP originated from China in 2012 when the trade negotiation between the U.S and China came to a halt. A massive regional economic entity of 15 countries was formed out of the basis of 10 Asian countries and “plus 5” countries being China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. To China as the largest factory and market with a population of 1.3 billion in Asia Pacific, RCEP is much economically and politically lucrative to open up a new playing field in globalization and multi-lateral collaboration for China. It alleviates the economic impact of tariff battle between the U.S. and China starting in 2019, and also makes for a bigger influence for China in Asia Pacific trade, providing synergy in strategic integration of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Tariffs on 90% of Goods will be Reduced to 0%

The RCEP protocol covers 20 chapters including Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures, Trade Remedies, Trade in Services, Movement of Natural Persons, Investment, Intellectual Property, Electronic Commerce, Economic and Technical Cooperation, Government Procurement, etc. Additionally, RCEP provides special and differential treatment and various execution time frames for members of various economic development levels. The World Trade Organization has to cater to over a hundred member countries with different opinions, but communication is easier with RCEP having just 15 countries and a scale much bigger than FTA between two countries. The openness and depth of collaboration are unmatched by WTO. Besides opening a channel for countries not having FTA, RCEP expands and deepens FTA. Regarding tariff, the RCEP agreement demands that over 90% of goods trade within the regions will be tariff-free once the agreement kicks in. The tariff will either be slashed to zero immediately, or gradually within 10 months. Especially the trade in services and the openness for investment is higher than the free trade agreement of ASEAN 10+1. Meanwhile, RCEP adds free trade for two critical pairs of countries, ChinaJapan and Japan-South Korea, to significantly improve free trade within the region. With the opening of trade under RCEP, the top beneficiary except for China is Japan. RCEP connects Japan to China, South Korea, and New Zealand which otherwise wouldn’t have a bilateral free trade agreement with Japan, and therefore improves trade preferences among China, Japan and South Korea. To Taiwan, the three countries provide important coopetition. In other words, RCEP does raise the intensity of Taiwan’s external environment of competition.

What RCEP Does to China

Trump lashed out at China with punitive tariffs since he took presidency in 2017, which made China push for the signing of RCEP. We will have to wait and see if the signing will put the new President Biden in a position to redraw trade policies and related economic strategies. As far as this Author's assessment, the America First policy with the Trump administration will not change much after Trump steps down. However, the Democrats know free trade is the way to prosperity. Given the current complexity of international work division, shorter product cycle, and broad and dispersed consumers market, Biden could return to CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) after the signing of RCEP, or revoke multiple Trump’s sanctions on China and bring the U.S. back on the track of free trade.

In China’s perspective on regional economy following the signing of RCEP, China will turn linear point-to-point trade into a trade network to form an alliance of shared economic benefits among RCEP members. China guaranteed the members that it won’t shut itself off from them in a worst-case scenario, and that it won’t be excluded from free world trade. ASEAN became the top trading partner for China since 2019. The EU ranked second, followed by the U.S, Japan, and South Korea. RCEP encompasses ASEAN, Japan and South Korea. In the region which RCEP covers, Japan is the only country currently without a free trade agreement with China, and negotiation with China, Japan and South Korea on free trade zone is met with obstacles. Japan and South Korea are allies to the U.S., and Japan in particular is the central pillar in Asia for the U.S. to leverage against China. It is the interference of the U.S. that stalls the negotiation with China, Japan and South Korea on free trade zone, but China reached an agreement on tariff with Japan and South Korea under the RCEP framework, breaking the trade barrier between each other. As long as China’s products are competitive, China will remain as a critical and even the most essential trading partner to Japan and South Korea. With RECP as a layer of protection for China, hurdles are high for the U.S. to economically exclude China via Japan, South Korea and even ASEAN. Even in an extreme case that, hypothetically, the U.S and Europe both shut off trade with China, China can be

assured to have trade with three out of its top 5 trading partners. Add Russia, Africa and Latin America to the list, and China can keep a fundamental scale for external trade. Then on RCEP’s geopolitical value to China, despite a priority seat in RCEP was reserved for India, given the Indian economic development before and during the pandemic, India will not be part of RCEP in the short term to this author’s assessment. Regarding India’s decision to opt out of RECP, with tension on the borders of China and India, and the Indian population of 1.3 billion people that adds weight to India’s remarks, as well as India's speed of economic development in the future, India would have been countering China and become an obstacle against China’s operation if it had stayed in RCEP. Therefore, India opting out of RCEP is, geopolitically, a benefit for China. Wrapping up, China is the biggest winner of the signing of RCEP.

RCEP Impact on Taiwanese Fastener Industry

Asfar as Taiwan is concerned, the RCEP agreement is one with excludability and allows only its members to be entitled to various benefits. Considering the current relationship between Taiwan and China, it is out of the question for Taiwan to join RCEP. Given that Taiwanese companies cannot have preferential tariffs in the region that RCEP covers, they will have to move their production lines out of the region to develop the RCEP market with the same benefits as other countries’. However, moving out the production line could raise Taiwan's unemployment rate, undermine the industry, put the economy in a standstill and form a negative cycle. On the other hand, if they choose not to move out, they are left with covering tariff costs on their own in order to compete with other countries having preferential benefits. Therefore, quality improvement and product innovation is critically fundamental. High quality from Japan and South Korea and low price from China has put a lot of pressure on them. Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs and

Table1. Taiwanese Steel Fastener Export to 15 RCEP Countries from 2015 to 2019

Councilor of the Executive Yuan made a statement on the signing of RCEP as briefly listed below:

1. RCEP will enhance interaction among China, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN. Initial assessment concludes the impact will cast on Taiwanese petrochemical, textile, steel and some other industries.

2. The final determined tariff rates will not all drop to zero percent, and thus RCEP is a free trade zone with a lower level of freedom. Most of the members of RCEP have a free trade agreement with one another. Less change in coopetition on the market. India drops out and slashes a large chunk of benefits off RCEP.

3. Facing the changes in international trade, the Taiwanese government will continue to help industries improve and seek to join CPTPP of higher level and of more freedom.

4. 70% of Taiwan's products exported to RCEP countries are tariff-free ICT (Information and Communications Technology) products. Machinery, steel and textile taking up the remaining 30% will take the impact but it won’t be much.

To sum up, the Taiwanese government thinks the signing of RCEP is within the tolerance range, but it requires deliberation over traditional industries including machinery, steel and textile. Taiwan's fasteners are part of the steel industry that is subject to the impact and could face tariffs from 5% to 15%. This clearly shows the specific impact on Taiwanese fastener industry. The table above is the value (USD 1,000) and volume (ton) of Taiwanese steel fastener export to 15 RCEP countries from 2015 to 2019.

The Role of Taiwanese Relevant Associations and Government

The statistics indicate steel fasteners exported to RCEP countries take up 12% to 17% of the total steel fastener export from Taiwan. In 2019, the 3 export destinations were Japan (at USD 3,310/ton), China (USD 5,620/ton) and Thailand (USD 3,570/ton). Taiwan sells fasteners of high unit price to China, but to Japan at a price that is the lowest among the top 3. Will the market in China be taken over by South Korea and Japan? Will the market in Japan be taken over by South Korea and China? This should be on the watch list of Taiwanese fastener companies.

To the Taiwanese government, seeking and enlarging Taiwanese fasteners’ presence in Southeast Asia is essential in the government’s New Southbound Strategy. The RCEP members agreed to clear tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers for one another while retaining their individual tariff on external countries and FTAs/ ECAs. In Taiwan's perspective, there is a window of opportunity among the 15 member countries of RCEP, and that is Singapore and New Zealand. Taiwan signed ASTEP, effective from April 19 of 2014, with Singapore which was the first economic cooperation agreement that Taiwan signed with a Southeast Asian country. The freedom of trade with ASTEP can expand the export market for both Taiwan and New Zealand, foster investment, and increase benefits for consumers. Singapore is a critical economic trading hub in Southeast Asia. ASTEP will help Taiwanese companies open the market in that region. Taiwan signed ANZTEC with New Zealand on July 10 of 2013 which grants freedom of trade on 99.88% of taxable Taiwanese products, and 100% on taxable products in New Zealand. Excluding partial reserved product categories, the service and investment markets are fully open between Taiwan and New Zealand. Besides Singapore and New Zealand, Taiwan must work harder to have free trade agreements with other countries. The government should tailor make subsidies for individual industries when details on tariff reduction is released. Taiwanese fastener associations should closely monitor this and seek government subsidies for association members.

Thesigning of RCEP will not cause an immediate and obvious impact on Taiwanese fastener industry because most of the companies have prepared for years. The most direct and common way is to set up an overseas plant or register a plant at a third-party location, apply for export rebate, or use other product categories to cover tariff cost. Taiwanese fastener companies are adept and nimble so the impact of RCEP isn’t apparent. In 2020, COVID-19 was effectively controlled in China because of lockdown. The U.S. and Europe are still in the pandemic storm so that the world is more economically reliant on China, which inevitably is also the case for Taiwan. The Taiwanese government should take into account RCEP’s long-term impact on Taiwanese economy and come up with a corresponding strategy. It should also make efforts on tariff agreement and FTA/ECA with other countries, and more importantly, tailor make RCEP-related subsidies for Taiwanese fastener industry.

Taiwan’s Fastener Trade with ASEAN

As a result of the pandemic, Taiwan’s fastener export value to ASEAN dropped quite a lot. The drop extended to more than 20% in Taiwan's fastener export to most ASEAN countries, except for the drop of export to Thailand which barely kept within 10%. What particularly stuck out was Cambodia to which the export of Taiwanese fasteners grew 15% in value despite reduction in volume. Cambodia handled the pandemic well in the first 11 months of 2020. For once it had zero positive cases on April 13 and also for as long as a month. Cambodia could be a stepping stone for Taiwan’s fastener export.

First 11 Month’s Export Value down 12% and Import Value down 19% in 2020

by De an Tse ng, Fa ste ne r World

In our previous issue, we wrote that fastener (HS code 7318) export from Taiwan to the world in the first 3 quarters of 2020 dipped 12% over the same period of 2019. The backdrop of U.S./ China trade war in which the U.S. is to put more focus on ASEAN to counter China, along with the signing of RCEP that pulls the world’s attention to Southeast Asia, urge the need for this article to take a closer look at Taiwan’s fastener trade with ASEAN by analyzing trade figures from January to November 2020.

Thailand as the Largest Taker of Fasteners Exported from Taiwan; Cambodia Sticks out with Increased Import

Taiwan’s top 3 fastener export destinations in ASEAN were Thailand (USD 59.4 million; 19 thousand tons), Vietnam (USD 30.33 million; 6,857 tons), and Singapore (USD 18.72 million; 3,683 tons). The export proportion to Thailand neared 40%. For Vietnam, it was nearly 20% and for Singapore, 12%. We can tell that Thailand compared to other ASEAN countries has a lot more demand for Taiwanese fasteners. In light of the trade war that shifts Taiwanese companies’ focus to Southeast Asian markets, the fastener markets in Thailand and Vietnam are worth developing for Taiwanese fastener companies.

Taiwan’s Fastener Export

Taiwan’s top 3 fastener import origins in ASEAN were Vietnam (USD 3.26 million; 1,997 tons ), Thailand (USD 1.45 million; 327 tons), and Singapore (USD 1.38 million; 22 tons). The import proportion from Vietnam reached 37%. Particularly the fastener import from Indonesia during the pandemic leaped nearly 1.5 times in value and nearly 2.5 times in volume. The import value from Malaysia grew over 70%. The import value from Philippines recorded the largest drop of 61%.

By comparison, in the first 11 months of the pandemic, Taiwan's fastener export to Thailand decreased 9% and import from Thailand increased 2.9%. The export to Vietnam increased 0.6% and import from Vietnam decreased 20%. The export to Singapore decreased 25% and import from Singapore increased 11%.

Automotive Screw Export to ASEAN Grew Nearly 30% Against the Backdrop

Against the backdrop in which the export of almost all Taiwanese fasteners to ASEAN tumbled, automotive screws are the only fastener product with a nearly 30% growth in export value during the pandemic. As mentioned in the previous issue, considering Taiwan’s global fastener export, automotive fasteners face a tremendous challenge in their export to the world (especially to the U.S. and Europe). However, if we look into ASEAN, we will find that automotive screws sell relatively better there during the pandemic. With Japanese, South Korean and Chinese carmakers and component makers rooting in Southeast Asia, Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian governments dished out their automotive industry blueprints to improve automotive capacity and switch to electric vehicles. ASEAN is expected to become an automotive industry hub in South Pacific Ocean and could provide a sales alternative for Taiwanese automotive fastener companies.

On another note, the previous analysis mentioned Taiwanese construction screw (wood screw) export to the U.S. was on an apparent growth path (export volume up 57%; export value up 36%). On the contrary, Taiwan’s export to ASEAN dropped across all construction screw categories, where self-tapping screws dropped 8% and other wood screws dropped 26%. It means the automotive market momentum remains in ASEAN during the pandemic, but momentum seems to turn weaker in the ASEAN construction market.

Worried Taiwanese Fastener Company Owners Frown at Inaccessible International Trade Agreements

The latest topic that concerns Taiwanese fastener business owners is the signing of RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic

Taiwan’s Fastener Import from ASEAN from Jan. to Nov. 2020 (Unit:

Taiwan’s Fastener Export to ASEAN from Jan. to Nov.

Partnership) on November 15 of 2020 among 15 countries in the Asia Pacific region. Although the Taiwanese government concludes that RCEP shouldn’t cause much impact on the whole Taiwanese manufacturing industry, that is not the case for a portion of Taiwanese fastener companies. The fastener industry performs well in aerospace, automobile and electronics, but faces tense price competition from China and Southeast Asia, as well as negative factors about exchange rate and tariff. Despite the fact that some Taiwanese fastener companies have already deployed into Southeast Asia, Taiwan’s inaccessibility to RCEP favorable taxes spells hidden risks for other fastener companies.

Fastener World Magazine asked around a few Taiwanese fastener business owners regarding RCEP and reached one conclusion. On fastener products, Taiwan exported only around 3% of its total to Southeast Asia. Couple that with partial Taiwanese fastener companies having deployed bases there, RCEP should only have limited impact on Taiwan's fastener export on the whole. However, since up to 90% of exported Taiwanese fasteners end up in the U.S. and Europe, Taiwanese fastener companies are more interested to know whether Taiwan can join CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership). On fastenerrelated machines, they are exported mostly to Southeast Asia. For one, some Taiwanese companies have had establishments there; for another, China's machine manufacturing level will not be able to exceed Taiwan’s at least in the short term and Taiwanese machine pricing is lower than the American and European pricing, and therefore RCEP shouldn’t amount to a huge impact on Taiwan’s machine export to Southeast Asia. In any case, CPTPP is definitely the best shot for Taiwanese fastener products and machinery companies if there is a chance to be part of CPTPP.

(Unit: USD; KG) (By sub-items)

Taiwan’s Fastener Import from ASEAN from Jan. to Nov. 2020 (Unit: USD; KG) (By Sub-items) Rank in g H

In December 2020, Biden said in a New York Times interview: “I’m not going to enter any new trade agreement with anybody until we have made major investments here at home...” This signifies temporary inability to see Taiwan make its way into CPTPP and the broader world market through the support from the U.S. However, William Pesek wrote in a column of The Nikkei (the Japanese economic newspaper) that Biden could support Taiwan to join CPTPP after he assumes the presidency in the White House, because the best way for him to prove America’s return to lead the world is to get back in CPTPP. If there is a turn of events like so, it could provide a new export alternative with preferential tariffs for Taiwanese fastener companies.

QDr. Fastener Aerospace Fasteners

by La urence Cla u s

What are Aerospace Fasteners?

A: Aerospace Fasteners are fasteners that are used in aircraft and space vehicles. Normally the Aerospace Fastener market breaks into three segments; Commercial Aircraft, Business Jets, and Defense and Space. Many Aerospace Fasteners fall into similar categories as industrial and automotive fasteners, like bolts and screws, wrenchable nuts, and inserts but there are some fasteners that fall into categories only found in aerospace like pin and collars, anchor plates, and panel fasteners. Somewhere around 40%- 50% of all Aerospace Fasteners are made to National Aerospace Standards Committee (NASC) standards.

QHow are Aerospace Fasteners Different than Fasteners in Other Fastener Markets?

A: The answer that everyone may think is the answer here would be that Aerospace Fasteners are much more highly engineered or complex than other market segment fasteners. The reality is that probably isn’t quite true. There is no doubt that Aerospace Fasteners, generally speaking, are used in a higher percentage of critical applications than products in other market segments, but the manufacturing technology and sophistication in making the parts is not much different. I would say that the two most significant differentiators are; 1. Workmanship, and, 2. Quantities (lot Sizes). Lot size (the number of parts manufactured at one time) defines, for the most part, how a manufacturer is going to design their methods and processes to make parts. Making large quantities in a single run requires a very different approach than smaller quantity runs.

Q

What is “Workmanship”?

A: Workmanship is a term we apply to the “quality” of the part. Workmanship takes into account paying attention to small details. You might get a sense for good workmanship if you consider what bad workmanship is- parts that are “sloppy” and have lots of small defects would be examples of bad workmanship.

QHow is Aerospace Workmanship Different?

A: A high percentage of aerospace parts are in critical fatigue environments. (Fatigue is a progressive failure mode when a part sees repeated on and off load cycles.) Parts most vulnerable to fatigue failure are ones that have stress concentrations or flaws that make it possible for a crack to initiate and grow. Many of the small surface imperfections can become cracks. Therefore, many aerospace parts have exceptional workmanship requirements. Parts must be free of cracks, both large and very small, thread laps, folds, dings, nicks, and scratches. Additionally geometric form is often much better than non-aerospace parts, sporting heads that have been shaved almost perfectly round and ends that have been machined flat and square.

Q

Why do Aerospace Fasteners Often Have the Fillet Radius and Threads Rolled After Heat Treating?

A: Again, because of the fatigue concern, often times Aerospace Fasteners have measures taken to make them less vulnerable to fatigue. Normally, the two most highly stressed areas on an external fastener are the fillet area (the junction from the head to the shank) and the first and second threads engaged in the internally threaded feature. To strengthen these areas, manufacturers of Aerospace Fasteners often put the parts through a unique process of rolling the fillet radius and threads after heat treating. What this accomplishes is placing a compressive stress in the parts at those locations which make it much harder for a fatigue crack to start.

Q

What is Aerospace Quality Material?

A: Once again, in an effort to reduce the chances of fatigue, Aerospace Fasteners often use specially produced raw material. Aerospace Quality material basically addresses two things; internal quality and external surface quality. All wrought metals have a small amount of contaminants inside. If these contaminants are too great in number or too big, it has the effect of dragging down the performance of that particular lot of material. While most normal material is melted at the mill in atmospheric furnaces, most aerospace material is melted or remelted in a vacuum furnace. In some instances material may be remelted up to three times in a vacuum. The vacuum has the effect of drawing impurities out to the surface which can then be removed once the material cools off. Repeating this process multiple times has the effect of pulling more and more contaminants out. In addition to the inside, processing techniques at the Mill often leave flaws in the outer surface of the raw material. Aerospace Quality raw material removes that outer layer by cutting or grinding it away.

Q

Do you Need AS9100 or AS9120 to be an Aerospace Fastener Supplier?

A: I can’t say for sure, as every customer gets to make up their own requirements. AS9100 and AS9120 are both aerospace versions of Quality Management Systems. AS9100 is for manufacturers and AS9120 for distributors. These systems are derived from ISO 9001

and actually “add” requirements to the 135 requirements already found in this standard. Aerospace customers, like many automotive customers, have established prerequisites of doing business with them. Often one of these requirements is that you have a registered Quality Management System to AS9100 or AS9120. If you already have a registered Quality Management System like ISO9001 or IATF 16949 (if you are an automotive supplier), it may not be that difficult to add AS9100 or AS9120. However, if you possess no formal, documented Quality Management System, preparing for and becoming certified is a big task.

QHow Can a Company Become an Aerospace Fastener Supplier?

A: Possessing the expertise to make Aerospace Fasteners is generally not as big a hurdle as one might think. Although workmanship requirements foster different manufacturing approaches and processes, the actual methods, equipment, and engineering are not that different. The challenge is the approach. Understanding the quality, workmanship, and customer service requirements of aerospace customers can be very confusing and challenging to the uninitiated. Additionally, as already discussed in one of the earlier questions, Aerospace Fasteners are purchased in smaller quantities so that manufacturing lots are much smaller than other fastener market segments. Companies must structure themselves to work in this sort of environment. In many instances an existing operation must try to infuse a small lot production model within a large lot production model. In fact, it just doesn’t work, which is why you don’t see manufacturers that provide product across a wide spectrum of market segments (i.e. aerospace, automotive, industrial and construction) supplying them from the same facility. In addition to the manufacturing systems required, aerospace fastener manufacturers usually must receive approvals from their aerospace customers to make parts. This is known as Source Approval. Aerospace Fastener customers often require source approvals, either of the product or of vendors conducting contracted processes such as heat treating or plating. Failure to follow these Source Approval guidelines will quickly get a company ‘blacklisted”. Although I believe it is possible, my personal experience teaches me otherwise, fastener manufacturers that are not today aerospace fastener manufacturers will not be successful simply trying to break into the business. If a non-aerospace manufacturer is really interested in becoming an aerospace Fastener manufacturer they will need to be very deliberate and intentional in making it happen and should probably approach it like starting a Greenfield business from scratch.

Aerospace Fasteners

Chronicle of Taiwan Fastener Industry

2005

Jan. 24-27

BUDMAInternational Construction Fair in Poland

波蘭波茲南建材展

Sep. 13-16

BalticBuild in St. Petersburg, Russia

俄羅斯聖彼得堡 國際建築建材展

Mid-year 2005

Dra-Goon sited its new factory in Taiwan to dominate its administrative superiority

掌握管理優勢 承曜新廠根留台灣

Oct. 12-14

8th Japan Osaka Mechanical Components & Materials

Technology Expo

第8屆日本大阪

機械及工業零配件展

Oct. 26-29

9th Hong Kong International Hardware & Home Improvement Fair

第九屆香港國際 五金及家居裝飾展

Nov. 17-18

9th annual National Industrial Fastener Show / West

全球最大第九屆

美國拉斯維加斯螺絲展

Oct.

Persistent planning for new factory; Long Hwa Screw Works toward a new era

持續規劃新廠

隆華螺絲邁向新紀元

Nov. 25

Chun Zu Machinery

held a golf tournament to celebrate sales of machines reaching over ten thousand units

春日突破萬台回饋

舉辦高爾夫球聯誼賽

Nov.

Mr. C. H. Lu was elected as the third president of Taiwan Fastener Association

呂慶雄先生當選中華民國協同螺 絲發展促進協會 第三屆理事長

Dec. 02

14th First General Convention of Taiwan

Industrial Fastener Institute

台灣區螺絲公會第14屆

第1次會員大會報導

Dec.

Your Choice Fasteners & Tools awarded the 28th “Model of Taiwanese Entrepreneurs”

太子螺絲年終報喜 榮獲第

28屆創業楷模暨事業扶持獎

12月27日

連翔公司楊敏捷先生榮任 「週二螺絲隊」新任會長

2006

Feb. 10

Taiwan Fastener Trading

Association new year cocktail party

台灣螺絲貿易協會春節團拜聯誼酒會

Feb. 28

Ching Chan Machinery new product opening seminar for PSL1520 automotive imagecontrolled screw screening machine

Mar. 05

National Manufacturing Week

美國芝加哥零組件製造展

Mar. 21

Jern Yao held the 3rd golf friendship competition celebrating the sales of forming machines reaching over 1,500

正曜舉辦第三屆 高爾夫友誼賽歡慶

Apr. 11-13

14th Chinese Fastener Industry Trade & Technique Forum in Nanjing

第14屆南京中國緊固件產 業貿易暨技術論壇

May

Gwo Lian’s new plant was completed

國聯新廠落成 客戶的讚賞是唯 的驕傲

Mar. 05

精湛強勢研發 汽車螺絲影像 篩選機新機發表 International Hardware Fair / Practical World, Cologne

德國科隆五金展

Mar. 28-Apr. 01

FASTTEC in Moscow, Russia

俄羅斯莫斯科螺絲展

Apr. 04-08

FEICON BATIMATInt’l Construction Industry Trade Fair, São Paulo, Brazil

巴西聖保羅建材五金展

Breaching Virus Blockade with Massive Online Attendance

The largest American fastener show held a successful online show on November 11th and 12th, 2020. Fastener World participated with a virtual booth there and broke out the blockade of the third coronavirus wave. In addition to Fastener World, there were also 6 other Taiwanese exhibitors at this virtual event, which included Huang Jing Industrial, Spec Products, Chite Enterprises, J.C. Grand, Pro-Path Industrial, and New Best Wire.

The two-day show helped connect 2,700 online users and exchanged more than 6,700 messages. The exhibitors came from Canada, India, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, the U.S., and the visitors were from Mexico, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, etc. One Mexican visitor comes to Las Vegas almost every year and has purchased from Taiwan and China before. However, this year the visitor couldn't come to the event and therefore took the opportunity online. The virus blocks face-to-face talks among business people, but in turn opens up a new parallel business model including online and face-to-face communication.

The next edition will take place September 2123, 2021 and we hope it will bring back face-to-face business talks.

Fastener World had successful video chats with Brighton Best International, Nord-Lock, Inc., Industrial Rivet & Manufacturing, Earnest Machine, FCH Sourcing Network, EXIPAR, S.A. DE C.V., EGW Utilities, Inc., among others, and successfully connected with more than 103 exhibitors online. During the livestreaming conferences, Fastener World was able to discuss conference topics with participants in a chat room, and the result was satisfactory.

Highlights of Virtual Sessions

Attended by Fastener World Staff

WIFI Announced Scholarship Recipient and Award Winners for 2020

On the virtual edition of International Fastener Expo (IFE) 2020, president of Women in the Fastener Industry (WIFI), Jennifer Kushnir, made the official announcement of the recipient of its scholarship and the winners of its “Woman of the Year” and “Women in Business” awards for 2020.

WIFI’s scholarships are given away every year. In 2020, WIFI gave away the Ann Bisgyer Wolz Scholarship to Kelly Burkhardt and also gave away the most current and newest Margaret Davis Scholarship, which gives an expense-paid trip to fastener fair with a budget of USD 500. WIFI also gave away a Thor’s e-learning solution scholarship in memory of Joanne Sherman and a week’s worth of training at the Fastener Training Institute for Ann Bisgyer Wolz and its scholarship to the Vegas Fastener Show in honor of Edith Cameron.

In addition, the winner of “Woman of the Year” went to Rosa E. Hearn of Brighton Best International and the winners of “Women in Business” went to Cris Young and Lisa Kleinhandler of Fastener News Desk. WIFI also gave away its “Man Up Award” to BTM Manufacturing in order to thank them for their dedication to WIFI’s cause and mission.

Established in 2009, WIFI creates a space for women to empower each other and advance in the industry. It’s an organization driven by progressive ideas, bold actions, and a strong foundation of support. The Board of Directors for the new year consists of Jennifer Kushnir (president), Jan Morr (vice president), Taryn Goodman (Treasurer), Gloria Medina (director), Becky McMorrow (director), Kristin Rivera (director), and Nikki Gordon (director).

Cris Young (CEO of Product Genius Technology) on “The Digitally Driven Distributor”

Industrial eCommerce Specialist Cris’s talk centered on distributor digital transformation. She kicked off with the question: “Is your fastener company digitally driven?”, and started with an overview of online industrial supply sales which she said had reached a market size of USD 15.9 billion in revenue in 2020, up 1.8%, with an average 2.1% growth per year over the past 5 years. On top of that, the industrial supply MRO market in North America is worth roughly 200 billion dollars per year that translates to 622 billion dollars globally.

Fragmented Industrial Supply Market

A huge market as it is, the industrial supply market is fragmented with the top 50 distributors grasping 30 percent of the market, leaving the remaining 70%, the larger chunk of the market, made up of small to medium-sized distributors. The top 50s may have well enough resources to go for high technology transformation but the remaining counterparts are vulnerable in the tides of technological advances.

Growing Online Purchase and B2B Commerce

With the COVID virus in play, online purchase and B2B are growing at an ever-increasing rate. “Transformation is imminent for industrial distributors and manufacturers because most of them are not online with e-commerce capabilities,” said Cris, “The future of distribution channel depends on how quickly we adapt to the change.” She pointed out a recent data that “85% of B2B buyers would rather use your online store than to contact your sales representatives”. The driver behind this phenomenon is that customers are looking for platforms where they can research, source and buy online, particularly when there is social distancing and travel restrictions that get in their way of contact.

The Amazon Effect

Amazon, a new competitor in the industrial supply market, now only second to Grainger in the sector, has five main product categories being industrial, automotive, tools, hardware, and lighting products, and is “encroaching on distributors”. Amazon is to register a total B2B sales exceeding USD25 billion in 2021. On top of that, Amazon has acquired Partpic Technology and utilizes “their parts finder technology specifically with the purpose of helping online buyers identify and buy fasteners via ecommerce”. Hearing this, this writer recalls a line which is gaining popularity in social media in Taiwan that says “The enemies who will bring down your business may not be those in the same field as yours, but those in the business territory that is completely irrelevant to yours.”

Digital Natives Demand Seamless User Experience

“The new B2B buyers are digital natives they've had a digital device in their hands since the day they were born……72% of B2B buyers are now Millennials,” said Chris. All the more reason that fastener distributors and manufacturers shouldn’t fall in the pitfall of treating customers as they were 10 to 20 years ago. “Buyers expect seamless buying experiences, self-service and price transparency because time is the new currency.” The key to future MRO market is e-procurement catering to both buyers and sellers and offering highly-improved online product findability. “If customers can’t find a product, they can’t buy it.”

IFE Awards Inductees of Fastener Hall of Fame & Young Fastener Professional of 2020

The International Fastener Show (IFE, Las Vegas) announced the recipients of Fastener Hall of Fame and the recipient of the Young Fastener Professional of the Year Award, live in digital format through Youtube broadcast on November 12, 2020. Professionals who have made lasting contributions to the fastener industry on a national or global scale are honored through the Hall of Fame, and the Young Fastener Professional of Year Award recognizes leaders, 40 years old or younger, who already have an impeccable record of integrity and respect in the industry. One of the two inductees to the Hall of Fame in 2020 was John Wachman, aka. the fastener cowboy at Dessert Distribution Sales taking position as founder. The other inductee was Timothy O’Keeffe, CEO of G.L. Huyett. The Young Fastener Professional of the Year Award went to Jessi Solt as customer experience leader also at G.L. Huyett.

On another note, the IFE virtual conference had the presence of Jake Glaser on “Introduction to Young Fastener Professionals: YFP 2020 Road Map and Beyond”. Jake is the regional sales manager of Sherex Fastening and YFP president. In case you haven’t had clue about YFP, it is packed with industry experts of the younger generation and emerged as a solution to “significant age and experience gap that permeates the manufacturing industry” as well as “loss of skilled labor and tribal knowledge”, according to Jake in the virtual conference.

YFP has a Regional Directorship Model as part of the initiatives for 2020, where several directors have physical seats in select states across the U.S. to be present at local high schools and universities to “show young professionals the opportunities that exist within manufacturing and fastening industries”. YFP also has a mentor program for industry veterans to guide young professionals through understanding the bolts and nuts of the industry (specifications, standards, etc.) and other required knowledge.

YFP is set for young people to lead the charge in new ways of marketing, networking and sales while utilizing an education hub, social media presence (as a networking hub), marketing engine (business to business and between associations), and advanced technologies such as AI and robot implementation that the members will talk about as they are headed to 2021.

The age and experience gap is a common issue shared between the American and Taiwanese fastener industry, which may provide a solid reason for young professionals in both countries to meet up and sketch up a possible partnership to work in tandem for the foreseeable future.

WEI IN Receives Taiwan Patent for

“Clinch Nut Oblique Pattern Forming Die”

Taiwanese clinch nut manufacturing expert Wei In Enterprise Co., Ltd announced that it has made a breakthrough in nut processing technology. It has successfully developed a new tungsten die for forming oblique patterns on nuts and has received a Taiwan patent with a 10-year validity. This new die can be used to help domestic and overseas customers with the demand for forming oblique patterns on nuts produce nuts of higher quality and better performance.

Direct In-die Forming Without Secondary Processing

Wei In President Ming Che Kuo said, “In the past, if our customers would like to process oblique patterns on their nuts, they all needed to use traditional secondary CNC machining, which also means the extra addition of procedures and manufacturing cost. Moreover, the resultant quality was oftentimes not as good as they originally expected. As a result, in order to completely solve the problems our customers used to encounter in processing and simultaneously improve the quality and reinforce the performance of nuts, our R&D team kept working closely with our associate factories and technical partners to revise drafts and design and finally presented the patented die to the market after more than one year of dedication.”

With the help of this new type of oblique pattern forming die, companies won’t have to adopt the costly secondary processing and heat treatment in their manufacturing procedures and can have products cold forged directly in dies, thus greatly saving material costs, creating excellent dimensional precision, achieving more efficient production, reaching better mechanical performance, and reducing possible pollution to the environment due to secondary processing.

President Kuo added, “Take our previous batch of orders for 50,000 pcs of nuts for example, we only spent around a week to finish all forming processes with the new forming die. If we want to adopt the secondary processing (excl. other processes like tapping), we will have to spend at least 10 days to finish all processes. As a result, our processing time can be greatly saved, which can indirectly reduce lead times for our customers’ orders as well.”

Exclusive Technology from Taiwan

Wei In: We Want to Do What Other People Have Not Considered to Do Yet!

Having been certified to ISO 9001:2015, Wei In continues to help customers produce their products, which are mainly sold to automotive, motorbikes, bicycles, furniture, and general appliances industries and most of which are customized. Since its inception in

1990, Wei In has gained lots of customers from Europe, USA, and Southeast Asia. The number of its nut manufacturing equipment has also increased from 2-3 sets to 22 sets. In addition to direct export, Wei In also works with traders for export and domestic sales.

Wei In sales representative Ms. Penny Kuo said, “Being the only one Taiwanese company providing in-die oblique pattern forming service, what we provide to our customers is our excellent technology, and our customers can also rely on our technology to create higher added value for their products. Take those nuts processed with our newly patented die for example, the most significant advantages of them are high bearing capacity and antiloosening performance. We can help our customers choose the most suitable proof load, torque, and tensile strength as per their demand to ensure the safety of their products.”

Facing the future market changes, President Kuo particularly noted, “If the demands of customers continue to exist, Wei In’s dedication to the R&D of products will never stop. In the future, we’ll also make every effort to reinforce the development of customers on the global market and make more customers get the opportunity to experience our leading technology and service.”

Wei In President Ming Che Kuo

b y Gang Hao Chang ,Vice Editor-in- Chie f o f Fa stener World

Fastener World Publications | 2020 Year in Review

Fastener World Magazines

Jan. Issue

• Cover Story: Inside SACMA - The Smartly Integrated Plant

• Rising Star Chris Chen Guides Pro Power to Continuous Success

• Fong Prean Industrial’s New “Magic Spiral” Head Design

• Patented FMWT Automatic Sludge Discharging & Recycling Separator

Mar. Issue

• Editorial: COVID Side Effects Continue to Distress the Whole World

• COVID Impact on the Fastener Industry of Taiwan

• Fastener Trade Statistics: USA/ Canada/Japan/Taiwan (2017-2019)

• Value for Money in Fasteners - Mass Market vs Specials.

• Cover Story: Yuh Chyang Hardware Industrial, Master of Critical CNC Machining Technology

May Issue

• Up Against COVID-19, Taiwan Fasteners Can Help!

• Besieged Between Trade War & COVID, Global Automakers in 2020

• EU/China Fastener Trade Statistics

• Dr. Fastener- Electric Vehicle

• Award-winning Automotive Fasteners by JINGFONG INDUSTRY

Jul. Issue

• USMCA, Good or Bad News for Automotive Fastener Suppliers?

• Revenue Performance of Top Taiwan Fastener Companies in 2019

• Taiwan Fastener Industry Before and After COVID-19

• Japanese Fastener Tech Trend: HighEnd, Migration & Industry 4.0

• Hsin Chang Hardware Industrial’s New Plant with Higher Lightweight Anchor Capacity

Sep. Issue

• Taiwanese Fastener Business Successors’ Strategy Development

• Fastener Industry’s Reflections on VW’s Dieselgate Scandal

• The Impact of COVID-19 on Taiwan Hand Tool Industry

• Financial Report Analysis on Taiwan's Public Fastener Companies

• Courageous Taiwanese Fastener Corporate Manager - Super Cheng Industrial President Joe Cheng

Nov. Issue (Buyers’ Guide)

• Interview with Global Fastener Association Presidents

• Fastener Industry: Inspecting the Foundations Following COVID-19

• Vietnam’s Fastener Industry Development and Impact of EUVietnam Free Trade Agreement

• Analysis of Car Production & Sales in Indonesia in 2020

• Cover Story: Sheng Long, Trailblazer in Special Punch Development

China Fastener World Magazine

Feb. Issue

• Grand Metal Manufactory Rolls Out Clinching/Welding Fasteners

• Analysis of U.S. Fastener Trade with China in 2019

• Quick Glance at EU’s Fastener Import and Export with China

• How E-commerce Platforms Shapes Fastener Marketing in China

• Cover Story: Hisener, One of the World’s Largest Fastener Suppliers

Jun. Issue

• South Africa's Fastener Safeguard Measure Investigation over Germany, USA, and China

• On Construction Fastener Market

• China's Fastener Trade Value Analysis

• China’s Car Production and Sales (2019 to Feb. 2020)

• High Valued-added Fasteners for Medical Applications

Oct. Issue

• Smart Fastener Manufacturing

• EU Car Production/Sales Amid COVID-19

• San Yung Electric Heat Machine’s Aluminum Alloy Treatment Furnace

• Jingle-Tech Fasteners: One-stop Fastener Manufacturer & Trader

• Jiaxing Goodway Relocating to New Office

Hardware & Fastener Components

Feb. Issue

• Annual Financial Reports of Hand Tool & Tooling Companies

• 2019 EU Fastening Tools Import and Export Statistics

• U.S. Fastening Tools Trade with the World in 2019

• Reddot Design & Taiwan Excellence Awards Winners

• Ing-Hwei Implements Mfg. Releases Extra Long Double Flexible Wrench

Aug. Issue

• The Impact of COVID-19 on Taiwan Hand Tool Industry

• Fastening Hand Tools Trade Statistics (2017-2019)

• Market and Trade Analysis of Indian Hand Tools Industry

• Exploring Hand Tool Market: Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia

• New Atoli Machinery Office Serves Direct Clients with Riveting Machines

Emerging Fastener Markets

Aug. Issue

• Cover Story: Fastener Cornerstone Firm & Steady Through Market Storm - Linkwell Industry

• Rise of Integrated Fastener Service Provider - Industry Building Hardware

• King Yuan Dar Rolls out 3 Latest Furnace Products

• Yeu Chyuan Industrial: New A200600 Series DIY Glue Gun with Dual Color Handle Design

Fastener World

Europe Special Edition

2019 Issue

• Taiwanese Exhibitors at Fastener Fair Stuttgart 2019

• Atlas Distribution Services - Tailoring Fulfillment & Supply Chain Solutions to Maximize Your Import Experience

Prologue

Perhaps there is no industry that would experience such stormy development as cars. Thanks to Henry Ford, it has gradually shifted from manual to automated production. The automotive industry is today the most important industrial sector in many developed countries. Similarly, it is in Slovakia, which has dominated the world ranking for several years in the number of cars produced per 1000 inhabitants. For this reason it was often named as the "Detroit of Europe".

"De t roi t" in the Hear t o f Euro pe

Slovakia's attractiveness lies primarily in the strategic position in the heart of Europe ( Fig. 1) at the crossroads of major transport routes between Krakow - Budapest and Berlin – Moscow, in addition to the relative sufficiency of skilled labor force and last but not least in a solid infrastructure, either road or rail. It is noteworthy that all Slovak carmakers are located in the northwestern part of the country, which is already starting to activate national labor migration.

As can be seen from Fig. 2 approximately 44% of the total industrial production of Slovakia consists of the production of cars. Brands such as VW, Peugeot, Citroën, KIA have been established for a long time here and now Jaguar Land Rover. Overall, more than 10 6 cars are produced in Slovakia a year. There are plenty of reasons to pay adequate attention to this industry generally.

Automotive Production in Terms of Assembly

The characteristic features of automotive production are:

1. High series

2. High degree of automation of production

3. High demands on quality and safety

Considering that the dominant assembly technology of car manufacturing is welding and screwing and that one car contains as many as 2,000 different screws, nuts and other fasteners, then it is globally a gigantic consumption of fasteners that must meet the conditions of automatic assembly. In the next text, therefore, attention will be paid to the specificities of vehicle assembly in terms of the screw connections used.

As can be seen from Fig. 3, the mounting robot screws must have at least 3 freedom degrees. It is important to supply components that have to be properly oriented. The necessity of orientation has caused that wherever there is no need for a demountable joint, welding dominates automotive production.

However, there are a number of cases where the screws are indispensable. For example, engine surroundings, gearboxes, chassis, brake systems, wheel attachments and many other construction nodes require detachable joints to service and maintain. According to VDI 2862 "Minimum restrictions for the application of fastening systems and tools in the automotive industry" there are three categories of screw connections in cars ( Fig. 4).

The most dangerous category is "A" because it is responsible for car accidents. This includes, for example, fastening wheels. It is the most critical operation, not from the manufacturer's point of view, but from the point of view of the user, because he is sometimes forced to do it himself, amateur in the field, without the use of the appropriate professional tools. Statistics show that wheel fastening bolts are most likely to loosen after 50 to 100 kilometers of ride from repeated assembly. In such cases, it is advisable to visit an authorized service center as soon as possible and have the tightening torque checked. Fig. 5 shows a cautionary example of the amateur mounting of the wheel bolt. The broken thread indicates that the bolt has been tightened with a tightening torque that is too high. The consequences are not hard to guess.

b y Joze f Dominik

Drivers mostly ignore it, but it is enough to see statistics of motor vehicle crashes as a result of loosened driving wheels. Loosened wheel threatens not only the passengers of the vehicle but also the unsuspecting surroundings.

Dangers can also be caused by overloading the vehicle. Around 7.5% of trucks checked by VOSA (Vehicle Operators Services Agency) were found to be overloaded. Excessive load of one ( Fig. 6 ) or both axles causes deformation of the screws ( Fig. 7 ), to dislodge the mounting holes on the discs and gradually to disengage the nuts and, in the extreme case, also the driving wheels. This type of stress is defined as a rotating bending, and it is one of the most complicated and most dangerous combined stresses in elasticity and strength.

The only effective measure is to strictly adhere to the load prescribed by the manufacturer and to ensure uniform loading. Often the weight of the crew, which may exceed the weight of the luggage in passenger cars, is often ignored.

It should be remembered that even for incorrect assembly of wheels after their replacement or overloading the vehicle, the manufacturer is not responsible. Likewise, a garage can not be responsible for what it can not influence. However, driving schools should include at least a montage minimum in their syllabus, focusing in particular on wheel assemblies. The reason is simple - this is the most common operation that a driver must sometimes perform. Such training would, for example, help to learn about the importance of friction when tightening. It does not matter if an oiled or dry, new or rusty screw connection is tightened. Impact of surface condition of screws and nuts is well confirmed in Fig. 8

Therefore, it is important to entrust this work to a specialist workshop that not only controls the theory and practice of wheel assembly, but also has professional tools.

Summary

In the world, the number of cars and the number of crashes are rising. As the statistics suggest, the causes of the crash are not just the non-compliance with traffic regulations, but the state of the vehicle is also important.

Fig 8 Impac t of sur face condition of screw s and nut s

Tt o r). A l ex s p o k e o f h i m s e l f o n s t a g e t h a t a s a c i t i z e n b o r n i n Yu n l i n (S o u t h e r n Ta i w a n) , h e i s e m o t i

t

t h

d evelo p m e nt of h i s hom e t ow n . Fo r t h e s a ke of t h i s , h e wo r ke d h a r d

a n d m a n a g e d t o m a k e C h i n g C h a n O p t i c a l Te c h n o l o g y a p u b l i c

c o r p o r a t ion H e ho p e s h i s e nt r e p

n

u r sh

w

ive t h e you n

r ge n e r a t ion t o st a r t t h ei r ow n bu si n e s s e s.

by Dean Tseng, Fastener World

Succession Ceremony for Southern Union of Entrepreneur Models

Alex Wu (Ching Chan Optical) as Union President

Jim C.N. Chen (Hwa Hsing Screw) as Executive Director

J i m s e t u p a p l a n t i n C h i n a , a c q u i r e d

b u s i n e s s e s , a n d s e t u p a p l a n t b a c k i n Ta i w a n

w h i c h b e c a m e a w o r l d - r e n o w n e d a n d l o n g -

e s t a b l i s h e d f a s t e n e r c o m p a n y w i t h a l l o f i t s

p r o d u c t s e x p o r t e d H e w a s C h a i r m a n o f T F TA

a n d o r g a n i z e d a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l f a s t e n e r s h o w

i n Ta i n a n Ci t y i n 2 013 wh i c h b r o u g h t Ta iwa n ’ s

f a s t e n e r i n d u s t r y a n e w m i l e s t o n e a n d g l o b a l

exp o su r e. H e s a id h e w i l l wo r k i n l i n e w it h A lex

t o b r i n g n e w m e m b e r s t o t h e U n i o n a n d c r e a t e

mo r e e c onom ic p r o du c t ion va lu e t o t h e i n du st r y

President Jim C.N. Chen (Hwa Hsing Screw)

Honored with the 43rd Model of Entrepreneur Award 2020

by Dean Tseng, Fastener World

a t i o n a l I n n o v a t i o n a n d E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p

A s s o c i a t i o n a n n o u n c e d o n D e c e m b e r 3

of 2 0 2 0 t h e r e c eive r s of M o d el of E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p

Aw a r d , a s y m b o l o f t h e u t m o s t h o n o r f o r A s i a n

Alex Wu(left) and Jim C.N. Chen(right)

Yi Sheng Machinery Rolls out a New Complex Self-drilling Screw Forming Machine

Contact: Mr. Kai Hsiang Hong

Yi Sheng Machinery Co., Ltd has recently released a new self-drilling screw forming machine with dual oil-recycling troughs, which is designed to process bi-metal and stainless steel screws. Given that manufacturing heavy-duty screws requires the addition of chlorinated paraffins, Yi Sheng then integrated the dual oil recycling troughs onto the new machine that can separate oil from water, which increases both the durability of dies and the stability of screw quality. This machine is also capable of processing self-drilling screws in the size of up to M8. “Each of the machines from Yi Sheng was customized. In addition to self-drilling screw forming machines, Yi Sheng also has the capability for manufacturing rivet machines and anchor machines,” said Yi Sheng President Kai Hsiang Hong.

The Industry’s First Complex Screw Forming Machine Which Can Weld Before Pointing

The YS250Z model is the most special one in the newly developed YS series. President Hong spent 4 years on drawing the design chart featuring all advantages of existing screw forming machines on the market and the exclusion of disadvantages.

The manufacturing procedures of the YS250Z complex self-drilling screws forming machine is different from those of other similar machines. Its innovative manufacturing procedures include “completing welding wire before pointing,” which results in the concentricity of screws that is more accurate and the torque that is better than the conventional way (i.e., pointing before welding). So far, no other company but Yi Sheng can manufacture self-drilling screws this way.

Excluding All Disadvantages and Featuring Longer Durability & Higher Accuracy

Hong, who has successfully developed the ultimate machine integrated with all advantages of existing machines on the market, elaborated, “Machines require the use of springs weighing to a minimum level of pounds to keep the stability. As a result, we import springs from Germany featuring longer durability, which can be even put into service for almost 5-6 years. In terms of materials, we insist on using aluminum bronze, which shows a higher friction coefficient than that of a commonly used phosphor bronze, thus helping

achieve longer durability. As for the mainframe, we enlarged and thickened the spindle made from FCD600. Yi Sheng focuses on the market demanding highly engineered customized products. Although our prices are comparatively higher than others, the materials we used and stability of our machines are also invulnerable.”

The highly flexible capabilities to manufacture customized machines allowed Yi Sheng to win the affection of high-end screw manufacturers. In the past, it once developed a customized complex forming machine for manufacturing M5 screws in the length of up to 300mm.

The Labor Saving Microcomputer Controlled Machine Allowing Intuitive Operation

In addition to its functionality, the machine is equipped with a complete set of ergonomic and intuitive interface, which clearly displays all abnormal data and eliminates the costs incurred by errors made by operators with insufficient experience or the training cost. Mr. Hong collected a great amount of data through observing customers’ habits and relentlessly tried to create a more user-friendly interface.

According to Hong, “pointing a screw will generate a force. When the die is worn out, the force will change. As a result, we installed into the machine a testing device. If the die is worn out, an alert will pop out to remind relevant persons of noticing the status. The most difficult part is testing the edges of taps, as the weakness can hardly be detected by optical sorting. However, we can still check if the edges of taps are standards compliant by observing the change in the impact force of the machine.”

Taiwan CSC Production & Sales Conference with Fastener Business Owners

Business Owners Call for CSC to Factor in Export Exchange Rate for Steel Price Adjustment

by Dean Tseng, Fastener World

CSC reported the status quo of global economy, steel price and fastener export in a Production & Sales Conference held on December 2, 2020. IMF estimated in October 2020 that the world’s economic growth rate would return from minus 5.2% in June to minus 4.4%. The U.S. third-quarter GDP reached 33.1% up from the market’s expected 32%. The EU upped its full-year GDP growth prediction from minus 8.3% to minus 7.4%. Despite negative GDP growth in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, the decrease has shrunk 50% over the previous quarter. Vietnam in particular was the best performer with 1.6% economic growth, becoming the beneficiary under the U.S./China trade war with the potential to rise as the 4th largest economic entity in ASEAN, following Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Taiwan expects its full-year GDP to grow at an average 3.5%, and potentially further up through next year. China’s third-quarter GDP in 2020 was up 4.9%, looking at an estimated 1.9% growth for the whole year while putting future focus on boosting domestic demand.

The American steel price shifted into high gear at USD809 per ton in November 2020 from USD500, the lowest in July. The COVID virus that is contained less than desired as well as strong automotive and construction demand contribute to continuous steel price hike as a result of insufficient supply. Europe (around USD523/ ton on average) and Southeast Asia (USD585/ton) both face a strong domestic demand that leads to deficient supply that drives up steel price. It is conceivable that steel demand is increasing while shortterm steel supply from steel plants is limited. CSC expects the steel price to remain as is through to Q1 2021.

According to the statistics by Taiwan Industrial Fasteners Institute (TIFI), Taiwan exported 1.171 million tons of fasteners to the world in the first 10 months of 2020, down 10.56% over the previous period and the average price dipped only 0.49%. Particularly, export of wood screws and self-tapping screws had a double-digit positive growth but the unit price dropped. In contrast, bolt and nut export had a double-digit negative growth but the unit price was raised. Primarily export-oriented, Taiwan fastener industry’s construction fasteners are still looking up as the pandemic stimulates the American and European construction demand.

Given that Taiwan’s domestic market remains functioning as normal, and that some fastener companies had rush orders since July 2020, overseas orders have apparently warmed up since October 2020. There was an obvious sentiment of hope floating across the Production & Sales Conference as industry participants were in conversation. Meanwhile, with a prospect of raising Q1 steel price, some industry participants suggest that CSC should properly factor in export exchange rates to ensure fastener companies’ survival in the market.

Steps into a New Automotive Industry Era

In recent years, Vietnam’s automotive industry has grown at an average annual rate of 20 to 30 percent. The improvement to corporate governance, foreign trade and investment, and relationships with international markets through bilateral agreements nurture a positive local operating environment. Companies are now seeking to expand their businesses and production bases into Vietnam. From 30 June to 2 July 2021 at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), Automechanika Ho Chi Minh City will work with prominent associations to unite local and overseas players, exploring diverse opportunities in Vietnam’s auto market.

Automechanika Ho Chi Minh City 2021 is placing collaboration at the forefront of the fair’s evolving approach to sustainable local automotive industry development. Synergy shaped by informed, networked and empowered stakeholders, which have an active role in the wider auto community, will become an integral part of the collaborative platform. Bringing this momentum forward, the fair aims to utilise these global networks to foster multilateral conversations across the value chain, generate

greater know-how and deliver multifaceted experiences to promote the growing automotive market in Vietnam.

Countrywide Support from Local Industry Associations

From Hanoi in the North, to Ho Chi Minh City in the South, the show continues to gain recognition from long-term local supporters like the Vietnam Automotive Technicians Network (OTO-HUI), the Vietnam Association of Mechanical Industry (VAMI) and the Vietnam Automobile Transportation Association (VATA). For the first time in the show’s history, the Vietnam Association for Supporting Industries (VASI) will also join as a local supporter.

Taking advantage of the expertise from local industry associations, the show has curated a series of fringe programme events that highlight the robust opportunities in the local market. For example:

• Premium members from VASI will join the Smart Factory and Industry 4.0 Conference offering insights into the long-term development of automotive manufacturing and its supporting industries. Key automakers and manufacturers will be able to exchange ideas with attendees.

• Using their extensive local network, OTO-HUI will invite auto service centres, workshops, manufacturers, as well as car enthusiasts to the Auto Service & Maintenance Festival. Pre-registered visitors can enjoy one-stop, onsite diagnostics and maintenance services for free.

All-rounded Coverage from Exhibitors Gather at the Show

Spanning across the show floor, more than 400 exhibitors from the Automotive manufacturing & automation, Passenger and Commercial vehicle, and Motorcycle segments will present their latest innovations, technologies, products and services to the Vietnamese market.

-What the Market-leading Company SaysValuable Views from CCO Mr. Marco Pizzi and COO Mr. Germano Pandiani of

U.S. “TIME” Magazine currently announced its latest cover describing 2020 as “the Worst Year Ever”, what do you think about the year of 2020, particularly to your company?

We fully agree with what TIME Magazine announced. An absolutely absurd year, to say the least, characterized by an immeasurable quantity of events that have caused strong repercussions to the economic and social system. Not only the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects, but also national conflicts, presidential elections and issues on the protection of human rights. Events and prospects that are certainly not reassuring for the coming year. We are certainly living through a very tough period that requires many sacrifices, but we must be ready to ride the wave.

Concerning our company, everyday we try to strengthen ourselves to face this challenge. At a group level, we organized ourselves promptly (and we are still trying to improve it) with the use of digital systems that allow us to manage our headers remotely and support our customers in a short time, trying to mitigate the effects of the pandemic as much as possible.

What kind of significant influence or change to the fastener industry have you observed over the past few months?

Starting from the end of the summer, up to the month of November, we have seen a brief

recovery in demand in our sector. Many positive feedbacks have come from our Italian customers and from the positivity with which they have decided to invest for 2021. In our opinion, the events of this 2020 will determine a brake on the globalization process in favor of a partial return of production at national level and the redistribution of a “made in” production with significant consequences both on a social and economic level.

As a market leading industry, what did you do exactly to support your business partners to weather this yearlong challenge?

We are of the opinion that the first move is to strengthen the company sales network. It is very important to find the right way to support and assist customers with timely service. We have implemented new digital marketing strategies and all related media. Whether to assist existing clients or to look for new ones, we believe these are key strategies to consider even in the best of times. An example is the creation of a “virtual” booth that can replace the possibility of participating in trade fairs and the creation of seminars via web. Solutions needed today, with the hope one day of returning to normality and interpersonal relationships.

Many market analysts recently noted that there has been a clear sign of the demand recovery in many industry sectors. What is your observation toward this trend?

Demandis changing, preferring electric, high-strength but ultra-light materials in sectors as automotive and aerospace: it is especially on the latter field that the changes are very evident. The volumes of production batches have significantly reduced and this will be the trend for the next 2-3 years.

Founded in 1939 and with 80 years of experience, Carlo Salvi employs today more than 100 people at its offices in Italy and subsidiaries in China, UK and USA. Following the leadership of the managing directors, Messrs. Thomas Christoffel, Thomas Hiltmann, Germano Pandiani and Marco Pizzi, everyday the company develops new solutions and ideas, working in team with the aim of pursuing the objectives. Since April 2016, Carlo Salvi has joined the Swiss company Hatebur. Carlo Salvi continues to be a leading company in the wire forming field and is worldwide well known thanks to the reliability, the top quality and excellent performance of its header machines.

Profile of Carlo Salvi

CCO COO

The possibility of demand therefore extends to smaller organizations, companies that are reorganizing themselves to satisfy larger batches of products than before. At the same time companies are making cuts trying to still remain competitive. As previously mentioned, to cope with these changes it has been and still is essential to develop strategies and implement digitization and automation systems. Providing an “in time” service is also a winning strategy. For the first half of 2021, our company boasts a pleasantly rich portfolio that will certainly allow for a more positive and hopeful vision of tomorrow.

UK started its Covid vaccination last December, which seems to be also good news to the other countries. What is your viewpoint about the new industrial order in the post-Covid period?

Personally, we hope that the result is positive and that it allows to cope with the problem in a meaningful way. Only in this way will we be able to return to normality, to interpersonal relationships, to travel and to all the consumer activities that have supported our economy.

What will be the main business focus of your company in the upcoming year of 2021? Does your company see any opportunities in any industry sector?

For the coming year, our company's focus will be on the automotive, "white" and hardware industries.

As for the aerospace sector, as already mentioned, it is considered one of the most affected by the crisis and we do not expect a positive response until 2022-2023.

In any case, we will try to remain very active in encouraging the process of redistribution of the "made in", contributing to the increase of our nation's GDP also in terms of sustainability.

What is your suggestion to your business partners from around the world?

Our suggestion to all partners is not to get discouraged but on the contrary ride the wave of adversity without being overwhelmed. We are of the opinion that opportunities can arise from every reset. It takes courage and difficulties will not be lacking for any of us but life itself is a challenge and worth facing it.

Finally, we would like to extend to all those who are reading us our warmest wishes for serenity and health.

Inconstruction applications where predrilled and tapped joint members are impractical, Drill Screws are an exceptionally versatile and helpful fastener product. Drill Screws can be easily assembled into and through a wide assortment of building materials without the need for any access to the back side of the joint. The application opportunities are abundant both for interior and exterior purposes. Drill screws are excellent resources on the interior, where they are commonly utilized to attach gypsum board, wood members, and other metal components to metal structural members and studs. Generally, the interior environment is controlled and these screws are not subject to challenging or abusive environmental conditions. Drill Screws are also highly favored by installers of metal roofs and cladding. Drill Screws provide an easy way to pierce the metal roof or cladding sheets and the underlying steel structural components without the need for any predrilling of pilot or clearance holes. Unlike interior environments, however, the exterior of the building will be subject to whatever variable environmental conditions the climate zone is known for.

For Drill Screws, therefore, in exterior applications these often challenging and potentially harsh conditions present a real problem with corrosion. The most common corrosion site is the exposed head. Corrosion in this area can result in unsightly staining of the roofing or cladding materials, open up potential leak paths into the structure, trigger expensive maintenance campaigns, and generally detract from the building’s curb appeal. The head, however, is not the only place where these fasteners can corrode. They are also subject to shank corrosion in sections that may be exposed or are in contact with moist surrounding building materials and crevice corrosion. Like corrosion in the head, corrosion in the lower part of the fastener can result in staining of surroundings surfaces, reducing the mechanical strength of the fastener or joint, and increase the potential for environmentally induced stress corrosion cracking.

For these reasons, exterior Drill Screws must be manufactured with protective coatings or from corrosion resistant materials. Although protective coatings would provide a simple and, most likely, cost effective means of protection, the reality is that they will only prolong the time until failure. In other words, failure is eventually a reality; it may just take a little longer to get there. As a result, using corrosion resistant Stainless Steel is a much better option. The problem with this “solution”, however, is that although the stainless steel is usually able to be work hardened enough in the threaded section to allow the threads to withstand forces exerted during thread forming, it cannot be sufficiently strengthened on the drill tip to hold up to the drilling application. The solution to this problem is about forty years old, the Bi-Metallic Drill Screw.

by Laurence Claus

The Bi-metallic Drill Screw is a combination of a Stainless Steel body and a hardened Carbon Steel drill point. The remainder of this article will introduce the fundamentals of this very valuable and specialty Drill Screw.

Bi-Metallic Drill Screws

Corrosion Types:

Drill Screws used in roofing and cladding applications could be exposed to several different types of corrosion. The most noticeable form of corrosion is likely the rusting of steel components which is a form of corrosion known as Uniform Attack or General Overall Corrosion. It is an electrochemical mechanism that is triggered when unprotected steel or iron components are exposed to a wet environment in such a way that mini electrical currents are generated. For the most part, Carbon Steel fasteners are protected against such attack with surface coatings. These coatings, however, only prolong the inevitable and eventually weak areas of the coating will expose the base steel and trigger the beginning of rust. Since the fasteners are expected to last the life of the roof, such coated Carbon Steel variations may not suffice. Bi-metallic versions, however, should perform quite well against General Corrosion.

Drill Screws on roof and cladding are commonly exposed to another type of corrosion, Galvanic Corrosion. This is a corrosion mechanism triggered by contact with dissimilar materials. When certain dissimilar materials are in contact with one another and an electrolyte (an electrically conducting substance) is present, a galvanic cell is created and the less chemically “noble” of the materials will begin to corrode. This is a common problem experienced by Drill Screws used for metal roofing and cladding because these components are often made of aluminum. Carbon Steel versions are not as well protected as Bi-metallic versions will be.

Drill Screws may also be subject to Crevice Corrosion. This occurs when localized areas remain in contact with stagnant liquids, moist substrates. Drill Screws in roof and cladding applications often use washers or gaskets to prevent water infiltration. Should this seal fail in any way, these types of joints become vulnerable to crevice corrosion underneath the head or along the shank where water has infiltrated and moistened contacting materials.

Finally Carbon Steel Drill Screws may be surface hardened to very high hardness levels. This could make them vulnerable to Hydrogen Induced Stress Corrosion Cracking (Environmental Hydrogen Embrittlement) if the right conditions exist.

Stainless Steel:

Clearly the solution to these corrosion issues is to utilize a material that is free from such corrosion mechanisms. Our immediate inclination is probably Stainless Steel. Stainless Steels are alloys that contain at least a minimum of 11% Chromium. The Chromium results in the formation of a Chromium Oxide, Cr2O3, when exposed to atmospheric oxygen. Unfortunately the ability to actually generate this oxide is not the same with all types of Stainless Steel.

Although there are over two hundred different Stainless Steel alloys we generally form our limited “knowledge” of Stainless Steel based on personal experience. What I mean is that we formulate our understanding on what we know from everyday experiences and interactions. For most of us, when it comes to Stainless Steel, that means the flatware we use to eat with, the cookware we use, our kitchen appliances, and working surfaces in many restaurants and hospitals. Our experience in this regard is universal; these items don’t rust and are inert to harsh environments. In reality, however, this understanding is incomplete, because some of the different Stainless Steel alloys do not exhibit these properties and are subject to rusting and oxidation.

Although there are five families of Stainless Steel, let us look at the primary three; Ferritic, Martensitic, and Austenitic. After exploring these three families we will find that only one of them provides the corrosion resistant properties that we normally attribute to Stainless Steel.

• Ferritic Stainless Steel: Ferritic Stainless Steels contain less than 12% Chromium. As a result they have low to moderate corrosion resistance. They can be susceptible to brittleness. They are not recommended for roof and cladding applications.

• Martensitic Stainless Steel: Martensitic Stainless Steels have a minimum of 11% Chromium. They can be heat treated to make them very hard and strong. However, of all the Stainless Steel varieties, they have the poorest corrosion resistance. Although one might be able to make a case that they could be used for Drill Screws because of their ability to be hardened, their lack of corrosion protection negates them as a real viable option for roofing or cladding Drill Screws.

• Austenitic Stainless Steel : Austenitic Stainless Steels are the materials we normally associate Stainless Steel with. This variety contains about 18% Chromium and 8% Nickel. Although they work harden they cannot be heat treated to further augment their strength. They have the best corrosion resistance of the different Stainless Steel types. Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, they are not really strong enough to generate a drill point that will hold up under the extreme pressures of drilling, especially through thicker cross sections. Therefore, although this type of Stainless Steel is the only one recommended for Drill Screws for roofing or cladding, they only become feasible when married to a high strength Carbon Steel tip.

What is a Bi-Metallic Drill Screw?

We have now identified two important points…

1. For Drill Screws to withstand the rigors of exterior application, they must be made of Austenitic Stainless Steel. In North America this would usually mean 304 or 316 Stainless Steels. In the rest of the world, the equivalent designations are A2 and A4. In general these materials perform well against General and Crevice Corrosion in almost all environments, as well as providing a better galvanic coupling with Aluminum (the Stainless Steel is more noble and thus won’t rust and streak Aluminum panels. Although the fastener is better protected, designers still need to consider the Aluminum panels and take measures to limit the galvanic interaction of this pairing.)

2. Austenitic Stainless Steel materials do not possess the requisite strength to suitably perform the drilling. Therefore, for Austenitic Stainless Steels to be successful in this application a short Carbon Steel section, which will become the drill point, must be married to the Austenitic Stainless Steel body .

How does one marry two entirely different materials together to form one integrated bi-metallic part? Globally, there are several different manufacturers producing these parts. Likely they all employ their own proprietary methods and knowledge. Notwithstanding the small differences in methods, essentially the process looks like this:

1. A body blank is cold headed from Austenitic Stainless Steel

2. A medium or high Carbon Steel tip blank is either cut off a wire coil or produced from some type of forming method

3. The Stainless Steel body blank is welded to the Carbon Steel tip blank

4. The Carbon Steel tip is pinch pointed to produce the drill point

5. The threads are thread rolled

6. The tip is induction hardened to strengthen the drill point and, most likely, the first one or two lead threads.

7. Cleaning and finishing (some manufacturers leave the parts natural so that the Stainless Steel and Carbon Steel zones are easily distinguishable, while other manufacturers have a process step that includes zinc electroplating to camouflage the two distinct regions.)

Up until now, I have stressed the self-drilling capability of these screws. It is important not to forget, however, that these screws are also expected to form their own threads. Although the Austenitic Stainless Steel undergoes some work hardening when forming the threads, if the part is expected to fasten into a thick cross section, the lead threads may not hold up well. Therefore, it is common that the Carbon Steel tip is long enough to incorporate not only the entire length of the drill point but also the first couple of lead threads. In this way, the induction hardening can capture those lead threads and provide very hard and strong leading threads, where the thread forming is occurring.

Summary:

Bi-metallic Drill Screws are a unique and elegant solution to a vexing fastening problem. By marrying the Carbon Steel tip to facilitate easy self-drilling and thread forming, the customer is able to install an Austenitic Stainless Steel body that will hold up to even the harshest environments for the entire life of the product (roof or cladding) and likely many years beyond that.

Development and Application of Titanium Alloy Aerospace Fasteners

I. Preface

The research of titanium alloy originated from aerospace and the development of aerospace industry also promoted the development of titanium alloy. Titanium alloy has the advantages of high strength, light weight, corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, combustion resistance, non-magnetic property and so on, and its service temperatureis 150200℃ higher than that of aluminum alloy. Therefore, titanium alloy will be a better choice for the parts of aircraft structure where aluminum alloy fasteners cannot be used due to high working temperature. Additionally, due to its good compatibility with composite materials, the demand for titanium alloy fasteners is growing with the increasing amount of titanium alloy and composite materials used in advanced military and civil aircrafts, which has basically replaced alloy steel fasteners in the military and civil aircrafts of the United States.

II. Types and Characteristics of Titanium Alloy Aerospace Fasteners

Titanium alloy fasteners for aerospace mainly include rivets, bolts and special fasteners, among which titanium alloy bolts are the broadest used. Titanium alloy bolts can be divided into ordinary titanium bolts, high lock bolts, Eddie bolts and interference bolts. Ordinary titanium bolts are classified with countersunk-head bolt, hexagon bolt, twelve-point bolt, twelve-point flange according to head type. High Lock Bolt is a kind of threaded fastener that can be installed on one side, which is one of the fasteners widely applied on aircrafts and can be divided into tensile type and shear type according to stress condition. Eddie Bolt ( Fig. 1) is the fourth generation of the nut system, whose load can be controlled to prevent the parts from damaging, so it is suitable to connect composite materials. Interference Bolt is a one which can improve the fatigue life of structure by using interference fit connection. In civil aircrafts, almost all the non-detachable torsional shear fasteners utilize the interference fit.

Fig. 1 Appearance of Eddie Bolt

Data source: https://www.howmet.com

Under the same strength index, the weight of a titanium alloy fastener is 70% lighter than that of a steel one and its electrode potential is similar to that of carbon fiber composite material, so titanium alloy becomes the only connection material of composites. Also, titanium has low elastic coefficient (about 100GPa), high yield strength, large elastic strain, and no magnetism, which is very important in preventing the loosening of fastened bolts and the interference of magnetic field. Furthermore, titanium alloy has high corrosion resistance under various climatic conditions, and its fatigue strength and stress concentration sensitivity are better than those of similar steel, which is critically why titanium alloy is widely used for manufacturing aerospace fasteners.

III. Types and Characteristics of Titanium Alloy

Fig. 2 is a pseudo binary phase diagram of titanium alloy. Titanium alloy can be distinguished by the addition of β-stable elements to the category and phase composition. When the content is low, it is α-type/near α type; when the content level is high, it is β type; and when the content level is half high, it is α-β type. Moreover, β type can be subdivided into metastable type and stable type, the Mo equivalent of the former is controlled between 10~25 and that of the latter is>25.

1 α t y pe/nearα t y pe:

α phase (or α phase with additional trace intermetallic compound) annealed in hexagonal close-packed (HCP) has a higher work hardening rate, poor formability, and cannot be strengthened by heat treatment, so its strength is inferior to the other two types. α-type alloy has good creep resistance and weldability, which is the first choice for the conditions of high temperature and corrosion resistance, and also suitable for low temperature environment since

b y Wen- Hai Liu

it has no cold brittleness, such as pure titanium, Ti-3Al-2.5V. Forging defects are easy to happen in α -type alloy due to its poor forging property, which can be controlled by reducing the processing rate per pass and frequent heat treatment. The room temperature strength of near α alloy is higher than that of α-type alloy, and its creep strength is higher than that of other titanium alloys.

2 α-β t y pe:

α+β phase in annealed structure has better room temperature strength and plasticity than that of α-type titanium alloy and its corrosion resistance is also good, but the weldability and heat resistance are poorer than that of α-type titanium alloy. It has good hot workability but is difficult for cold forming. It can be strengthened by heat treatment and has high creep strength as well as high temperature tensile strength. The highest service temperature can be up to 500℃ and it is the titanium alloy with the most far-ranging application, such as Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-6Mo.

3 β t y pe:

Single-phase β solid solution in annealed or quenched state of body-centered cubic (BCC) has the best formability among the three kinds of alloys, and a few have excellent corrosion resistance. The commonly used heat treatment method is the solid solution treatment and then aging at 450~650℃, the β base will precipitate out the small α secondary phase, which is the strengthening mechanism of the β alloy. Since the β titanium alloy precipitates more α phase

Data source: Special steel, July 2019

in aging than other kinds of titanium alloys, and contains more of α-β phase interface to obstruct the dislocation motion, the room temperature strength of β titanium alloy is the highest, with the most excellent fracture toughness, but its quenching structure is not stable, and the heat resistance is not high, so the operating temperature is usually below 200℃, the representative alloys include Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al, Ti-15V-3Cr-3Al-3Sn, Ti-3Al-8V-6Cr-4Mo-4Zr, and Ti-35V-15Cr, etc.

The crystal structure of each type of titanium alloy is formed by two phases, namely α phase and β phase. The number, size and morphology of each phase are different, which greatly affects the malleability and mechanical properties. The more β-stable elements (such as Mo, V, Cr, Fe, etc.) are, the more β phase is, which usually has better malleability (cold workability). On the other hand, if the amount of β stable elements is too much, the transformation points of β phase (transition temperature between α+β twophase region and single-phase β) will decrease. Thus, when forging in the two-phase region, the deformation resistance of α-β type alloy will increase and more forging pressure is needed. Therefore, it is necessary to select the appropriate combination of alloy and forging method according to the application situation and required characteristics. The tendency of titanium alloy material properties is shown in Fig. 3, and the mechanical properties comparison of representative titanium alloys is shown in Table 1.

Among various types of titanium materials, α-type and α-β type are well applied in diversified industries. Although β-titanium alloy has been developed as early as 1950's, it is only used for national defense and aerospace military in most countries due to high cost and difficult melting, so its characteristics are less known than α-type and α-β type. However, it has gradually been used in the civil aviation, biomedical, industrial, livelihood and sports goods market and attracted much attention in recent years due to its excellent properties.

IV. Titanium Alloy Materials for Rivet Fasteners

The most important thing for rivets is the cold workability of materials, only those made of materials with good cold plasticity can be installed through cold riveting. Titanium alloy rivets are usually used in the parts with low strength but high corrosion resistance requirements. β-type titanium

Table 1. Mechanical Properties

Fig. 2 Pseudo Binary Phase Diagram of Titanium Alloy

Data source: Light metals, Vol. 65, No. 9 (2015)

Fig. 3 Tendency of Titanium Alloy Material Properties

alloy has excellent cold working performance due to its single β phase in solid solution state and its atomic structure of body-centered cubic, which is the best material for titanium alloy rivets.

1. Ti-5Mo -5 V- 8Cr-3 Al

(Chinese Gr ade TB2)

TB2 is a kind of metastable titanium alloy, which has excellent cold formability and weldability under solution treatment and is suitable for all kinds of cold rivets and sometimes for small-size bolts. Its service temperature is generally below 300℃ and the space fastener can work up to 500℃ in a short time.

2 . Ti-15 V-3Cr-3 Sn-3 Al

(Chinese Gr ade TB5)

TB5 is a kind of metastable β-type titanium alloy, which was initially mass produced by American TIMET Company. It can be used for cold forming of various complex parts (such as riveting) in solution state since its cold forming ability is equivalent to that of pure titanium, and its tensile strength at room temperature can reach more than 1000MPa after aging. Because of high content of V element and poor high temperature oxidation resistance, it is generally used in the working environment below 200℃, but this alloy has excellent corrosion resistance.

3 Ti- 4 5Nb alloy

Ti-45Nb alloy is a special material for rivets, with outstanding advantages of high plasticity (elongation up to 20%, reduction of area up to 60%-80%) and excellent cold working performance. Its shear strength ( ≥ 350Mpa) and tensile strength ( ≥ 450MPa) are higher than that of pure titanium, and its cold deformation resistance is lower than that of pure titanium, so it is very suitable to be used as rivets for composite materials connection. This alloy was listed in AMS 4982 specification in 1974 and revised to AMS 4982C in 2002, which has completely replaced pure titanium in aerospace rivet products in the United States. The bimetallic rivets made of Ti-45Nb alloy and Ti-6Al-4V alloy have been comprehensively used in Airbus and Boeing aircrafts.

For rivets with the requirements of high shear strength and no deformation of rivet rod during installation, bimetallic titanium alloys are generally used. It is composed of Ti-6Al-4V rivet rod and Ti-45Nb head, which are closely fused to form an integral solid core rivet after inertial friction compression. When riveting with this kind of bimetallic rivet, just a small impact force can produce plastic deformation on the Ti-45Nb rivet head, while the Ti-6A1-4V rivet rod does not deform. Bimetallic titanium alloy rivets are widely used in the riveting of titanium alloy components and composite components in aircrafts such as B-1 bombers and Boeing. For example, 4,000

bimetallic rivets are used in the leading edge of the F-14 warcraft in the United States, of which the fatigue performance is equivalent to that of a high lock bolt, but the cost can be reduced by 50% and the weight can be decreased by 30% - 40%. The cost of this bimetallic rivet is lower than that of other β-type titanium alloy rivets.

V. Titanium Alloy Materials for Bolt Fasteners

The titanium alloy material used for bolts is generally required for high tensile strength and shear strength after heat treatment, and its strength level shall be equivalent to ASTM 4340 (Chinese Grade 30CrMnSiA) high strength medium carbon quenched and tempered alloy steel commonly used in aircraft structures.

1 Ti- 6Al- 4V ( Tensile

strength ≥ Gr ade 110 0MP a)

Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy (ASTM Gr.5, Chinese Grade TC4) was first developed by the United States in 1954, which has become an international titanium alloy with widespread application in aerospace, people’s livelihood and other industries. It has extensive application in the manufacture of beams, frames, landing gears, fasteners, engine fans, compressor disks, casings, blades of aircrafts and accounts for more than half of the production of titanium alloy at present. This alloy has good formability and super-plasticity, its α-β/β transition temperature is 980-1,010℃ and the longterm working temperature can be up to 350-400℃. However, this alloy cannot be cold formed since it is α-β dual phase alloy, the nail head must be hot forged and the heat treatment needs vacuum water quenching and aging, which requires high on processing equipment and technology. The disadvantages of hot forging are as follows: local burn, overheating and surface oxidation are prone to occur when the blank is heated, automatically continuous manufacturing is difficult and the production efficiency is low.

2 . Ti-3 Al-5Mo - 4 .5 V (For mer Sov iet Union Gr ade BT16) (Chinese Imitation Gr ade TC16)

As a special cold forging titanium alloy for fasteners developed by the former Soviet Union, BT16 is a kind of martensite α+β dual phase titanium alloy with β stability coefficient of 0.83, which is close to the critical composition. This alloy is mainly used to make aerospace fasteners with working temperature below 350℃ and its α-β/β transition temperature is 860±20℃. Smaller β grains and volume ratio of β phase up to 25% in annealed state determine that BTl6 has excellent room temperature processing plasticity, so the cold forming of fastener heads can be completed at room temperature, which significantly improves the bolt production efficiency and reduces the production cost. After solution aging heat treatment, its strength can reach 1,030~1,180MPa. The titanium alloy bolts fasteners of former Soviet Union are mainly made of BT16, which has been used for decades without any quality accident.

3 Ti-10Mo - 8 V-1Fe -3 5 Al (Chinese Gr ade TB 3)

TB3 is also a kind of metastable β-type titanium alloy that can be directly cold forged and heat treated, which has the advantages of excellent cold formability in solution treatment state. The cold forging ratio (Dt/Do) can reach 2.8 and high strength can be obtained after solution and aging treatment. It is mainly used for 1,100MPa high strength aerospace bolts with service temperature lower than 300℃ and is used as the material of rivets.

4 . Ti- 6Al-2 .5Mo -1.5Cr- 0.5Fe - 0.3 Si (Rus sian Gr ade BT 3 -1)

(Chinese Imitation Gr ade TC 6)

Bt3-1 is a titanium alloy fastener material developed by Russia, which can withstand high temperature below 500 ℃ and has been widespread in this country. Compared with TC4 titanium alloy, it is more sensitive to temperature and the manufacturing of fasteners is more difficult. As a kind of martensite α+β dual phase titanium alloy with good comprehensive properties, it is usually used in annealed condition and can be strengthened by proper heat treatment. This alloy has excellent oxidation resistance and corrosion resistance, the parts made of it can work at 400 ℃ for more than 6,000 hours and 450 ℃ for more than 2,000 hours. After isothermal annealing, the room temperature tensile strength is higher than 980MPa, the yield strength is higher than 840MPa, the elongation is more than 10%, and the reduction of area is more than 25%. The tensile strength at 400℃ is higher than 720MPa, the elongation is more than 14%, and the reduction of area is more than 40%. Furthermore, solution and aging treatment can also be performed to further improve its service strength.

Data source: Aviation manufacturing technology, issue 16, 2013

5. Ti-3 Al-2 .7Nb -15Mo (β21S)

β21S is a metastable βtype titanium alloy developed by TIMET Company for NASP project in 1989, with tensile strength higher than 1280MPa. It has excellent cold and hot working performance, deep hardenability, good creep resistance, strong oxidation and corrosion resistance. This alloy was first listed in the ASTM standard of the United States in 1994 and is mainly used in the manufacture of space shuttle titanium composite materials and aircraft engine pod parts such as Boeing 777. Because the β stable elements used in the alloy are molybdenum and niobium with high melting point and oxidation resistance, instead of vanadium with poor oxidation resistance used in TB2 and TB3 titanium alloys, the long-term service temperature of fasteners made of this alloy can reach 550°C, which completely solves the problem of low service temperature (no more than 300°C) of traditional high-strength β titanium alloy fasteners. The Chinese Imitation Grade of this alloy is TB8, and the appearance of the titanium alloy bolt thereof is shown in Fig. 4

The future development trend of aerospace technology requires high specific strength of new fasteners, that is, light weight and high strength. Therefore, the United States, Russia, France and other aerospace powers are actively developing high-strength titanium alloy materials and fasteners with tensile strength above 1200Mpa. In recent years, Alcoa has developed Timetal 5553 (Ti5A1-5Mo-5V-3Cr r) titanium alloy high-strength bolts, of which the tensile strength is over 1300MPa, the shear strength is greater than 745MPa, and the elongation is more than 10% after solution and aging. All performance indicators fully meet the requirements of the typical 1250MPa cadmium plated alloy steel fastener specification. SPS Aeronautical Fastener Group adopts Aerlite180 bolts made of SPS TITANTM761 titanium alloy with tensile strength and shear strength over 1240MPa and 745MPa respectively, which can reach the strength level of many alloy steel and corrosion-resistant alloy fasteners, and reduce the weight by 40%.

VI. Conclusion

At present, more than 70% of titanium alloy fasteners used in aerospace are still made of Ti-6Al-4V because of its low density, good fatigue resistance and simple composition. Although the cold forging cost of β titanium alloy is low, it has disadvantage of high density; its fatigue resistance is not as good as that of Ti-6Al-4V even though its strength is equivalent to that of Ti-6Al-4V, meanwhile its composition is complex and the cost of semi-finished products is high. Due to the same need for vacuum aging treatment, the cost of a finished fastener is still higher. With the increasing requirements of global aerospace industry for aircraft performance, the future highperformance titanium alloy aerospace fasteners set the requirements for higher strength, higher fracture toughness, higher fatigue and good cold working performance of the materials concerned.

Hole s To Fa s ten Things Wi th

by Pete r S tan dr ing

Holes cost money! OK, so the statement doesn’t have the impact of, E = MC2 but non-the-less it is a fundamental truth. Try to buy one, make one or create one and it can become both expensive and confusing.

Two stories on this problem come to mind, one read about, the other shown. Many people travelling the iconic Route 66 through Winslow, Arizona will have passed by Meteor Crater. Formed around 50 000 years ago by an asteroid, it found media fame when NASA used it to train its Moon bound astronauts. Before that, a Philadelphia Lawyer spent much of his summers and most of his money digging holes in the bottom seeking the meteorite which did the damage. When he died, virtually bankrupt with nothing to show for his efforts, his wife wrote to the Governor of Arizona asking if he would like to buy the hole. He politely refused her invitation by saying he already had a bigger one, the Grand Canyon.

On a much smaller scale, a friend of mine who had a business refurbishing large forging presses etc., invested half a million British Pounds in constructing a deep pit within his factory. On completion, he was very concerned to find his local taxman refused to allow his investment as Capital Expenditure. Inviting the official to view his pit, my friend was intensely frustrated to find that to the taxman, his hole

Fig. 4 1280MPa Grade TB8 Titanium Alloy Bolt

was not considered an investment and therefore not deductible as Capital Expenditure.

“Very well,” my friend told the taxman, “I will give you the hole in lieu of my tax payment.”

These two stories, whilst amusing to those not involved, do carry a message. In Arizona, the crater, which could not be grazed, farmed or sold, was retained by the family and is now a Visitor Attraction. Unfortunately, my friend had no success with the taxman and eventually had to write his hole off as a loss.

This tells us that it’s the location and what you put in the hole that matters. In the wrong place and empty, a hole is just a hole and has little value.

Old Holes

The ability to take two disparate items and use a third to fasten them together is mankind’s first and most fundamentally important invention. Woven grass and vines could be used to tie a stone to a stick but sharpening a stick to produce a hole must have ranked with the discovery of fire when it was used to produce clothing and shelter.

Over time and no doubt through much experimentation, early humans learnt how to produce holes in harder materials such as wood, bone/shells and stone. The purpose of the holes being to aid fastening.

Boats, made from animal skins and later wooden strips tied together provided waterway transport and trade. The wheel, first in solid form then as a spoked system was only made possible by the ability to create more consistent holes. With metal casting, the use of cores to form holes and later techniques of lost wax processes, made holes the ‘centre’ of advanced technology.

However, the ability to create metal plates and sheets from gold, copper alloys and later iron, introduced a major difficulty of how and where to make the holes which could be used to fasten them. Since the population groupings where technological developments could take place were regionally based and required protection from other similar groups, it followed that the survival strategy would be defensive and the leaders, militaristic. This meant that those creating holes in hard to work, generally metal products, would be making things to fight with.

Holes made in woven fabrics required binding to prevent tearing and unravelling. In the same way, punching holes in sheet metal would produce splitting and tearing along with thinning, sharp edges and burrs. These defects could not be allowed on holes used to fasten armour with woven thong or of jewellery with thread. So, metal workers, very quickly discovered the need for edge protection.

The ancient methods of producing holes in hard materials is interesting. In Neolithic (Stone Age) times, monument builders, like those at Stonehenge in the UK made the blind holes (mortise) which the (tenons) on the top of the upright stones fitted into to make the famous Trilithons (lintels). Earlier examples in oak timber have been found in Germany. The world famous full size Egyptian ‘Solar’ boats buried to carry ancient Pharaohs across the night sky were also found to have been constructed using mortice and tenon joints along with through holes to tie items together. Egyptologists and others are still debating how holes, tens of centimetres long and 50mm diameter were produced in

granite sarcophagi. Examination of the internal hole surfaces has revealed close concentric rings. Cores have been found to show that the holes were made using copper tubes. Archaeologists questioned, was this done wet or dry using a hard loose grinding medium or one which was impregnated into the copper like a modern diamond cutting tool? The purpose of these often blind holes was to hold wooden pegs used to lift objects weighing tonnes

Simply viewed as a manufacturing operation, it seems to this author that such concentric rings would be formed by the rapid replacement of copper tooling once an effective cutting surface had been lost. The first thing any competent worker does is to learn how to make the job easier. And, if the Pharaoh of the day was paying a bonus to get his eternal resting place completed before he died, then the worker wouldn’t require a statistical process control (SPC) chart to determine when to replace worn tooling! Surely, a smart Pharaoh would then introduce a ‘Time and Efficiency Scheme’ employing ‘Time and Motion’ personnel who in turn would morph into Ergonomists?

If our post Industrial society lasts for over three thousand years as did that of the Ancient Egyptians, perhaps we could demonstrate, ‘there is little new under the sun!’

Holes for fasteners

As the Bronze Age gave way to Iron, the need to create better, more accurate holes increased. As with all holes, the key aspect is not how to make it but what it is used for. In short, ‘functionality’ is the reason to do anything and without that, no hole would be produced.

So holes could be for passing something through; fluid, individual or continuous elements, ropes, chains etc.. Or, putting two or more holes in line will allow them to be joined by a fastening device. Alternatively, a non through hole can be modified to accommodate a single side entity element which can also offer a fastening option. In every case, the material will determine the nature of the hole and what can be fastened to it.

Anisotropy is the term used to define the strength a material has in different directions of loading. For example, as shown in Figure One, a piece of timber will have better properties along the grain than across it. The twist in the fibres of a rope will increase its properties by reducing the prospect of the fibres being split laterally. This twisting,

Figure 1. Compression of Common Struc tur al Gr ade Timber (Dr y)

folding, welding and retwisting is the secret of long ago sword manufacturers being able to produce strong blades having hard cutting edges. Making holes to use for fastening in any material having anisotropic properties requires careful consideration. In the deep drawing of sheet metal, the presence of ‘earing’ in the drawn product demonstrates the anisotropic properties of the material.

In the same way, some modern synthetic materials which have isotropic (uniform) properties, for example, board produced from bonded wood chips, building blocks and printed circuit boards etc. such materials will require consideration when selecting the type of fasteners which could be used.

It is perhaps no surprise that the designs used by workers of wood were reproduced by early metalworkers. The first guns/cannons were made using barrel technology. Side trunnions were used to provide elevation. The geometry of woodworking joints were changed from rectangular to circular to provide spindles and pins required for a wheel to turn. Terms like chassis, running board, trunk/boot, hood/bonnet have been transferred directly from the wooden horse drawn carriage to motor vehicles. However, the benefits that iron, then steel products provided quickly caused the development of fastening devices which utilised the strengths and durability of ferrous metals over wood. Mass produced screws added an extra dimension to the centuries old joining of wood by dowels and nails. Threaded metal bolts, screws, nuts, washers and rivets in huge numbers were produced globally, regionally and locally by individual companies which used them.

Notwithstanding this explosion of demand and inventive spirit, unless two or more parts were clamped together, every fastener required a hole for it to be placed in. Moreover, the majority of the holes were not provided by the fastener manufacturer. So, for a fastener to function in a designed manner, it was necessary for the hole it was being used with to also be, ‘satisfactory for purpose’.

Not Just Any Hole

The drive for mass production was a product of the need for interchangeable parts. To make standard parts created a demand for standard machines on which they could be produced. This in turn created the ability to produce quality products in high quantities virtually anywhere. Once rolling, this particular ball began its journey downhill and through considerable product standardisation and company rationalisation has brought us to where we are today.

In the boom time of machine building, most iron based structural elements were produced by sand casting. This was a cost effective process which offered a thermally stable product with excellent vibration damping and wear properties. A significant disadvantage however, lay in its often hard (chilled) and uneven surface. Holes drilled into cast iron also required ‘spot facing’ if the surface adjacent to the hole was to be at right angles. Assuming this wasn’t a practical possibility, then a special purpose washer arrangement would be required as an interface between the potentially unsatisfactory component surface and the axial alignment with the hole.

Punching a hole in thin metal sheet (strip) or in plate metal material requires suitable tooling and a press capable of applying the force necessary to do it. Both of these are expensive and therefore would require sufficient demand to justify the cost. The quality of the resulting hole(s) is dependent on the suitability of the press, the design/manufacture/condition and set-up of the tooling, along with the condition of the material being worked. Soft materials tend to smear, advanced high strength

steels can create very large breakthrough releases of energy which negatively affects the tooling. This is why on hot formed, cooled in the die auto parts made from boron steel, laser trimming of the ~1900 MPa items represent the only sensible option.

The equivalent of a blind hole in a product could be a groove in a shaft or inside a hole. This could be used to accommodate a spring circlip or washer designed to prevent the axial movement of a rotating element along a shaft as in the case of fixing a gudgeon pin in a piston where thermal expansion during service might cause a problem. It could also provide a bayonet type fitting.

There are many engineering applications where the quality of a hole is of critical importance in fulfilling the design function of the fastening device used. The aerospace industry is one where the drilling of holes in a fuselage or wing requires a new tungsten carbide drill to be used once a specified number of holes have been produced. Despite being one fifth of the way into the 21st century, it is quite

astonishing that making holes by rotational means (drilling) is still, after millennia, the basic technique employed. This, despite it being a highly inefficient and wasteful process. Perhaps, this is yet another of the benefits obtained by the use of self piercing rivets?

Blind holes can be used without modification by applying anchor expansive systems to secure them, or through modification of the original hole by introducing a locking feature, usually a thread or insert. In this case the aspect ratio of the hole geometry relative to what it is used for is fundamentally important. Naturally the material the hole is made from and the application will also be fundamental to the design process.

On a steel frame building or indeed any assembly where damaged, misaligned or non aligned holes are encountered, the quick fix of using the designated bolt to force it through will invariably damage the bolt thread and compromise the design intent. As a great many insurance warranty claims have proved, incorrect assembly of fasteners can cause both financial and reputational damage through unnecessary early failure.

Conclusions

“Measure twice and cut once”, is a wise adage. In a domestic setting, drilling holes in walls requires careful checks to see what is there before starting. Drilling into hidden pipes and/or electric cabling is a common occurrence. Also, in many modern homes, the material being drilled into must be known in order to use the correct tools, settings and cutting techniques/parameters. This must also be done in consideration with the function. If it is to be used for fastening, then the correct type of fastener must be used.

This simple ‘flow chart’ of thoughts for the ‘handyman’ is no different to those required in any commercial operation where fasteners used in industry are required. As always, safety comes first, followed by functionality then practice. Get it right and no one will notice, get it wrong and a disaster could be lurking just round the corner.

The taxman told my friend, “A hole is nothing so how can you claim tax relief on nothing?”

This may be a philosophical argument but if true, then how can so many fasteners be successfully fastened to nothing?