Mid-West Fastener Association CELEBRATING 74 YEARS COMMITMENT TO THE FASTENER INDUSTRY . SPRING 2020
MWFA & COVID-19 - EVENTS TO BE RESCHEDULED As we continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation with Stay at Home Orders, company travel bans, and most of all everyone’s safety, the MWFA Board has had extensive discussions regarding this year’s events. In the best interest of everyone we have made the decision to postpone the 74th Anniversary dinner (and combine with next year’s 75th Anniversary event), the MWFA Table Top Show and Golf Outing. To be sure we provide quality events we will put these events on hold until 2021 when we are able to meet safely. We respect the importance of safety as well as the time constraints on businesses trying to return to normal business once Stay at Home Orders are lifted and COVID-19 cases have greatly decreased.
Please note in 2021 we will hold a Table Top Show. With companies working to resume normal business after the pandemic, this will offer an economic opportunity for exhibitors. We want to be conscience of the rough economic times 2020 has brought all businesses. We will continue to keep you updated on industry news and keep you informed as new plans develop. This may not be a normal situation but the strength of our country will bring business back and we will be together again at events. If you have any questions or concerns regarding MWFA events and activites, or how you can help with COVID-19 relief efforts, please feel free to reach out to us at mwfa@ameritech.net.
FIND OUT HOW MWFA MEMBERS ARE HELPING DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC ON PAGE 14
MWFA OFFERS SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY REMINDER: APPLICATIONS DUE SEPTEMBER 15TH MWFA is pleased to announce another great scholarship program for its members’ families. Be sure to sign up and take advantage of the exciting opportunity on offer. It’s time to think about passing the word, to your employees/coworkers, to take advantage of the opportunity for students to apply for a MWFA Scholarship. Several Scholarships will be awarded with the amount of $1,500.
The son or daughter (natural or step or dependent child), as well as a spouse of an employee, or employee of a dues-paid MWFA member are eligible to apply for the scholarship. This applies to all MWFA members who have been members for one calendar year or more. An application form and rules for scholarship applicants may be downloaded online at www.mwfa.net/pdf/scholarshipapplication.pdf.
NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT 2020 MWFA PRESIDENT
Paula Evitts AVANTE IMPORTS, INC.
So much has changed since my last letter at the beginning of the year. The arrival of COVID-19 has impacted individuals and companies around the world. There is no doubt these past couple of months have been challenging but thankfully, we are getting closer to that “light at the end of the tunnel.” There has been no shortage of bad news out there so
Mid-West Fastener Association
we really wanted to focus our newsletter on all the GOOD news. Thank you to those that have responded to our request to forward information on our members and those in our community who have been helping others. An even bigger “thank you” to everyone who has been giving, sacrificing, donating their time and finding creative ways to offer their support fighting this virus. We have dedicated an entire section of our newsletter to you and appreciate all your efforts. Many of you have been asking what the MWFA’s plans are for the rest of the year and which programs and/or events will happen. After much discussion and keeping everyone’s safety as the primary focus, our board recently made the difficult
decision to move our events to next year. We will be sure to keep you informed as new dates are set. Please check our website (www.mwfa.net) for the most recent updates. I would like to close with some words of encouragement. Remember that we are all in this together and this too shall pass. In the meantime, continue to stay well, help others and appreciate all those that are around you. Kindness is more infectious than the disease and we can all use it to help keep each other positive. Trusting that things will be a lot better by the next newsletter. Take care and stay healthy!
BOARD MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
This is what a MWFA Board Meeting now looks like during the stay in place mandate throughout the country. Certainly a change from the norm!! We are still working to do our best to provide our members with great events and programs as we can. Updates will be provided as soon as we know more.
President
Paula Evitts - Avante Imports Inc.
Vice President
George Hunt - Brighton Best International
Treasurer
Bob Baer - Abbott Interfast Inc.
Secretary
Pam Cicero - Delta Secondary LLC
Directors
Glen Brin - Innovative Components Inc. Jake Davis - BTM Mfg. Matt Delawder - SWD Inc. David Gawlik - Stanley Engineered Fastening Bryan Wheeler - Star Stainless Screw
Alternates
Rich Cavoto - Metric & Multistandard Components Wayne Wishnew - XL Screw Corporation Tabitha Herbst - Burlington Graphic Systems
Executive Director
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THANK YOU TO OUR SCHOLARSHIP DONORS Every year we are fortunate enough to have many members add Scholarship donations to their dues check. We would like to thank those who have contributed, to date, to the 2020 Scholarship Fund. If you’d like to make a donation to the MWFA Scholarship fund, your check (note scholarship fund) can be sent to: P.O. Box 5, Lake Zurich, IL 60047. If you prefer, you can make your donatation online by visiting this link: bit.ly/ 2VN4Jcx AS ALWAYS. WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR GENEROUS SCHOLARSHIP SPONSORS 3 Q Inc. Abbott Interfast Corp.
Addison Packaging Alper Services LLC Arlington Fastener Co. Avante Imports, Inc. Brighton-Best International BTM Mfg. Central Wire Industries Chicago Hardware and Fixture Clarcorp Industrial Sales Crown Screw and Bolt Co. CSM Fastener Products Co. Daco Precision Inc. Darling Bolt Co. Delta Secondary LLC EFC International Eurolink FSS, LLC Gateway Screw and Rivet
www.mwfa.net Greenslade and Company Foremost Fastener Co. Inland Fastener Inc. J&M Plating Jinding Fastening Piece Co. Ltd Kanebridge Corp. Ken Forging Inc. RK Precision Products LLC Rockford Fastener SWD Inc. Screws Industries Solution Industries Star Stainless Screw Vertex Fasteners Wrought Washer XL Screw Corporation * Bold print indicates a company sponsored scholarship
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READER’S CORNER MORGAN OHARE, INC. ANNOUNCES KEVIN KAIHARA AS DIRECTOR OF SALES “With over 25 years of industrial sales experience in the fastener industry, “Kevin and Morgan Ohare will be a great team in increasing the customer base and introducing Morgan Ohare to the manufacturing industries” said Joan Sosinski, President of Morgan Ohare, Inc. “This partnership shares our customerdriven principles on servicing our customers; we look forward to supporting and strengthening these partnerships together.” Morgan Ohare, Inc. is the leading supplier of Case/Neutral Hardening, Barrel, Zinc Plating and Zinc Nickel Alloy Plating. For more information contact Morgan Ohare, Inc. by Tel: 630-543-6780, Email: kkaihara@morganohare.com or online at www.morganohare.com.
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EFC INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCES NEW WAREHOUSE AND OFFICE IN CHICAGO EFC International are moving their Chicago branch office and warehouse to a new 64,000 square foot facility at 4150 Chandler Drive, Hanover Park, Illinois. Thomas Mansholt, Vice President of Operations states, “Our move enables EFC to enhance our service level by providing additional stocking programs with increased inventory space to meet both customer and supplier needs. With 4,200 pallet locations, 26-foot clear height ceilings, and a circular flow from receiving to inventory to shipping, we can ship product more efficiently and the facility allows for growth. The increased number of dock doors provides efficient flow for containers to be loaded for export, supporting customers for all EFC locations. This is another sign of our commitment to
Redefine The World Of Distribution.” EFC International is a global supplier of engineered components with locations in the United States, Mexico, Canada, China, Germany and South Korea. For more information contact Joyce Gerber, Tel: 314-439-4374, Email: jgerber@ efc-intl.com or online at www.efc-intl.com. NEW METRIC & MULTISTANDARD WEBSITE MMCC Online is new and improved, and ready to make your metric experience easier than ever! - Streamlined design and navigation - New filtering capabilities - Improved account management - Online Payments - Added product and technical details - Enhanced search ability Visit to www.metricmcc.com!
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FTI FASTENER TRAINING WEEK SCHEDULE MONDAY • Introduction and course overview • Consensus standards organizations • IFI resources • Torque tension • Torque tension demonstration The Fastener Training Institute offers Fastener Training Week for those seeking to enhance their fastener knowledge. On offer are five intensive days of education and plant tours as part of the acclaimed FTI Certified Fastener Specialist™ (CFS) advanced technical training program. After completing this invaluable industry training and passing a final exam, attendees are eligible for the Certified Fastener Specialist™ (CFS) designation. For information on dates and locations visit www.fastenertraining.org.
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TUESDAY • Acquiring specifications • Quality assurance systems and sampling plans • Basic fastener math • Thread technology and gage issues • Testing standards, fastener finishes and inspecting fastener dimensional features • Hands-on equipment experience • Certifications, test reports and lot traceability
Mid-West Fastener Association
WEDNESDAY • Off-site plant tours featuring manufacturing, secondary processes and/or testing facilities. THURSDAY • Print reading and tolerances • Material specifications for steel fasteners • Dimensional specifications • Structural bolts, nuts, washers and machine screws –stainless steel • Understanding how fasteners fail • Specification exercises • IFI technology connection demonstration FRIDAY • Metric fastener specifications • Metric fastener dimensional specifications, thread specifications and tolerances • Wrap up and review
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COVID-19 NEEDS CALL UPON OUR INDUSTRY The MWFA would like to extend a big “thank you” to our members who have been able to jump in and help out during these times. Your flexibility and creativeness is to be applauded. Here’s just some of the many efforts and achievements we’ve learned about recently. BURLINGTON GRAPHIC SYSTEMS DONATES EAR GUARDS Burlington Graphic Systems will be donating 20,000 Ear Guards to Aurora Health Care. The Ear Guards will be used to take pressure off the back of the ears and prevent skin breakdown to healthcare workers. We were contacted the afternoon of April 23rd inquiring if we could produce, we delivered prototypes on April 24th and received confirmation to produce on April 27th.
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ABOVE: BURLINGTON GRAPHICS SYSTEMS’ EAR GUARDS PRODUCED AND DONATED TO AURORA HEALTH CARE. BELOW: AVANTE IMPORTS BEGAN SEWING & DONATING MASKS TO LOCAL HOSPITALS AND NURSING HOMES.
Mid-West Fastener Association
SEMS AND SPECIALS AIDS IN VENTILATOR PRODUCTION Sems and Specials were contacted to support Ford Motor Company, GE Healthcare and Airon Corporation to manufacture 50,000 units in 100 days of pNeuton Model A ventilators to help hospitals and states that are preparing for COVID-19 patients. Our challenge was to provide seven different brass fasteners in various diameters and lengths totaling 1.3 million units in less than two weeks. Our outstanding Sems and Specials team was able to secure raw material, develop and produce the product and with the help of SWD Inc. Sems and Specials delivered parts in ten days. ND Industries was then challenged to provide the locking patch. A superb performance by all involved. MORE EXAMPLES ON PAGE 18
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COVID-19 NEEDS CALL UPON OUR INDUSTRY continued Following the previous case stories highlighting MWFA members contributing in this time of need in the production of medical supplies or manufacturing specialized parts during the pandemic, here’s another example of how industry is helping to fight the spread of the virus.
required immediate stock, so we offered an alternative snap-in knob to the distributor, as they had the special diameter & length bolt in stock. Our 4,000 knobs shipped direct to the assembler, received in 24 hours & 4,000 respirators were completed & out the door within 72 hours. The customer then placed another order for 25,000 more.
INNOVATIVE COMPONENTS PRODUCE THE PARTS VITAL TO RESPIRATOR PRODUCTION Innovative Components had a distributor selling to a company that assembled respirators. They requested a molded 1-piece knob with a special male protruding diameter & thread length. We were able to expedite quote 2 weeks lead-time that would normally take 5 weeks. The ends-user
INNOVATIVE COMPONENTS REQUESTED TO MAKE PART FOR SURGICAL MASKS In additon to the previous endeavor, Innovative Components had a user OEM required a thru-hole knob, with a small wing span, to be used on plastic cover surgical masks, where two per unit were needed. The thread diameter hole in the knob was large, as compared to the wing span of
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the knob & not available from stock. After identifying the male stud protruding length that was to go into the thru hole was very short, we offered an alternative “blind-hole” knob that would mate onto the bearing surface of the mask and still allow for the short stud length to be utilized. We shipped out 1,200 knobs the same day & the mask manufacturer completed the assembly and shipped all 600 masks the next day. If you are a member company that has a story to tell about how you have helped during this crisis, we would like to hear from you. Feel free to share your stories for publication in our next newsletter. TURN TO THE BACK PAGE FOR USEFUL COVID-19 LINKS
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COVID-19 HELPFUL LINKS This Virus Has Changed Our World With stay-at-home orders in place. we polled our members on how and where they are sourcing the information they need in order to stay in-touch with the outside world and what’s happening with regards to industry and the progression of the virus. We received great suggestions, we hope they are helpful to you. »» State of Illinois - The Office of the Governor JB Pritzer Restore Illinois - A Public Health Approach To Safely Reopen Our State https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/sfc/servlet.shepherd/document/ download/069t000000BadS0AAJ?operationContext=S1 »» 1Point3Acres Global COVID-19 Tracker & Interactive Charts http://coronavirus.1point3acres.com/en »» The Original Equipment Suppliers Association Magna Smart Start Playbook - An Interactive Guide for COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness and Response www.oesa.org/sites/default/files/page/20200414_Magna_SmartStartPlaybook_ V0.18_external.pdf »» The Original Equipment Suppliers Association Health and Safety Resources for Suppliers in a Coronavirus Environment www.oesa.org/health-and-safety-resources-suppliers-coronavirus-environment »» Lear Corporation Safe Work Playbook: 2nd Edition - An Interactive Guide for COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness and Response www.lear.com/Site/Company/Safe-Work-Playbook.aspx
2020 EVENTS CALENDAR Please note our revised events calendar as some events have been canceled or postponed due to COVID-19 October 15
Education Program Location to be confirmed November 5 Scholarship & Elections Dinner Meeting Belvedere Banquets, Elk Grove, IL December 17 Holiday Party Medinah Banquets, Addison, IL Please visit www.mwfa.net for updates on these and postponed events Designed by Graphika Creative - Your ‘off-site, in-house marketing department’ Tel: 224.489.9533 . info@graphikacreative.com . www.graphikacreative.com
© 2020 Mid-West Fastener Association. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission from the copyright owner.
Mid-West Mi Mid id-W Westt Fastener As A Association sociatio i i n
THE ASSOCIATION
A membership with connections that hold the world together, the Mid-West Fastener Association is one of the oldest fastener associations in the United States. For over 70 years, the association has expanded and evolved from a small local group, to the largest regional fastener association in the industry with members from coast to coast. THE MISSION
The MWFA’s primary purpose is to serve and promote the fastener industry and the ever changing needs of its membership base. The MWFA is dedicated to representing all fastener industry segments: manufacturers, distributors, importers and industry suppliers. THE BENEFIT
As a leader in the fastener industry, the MWFA continues to focus on educational programs. The association’s programs provide unsurpassed fastener industry training, utilizing industry experts with decades of industry experience, offering extensive knowledge and hands on training. THE MEMBERSHIP
For membership opportunities, contact the association below or visit us online. Mid-West Fastener Association
PO Box 5, Lake Zurich, IL 60047 Tel: 847-438-8338 . Fax: 847-516-6728 Email: info@mwfa.net www.mwfa.net THE OPPORTUNITY
For advertising and press opportunities in the MWFA newsletter, contact the editor. Nancy Rich Editor Email: mwfa@ameritech.net Upcoming Newsletter Deadline
July 5, 2020