CONTENT BY THE WORLDFOLIOHARDLOCK: the ultimate fastenerfor safety critical applications
From indispensable industrial machinery to towering bridges, the HARDLOCK
Nut has an unbeatable trackrecord in tough operationalenvironments.

“For fail-safe fastening
performance in themost demanding
vibration environments,
trust HARDLOCK.”
Katsuhiko Wakabayashi,
Chairman, HARDLOCK
Industry Co., Ltd.

Shinkansen E7 series
Founded half a century ago, HARDLOCK Industry has a mission andvision to contribute to people, companies, and the industry by providing
unparalleled self-locking nuts, orsolutions incorporating them, thatensure safety and assurance. To give
just two examples: the company’snuts have been used on Japan’s
Shinkansen high-speed trains forover 30 years, boasting a zero-percent failure rate, and have remained

securely in place on The Great Seto
Bridge since 1988.
“Our HARDLOCK Nut, applying thewedge method, offers unique advantages in terms of self-locking capability, reusability, versatility with different
materials, and stability in various environments,” explains company chairman Katsuhiko Wakabayashi. “Wecontinue to focus on
research and development to provide
innovative solutions
for our customers
across a wide range
of industries.”

That focus includes global infrastructure growth, particularly indeveloping nations, where expertiseand experience in maintenance are
crucial. “Overseas partnerships arevital for overcoming challenges andexpanding reach,” Mr. Wakabayashi
says. “We are seeking local partners
to jointly grow the market, aiming
to create a safe andsustainable society
while supporting infrastructure
growth, encompassing both hardware and software.”

Shinkansen underﬂoor devices
The chairman’s vision is to eliminate any issues caused by bolt loosening by increasing partnerships
with companies that share HARDLOCK’s goals, in order to provide
safe and reliable bolted joint mechanisms for the international society.
“We are focused not only on pursuing proﬁts for our company, butalso thinking globally about how we
can contribute and support society
altogether,” he adds. “In ﬁve years’
time, we envision that the high tensile resin fastener mechanism will beestablished and it will revolutionize
the worldwide industry.
“Within this framework, we aimto continue our global contribution.”

hardlock-nut.com

The pierce nuts behind
next-generation industries
Since its foundation, Shinjo has continued to provide technology and products that canrespond to any situation.
As the company celebrates 70 where Shinjo has its core acyears, Shinjo is not striving to tivity, and it’s a rapidly evolvincrease its size but instead ing one as electric vehicles
maintain its place among the play an ever greater role. Collaboration, however, is on thetop of its field.
“Our specialty and core focus president’s mind.
“Our partnership with Arnold
is on the type of fasteners thatpierce a sheet and clinch and Umformtechnik GmbH & Co.
allow you to mount and stabi- KG has been very successful
in expanding ourlize items in place,business, and wewith no need forhave contracts
a pilot hole,” exwith distributors
plains company
across the U.S.
president Isaoand EU for pierce
Shinjo. “We lisnuts. There are
ten to the needs
possibilities toof our customers
develop in Asia,and increase ourbut conventional
efficiency throughIsao Shinjo, President,a strict produc- Shinjo Manufacturing Co.,Ltd. nuts are still themajor market sotion design and
we need to concontrol process.”sider how bestTh e a u to m o to progress.”
tive sector iswww.shinjo-int.co.jp/en

Innovation and sustainability form a crucial aspect of
the company’s goals, with aunique press machine and theirsmokeless pierced nut good
examples of each.
“The product is called Miracress, which was inspired byconstruction companies looking
for a nut in a square pipe, andwe are identifying applications
for this with our automotive
customers. For all our production we aim to minimize energy
consumption.”
Looking ahead, Mr. Shinjo
points to the continued transition to electric vehicles.
“It is more likely that the
number of screws and fasteners will be reduced significantly. We will change theproduct mix and follow theshift to EVs.”

Pierce nut:a handy
tool forsmall-sizedapplications

Various nuts for various functions

Clean and organized production