American NewsNEWS

Compiled by Fastener World

Bader Tells Pac-West: Ask Questions
Before Stocking New ProductTo prevent dead stock from making it hard to bring new
items into stock, consultant Jason Bader told the Pacific-West
Fastener Association, New items are the #1 cause of dead stock,Bader finds. Avoid emotional additions. “It is the emotional
side of a salesperson who says, ‘I’ll bet I can sell that.’”
The #1 buyer of soon-to-be-unsold inventory? Owners ofdistributorships, Bader finds. Ask questions before adding new
items to the inventory. Who is going to buy it? Who else sells
it? Is there a sell-through guarantee? Is the supplier offering
any guarantees? “Spend with people who want to back up,”
Bader advised. If it is a new product, what is the launch date?
What are expected margins? Will this supersede an item? Whatis the training plan? Before adding a new product to inventory,“you must list more than one customer,” Bader said. And
sometimes the purchaser has to say “No.”Bader, of the Distribution Team, has 30 years experience indistribution. He was the 2003 president of the Specialty Tools& Fasteners Distributor Association. Bader demonstrated using
gross margin from stock sales (GMROI) and inventory turns tocalculate inventory investment. Measure by buyers and productlines in each branch, he said. You need the data to makeinventory decisions, he said.
One step to reducing dead stock is appointing a dead stock
manager who will take a non-emotional response to inventory,
Bader suggested. Make it an incentive-based pay position. It
could be a part-time job for a retiree. Another step is verbiage.
Bader said changes in titles can make a point: From “buyer”
or “purchasing agent” to “inventory investor” or “director ofinvestments” can motivate. Also “let software do its job,” Baderadded. Distributors are using only 15% of software capability,
Bader finds.
It isn’t just inventory that costs. “Sometimes we keep
customers around that shouldn’t be,” Bader said. “I’m ok withlosing a few.” Distributors should develop a “hit list” calculating
the number of times a product is purchased. Anything less thanfour hits a year is a candidate for non-stocking. There is a costof holding inventory, Bader emphasized. “Every bin location isrentable property.” It is an “opportunity cost.”

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Fastener World no.203/2023 惠達雜誌•For new suppliers, ask about freight terms, payment,
expected margins and liability insurance, goal of low teensin two years?

•A certain amount of dead stock is inevitable, Baderacknowledged. “You are not going to get down to zero. Wegamble. Customers change,” he cited as reasons.

•Don’t use “cookie cutter” approaches to stocking indifferent locations. There are geographic preferences,
Bader advised.

•

Additional steps in reducing dead stock: Can you returnto vendor? Hold customers accountable? Peer networking... can you help each other out? Charitable contribution?
Ultimately, what can a distributor do with dead stock?
“Dump it,” Bader declared.

Pac-West Panelists: Relationships Build
Companies
Four Pacific-West Fastener Association panelists with successful
fastener careers credited relationships for company growth. Russ
Doran cited an example of how relationships developed in anassociation pay off. He had a cooling tower customer desperate forspecialized fasteners. Through his industry relationships he founda supplier who could “ship by end of week.” “Relationships areinvaluable,” Doran said. Beyond supplies, relationships can yield“meaningful ideas,” Doran added.
“Relationships = priceless,” Wheeler agreed. He credited
his success in business on relationships. He recalled a customer
needing a fastener and was having trouble sourcing it. Wheeler
happened to be in Taiwan when contacted by the customer. Wheeler
turned to the manufacturer he was visiting and had been promotingturnaround time. Wheeler challenged the manufacturer to “proveit to me” and asked him to supply the fastener and airship it to
Wheeler’s U.S. customer. Before the end of the week Wheeler wasable to contact the customer and announce the shipment was on aplane. “That’s the value of relationships,” Wheeler declared.

American News
It is more than customers, employees and suppliers, Andy Cohn said. In addition to executives at the headquarters, Cohn addedthat your relationships with branches can be important, too. “Listen to reps,” Cohn added. Part of relationships is humans answering
phones, Cohn finds. Doran said he had a policy of “always meeting the cold call customer.” Doran cautioned “don’t burn bridges.” A
local distributor might lose a customer to a “big business” moving into the territory, but that customer may find out the change to a “jetvs. a school bus” isn’t how they work best. Ron Stanley promoted participating in fastener associations such as Pac-West to develop
relationships.
Distributors once dealt with nearly all domestic manufacturers such as Bethlehem Steel, RB&W and Camera. But as imports
became less expensive, distributors had to buy to be competitive. Cohn noted that the U.S. Fastener Quality Act of the 1990s validated
imports because specifications were required of all manufacturers, which equalized imports. Doran recalled growth in imports waspartly due to a change from foreign government-owned plants where the fasteners shipped may be “floor sweep” to privately-owned
manufacturers meeting standards.
•The panelists emphasized education throughout the company. Stanley encouraged sending employees to Fastener Training
Institute programs. Overall, 3% of staff time should be in education, Stanley advised. Wheeler suggested a half-an-hour, oncea-week of “screw school.” Beyond training employees, “You’ll learn who doesn’t want to learn,” Wheeler pointed out. Dorancited a result of education avoids another problem: “We all get a black eye when we have a failure.”•Doran said that while “cleaning up
inventory is the least likable thing
to do,” inventory control is vitalto the success of a distributorship.
Cohn obser ved that failure tomanage inventory means it “goesin the back of the warehouse until
you die or sell it.”•Every company has a culture,
Wheeler said. The culture is either“driven from the top or employeedriven.” “You as the leader set
the tone and lead by example,”
Wheeler said. Acknowledge thatsometimes a customer sets culture,Cohn said.

Stanley advised looking to the womenon you r st a ff for developing capable
employees as a source of good employees
not developed in previous generations.
His comment drew applause at the PacWest session, which included many womenactive in the industry. He recalled hiswife, banking executive Heidi Stanley,being asked at banking meetings, “Whatbank is your husband with?” Wheeler:“Look for the employees having trouble
with their jobs.” “Work real hard with that
individual,” he suggested, but added, “somejust have to be fired” in the end. Looking
ahead, Stanley said today’s leaders need
to be aware future generations will havedifferent value systems than the outgoingboomers. Wheeler, who acknowledged work
dominated his early career, recommendedestablishing a “work / life balance.”

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American News
MWFA Panel on Artificial Intelligence:
See What Your Partners Are Doing
Responsible users of Artificial Intelligence “need to see what partners are doing,” panelist
Jason Therrien told the Mid-West Fastener Association. Therrien, of digital-marketing firm of Thunder::Tech, said his consulting firm
has warned clients that “your competitors are jumping at AI.” The panel on Artificial Intelligence was part of the Mid-West Fastener
Association’s 2023 FSTNR Week.
Therrien observed that “we’ve gone from first mentioning ‘dial up’ through waves of technology. We are just beginning to see the paceat which AI can self-perform.” Think of AI as “efficiency,” Therrien suggested. It is a “tool for the sales team.” “Don’t expect AI to ‘fix’
your business, Therrien said. “You have to have your house in order.” AI understands “dark warehousing,” Therrien said. “AI knows exactly
where everything is.” Each “couple minutes” AI saves you “adds up,” he said.

264•Lyndon Lattie, inventor of Smartcert and a 20-year fastener sales executive, said artificial intelligence “is more than music for awalk or a shopping list.” “The power of AI is in the data,” Lattie said. An automatic quoting system is an initial business use of AI
and “that is exactly what it was built for,” Lattie said. “Use it for what you need it for,” such as many repetitive tasks. He noted “itis largely free.” Just like Alexa, AI “starts to get to know you” by collecting data, Lattie explained. Manufacturers can use AI tomonitor machines. AI learns vibrations and can start to tell you, “we think there is a fluid problem,” Lattie said. AI is about “levelsof efficiency.” AI can tell you “what is going on in customer data,” Lattie said. “Use the pieces that work for you.”•Brandi Bertoia of fastener distributor software developer INxSQL, used AI to write her panelist bio. AI “grabbed informationfrom the Internet and compiled to get 80% there.” Don’t ignore AI, she advised. “I don’t think it is avoidable at this point.” AI“isn’t new really,” Bertoia said. It is ‘now getting more attention.” “We’re not replacing jobs,” but automating mundane tasks. “Noone wants to enter data all day,” Bertoia said. AI is data that becomes a free tool to make life easier and allow humans to decision
making. Bertola advised being aware of suppliers and customers’ AI usage. “Read their privacy policy,” Bertoia emphasized. Not
everyone is embracing AI, Bertoia noted. “There are still people who fax.”•Eric Dudas of Fastener Clearing House noted AI “is moving so fast.” But adding just anything to AI doesn’t help, Dudas said.
Avoid adding bad data, which is “garbage in, garbage out,” Dudas emphasized. AI is better with “data scrubbing.” Dudas is alreadyusing AI in voice editing for his Fully Threaded Radio podcast. “Look for little slivers of tech you can use,” Dudas advised.

Fastener World no.203/2023 惠達雜誌American News
Officially, TamperProof is 40 This Year
TamperProof Screw Company wasincorporated 40 years ago in 1983 afterGeorge Friedman developed the Phillips
Pin-Head security screw. The company
had begun functioning in the late 1970’s
when fastener veteran Friedman recognized the need for a
specialist in stainless steel tamper-resistant screws. With thehelp of a local machine shop, he began to offer drilled spannerscrews and Phillips Pin-Head screws.
There are now eight styles of tamper-resistant fasteners:
The original Snake Eyes® and Phillips Pin-Heads, plus OneWays, Torx ® Security, Socket Pin-Head, Tai-Wings ® andOpsit®, the left-handed thread Tri-Wing screw.
Initially sales were by direct mail primarily to institutional
end-users such as prisons and schools. In 1981, George's
daughter Alaina Picitelli, a former schoolteacher, joined
Tamperproof and they began marketing to distributors.
George's son Lew Friedman left the advertising industry
in New York City to join TamperProof in marketing. George
Friedman died in 2013. Today principals are president Lew
Friedman and VP Alaina Picitelli. In 2011 Alaina's daughter
Alessandra became the third generation at TamperProof andher spouse, Rick, joined in 2019. TamperProof now employs 15and occupies 10,000 square feet in Hicksville, NY – 30 miles
east on New York City on Long Island.

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Fastener World no.203/2023 惠達雜誌MW Components Acquires Elgin FastenerGroupOn September 8, 2023, MWComp onent s, C ha rlot t e, NC , USA ,closed its acquisition of specia lt yfastener manufacturer Elgin Fastener Group, Wheeling, IL, USA.
The acquisition expands MW Components' existing USA-based
manufacturing locations to provide fasteners and metal components forglobal distribution. The combined company will offer a comprehensive
set of specialty fasteners including nuts, bolts, rivets, screws and more,along with an extensive catalog of in-stock components.

Rotor Clip Wins GM
Supplier ExcellenceAwardRotor Clip has been awarded the 2022 General Motors (GM)
Supplier Quality Excellence Award (SQEA). This accolade is atestament to Rotor Clip’s unwavering commitment to delivering quality
products and services to General Motors. The GM Supplier Quality
Excellence Award is granted to suppliers who have demonstrated
exceptional performance and adherence to stringent quality standards
throughout the year. Rotor Clip’s manufacturing site not only met
but exceeded these rigorous criteria, earning this recognition. As arecipient of this award, Rotor Clip joins GM’s top-performing supplier
manufacturing locations. This achievement shows the dedication todelivering ‘Quality at Volume’ to GM Manufacturing Plants.

American News
Obituary: Marc O. Strandquist 1962 – 2023
M a r c O. S t r a n d q u i s t ,Jackson, TN, USA, formerlyof Rockford, IL, USA, passed
away August 31, 2023. He
was bor n June 5, 1962, inWurzburg, Germany, and is
the son of Jack D. Strandquist
and Johana Rhineline. Marc issurvived by wife, Vonda; threechildren, Erica Strandquist,A.J. Strandquist and Thomas (Alyssa) Strandquist; grandchildren,Walter and Oliver; mother, Johana; siblings, Kyle (Kris Curtiss)
Strandquist and Mike (Mary Ellen) Strandquist; sisters-in-law andbrothers-in-law; many nieces/nephews and was predeceased by hisfather. Marc was a graduate of Guilford High School in 1980 andSouthern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s Degree in 1984. He
was a Veteran of the U.S. Army as an Army officer with 10 years
in the National Guard and Army Reserves serving in Operation
Desert Storm at Ft. Benning, GA, USA, and retired as Captain.
Marc married Vonda R. Bridges on July 26, 1986. Together theycelebrated 37 years. He was CEO of two large global fastenerorganizations, Wurth Industry of North America (US$850 millionin sales) and Optimas Solutions (US$650 million in sales). Marc
was in the fastener industry for 37 years in various roles; both
distribution and manufacturing. He was President of the NFDA.
Marc loved mentoring people and helping them develop in theircareers.

SPIROL Expands
Fastener Equipment
Line
SPIROL announces expansionof its fastener installation equipment
line by introducing the new Model
CP Pneumatic Compression Limiter
Installation Machine. The Model CP
can install one compression limiter
into one assembly or simultaneously
install multiple limiters into several different assemblies at thesame or different heights. The Model CP Pneumatic Compression
Limiter Installation Machine can be easily adapted to a variety
of applications through the use of quick-change tooling thatenables the operator to reconfigure the machine to the desired
platform within a matter of seconds. Easy to use and built to last,while the base machine offers reliable installation of compression
limiters into plastic assemblies, the Model CP can be upgradedfor heightened inspection and error-proofing with the addition ofoptional enhancements including HMI (Human Machine Interface),
vision sensing, fixture identification, force monitoring, machinetable and more. This new offering complements SPIROL’s Model
CM Manual Compression Limiter Installation and the larger Model
CL and extra-large Model CLX Installation Machines. SPIROL is aleading expert in fastening, joining and assembly.

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American News

Optimas Announces Plan to Develop Fastener
Manufacturing Facility in Mexico
Optimas Solutions, Wood Dale, IL, USA, a global industrial manufacturer/distributorand service provider, will open a cold form manufacturing plant in Monterrey, Mexicoin the second half of 2024. The Mexico production center will complement world-classfastener manufacturing facilities in Wood Dale and Droitwich Spa in the United Kingdom
and continue the company’s near-shoring efforts to minimize supply chain risk.
“More than ever, resource availability has given way to accessibility in the form ofregionalization," said Daniel Harms, CEO of Americas. "Our expanding localization
strategy enables us to be more agile with our manufacturing and sourcing capabilities forindustrial customers and suppliers.”“We took great care to design our Mexico facility to mirror our capabilities at ourmanufacturing operations in Wood Dale so they can effectively play off each other.
This ensures customers and suppliers have access to the same engineering, tooling,manufacturing and quality processes regardless of where we produce the fasteners,” said
Ricardo Alonzo Rodríguez, Vice President and General Manager of Optimas in México.
Optimas Solutions is one of only a few companies with in-house cold forming in theUS, UK, and now, México, which complements global distribution for fasteners and C-Classparts procurement. By working with a full-service distributor that is also a manufacturer,
industrial producers can take advantage of multiple procurement paths and be supported byautomated replenishment services, predictive analytics, engineering creativity, a certified
quality management system and existing carrier relationships that ensure reliable delivery.

Spirol International Marking 75th Year
Originally the Connecticut Engineering & Manufacturing Company, the fastener
manufacturer now has 15,000 global customers, with locations on four continents. Startingwith one product - the coiled spring pin - Spirol now manufactures 12 product lines andproduces two billion components annually.
Spirol was founded by Herman Koehl, Walther Von Conta and Hans Prym. HansKoehl, the son of Herman Koehl, started with Spirol in 1959. He retired as CEO in 2004
and continues as chairman of Spirol Holding Corporation. His son, Jeffrey Koehl, is today’sCEO.
Hans Koehl said increased use of plastics and the electrification of products “has had
a profound effect on our business” and Spirol has “done a great job at recognizing when todevelop products to meet new requirements and address the change in the market before
they become mainstream.” Spiral created and standardized a compression limiter productline for bolted joint integrity of plastic assemblies. Spiral has reinvested in the businessin multiple ways, such as acquiring Ford Aerospace of the UK. “Unlike our other productlines, Precision Shims is a tough product to take globally because each Shim is custommade for a particular application,” Koehl said. “The opportunity arose for Spirol to acquire
Ford Aerospace that would enable us to produce shims locally for the UK and European
market spaces.”

Provided by John Wolz, Editor of FIN (globalfastenernews.com)
Mike McNulty, FTI VP & Editor (www.fastenertech.com)

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