Fastenerblog.net

Got some questions on Fastener Shows

2012-02-05T19:39:49Z

I noticed on several of the fastener news sites that they were reporting on upcoming fastener shows or expos. We are all aware of the Vegas Show, the All American Fastener Show (front cover of the latest LINK magazine), the MWFA show and numerous other table tops and regional shows hosted by various fastener associations. But, in particular, there was one that caught my eye. In May of 2013 there is a Fastener Fair in St. Petersburg, Russia.

I clicked over to the site to check out the show and found myself connected to a site for Fastener & Fixing Technology. I am not sure of the connection but on the Fastener & Fixing site they are promoting the following "Fastener Fairs":

Fastener Fair - Hanover, Germany - April 24-26, 2012
Fastener Fair - Bangkok, Thailand - September 6-8, 2012
Fastener Fair - Brazil - November 20-21, 2012
Fastener Fair - St. Petersburg, Russia - May 12-14, 2013
Fastener Fair - Mumbai, India - April 17-18, 2013

Global Fastener News has a tab for "Trade Shows", which lists a lot of upcoming trade shows including table tops, the STAFDA shows and other national shows mentioned above. I went to that site and found these shows:

International Hardware Fair- Cologne, Germany - March 4-7, 2012
Taiwan Fastener Show - March 13-14, 2012
10th International Trade Exhibition of Fasteners - Moscow, Russia - March 13-15, 1012

And, they mention another Fastener Fair, Eastern Europe for Autumn, 2012.

Anybody going to these?? That is a lot of shows!! And, I'm sure there are others that I did not even find in my 15 search this morning. I did go to a list of exhibitors for the Hanover Fastener Fair in April and scrolled down quickly to see if I recognized many exhibitors. Advance Components was listed near the top as it is an alphabetical listing. Other than that, there were surprisingly few U.S. based companies. Almost none. So, I'm wondering, do U.S. companies participate in these international shows? Check it out yourself. There are a lot of Chinese companies and several from other parts of the world, but few from the U.S. Do we ignore these markets? Can we not compete in these markets? Are these newer shows without track records or do we just not think they are worth the effort?

I would invite the folks from Fastener & Fixing Technology to share with us what they see at these shows. Should more U.S. companies be exhibiting? Are there business opportunities for U.S. companies at these shows? Daniel Rivalin, please feel free to check in on this subject as you offer a European (and global) perspective that we might be lacking. Fasteners Clearing House - do you have a lot of subscribers from outside of the U.S.? Any data you might share?

Everyone is looking to grow their sales. Sometimes we battle those people right in out own backyards to the detriment of gross profit. It is a big old world of fastener opportunities out there. Not sure if it is worth buying a booth for the Moscow show, but I bet I'd run in to a whole different group of competitors if I did.

Trying to finish this post early so I can kick back and enjoy the Super Bowl this evening. Just looking for a good game as my team is not (and has never been) in the Super Bowl. May the best team win. The playoffs, thus far, have been really competitive. One side note - do you realize that both AFC and NFC Championship games were affected at the end by plays made (or not made) by the Special Teams. Missed field goals, fumbled punts, etc. Sure, defense and offense were important, but in both games the the offense and defense pretty much played to a stalemate. The offenses and defenses, for all intents and purposes, were about tied. Special Teams decided the games - good or bad! Just goes to show you, you cannot ignore any part of the game. One last comment - why is there no football team that really uses the specials team personnel creatively? Why doesn't Devin Hester learn to punt so he could just as easily run with the ball as punt it. Why does no team practice the hell out of the fake field goal and use it more than once every 2 or 3 years. Sam Wyche (I believe, though I could be wrong) was the first to use the no huddle offense, other than at the end of the game as time was running out. Everyone acted like he was cheating or something. Today, it is commonly used. I say you teach a running back to kick field goals when they are within 25 years or so and it would open up the chance for fake field goals immeasurably. Let the ex-soccer player kick when they are out further. OK, OK, I'll stop now. Enjoy the game!

One last thing - Do you know where the 40 yard dash came from? It has an interesting history.

Birthday Celebrations in the Fastener Industry

2012-01-28T20:42:59Z

As I was listening to the last episode of Fully Threaded Radio, their guest, Greg Wiener, of Quickscrews International mentioned that he had been in business 25 years. His company was celebrating its 25th birthday. It made me think back to to an article I had just read in LINK magazine about Trainer & Associates celebrating the company's 30th birthday. Bill Trainer and his group have been out beating the bushes for 30 years now. That is the same age as the North Coast Fastener Association and the group is preparing events to celebrate their 30th year of existence.

Then, I got a Tweet from Global Fastener News that caused me to go to their site and read that Portland Bolt has been in existence for 100 years. The manufacturer of anchor bolts and nonstandard construction fasteners will be enjoying their 100th birthday this year.

The irony is that another domestic manufacturer of fasteners, Chicago Hardware & Fixture is also celebrating its 100th birthday this year. Four generations of the Herbstritt family have been leading the company that manufactures lifting hardware in the Chicago area.

Those are some impressive birthday celebrations. Someone needs to consider baking a big birthday cake for the Vegas show.

These companies (and associations) have weathered some storms over the years most recently, the 2008 & 2009 economic drop. But Portland Bolt and Chicago Hardware also lasted through the Great Depression and several bad business cycles in between. Someone might know this but I would be very curious to know which are the oldest, still running fastener companies in our industry - both manufacturers and distributors. Mike McGuire??? John Wolz??? McNulty?? You guys go me covered on this?

On a side note, Distributor's LINK has been publishing since 1976. Has anyone at LINK thought about making old copies of the magazine available online. Can you imagine all those old pictures of people from the fastener industry that exist in their archives?? I bet I even have hair is some of those issues from the mid 1980's!

Then I got curious and started to wondered how long Fastener Talk, or www.fastenerblog.net has been up and running. Before running on Go Daddy, I had started a blog on Blogspot because....well, I think because it was FREE. I searched back and as best as I could find, below is the first blog I posted. I'm not sure that this site has become what I originally envisioned, but I've had fun a long the way and still enjoy posting. And I very much enjoy having guests share their thoughts on the site. So, here is to 5+ years of fastenerblog.net.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Fastener Industry Future

We have all seen consolidations, companies close their doors. We've seen an influx of fasteners from China and India and many other countries. We have seen online ordering, we see high tech warehousing all across the country. But.....where do we go to discuss the evolution of our industry with other people from our industry?? Welcome to Fastenerblog!

I'm not sure what this site can accomplish. Perhaps distributors across the country can discuss sources for products both domestic and overseas. Maybe someone moving across the country can do some job searching on the site. Maybe a company can discover some marketing insights by linking up with other bloggers. All I know is I have kids under the age of 20 and they all have blogs and "My Space" pages and "Face Book" accounts and I thought....why not us? The bolts and nuts people.

So, welcome the Fastenerblog. Please leave a note and let's see where we go from here!

Twitter Observation

2012-01-22T21:08:41Z

This week, I got a Tweet on my phone from Brighton Best. It read, "Have u been watching the price of nickel? Up $0.70 in 15 days...".

That was it. I think that is an interesting use of Twitter. What are they saying exactly? Perhaps that prices are going up for any products with nickel content. Maybe it is just a commentary on one economic factor that caught their attention. Any fluctuations in the metals market is meaningful to the fastener industry. I'm not really familiar with the price of nickel, so it does not register with me whether or not that is some kind of huge spike or just a mild trend. But, the way I read it struck me this was kind of significant or surprising.

Could be a warning or maybe just an alert to customers as to what is going on out in the metals market. It could also mean that we should watch out because prices could be going up.

I think it is good for the average fastener distributor to know what is happening in the metals market. If steel is going up or down, certainly the price of many fasteners will follow. No one responded to that particular Tweet, but I did notice it. I think more specific information like that is valuable and I would follow more Twitter accounts that offer that kind of info sent right to my smart phone.

The premier edition of the U.S. Fastener Report came out this week. I have looked it over but not really spent a lot of time reading it yet. I would be curious to hear any feedback from you out there who have spent time reading it.

Business appears to be picking up right where it left off before the holidays. That is a good sign.

I read on the Global Fastener News site that the New England Distributors Association is moving their table top show from September to April. The next one will be on April 30, 2013. The NEFDA executive director, Joe Soja was quoted as saying they change the date because the close proximity to the Vegas Show hurt the attendance. They also have invited the NFDA to hold their annual meeting in conjunction with the table top show.

Regarding another fastener show, the All American Fastener Show in Branson was advertised on the front cover of the most recent LINK magazine. That show is coming up in May of 2012.

It is only still January but I can see several national, regional and local fastener shows being promoted on line and in magazines. Fastener organizations are releasing their schedule of events, and I certainly welcome any group to submit their information to be posted on this site. Better yet, send in a guest blog and feel free to talk about your events. I like to think of this site as a place where you can discuss your events and even have people respond back with questions or comments. Can't do that to a magazine or news outlet.

Fastener Distributor's Index (FDI)

2012-01-12T13:04:55Z

A distributor customer of mine mentioned he received an e-mail from Eric Dudas of FastenersClearingHouse.com (FCH) & Fully Threaded Radio. My customer mentioned it had something to do with an upcoming Fastener Distributor's Index that the FCH Sourcing Network was working on along with Holden Lewis, a market analyst with BB&T Capital Markets. I recall that the Index was mentioned on a recent episode of Fully Threaded Radio but I was curious to learn more about it. According to a recent news release, the objective of the index is to identify demand, pricing and outlook trends within the U.S. Industrial fastener industry. According to the news release, "Over time, the new index will create a much-needed historical track record while reflecting current market expectations."

So, what will happen is that distributors across the industry will be invited, each month, to participate in a web based survey and the data will be compiled at BB&T Capital Markets group. The FDI results will then be published in Fastener Technology International Magazine and on Fully Threaded Radio.

I will be very interested to see the results of this index. Holden Lewis is a regular contributor on Fully Threaded Radio and I find his reports to be detailed and specific and not just rambling commentary on the industry. I find them pretty interesting and I am curious to see what he does with data collected through the assistance of Eric and Brian Musker and their connections from the industry. They have a good pulse on the industry and Holden seems like a very capable analyst. The combination is intriguing.

I understand that a new Fully Threaded Radio episode will be unleashed on Thursday, January 12 and the Index will be discussed in greater detail. Be sure to check out that podcast.

Part of the goal of this site is to bring news from the "fastener street" to the computer nearest you. I try to get a pulse on what I am hearing in the fastener marketplace and bring it back to you in a rambling sort of presentation I refer to as a blog. Sometimes people add comments and participate and sometimes I am a lone fastener voice in the wilderness. I hope the index brings some more of the fastener pulse to those of us in the fastener marketplace who are out there in the trenches. We all have our own feel for what is going on but it would be nice to hear a report on what is happening based on a collection of data gathered across the industry. I'll still be here offering my "gut reactions" and, as always, I invite you to post your own.

For what it is worth, 2012 seems to be starting off strong. The weather in my geographic location has been much warmer than normal and there has been little snow. For you folks located in Texas and other southern states, that can be a big deal in the snow belt. The weather has inspired me to hit the road as much as possible and I have made several road trips in the early part of the year. Everywhere I have gone so far, I am getting reports that distributors are very busy and business seems to be picking up right where we left off at the end of a very strong 2011. Let's hope it continues.

U.S. Fastener Report - coming to a computer near you!

2012-01-08T14:42:56Z

Over the past few weeks, I have read several news releases on the American Fastener Journal’s online site, FASTENER NEWS NOW ™, about a new fastener report being introduced in the next couple of weeks. Mike McGuire, Publisher/Editor invites any and all people involved in the American fastener industry to sign up for this free report. As the site said, the U.S. Fastener Report is going to include information about “fasteners, fastening applications, new products” and a section called “What’s Happening” which will highlight fastener news releases. This all sounded interesting, but I still was not quite sure what the fastener report was going to be about. Lucky, Mike left his phone number at the bottom of the article. Doesn’t he realize that the nosey Traveling Salesman may be just curious enough to call him when he left his phone number lying around like that?

Mike told me that one of the goals of his fastener report is to reach everyone, from top to bottom, in the fastener companies throughout the United States. From the executives to the inside sales force to the warehouse employees to the expeditors to the Q.C Department…everyone! Mike suggested that the fastener magazines (his included) are subscribed generally by only management in many of the fastener companies and then other employees have to rely on the copies being passed around the office for them to read. Because the U.S. Fastener Report is sent out via e-mail, all he needs to send you a free subscription is your company name, your name and your e-mail address. Still, that does not tell you what the U.S. Fastener Report is about. So, I badgered Mike some more.

According to Mike, he would like his U.S. Fastener Report to be somewhat of a fastener training tool. As he explained, this is not just a news magazine. There will be regular articles that discuss, in depth, specific product categories. There will be a Fastener Quiz in each edition. There will be a section called “THE LIST” which will highlight suppliers in the fastener industry that perhaps not everyone would be familiar with. There will be company profiles, technical articles, fastener association up-dates, fastener trade show information, and salesmanship articles which will be a key component to just name a few of the features. One of his goals is to create a new publication that brings the fastener business and fastener human interest stories to anyone interested in the American fastener industry.

Mike already has a successful fastener magazine and news release service. He said that what he is trying to do here is to reach further into fastener organizations and reach more people throughout the whole industry. I can relate to that goal and I look forward to reading the PREIMERE ISSUE of the U.S. Fastener Report when it is released.

If you want to get on the circulation list, e-mail your list of employees who desire to learn more about the American fastener industry to Mike at mmcguire@fastenerjournal.com or fax him your list to 480-488-3247.

New Year Resolution or Revolution?!?

2012-01-03T20:52:45Z

I follow a lot of different sites. Some I follow out of personal interest, some because I know people involved in an organization or cause. Southwestern College is an all graduate student psychology program located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I have met and know personnel on the staff and board of directors there so I follow the site. The following piece was posted by the President of Southwestern College on December 31. Hope you enjoy it. Hope you can find a way to postitively revolutionize your world this year.

New Year’s Revolutions

I am 58 years old, and with only 40-50 years left on the planet, this time around anyway, I don’t have the time to waste on namby-pamby New Year’s Resolutions.

This year I am going for New Year’s Revolutions. I like the added increment of drama and force, the sheer transformational power generated by all those who did not accept some aspect of the current world order, and so turned it on its head.

That’ll get your blood movin’.

So, what would I like to overthrow?

How about the “Tyranny of the Trance”, for starters? This would require heightened awareness as much of the time as possible, not getting caught in the same old energy arroyos just because they’re the path of least resistance, just because when you turn your mind and heart off, that is where you go automatically, by default. Living my life Awake more of the time would be worth a Revolution.

How about a Revolution of Appreciation? Can I just not take the most unbelievable good fortune I have co-created with the universe for granted? Can I stop now and again, and offer, not a glib, perfunctory nod to the universe, but a deep Buddha belly laugh of appreciation, the kind my friend Don and I stumbled upon in 1973, when we spontaneously burst into explosive gut-bustin’ laughter over the fact that we were 19 years old and eating hot dogs in Copenhagen—when we knew in that very moment that the tides of our personal histories had just shifted in the direction of “Hang on, baby, this is gonna be great” for the rest of our lives? We were right. How about more of that?

Revolutions, Revolutions….hmmm…. How about one more. How about a full-fledged and final coup that leaves Fear Based Thinking, and autocratic, totalitarian, dictatorial, tyrannical “Inner Despots” irrelevantly in the past, as lame and powerless as the Symbionese Liberation Army, or the USSR, or Joe McCarthy, or J. Edgar Hoover?

Get ‘em the hell out. How about a Revolution of confidence, commitment, joy and collaboration, of trusting, intending and vision and love?

Fear sucks, man. I know it can be argued that it brings its own value, that it is a not inappropriate response to yada yada. I get that. Then I think of Gandhi, shot a couple of times, going down, saying Rama Rama, or Rama Rahim, or something along those lines, kind of a final resolution with this life, a final nod to the universe, more or less like “This is my time and destiny, and so it is.”

That’s huge. Not sure I can get up to Rama Rama speed in 2012, but I can be aware that it is possible, and that it is an alternative to getting stuck on ideas like “What is happening ought not be happening! What is, shouldn’t is !!”

We fear and try to control when we do not trust. When we believe there is not enough, and/or that we are not enough, we tend to move toward fear, the fear that we will be annihilated, literally or metaphorically, symbolically. We all know that.

The opposite direction is trusting that there is abundance, and that I am invited to that party; it is realizing that what our current trance views as “bad things” may actually have teachings and messages to carry, that there is enough love and light to sun the world, and all its people, and all its doggies too. OK, heck, everybody and everything. Why not? There’s plenty to go around.

So there are a few Revolutions for you. I am writing on 12.31.11, from Istanbul, and I look forward to checking in on these big ideas with you as the year moves along. I hope you launch your own Revolutions this year. You probably only have 100 years left too, so quit your lollygaggin’. You say you want a Revolution, well, we’d all love to see the plan…

Rama Rama.

You can read more about Southwest College at http://blogs.swc.edu/

The Manufacturing Mart - Promoting Domestic Manufacturing

2011-12-30T13:32:04Z

During some year end calls in the Cleveland, Ohio area, I stumbled upon an organization that is located in what used to be a shopping mall in the downtown area. Today, instead of clothing and gift shops, the Galleria at Erieview Tower is home to an organization called "The Manufacturing Mart". I stopped in the main office/showroom and picked up a brochure that was on a table near the store entrance. On the back cover I read "Promote your company and American Manufacturing by becoming an exhibitor at The Manufacturing Mart, a permanent industrial tradeshow serving engineering, purchasing and manufacturing professionals daily." I had to go in!

I was quickly greeted by Lindsey Frick who is a Mechanical Engineer and Industrial Designer and who works with The Manufacturing Mart. Lindsey gave me a lot of great information and showed me their web site and I, in turn, explained I was a fastener junky and had a great interest in promoting anything that could possibly lead to an increase in domestic manufacturing. Lindsey gave me a lot of promotional information and you can check out their website yourself -- www.TheManufacturingMart.com. Below is an excerpt that I copied from the site:

"The Manufacturing Mart hosts permanent exhibits for North American manufacturers making components, equipment, and consumer products. On display, you’ll find information about North American manufacturing companies along with examples of their process expertise. We feature grinding, milling, boring, waterjetting, tool and die making, injection molding, fabricating, inventing, prototyping, 3D engineering tools, sourcing, and a library of new materials. The displays are organized by Starting Materials, Inventors, and Components."

Cool stuff. A little further down, I read:

"The Manufacturing Mart is located in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio.· This location is at the center of the Capital of Know-How which spans 600 miles outside of the region.· The Capital of Know-How is populated with 60% of all U.S & Canadian manufacturing locations.· This area is branded by Know-How because within this location, one can make anything man has thought of or will think of, from space ships to automobiles to electronics and consumer products."

You've gotta love the confidence bursting out in that statement. Go get 'em.

Essentially, Lindsey's company is trying promote and introduce companies with manufacturing "know how" to those with manufacturing and engineering needs. In fact, they will be holding a Manufacturing Expo at the Galleria on February 14 & 15, 2012 where they hope to attract over 3,000 attendees and 180 exhibitors which will include tier 1 and 2 suppliers as well as job shops, inventors and new product companies, material suppliers and workforce resources. The site to check this out is www.MFGtradeshow.com.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I literally ran into this place as I was coming from a sales call and, being the curious guy that I am, I had to stop. I do not know a lot about the organization but I was reminded of Fully Threaded Radio's interview with Harry Moser and his Reshoring Initiative (see www.reshorenow.org). There are other groups around that are trying to promote domestic manufacturing. Another Ohio based organization called MAGNET also works with domestic manufacturing. The following excerpt is from their website (found at www.magnetwork.org):

"The Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network (MAGNET) today released the audited results of its work over the past five years aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry in Ohio. The goal of MAGNET is to help manufacturers in Ohio compete and grow.

The total documented economic impact of $993 million took place between July 2006 and June 2011. “This third-party audit shows very successful engagements by MAGNET with hundreds of manufacturers of all sizes across all industry groups during one of the most difficult economies since the Great Depression,” said MAGNET President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Berry."

Some of these organizations are government sponsored and others seem to be private enterprises. Regardless, I am very interested in any organization that tries to increase domestic manufacturing because that is what we in the fastener industry rely on........we rely on them to make a living. We need people to make stuff here and I am more that happy to promote groups that I think are working towards that goal. If anyone out there knows of other organizations like these, please feel free to share.

Again, I wanted to mention The Manufacturing Mart, partly because I actually visited there, and also because of their upcoming show. I plan to attend, or at lease walk through. And you can feel free to walk through the websites I have listed.

Happy New Year. Let's hope it is a prosperous one!

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Year End Fastener Good Cheer

2011-12-23T15:09:42Z

My intentions were to finish the year with a very industry oriented post about reshoring organizations that I have stumbled upon in my travels. I think these efforts are great and I hope they are successful. During the upcoming year, I think there will be plenty of talk about job creation and the fact that it is an election year only means we will hear more and more about how to do this. Everyone will try to take credit for any good news. Furthermore, I think our only way out of our current national deficit situation will be to have extraordinary economic growth as no politician (or person) seems to want to see their programs reduced. But that post will have to wait. It is December 23 and I am sitting in my office and I just cannot ignore that the Christmas Holiday is bearing down upon me like a fast moving train.

Oddly enough, I was prepared to make this a kind of vacation day. You know, come in at 10:30, move a few things around, open up my mail, move a few more things and go home by 1:00. Well, my kids are home on school break and they're sleeping. My wife has a list of stuff she is trying to get done before we start preparing for company on Christmas Eve. Honestly, I'm better off at the office at the moment. At home, I think I'd be in the way. So, here I sit.

I'm very fortunate. I have three reasonably good kids, a fine wife, several siblings (some in town, some not) and in-laws who I get along with quite well. Holiday visiting is 90% fun. Sure, there is a lot of dysfunctional behavior within both my family and that of my in-laws, but that's pretty normal, yes?? If I ever visit with a family that does not have some measure of dysfunctional behavior, I usually find the time to be very dull anyways. So, some odd behavior doesn't concern me too much.

There are things I need to do still. Gotta clean out old files and make new ones. Gotta look ahead to January and pull together a travel plan, which is always a liquid schedule, due to change on account of snow storms, etc. I guess I can think about New Year's Resolutions. Resolutions to me are kind of like Lent. Some years I give up cookies or chocolate for Lent, and I'm very good about sticking with the program. Other years, I give up nothing and I don't really feel guilty about it. Depends on the year. New Year's Resolutions are similar. Some years I make them, some times I do not. I've got the handy list I can pull out from years past if I need to. "Lose weight, exercise more, keep in touch better with friends I do not see, write a novel, etc." Yeah, I still have plans on writing a novel. I have the title and the first line of the book I plan to write. It was a gift given to me by a regional sales manager I was working with. He just blurted out something when we were sitting at lunch that I could not believe I heard...and that will be the first line of the first novel I write. I listen to a lot of radio as I put 40,000 miles per year on my Buick every year. But, I also listen to a lot of books on CD's. Just finished with "Henderson the Rain King" by Saul Bellow. Kind of runs along a similar vein as "The Fool's Progress" by Edward Abbey which was graciously suggested to me by industry peer and good guy, John Gaudette of Metric & Multistandard. If I ever do write the novel, I think it will be along the same pattern. Wandering guys dealing with life's ups and downs in an imperfect world. And here I said I was not going to talk about the fastener industry but I feel as though I am.

Please forgive me for not delving more into the fastener industry on this "Fastener Blog" (I still remember getting taken to task in the early days of this site for talking about beer and fantasy baseball instead of fasteners). But, I did join the panel discussion on Fully Threaded Radio where we did a fastener round up on the major fastener stories of the year. To come here and talk about Heads and Cardinal and Dokka and Nucor would feel somewhat redundant after that broadcast. And, one more time, Brian and Eric...you guys have added a great feature to the fastener industry that did not exist 36 episodes ago. Your creativity and vision are appreciated. The products that we sell each day may not be the most exciting to others outside out industry but the characters within this industry certainly are interesting. It is an industry full of large manufacturing companies, multinational corporations, guys running businesses out of their vans, companies with state of the art computer capabilities, companies that track their inventory on index cards, importers that bring parts to our country from some of the most sophisticated factories producing in state of the art facilities and brokers who import parts made in shacks with dirt floors. It takes all kinds to supply the manufacturing needs of our great nation.

So, for the moment, I'm going to postpone my next industry related post until I get some free time over the next week. In the meantime, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. If Christmas is not a holiday you celebrate, I wish you happiness on whatever one you do celebrate. I think we are entitled to some good wishes regardless of how we were raised or whatever our background. For the New Year I wish you all the good things that are normally wished. Good health, good fortune and peace and harmony in your families and your community. And, one more wish I have is for creativity and enjoyment at your fastener workplace. Hope you enjoy this industry as much as I do. And I hope you are always thinking of how to do things better, more efficiently, creatively. profitably and in a way that drags along the good people you work with for the ride. For, it is better to give than to receive, and when everyone enjoys the challenge and ride together, it is all good.

Peace.

Fastener Blog Catch Up

2011-12-17T15:45:20Z

I've take a fair amount of deserved grief over the fact that I talked about attending the Fastenal trade show and then never wrote about it. Sorry folks. Between work and Christmas shopping and travel I just have not found time to sit still and write. And, not that you asked, but I'll share some personal insight here. When I have time and the mood is right, writing this blog is a pleasure. There are just times when I sit down and everything just flows and it is simple. Then, when I am rushing around and feeling guilty that I have not posted in a while, nothing flows. It does not feel like work but it does not feel like what I was hoping this blog would ultimately be...which is a place for people to come chat about the industry and just share what they are thinking. So, forgive me and we'll just move on.

A quick note about the Fastenal show. Once again it was packed. The show is always busy with Fastenal employees "highly encouraged" to hit every booth. They use bingo card style pages and certain vendors have their logo on the "bingo" squares. At the booth there are colored markers used to mark vendor's space once the employee has stopped by to visit. If the employee fills the card, they get a prize like a gym bag or a jacket or something pretty decent. They also have a similar deal they do with colored plastic washers that have to be gathered and put on a plastic bolt. If they collect like 30 washers they can turn them in for a prize and the washers are found at the booths of participating vendors. So, Fastenal has some clever ways to drive traffic to the booth and then it is your job to stop the Fastenal employees and tell them about their product. If you don't do that, then your wasting a golden opportunity. Although, after a day and a half of repeating the same sales information, you feel pretty spent and you are sick of hearing yourself repeat the same thing over and over to each group of Fastenal employees that show up at the booth. But, ultimately, you realized you paid to come here so you tough it out and keep selling. Cause, that's what we do. You can probably find an industry publication or Fastenal's website if you want to learn all the statistics about their sales figures and number of branches, etc. Needless to say, I know of very few suppliers that do not count Fastenal among their largest customers,

So, like I said, I've been kind of busy. And I have a lot of holiday planning to do. On Christmas Eve, the extended "Salesman Family" all comes to our house to celebrate. Then there's the whole Santa Claus shopping thing. And I've got to find time to find all my favorite holiday shows - "Elf", "Grinch", "Christmas Story" and NBA basketball on Christmas because I'm pretty sure that is how the Good Lord wants his birthday celebrated. This year, I have another show I need to schedule - and it involves fasteners!! The Richard Manno Co., a manufacturer of screw machine and electronic hardware, is being featured on the ION channel on a piece called "The World's Greatest". The Richard Manno Co. is being featured as one of the world's greatest fastener manufacturers and the segment will be running on satellite and cable tv on December 28, 20111 and again on January 2, 2012 and January 9, 2012. I understand this is Episode 155 of the World's Greatest so look it up on your cable network and check out one our fastener manufacturing brethren on the big screen!!

And, I hope to post again in the next few days. I've been in contact with several more organizations that are involved in helping to promote re-shoring and the groups support small domestic manufacturers and that is definitely something that interests me. Hope it does you too.

The Enlightening Views of Charlie Accetta

2011-12-15T02:10:55Z

It is, once again, my great pleasure to introduce to you another guest blog from Mr. Charlie Accetta:

Conflict Minerals and the Fastener Distributor

A year ago, on December 15^th, the Securities and Exchange Commission “voted unanimously to propose measures, as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, which would require new disclosures by reporting issuers concerning conflict minerals that originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country.” [Text clipped from SEC news release]

Many of us know about the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act – H.R. 4173. The intent of the bill, in its own words, To promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end ‘‘too big to fail’’, to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices, and for other purposes is a noble gesture from our cock-eyed Congress. But, what’s with the Congo connection, eh? As it is with any national endeavor that takes on an international scope, it’s both simple and complicated.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the battleground for a dozen-year armed struggle between ethnic militias, the funding for whom is based mostly on black-market activity. As in any war, the civilian toll from disease and starvation, let alone from bullets, has been massive (multimillions dead) and infinitely regrettable. In an attempt to cut off funding for the warring parties, the United Nations put out a report in 2009 calling on the Security Council to act against the Hutu militias who were using sales from gold and cassiterite deposits in northern Congo to finance the continuing slaughter. To date, the UN has not issued formal guidelines regarding their own report. So, in Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act (page 838, for those of you who like to keep track of the deforestation of America by our Congress), we, the people, take it upon ourselves to try and accomplish what the Army of the DRC can’t, and the United Nations apparently won’t, do – force the Hutus and what’s left of the Tutsis to make nice by taking a bite out of their cash flow.

Still don’t understand what this has to do with you, Mister & Ms. Fastener Distributor? Let’s go back to the SEC announcement from a year ago, and then back to the text of the Act (you can get your own copy of the full legislation here). The intent of the Act was to empower the SEC to require public corporations under its authority to identify the sources of certain minerals (gold, tin [for which cassiterite is the primary ore source], columbite-tantalite [aka “coltan,” used primarily in electronic capacitors], and wolframite [the primary source for tungsten, a popular hardening element in tool steel]). As part of the due diligence requirement set forth by the SEC measures, public companies are required to survey their supply chain in a thorough manner regarding the origin of any instance where a mineral on the list (both the SEC and the State Department reserve the right to expand its contents moving forward) is used in any phase of production, including off-site production and purchased material necessary to realize a final product.

It isn’t completely clear as yet regarding the strict definition of conflict minerals utilization. Potentially, the entire supply chain could be set off on a paper chase that makes the initial implementation of RoHS look like a walk around the park. Every cold-headed, hot-headed and machined fastener in your inventory was struck by tool steel … containing tungsten … forged out of wolframite. Obviously, any gold or tin-plated fasteners or terminals may come under the microscope, but the origin for finishes is eminently easier to track down, if only through the generally shorter trail from plating to end-use. What’s that? You say you’re not under SEC jurisdiction? That your customers are all privately-held concerns? Yeah, but how about the corporate structure of their customers? It only takes one link to pull the whole chain into a compliance flow-down requirement under the Act.

Of course, much also depends on how the SEC chooses to follow up on public companies statements regarding the presence of these minerals in their products, such statements a required part of their annually-published corporate reports. The Commission is short-staffed these days and there are an awful lot of those annual reports issued, pitching in on the deforestation enterprise. That fact provides little comfort for companies such as Fastenal or MSC Industrial since, as publicly-traded entities, they’re directly in the line of fire in this matter.

The wording of the Dodd-Frank Act specifically charges the State Department with determining the effectiveness of the results of the SEC mission, presenting the possibility that the Commission, undermanned as it is, will institute an all-out blitz at some point if expected outcomes fail to be initially achieved. Who knows? Well, you don’t … because neither the NFDA nor the IFI has submitted any comment whatsoever during the periods set aside for the Act and for the SEC measures. As usual, the organizations you depend on to alert you to such matters are asleep at the wheel. As usual, it’s up to each of you to wake them up and find out just how bad (or totally meaningless) this turns out to be.

Fastenal Show to Finish Up Year

2011-12-05T01:55:31Z

It's not really the end of the year yet, but it is the end of the Trade Show Year. At least for me it is. This coming week I will have the pleasure to once again attend the Fastenal Trade Show in Orlando. This show is amazing. It really is. Fastenal has mastered the company sponsored trade show and almost every vendor I see at the show says it is one of the best shows they attend all year.

More interesting to me will be hearing the latest and greatest news from Fastenal management as they talk about how the year has gone and what they see in 2012 and beyond. To me, Fastenal is like a huge Index Mutual Fund. They are a barometer of our industry and as their business goes, so goes the business of a lot of other fastener companies. I am not suggesting that Fastenal alone makes up the majority of every companies' business, though for some it could be the case. Rather, I think almost every fastener supplier does some business with Fastenal, whether that be corporately or at a branch level. And, Fastenal has a mix of MRO and OEM business. I am always interested in hearing how many branches they have open and other statistics. Whether you like Fastenal or not, they are a major industry player and what they say does impact the industry. I'm very much looking forward to the show.

I have written all year that this has been a good business year and I do not see that changing as the year winds down. I have heard from many distributors that they have had strong November sales. With Christmas landing on a Sunday this year (no extra days off but you only have to go to church one time) there will be even more business days in December so this month could also be stronger than some past Decembers. Heck, even this year the retail industry is not complaining and they are notorious for saying that "sales did not meet expectations". It always makes me wonder, exactly what do they expect that they are always disappointed. If you are disappointed year after year then maybe, just maybe you are bad at forecasting!

Just want encourage all the readers to listen to the next episode of Fully Threaded Radio. Well, you should listen to all the episodes, but on the next one I am part of a segment where we do a "Fastener Year in Review" along with some other industry colleagues. I cannot imagine that you are not familiar with the show by now but, just in case, you can check it out at www.fullythreaded.com. Eric Dudas assures me that, after some editing, the segment turned out good. Hope you listen and enjoy.

I've got the show next week and then a couple more trips set up before Christmas. So far, the weather has been cooperating so I just keep hitting the road and getting in as many trips as possible. At some point, the weather does become a factor in my travel plans, but for now it is full steam ahead.

I'll write some more after the Fastenal show and share anything I find particularly interesting or startling.

China Steel Cuts Prices - What Does That Mean?

2011-11-28T00:34:17Z

According to a story published on Daniel Rivalin's Bazibaza.com, China Steel will lower prices by 7.08% for January and February due to low demand. It also noted that the lowering of prices was due to "rising uncertainty in the global economy". Not all of China Steel's production is used for manufacturing fasteners, but it is, nevertheless, a factor that affects fastener prices, I would think. One other quote from the article caught my eye. China Steel Corp (CSC), based in Taiwan, was quoted is the article as saying "cheap steel imports have disrupted the order in the domestic market and damaged the interest of all Taiwanese steelmakers".    CSC says it "had lodged an anti-dumping complaint against those cheap imports with the government, requesting that the government investigate unfair trade practices that have further depressed domestic steel prices." Isn't that what some refer to as "the pot calling the kettle black"?

I am not sure where these "cheap imports" are coming from but I would have to guess China. How ironic that Taiwan is having issues as Taiwan manufacturers are still part of the Nucor anti-trust litigation. That ruling should be coming up pretty soon, correct?

Also, I have not heard what is happening to import fastener prices but I would think this information will have an effect. If demand is low you would think prices might come down. Is that happening?? For the record, this article was sent to me via Daniel's Worldwide Fastener Weekly News, Nov 21-27 Bazibaza.

If you are not a current subscriber to Daniel's news service, I would recommend highly that you check it out. Each week I get an issue that is filled with fastener news from all around the world. Daniel is based in France and has business concerns in Asia and seems to be the most comprehensive news source for worldwide news. Many other sites offer terrific coverage of the North American market but Daniel seems to be tuned in to many worldwide news sources.   This is definitely a news source worth checking out.

To connect to the fastener news site, click here http://fasteners-fixings.bazibaza.com/news  . Better yet, I know Daniel is a regular reader. Daniel, please respond and let readers know the best way to access your site. Every news seeking person in the fastener industry should have your site bookmarked as one of the several excellent sources for fastener information.

Happy reading.

Fastener Observations

2011-11-22T01:15:49Z

In the past year or two there have been several interesting acquisitions. Fastenal purchased Holokrom. Fontana purchased Lake Erie. Wurth purchased Cardinal. In two of those acquisitions, distributors purchased manufacturers. And, while Fontana has always been a manufacturer in Europe, their U.S. division was more of a distribution company in the past. These are several instances of large distributors buying domestic manufacturing operations. Yes, Wurth had already invested and started the Dokka operation, but Wurth is mostly known as a distribution company. Makes me wonder if that is a trend or if these were just opportunities that could not be passed up. Certainly tells you that there are some distributors out there making money, woudn't you say?

I was recently talking with Don Shan of Solution Industries. Don is a very creative guy and definitely one of those guys who "thinks outside the box". He is also an Ohio State football fan. We were discussing the Vegas Fastener Show and he said, "You know what they need to do? They need to set up the show, not in long rows, but in a big Block "O" like they show at the Ohio State games." He noted that one thing that was missing at the show was a place for people to sit down for meetings when they wanted to have a semi-private meeting at the show. If you wanted to have a little meeting, you had to pretty much leave the show area and go sit our at a not-too-nearby restaurant. If you left a big meeting area in the center of the show and had tables where people could meet, you would also have networking area for people who just want to take a break from walking the show. Now, I KNOW that Mike McGuire is HUGE Buckeye fan, so I figured this suggestion might be particulary interesting to him. What do you say Mike?? How about your own Block "O" at the Vegas show??

Overall, I think this has been a very good year for the fastener industry. Even as we approach Thanksgiving, I think business still remains strong. I hope it continues right on through the end of the year and into 2012. I have received a couple notes from people working on budgets asking my thoughts about 2012. For all the doom and gloom in the news this year, I think most fastener companies ended up having good years. It will be an election year but, then again, so was 2008. What do you see coming in the next year?

Sanker Returns to Blue Chip Engineered Products

2011-11-15T02:19:13Z

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANKER RETURNS AS CEO TO BLUE CHIP ENGINEERED PRODUCTS

Cincinnati, Ohio – November 14, 2011 – Ken Sanker is returning as CEO to lead the company he founded in 1984.

Sanker returns with 20 plus years’ experience in the specialty fastening components and cold formed industry, along with experience in business development, strategy, sales, and marketing.

Sanker sold Blue Chip in July of 2005 to BCEP Holdings. Operations have continued at the same location for the past 6 years

“For Blue Chip customers, suppliers and employees, this is an exciting step in the company’s growth,” said Sanker. “This is a positive change that will benefit everyone associated with Blue Chip Engineered Products”

Since 1984, Blue Chip Engineered Products has provided specialty metal, plastic, assembled component parts and distribution services to the OEM industry

For further information contact:

Ken Sanker

513-631-0138

ksanker@bcepi.com

-----------------------------------------
Note from T.S.:

Several months ago I wrote that a friend of mine was looking to return to the fastener industry after selling his company years ago. It is a privilege and honor to be able post the above announcement. For those of you who know Ken, I am certain this is a welcome development. For those of you that do not know Ken, I am happy to inform you that our industry is strengthed when a professional individual (and a true lover of the fastener industry) like Ken rejoins our ranks. Welcome back, Ken.

A Real Use for Twitter

2011-11-05T13:46:12Z

A lot has been written about Twitter. It has been discussed at Association meetings and it has been talked about on Fully Threaded Radio. There is a small number of active Tweeters within the fastener industry. So far, it has been interesting but not necessarily real....well.....useful. It is more of a hobby than anything. I hope to change that right here, right now with this post. No kidding. Let's jump right in.

If you find the right people or companies to follow on Twitter, you can get a steady flow of news releases and company updates sent to your computer or phone on a daily basis.

On Twitter you can find "Tweets" about subjects that interest you by searching certain words. If you search under the term "Fasteners", guess what? You should see Tweets that have to do with fasteners and, hopefully, the fastener industry. If you post a note and it is related to fasteners, you would type "#fasteners" and that would let other Tweeters know this Tweet, or post, would be of interest to them. When they search for fastener articles, this would show up because you included the hashtag, (which is just the # sign).

Ok, so one day I get a Tweet that mentions a particular fastener distributor customer of mine. This company is a member of the Marcellus Coalition, which is a group of companies seeking to network with each other to do business with regards to the large natural gas deposits in Western PA, Eastern Ohio and West Virginia referred to as the "Marcellus Shale". In the next five years, it is estimated that there will be nearly 200,000 new jobs created in those areas as energy companies come to the area and begin to drill new wells. Being the eager salesman that I am, I have spent a lot of time and effort trying to figure out how I could do more business with companies in these areas who will be drilling or supplying parts to the work sites. First, I needed to know -- Who exactly should I be calling on??

If you try to call an energy company and ask them who is in charge of specifying fasteners or lifting hardware or anything like that -- good luck! They do not give a crap about fasteners at the corporate level of Chesapeake Energy, I assure you. I did manage to get to person in charge of approving new vendors and when I called them I got the answering machine that said, "Please leave your information and be sure to indicate which of our work sites wants to use your product". Well, no one Know about my product yet so no one is asking for it. I was still trying to find someone who used the kind of stuff I sell to explain why they would want my stuff.

So, back to the Tweet that mentioned my customer. A Tweet can only be 140 characters, so what often happens is you will get Tweeted a headline and then a link that you can click on that will connect you to the article of interest. I clicked, got the article and read all about my customer. What I did next was brilliant (if I must say). I looked up the Twitter account for the journalist that wrote the article and found out it was a young woman who writes for a business journal for a Pittsburgh, PA based newspaper. Among the areas she covered was "Energy". Once I found her account I could look and see what Tweeters (people and companies) she was following. It was a gold mine of information about the Marcellus Shale and the companies that are doing business all around the Marcellus Shale. She was following a bunch of energy companies, business groups, etc. that all were focused on the energy industry and - the Marcellus Shale. All I had to do was "follow" those Tweeters and I was then getting a steady stream of articles and Tweets all related to the Marcellus Shale. More good leads.

It is worth noting that many companies have "Social Media Specialists" who release articles and data on a daily basis. These companies are trying to figure this stuff out too. One company I had been following was Chesapeake Energy because they own a lot of the sites where drilling will take place. One day, the Media Specialist sent out a Tweet that encouraged readers to "Visit our Facebook page - Ask Chesapeake". I'm on Facebook so I looked up the page and sure enough it was called "Ask Chesapeake". So, you know what I did?? I wrote the following note on "Ask Chesapeake", "I am interested in supplying a certain product to your work sites and would like to know how I can go about getting my products specified. Who would I contact?"

Within an hour I got a response. The Media Specialist asked me to send him all my information and he said he would pass it to the appropriate person. After I e-mailed this information he sent another note back offering me a phone number that I could call to follow up!! I could not believe it. I did follow up, spoke to a live person who told me the distributors he usually went to procure the product I was selling and he told me I could mention his name when I called on these companies if I wanted to try to get my product specified. He could not have been more accommodating.

I have since followed up with a few of these companies and have sent my information to them. I will continue to make more contacts over the next few weeks.

It is often difficult to get to decision makers at certain companies. I have done this for years and have tried a lot of different approaches. This is the first time I can honestly say I made my connections via Twitter and Facebook. Yes, it is fun to Tweet about what aisle of the Vegas show has a booth that is giving out free beer but I think I am on to something that could be far more valuable in the long run. Because, let's face it. A free beer at the Vegas show is nice but...it's still not an Old Rusty Bolt beer.

NIFSW - A Quick Review and a Request for Feedback

2011-10-30T00:58:14Z

I have listened to Fully Threaded Radio #34 to hear the review of the Vegas Fastener Show. No, wait...I helped do the review. But Mike McNulty did a re-cap and I suspect the show will also be reviewed in several of the trade magazines. You can check all that out at www.fullythreaded.com. I do not wish to be redundant so here's a very brief review.

Show was excellent. Good attendance. Good location. The Venetian is a beautiful hotel and there are plenty of other less expensive hotels in the vicinity for those who spend less time in their room. And the Sands Convention Center is located around a lot of other stuff and does not feel as isolated as Mandalay Bay. The show layout was very good. It seemed like a really simple layout but for some reason I found it a lot easier to navigate than in past years. One thing I have not heard much about was the booths in the back that were added this year. The "mill supply" part of the show. The machinery part of the show. There was a little section at the far back of the show and I have not heard anyone comment much on whether or not they visited that section.

One other comment on the show. There are a lot of booths from Asian suppliers, which is nothing new. I think if I were an Asian supplier, I'd try to get moved away from all the other ones. You see, I walk past those rows and hardly even visit but I do not really have to worry too much that I'm missing one of the domestically based suppliers. They generally are not located there. I see the booth workers earnestly looking for me to stop and I sail on by like someone expecting to be harassed for an autograph. Not a big deal, just an observation.

But show traffic was really good. I know that Day 2 of a show is usually much slower, but I did not think it was bad. Lots of suppliers stayed in their booths right up until 1:00 p.m. Also, I think Day 2 is usually a good day for vendors to meet with other vendors. Let's face it, a lot of companies do business with other suppliers and even with the competition. Day 2 can be a very productive day.

The day before the exhibition hall opened there were a lot of seminars and a lot of industry organizations were involved. I thought the lineup was really good. I had several business meetings to attend so I missed most of the Show sponsored events. I think this might be the first time I can say that I'm really sorry that I missed the conferences. There were a lot of really interesting sounding panel discussions but, you can't be in two places at once.

People come to the show for a variety of reasons. Some to visit existing vendors, some to find new ones. Some bring in staff from all over the country/world and hold meetings before the show. Some suppliers use the time to meet with and entertain large customers. Others use it to network because you never know where your next big "connection" will come from.

I had a customer of mine tell me they attended the Vegas Show because they are looking to purchase a new software system for their company. They did search through the show and met with several potential suppliers. However, what they were not able to do was to ask other users of the system about their personal experiences with the systems. They approached me and asked me if I would help them out. They asked me it I would post the names of the software suppliers they spoke with and then ask YOU...the readers to comment on your experiences with these systems. So, below I am listing these companies. Please understand, I welcome all positive comments about your experience with these systems and even some constructive criticisms. However, if you have a really bad experience and wish to share that, please do it personally and I will forward that information to my customer. You can use this e-mail: fastenerblog@aol.com. I appreciate honesty but this is not a place to air dirty laundry. The companies my customer asked me to post are as follows:

Computer Insights
Fishbowl
INxSQL Software
Distribution One

Your feedback is appreciated.

Good show. Busy Show. And I've been busy since I've gotten back so that is why I am posting on a Saturday Night. More to follow soon.

National Industrial Fastener Show West...

2011-10-18T00:53:30Z

....it's here!! Looking forward to this show very much. New venue and a strong list of industry related activities to go with the show. I think the speakers and seminars are as plentiful as with any show in the past and I think this looks like another great one.

I have a customer who is not attending. He is a business owner who has brought 3 or 4 people to Vegas shows in the past. When I asked why he said, "I don't know. I guess I just don't know what I'd get out of it". I'm sure he is not alone when he asks what he will get out of the show. And, I must add, he is having a very, very good year. Sales are booming. I did not want to be disagreeable but I could not disagree with him more. Each year I find new companies at the show. And, each year I end up spending time with a person or group of people that I did not know very well before I hung out with them at the show. There is no better place to network than at a trade show and Vegas is the biggest one we have in the U.S. Unless you have a conflict due to some personal obligation, I just do not see how you skip this show. For me, this show pays for itself each year (other than if I lose a few bucks gambling, but that has nothing to do with the show itself). And then there is the fact that I get to hang out with industry friends and catch up on industry and personal news. I always have a good time at the show.

I will try to keep active on Twitter and hope others will too so we industry vagabonds can find a place to hang out. (On a future post, I have some great stuff to share about doing business via Twitter. I have finally found a very legitimate business value using Twitter and I will be sharing it. Ask me about it in Vegas. No kidding, it is really interesting). I imagine most people will be attending the show's Welcoming Social at Harrah's. After that, a lot of people go out to dinner but then they look to see where the crowd is gathering once they finish dinner. I may skip dinner on Wednesday and just find a place to hang out. If that is your plan, I look forward to joining up with you.

Heading out in the morning. See you in Vegas.

Guest Blog from WIFI Member, Pam Berry

2011-10-14T00:26:37Z

Vegas + Fasteners = Connections to remember

This will be my fourth visit to Vegas and the big fastener show, or as Eric & Brian of the esteemed "Fully Threaded Radio" call it, "the fastener prom."

I am so excited that we will finally be situated "mid-Strip" in the Sands Expo, with great hotels and restaurants to explore. The Mandalay Bay was OK for the first couple of years, but just the walk from the hotel to the convention floor was exhausting. A new venue is very welcome for my feet and psyche.

Another big thrill will be hearing Jennifer Friel speak at the first WIFI Speaker Series at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19. WIFI, which stands for Women in the Fastener Industry, and Jennifer, who heads up Mid West Fabricating, are both wonderful examples of women taking leadership roles in the fastener industry. This is a great opportunity for both women and men to hear Jennifer, the first woman chair of the Industrial Fasteners Institute, talk about her past career as a television news reporter and her current role at Mid West and IFI. The $25 ticket price goes to the Edith Cameron Scholarship Fund, making the event the perfect combination of philanthropy and shared knowledge. It should be a stimulating and informative time, so bring your questions and be prepared to be wowed. More information is available on the WIFI website www.fastenerwomen.com/#!

Following Jennifer's talk, WIFI will host an informal social networking hour that I'm sure will be loud and fun as the business cards and WIFI applications fly around the room. The NIFS welcoming cocktail reception follows immediately afterward, so l'm hoping that all WIFI attendees will join me in a conga line that will snake over to the party at Harrah's. It's a great way to kick off the evening with colleagues and get the buzz about what's up in the industry….unless you already know what's going on from reading the tweets from Fully Threaded, the Traveling Salesman, and the other great fastener tweeters and news providers out there.

I'll have my smart phone on and will be wired to follow tweets from anyone who wants to recommend a tiki bar or a dance floor to hold forth and talk about business or baseball. NIFS put out a very handy smart phone app for the show. Just download the Guidebook app on your phone and click on NIFS, and, voila, you'll have exhibit maps, exhibitors, schedules and tweets that use the #NIFSW hashtag. It's a super handy way to have it all, well, in the palm of your hand.

Looking forward to seeing some new exhibits, products and people. Vegas is exhausting, but it's worth the time and effort, as I always come home tired but happy to work in an industry that has so many great people in it.

Pam Berry

Executive V.P., Advance Components

WIFI member

Growth in Capital Spending Mean More Fastener Sales?

2011-10-11T12:51:37Z

On October 6, I received via e-mail my subscription to ThomasNet's "The Industrial Marketer". It is a pretty good newsletter but I cannot recall exactly when or how I signed up to receive it. Nonetheless, one article immediately caught my eye..."Survey: Manufacturers Anticipating Growth in Revenue, Employment and Capital Spending" by Peter Alpern. The first two paragraphs I will share here:

"The U.S. might still be limping through an anemic recovery and a lingering period of joblessness, but new data suggests that confidence is picking up within mid-sized manufacturers, who are anticipating growth in revenue, employment and capital spending through the rest of 2011.

The survey, conducted by Chicago-based Prime Advantage Corp., a buying consortium for industrial manufacturers, showed respondents have 'optimistic expectations' compared to six months ago, but retain deep concerns over the rising costs for raw materials, logistics and fears of growing inflation."

The article said that 65% of respondents indicated they planned to purchase new manufacturing equipment this year, while roughly 72% expect increases in revenue. Nearly a quarter of those polled anticipate increases of more than 10%. The survey was conducted in August among professionals representing durable goods manufacturing firms with annual revenues ranging between $10 million and $10 billion with the majority of respondents profiling within the range of $20 million to $500 million in revenues.

One last note...another significant finding was that 40% who currently source products from offshore sources said they plan to bring sourcing back to the U.S., while 60% plan to add additional offshore vendors.

Just a week earlier, I received a similar e-mail from ThomasNet and there was an article on October 10 by Bob Willis of Blooomberg - headline reading, "Orders for U.S. Capital Goods Rise by Most in Three Months". It started, "Orders for U.S. capital equipment increased in August by the most in three months, a sign business investment and exports held up in the face of mounting concern over the European debt crisis. Bookings for goods like computers and communications gear, excluding military hardware and aircraft, climbed 0.9 percent, the most since May, a Commerce Department report showed today in Washington. Demand for all factory goods declined 0.2."

The article did mention a few different areas that have had shrinking economic activity including reports from the New York region and also the Philadelphia area. But, somebody is making stuff somewhere.

I will be anxious to network at the Vegas Fastener Show to hear about various regions of the country. I have written numerous times that I have found fastener sales to be robust in the areas I travel and then I read reports like those above that are commenting on a more national level and I wonder what I am missing. Why do these reports sound so good yet the news coverage sound so bad?

I know we have unsustainable, mounting national debt. We have some major issues looking us square in the eye. But, it looks like we do have some positive things happening in certain sectors of the economy. Whether these amount to short term spikes or the beginnings of a moderate growth spurt, who knows? But, in the fastener industry, we need to make hay while the sun shines. So, even if you believe things are all gloom and doom in the long term, you better wake up and keep focused on those opportunities that do seem to be presenting themselves in certain markets.

Heads back? What's a Cardinal Worth to Wurth?

2011-10-05T00:08:04Z

I do not usually write a new post too soon after I post something else. But the Vegas Fastener Show is now just two weeks away and there are interesting news stories that just seem too good to ignore.

I read on the Global Fastener News site that a company was opening, or re-opening with the name Heads and Threads. That's pretty surprising. What's that name worth? Let's face it. No matter what you do, if you open up a fastener company and name it "Heads and Threads" it is going to catch some attention. I guess we will all find out in Vegas what exactly this new company will be selling. They sure are not selling the inventory that Porteous purchased. My understanding is that all of that was shipped to Porteous warehouses. I must admit, I am surprised that the name "Heads and Threads" was available. Some might say the name is not of value, some will say that the name makes people interested in the "new" company immediately. I guess some of the value depends upon how much you had to pay for it. Pay too much and it is a bad deal. Get it for cheap and it is a good deal.

Which brings me to Cardinal. I am not a finance guy. I do not know how to properly put a value on a company. But my gut tells me that Cardinal is worth more than the $3.9 MM offer I have read about. I had the opportunity to talk about this with a good industry friend and his reply was short and to the point. "If that is all someone will pay for it then that is what it is worth". Fair enough. And, I'm guessing it was shopped around pretty well. But, I've toured Cardinal. There are a lot of machines there. I would have thought the machinery was worth that much. For arguement's sake, let's say that Cardinal chose to produce the wrong parts...or, that they chose to produce parts for the wrong industry. Still, couldn't someone who knows that business seek out other, more profitable parts to make? $3.9 MM?? Again, I don't know how businesses are valued but that just seems low to me. Could those machines manufacture stainless parts or parts from exotic materials. Would that bring more value?

And finally, not to be picky, but normally isn't a "stalking horse" offer one where we do not know the bidder?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"A stalking horse is a person who tests a concept with someone or mounts a challenge against them on behalf of an anonymous third party. If the idea proves viable and/or popular, the anonymous figure can then declare their interest and advance the concept with little risk of failure. If the concept fails, the anonymous party will not be tainted by association and can either drop the idea completely or bide their time and wait until a better moment for launching an attack."

I guess the definition really does not matter. But, if I am to believe the 15 Twitter news sites I read, I am told that Wurth is the company bidding on Cardinal...assuming all these reports are legitimate and correct. So, the secret is not a secret at all. And, other bidders are free to make other offers. But, you'll be bidding against Wurth -- at least that is what the news sources are saying.