EFC International’s offering of the BCT Rivet nut is a best practice light-weighting solution for attaching carbon fiber and composite panels in automotive.  The rivet nuts are manufactured by BBA with BCT® (Bulge Control Technology).

BCT Rivet Nuts are ultra-high strength and engineered to prevent cracking or delamination of carbon fiber panels. The patented design enables an engineered yield point on the body of the rivet nut ensuring the bulge formation always begins beyond the panel and is drawn back on the panel. BCT rivet nuts can be placed near the edge of the panel without fear of inducing a crack in the panel.

From the NAW Blog:

The wholesale distribution industry is at a watershed moment. Technological advances are creating massive upheavals, with industries converging, new forms of competition surfacing, and new business models emerging as never before. Wholesaler-distributors must navigate these uncharted waters and position their organizations to prosper in this disruptive age—a time when distributors are being bombarded by forces threatening to disrupt the way they conduct daily operations, serve customers, and interact with suppliers.

From the NAW Blog:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has existed for more than 20 years and its impact on the workplace has received more attention in this digital era. Because AI promotes deep learning and predicts human accuracy, it has drastically transformed the way we work and accelerated growth in ways humans could not.

Aaron Dollenmeyer and John Shields (Long-Lok Fasteners), Brett Brown (WireTech), and Mike Weishaar (Parker Fasteners) partnered to win first-place honors at the Mel Kirsner Memorial Golf Outing, held Friday, May 10, 2019 at the Westridge Golf Club in La Habra, California.

Second place honors went to Skip English (All-Spec Fasteners), Dave Kujanek and Mark Jojola (Vertex Distribution), and Jim Moir (Pencom).

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Jim Pokracki on April 19, 2019.

Jim Pokracki had been the owner of Construction Tool & Threading Company since the early 1990s and previously worked for Sullivan Bolt.

From the NAW blog

Retail isn’t distribution, but lessons from Best Buy as a “disruption survivor” offer essential insights for distributor leaders. As reported recently on Inc.com, Best Buy was nearly killed by losing business to Amazon, but turned things around through a combination of corporate strategy and emotional intelligence. Best Buy was terminally ill, but has become healthy through smart, assertive leadership and real-world innovations around people, relationships and physical space. Five powerful insights are revealed in the Inc.com article, three enumerated as a list, and two revealed in other paragraphs and an attached video. All are important and relevant for distributor leaders.

From Elm Sustainability Partners

For conflict minerals reporting year 2018, we may see a bigger impact of last year’s SEC announcement that they will not seek enforcement for conflict minerals filings. Perhaps more “devil may care” attitude reflected in reporting. The real question for many companies this year may well be – “Who cares?”

From the NAW Blog

In our recent Facing the Forces of Change® challenge paper, Creating Innovations and Shaping the Future of Business, we identified a growing movement in wholesale distribution, in which leading distributors are innovating business services as a means of fighting disruption. Since the publication of our challenge paper, our continuing research has revealed evidence of distributors striving to identify and align with market trends to find willing buyers of new service offerings. While most distributors focus on end customers for service opportunities, it may turn out that suppliers are a target-rich environment.

We are pleased to announce the launch of our brand new Sherex website! It has been completely overhauled from top to bottom with additional product listings and a completely new navigation system, designed to help you find the optimal fastener. For more information, go to our website via the link below, or call us at:  (866) 474-3739. 

From Elm Sustainability Partners

Those of you in the middle of (or done with) conflict minerals due diligence have probably noticed a lower-than-normal number of RMI-audited smelters/refiners. It’s not just you – there really are fewer smelters/refiners obtaining or renewing their audits.  READ MORE

Nautic Partners, LLC (“Nautic”) is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of LindFast Solutions Group (“LindFast”), in partnership with LindFast management.

Headquartered in Blaine, MN, LindFast is a master distributor of specialty fasteners in the North American market serving a broad base of national, regional, and local distribution customers through its metric (Lindstrom) and imperial (Stelfast) product brands. As a master distributor, LindFast provides an important link in the fastener supply chain by offering a deep inventory as a “virtual warehouse” of approximately 130,000 low volume, slow moving SKUs that distribution customers need quickly but are non-economical to inventory and source themselves. These SKUs represent high‐touch, specialty products that can be difficult to source due to their unique length, diameter, thread pitch, metal choice, or finish. In addition to sourcing unique product and providing virtual warehouse services, LindFast provides its distribution customers a range of value‐added services such as break bulk, packaging, kitting, plating, coating, and guaranteed stock programs, among others.

Working Capital is an important concept for every business to understand. From Amazon or Apple to a small locally owned business, business owners need to understand the importance of working capital. At its heart, working capital is defined as, “the amount of a company’s current assets minus the amount of its current liabilities,” or simply, a company’s available capital for daily operations at any given point in time. Thus, working capital provides a measurement to determine a company’s operational efficiency and short-term financial health.

At the basis of working capital is the calculation, which is generally the difference between the current assets and the current liabilities. Current assets are assets that can be converted into cash within one year or less. This would include assets such as cash equivalents, marketable securities, accounts receivable, inventory, and prepaid expenses. While current liabilities include short term debt such as accounts payables, accrued liabilities, and other similar debts.  Subtracting the current assets by the current liabilities will provide the working capital figure. The working capital is positive when there is an excess of current assets compared to current liabilities.
However, a working capital calculation not only plays a role as a financial measuring tool, but it can play a large role in Merger and Acquisition (M&A) transactions.

The International Fastener Expo (IFE), the largest and most established business-to-business tradeshow of every type of fastener, machinery and tooling, and industrial-related products in North America, is now accepting speaker submissions from fastener industry professionals and motivational and team building presenters for the Sept. 17-19 show conference schedule. The annual conference schedule features experts on technology, key laws and regulations, business solutions, testing and inspecting, management and leadership, and many more topics affecting the fastener industry.

New at IFE 2018, the conference schedule was expanded to include an additional day and featured 18 educational sessions; IFE 2019 plans to be just as jam-packed. Among the most popular sessions in 2018, Vanessa Sciarra, vice president for legal affairs and trade and investment policy, National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), presented “U.S. Tariffs and Trade Policies - What to Expect in 2019,” a rundown on current trade policy, to a full house of engaged attendees. Video of her presentation is available for purchase at https://www.fastenershows.com/2019/02/12/us-tariffs-trade-policies-fastener-industry/.

ELMHURST, IL - Semblex Corporation has announced the upcoming retirement of Don
Cunningham, the company’s President since 2010. Mr. Cunningham’s retirement will be
effective at the end of the first quarter, 2019. Mr. Cunningham will then continue as a member
of the Semblex Board of Directors and as a part time advisor to the company.

Jinsoo Kim will succeed Mr. Cunningham as president of Semblex. Mr. Kim has served as Chief
Operating Officer at Semblex since the company’s acquisition by Jinhap Company, Ltd in early
2014. Previously, Mr. Kim was a Senior Vice President at Jinhap in South Korea.

From the NAW Blog:

Looking ahead to the coming connected world, consider a scenario in which all transactions are digital. Orders are received from a variety of virtual channels including a distributor’s online store and mobile apps, as well as customer e-procurement platforms and online marketplaces. Data transparency is nearly ubiquitous. Suppliers, distributors and customers succeed on what they do with data, not by hoarding it. Distributors no longer shield their customer data as a means of preventing disintermediation and disruption. Artificial intelligence and data-driven services enhance customer experiences and redefine collaborations with suppliers. Breakthrough results are achieved by sharing data up and down the value chain and by aggregating data across the market.

From the NAW blog:

Distributors must have a strategy for winning in the virtual world by offering differentiated online customer experiences. Today’s distributor webstores do not fit the bill. In most ways, they are imitations of the experience available to customers on virtual marketplaces. Distributors have been told that this is the goal through an oft-repeated mantra — customer expectations forged through consumer buying experiences will migrate to preferences for business buying practices. But why is this true? Is it right for all business customer purchase occasions?

From Rotor Clip

Pneumatic robotic parallel grippers are used in applications that require automated picking up of parts and assemblies.  They can be configured to grip the outside edges of a work piece, or open out to put pressure on the inside of a work piece. READ MORE

EFC International, a leading supplier of engineered fasteners, is pleased to announce the approval of Sherex Fastening Solution’s Large Size rivet nuts for use in steel utility poles by a leading energy company. The approval is in accordance with the Specification for Tubular Steel Pole Transmission Line Structures SES-PD-027. The specification covers the minimum requirements for the design, drawings, material, fabrication, welding, coating, inspection, and delivery of tubular steel pole structures.

Sherex Large Size rivet nuts eliminate the welding process and reduce the number of components for installation. They also allow for a safer, one-handed installation of the step bolts in the field. “This is a significant cost savings for pole and tower manufacturers and we are excited to bring this product to the market,” states Paul Musgrove, Industrial and Distribution Sales Manager.

Today we reflect on our memories of Bob Lehman, honorary Pac West member.  He was a longtime contributor to our organization, and will be missed.