By AFJ| 2013-10-09 10:20:58

H&S Sales, Incorporated (H&S) a leading fastener and industrial supplies provider for Midwestern manufacturers and service companies, today announced that its quality management system has been certified as complying with the requirements of ISO 9001:2008 following a review by the independent audit firm of GMS Registrar Limited. The ISO certification assures H&S’s customers, such as leading OEMs, fabricators, and service companies, that the company has a robust quality management system that controls every aspect of its operation including: sales, service, procurement, inspection, and distribution. "Obtaining ISO certification is an important recognition of H&S’s commitment to our customers and a demonstration of our willingness to grow with them,” commented Kevin Weidinger, President. “This certification allows H&S to expand its business with several Midwestern aerospace, automotive, and high-tech manufacturers.” “I want to congratulate H&S for fulfilling all the requirements for ISO 9001:2008 certification. I commend the entire team for their dedication to the quality system,” states Jag Kottha, President of GMS Registrar. ISO 9001:2008, which is administered by the International Organization for Standardization, is recognized globally as the guideline for establishing and maintaining an effective quality management system for business in any sector. Companies seeking registration must be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of an independent third-party auditor an ability to consistently provide products that meet customer and regulatory requirements. ISO 9001 has existed for almost 20 years. In 2008, the standard was revised, placing more emphasis on continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. H&S Sales, Inc. is a leading, western New York based distributor of fasteners, packaging services and innovative inventory solutions to manufacturers and service organizations across the United States. The company was founded in 1952 and is located off historic Connecticut Street in Buffalo, New York. H&S is ISO 9001:2008 certified and has sister companies: Great Lakes Fasteners, Inc. and CMI Industries, Inc. in Ohio.

By www.fastenershows.com| 2013-10-09 10:07:01

The National Industrial Fastener & Mill Supply Expo, set for October 23-25 at the Sands Expo Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, has today released the online version of the 2013 Expo Directory for advance information to the thousands of manufacturers, distributors, importers, sales reps and others expected to attend the largest exhibition since 2008. Simply click the following link to view the directory and prepare for the conference sessions you want to attend as well as the companies you want to visit: http://www.bluetoad.com/publication?i=177893 "We are closing in on 800 booths presented by over 600 companies from throughout the U.S. as well as 18 international countries from around the world, making this the largest and most exciting Expo in both categories since 2008”, informs Susan A. Hurley, Expo General Manager. Complete Expo information and online registration is available at www.fastenershows.com or by contacting the Expo Office at info@fastenershows.com or (614) 895-1279.  

By AFJ| 2013-09-30 11:13:25

Indianapolis based fastener distributor, Würth Service Supply is celebrating its 65th anniversary in business this October. E.C. Seitz, Sr. founded Service Supply Company in Indianapolis in 1948. The family company grew rapidly, expanding its reach to a multi-branch structure across the U.S. and inhabiting two former Cole Motor Company buildings, totaling over 400,000 square feet, and a ten-story office building in downtown Indianapolis. As the company grew, it received notable recognition as a national distributor. Industrial Distribution Magazine recognized the company as “Distributor of the Century” in 1986, and a year later was named one of the 15 companies “who services customers best, industry by industry” by Fortune Magazine (other companies included: Campbell Soup, L.L. Bean, Liz Claiborne, and American Express). In 1998, the company was acquired by the German based Würth Group, a global leader in the distribution of assembly components, and took on the name Würth Service Supply. The company moved its headquarters to a facility on the northwest side of Indianapolis, maintaining its branch structure. Throughout its 65 years, the company has always maintained a culture of excellent customer service, growth, and celebrating successes. To commemorate this milestone anniversary, the company will be hosting an open house at its Indianapolis headquarters on October 14th to showcase the progress it has made as a company and to celebrate both its history and its vision of growth for the future. Würth Service Supply currently maintains 17 branch locations in the U.S., and 2012 sales were approximately $107 million. The company plans to double in size by the year 2020. Würth Service Supply is one of six sister companies of Würth Industry of North America (WINA), the North American presence of industry companies of the Würth Group. The Würth Group is a world market leader in its core business, the trade in assembly and fastening material. It currently consists of more than 400 companies in over 80 countries with more than 65,000 employees. Over 30,000 of these are permanently employed sales representatives. The Würth Group generated EUR 9.98 billion ($13.1 billion) in sales in the business year 2012.  

By CFM| 2013-09-29 10:05:43

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Brazil, Brazil’s steel fastener import increased by 12.93% to USD 669 million in the first eight months. The steel fasteners are under the HS CODE of 7318, including screws, bolts, nuts, rivets, washers and the like fasteners. The fasteners imported from Taiwan grew by 5.75% to USD 33.43 million during this period.

By Reuters| 2013-09-29 09:43:16

* DOJ antitrust division's largest criminal investigation * Company execs met in remote locations, used code names - DOJ * More than $5 billion in auto parts affected Nine companies based in Japan and two executives have agreed to plead guilty and to pay almost $745 million in fines for their roles in long-running conspiracies to fix the prices of auto parts sold to U.S. car manufacturers, the Department of Justice said on Thursday. The settlements are the latest in an ongoing probe into price fixing of a broad range of car parts that has now ensnared 20 companies and 21 executives. The companies have agreed to pay $1.6 billion in fines overall. The department said Thursday that price-fixed automobile parts were sold to Fiat SpA affiliate Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co , as well as to the U.S. subsidiaries of Honda Motor Co Ltd, Mazda Motor Corp, Mitsubishi Motors Corp , Nissan Motor Co Ltd, Toyota Motor Corp and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd's Subaru. In some cases the activity, which involved separate conspiracies to fix prices of more than 30 different products, lasted for a decade or longer, said Scott Hammond of the department's antitrust division's criminal enforcement program. "Every time we discover a conspiracy involving the automotive industry, we seem to find another one," said Hammond. Antitrust enforcers around the world were involved in the probe, and Hammond credited Japan's competition agency with first turning up some of the wrongdoing that was part of Thursday's settlement. Among the parts affected by the conspiracies were seat belts, radiators, windshield wipers, air-conditioning systems, power window motors and power steering components. Justice Department officials declined to estimate how much the collusion inflated the price of the parts, sold to automakers for an estimated $5 billion. "More than 25 million cars purchased by American consumers were affected by the illegal conduct," said Attorney General Eric Holder. Each of the companies and executives in the plea deal announced on Thursday has agreed to cooperate with the department's ongoing antitrust investigation, the Justice Department said. "We will continue to check under every hood and kick every tire to make sure we put an end to this illegal and destructive conduct," Holder said. Holder said that parts company executives typically met face to face or talked via telephone to reach collusive agreements. "In order to keep their illegal conduct secret, they used code names and met in remote locations," he added. The agreed-upon fines and sentences announced on Thursday included: -Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd to pay a $195 million criminal fine; -Jtekt Corp to pay a $103.27 million criminal fine; -Mitsuba Corp to pay a $135 million criminal fine; -Mitsubishi Electric Corp (MELCO) to pay a $190 million criminal fine; -Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd to pay a $14.5 million criminal fine; -NSK Ltd to pay a $68.2 million criminal fine; -T.RAD Co Ltd to pay a $13.75 million criminal fine; -Valeo Japan Co Ltd to pay a $13.6 million criminal fine; -Yamashita Rubber Ltd to pay an $11 million criminal fine; -Tetsuya Kunida, a Japanese citizen and former executive of a U.S. subsidiary of a Japan-based automotive anti-vibration rubber products supplier, to serve 12 months and one day in a U.S. prison, and to pay a $20,000 criminal fine; and -Gary Walker, a U.S. citizen and former executive of a U.S. subsidiary of a Japan-based automotive products supplier, to serve 14 months in a U.S. prison, and to pay a $20,000 criminal fine. There was no immediate comment from eight of the companies. Mitsubishi Electric, however, noted that it had cooperated fully with the Justice Department. "We accept the terms of the plea agreement and are now focused on moving forward," said spokeswoman Cayce Blandard in an emailed statement. Hammond said car makers had been concerned about the price fixing. "We're talking about an industry with very tight margins. And when you have in a car fixed prices on automotive parts that result in higher manufacturing costs, you don't have any problems getting the attention of the victims," he said. GM was one of several car makers that said it was watching the probe closely. "We are greatly concerned by the large number of suppliers in the automotive supplier sector who have pled guilty to serious criminal price fixing charges," said GM spokesman Tom Henderson. "This evidences a culture of anti-competitive activity among a cross section of suppliers in the automotive sector ... This is unacceptable." Among the companies that the Justice Department's Antitrust Division settled with previously were Autoliv Inc, Tokai Rika Co Ltd, TRW Deutschland Holding GmbH, Nippon Seiki Co Ltd, Furukawa Electric Co Ltd and Fujikura Ltd.

By CFM| 2013-09-26 11:18:25

On August 29th, 2013, Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce released antidumping preliminary ruling on the high-carbon steel wire rods originating from China, which imposed an antidumping rate of 16.14% - 33.98% on Chinese involved products. 

By The Columbus Dispatch | 2013-09-26 09:42:21

A former Norwich Township resident admitted on Sep. 23rd, 2013 in federal court that he sold defective self-locking nuts to the U.S. Department of Defense for use in military aircraft. A nine-count indictment said that Martin Dale Geyer, 53, supplied counterfeit nuts, bolts and screws to the military in 2009 through Wellworth Fastener Products, a company he ran out of his Renner Road home. Invoices that Geyer submitted for payment said the parts met government specifications, but they did not, the indictment said. As part of an agreement, Geyer pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud for shipping the defective nuts to the military, one count of possession of anabolic steroids and one count of possessing a firearm while using a controlled substance. He also agreed to pay restitution of $41,340. Investigators found the steroids, nine guns and 3,000 rounds of ammunition when they searched Geyer’s home in 2010, said Michael E. Hampp, a special agent with the Defense Department’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service. Hampp said the defective parts were considered “critical application items” — failure of the parts could lead to injury or death to members of the military — and were used in nuclear power plants. Geyer’s plea hearing was postponed after his attorney asked that he be evaluated by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist concluded that Geyer had no mental disease and was competent to participate in court proceedings, Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King said yesterday. Geyer, a former bodybuilder who now lives in Wentworth, Ga., would not comment after the hearing. A sentencing date has not been set. He could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine for mail fraud, a year in prison and a fine of $100,000 for steroid possession, and 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for the firearms crime. According to FedSpending.org, a website that tracks federal contracts, Wellworth received $157,285 in federal contracts in 2009.

By AFJ| 2013-09-25 14:56:29

Tracy Lehman of Pacific Warehouse Sales (Chino, California) was elected president of the Pacific-West Fastener Association at a recent meeting of the Pac-West Board of Directors. Rick Peterson of All-West Components & Fasteners (Seattle, Washington) was elected as the association’s vice president, and Dallas Puckett of Valley Nut and Bolt (Olympia, Washington) was reelected secretary/treasurer. Russ Doran of Timberline Fasteners (Commerce City, Colorado) stays on the Board as immediate past president. Kevin Chavis of Porteous Fastener Company (Santa Fe Springs, California) and Tim Roberto Jr. of Star Stainless Screw (Union City, California) were elected by the Pac-West membership to serve three-year terms on the Board of Directors. Other members of the Pac-West Board are Kristine Albertalli of H. W. Eckhardt (Huntington Beach, California), Josh Glaser of Glaser & Associates (Carmichael, California), Jennifer Harder of Empire Bolt & Screw (Spokane, Washington), Garth Jax of Copper State Bolt and Nut (Denver, Colorado), and John Wachman of Desert Distribution (Scottsdale, Arizona). At the association’s recent annual conference, tribute was paid to retiring Board members Andy Cohn of Duncan Bolt (Santa Fe Springs, California), Rosa Hearn of Brighton Best International (Santa Fe Springs, California), and Ed Smith of Porteous Fastener Company (Denver,Colorado). Pac-West’s 2013 fall conference took place September 18-21 at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver, British Columbia. The conference featured the perfect mix of stimulating educational programs and fun events. The conference started off with more than 60 conference attendees learning the ice sport curling techniques and then competing against each other during a fun-filled and injury-free evening. Players were divided up into two leagues (Beaver League and Moose League) and then into smaller teams. Kevin Chavis, Bill Howe of H.W. Eckhardt (Huntington Beach, California), Alison Hubbard of North State Fastener (Sunnyvale, California), and Ryan and Sherri McCaffrey of R&D Fasteners (Rancho Cucamonga, California) all were on the winning team. “Define Success and Make It Happen” was featured on the conference’s second day, with practical business planning and management tips from Vicki Merrill (www.dsamih.com) including guidelines for defining higher potential employees and for 360 evaluations. Lunch time that day included Ignite presentations. Ignite is a global phenomenon, operating under the motto, “Enlighten us, but make it quick.” Presentations are limited to 20 slides that automatically advance every fifteen seconds, giving speakers five minutes maximum to get their point across. The Fall Conference Ignite presenters included Josh Glaser and Ron Stanley of Empire Bolt & Screw (Spokane, Washington). A last-minute addition to the conference program was an update on the threaded rod anti-dumping case by Andy Cohn and Rosa Hearn, with a statement from Greg Iverson of Bay Standard (Brentwood, California) read to the audience and an audio clip from a Fully Threaded Radio interview with Don Haggerty of Stelfast (Edison, New Jersey). Our popular Business Owners Forum and Business Executives Forum also occurred on day two of the conference.Always one of the most highly rated sessions of every conference, attendees share experiences and solutions in a frank interchange. The conference’s second day ended with a reception and dinner, featuring a Canadian trivia contest. The final day of the conference offered a panel presentation on “Disaster Planning for Your Fastener Business.” Panelists included Andy Cohn, Kelly Cole from WCL Company (City of Industry, California), Hans Fuller of Fuller Metric (Surrey, British Columbia), Jennifer Harder, and Tim Roberto Jr. The conference closed with a “Party with the Canadians” at the beautiful False Creek Yacht Club. Pac-West is grateful for the generous hospitality of the party hosts Trevor Borland of Pacific Bolt Manufacturing (New Westminster, British Columbia), Hans Fuller, and Keith Shaback of Pacific Fasteners (Burnaby, British Columbia). Pac-West’s next conference will be a joint conference with the National Fastener Distributors Association (NFDA). It will take place February 12-16 at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort in Indian Wells, California. Also on the schedule for 2014 is the Pac-West Fall Conference, August 6-10 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

By Xinhua| 2013-09-25 14:40:14

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has elected Zhang Xiaogang as president, making him the first Chinese to assume the post. The election was held on Sep. 20th, 2013 at the 36th ISO General Assembly in this Russian city. Zhang is a vice chairman of the World Steel Association and a member of the China Standardization Expert Committee. Founded in 1947, the ISO is the largest and most authoritative international standard-setting body. By the end of 2012, the ISO had developed and published about 20,000 standards, which have played an important role in world economy and trade.  

By Fastener + Fixing Magazine| 2013-09-25 14:19:22

Würth Group reported half year total sales at 4.9 billion euros, 3% down year on year, primarily because of a weak first quarter, but says it is focused on reaching the 10 billion euro mark this year. The half year decline was specifically attributed to the difficult economic environment in key markets such as Germany, especially in the first quarter of the year 2013. The long winter, Würth said, hindered sales growth in the strategically important construction sector. The unstable economic situation in southern Europe has also placed a drag on Würth’s business for several years now. After adjusting for the Group’s solar activities, which were discontinued, the overall decline in sales was 0.8%. The operating result was, however, in line with the previous year at 205 million euros. Robert Friedmann, chairman of the central managing board of the Group, regarded the situation as challenging, but was nonetheless optimistic for the second half of the year. “It cannot be denied that the general economic situation is working against us at the moment. Often this can be felt in lower total order values. However, the second quarter of 2013 is already pointing towards a recovery. Other leading indicators such as incoming orders in our electronics group or the development of our automotive businesses give us reason to expect stronger sales growth in the Würth Group over the next six months.” Notable profitable operations in the first half included the Wood Group in North America, Würth Group China, the electronics company eiSos, as well as a number of South American subsidiaries. In times of economic crisis, Würth says, its regional diversity and its great variety of different business segments has again proven its worth. At the beginning of July Würth Group brought into effect more streamlined senior management, to provide shorter reporting lines and consolidated responsibilities aimed at increasing the Group’s agility and performance. It also reduced the number of employees to 64,064 in the first half of 2013 (December 2012: 65,169) saying that negative sales development required a reduction in the sales force. Considering the outlook Würth said it was focusing on the development of new business segments such as e-business and targeted investments in growth markets to cross the 10 billion euro mark in the current business year. Robert Friedmann added: “We are still expecting to see low single-digit sales growth and a satisfactory development of the operating result in 2013.”