Report: Ford May Cancel Fastener Kit Program

Jason Sandefur

Ford Motor Co. may cancel its program that offers fastener kits to auto repair shops\, Auto Body Repair News reports.
ABRN reporter Tim Sramcik worte that Steve Nantau, Collision Repairs Supervisor for Ford”s Customer Service Division”s Aftermarket Engineering and Remanufacturing Operations, pitched the idea of producing fastener sets in early 2004 after listening to Collision Industry Conference leaders describe the difficulties shops face both acquiring and charging for these small but costly parts.
“Shops identified two places where they were losing money,” Nantau said. “One, they didn”t have product numbers to charge for fasteners. They were just a part of shop supplies. Shops were losing hundreds of dollars a week this way. Two, shops typically kept a supply of fasteners on hand. When a tech needed them he would grab a handful of fasteners. What he didn”t use typically ended up on the shop floor to be swept up later. This also cost hundreds each week.”
In response, Ford introduced fastener kits for such popular applications as bumper fascias on selected vehicle models. Ford immediately made 17 different kits available. Each includes 31 to 79 nuts, bolts, washers, clips, rivets and pushpins necessary to install the fascias. Ford has since added 20 more kits, ABRN reports.
However, the fact that few shops have taken advantage of Ford”s offerings is jeopardizing future set production.
“It costs a lot of money to develop these kits. We had to allocate two engineers just to identify the pieces,” Nantau noted.
Maintaining the kits also costs Ford significant resources. Ford reportedly has had to replace the finish on 90% of its kit fasteners.
Continued lack of interest could cost the repair industry even more, writes Sramcik.
“If Ford does well selling these parts, there”s little doubt other manufacturers will follow,” Nantau explained.
Other repair professionals agree.
“The best thing that could happen to the industry is if these things started selling like hotcakes,” stated Craig Griffin of El Dorado, AR-based Laney”s Collision Center. “GM, Toyota and other OEMs would be doing the same thing.”
Nantau blames lack of awareness for the poor fastener kit sales, saying many shops are unaware of the kits” availability and misinformed about how much money they can save using them.
Education is also needed for insurance adjusters, Griffin added.
“Many of them still don”t realize that OEM parts like fasteners are non-reusable,” he noted. �2005 FastenerNews.com