PERSPECTIVE: Stapf: Dropping Borders Yields One Set of Fastener Standards

John Wolz

The European Union means far more than one currency, Bernd Stapf told the National Fastener Distributors Association. Among the many changes for the fastener industry is “one harmonized set of standards” instead of at least 19.
“National borders are history,” declared the Swiss native who coordinates the European Fastener Distributors Association,
The dropping of borders “increases competition,” Stapf acknowledged.
Stapf is retired from a fastener career with Bossard and Borstlap International and now has a role in another result of Europe”s coming together: a unified fastener distributors organization. The German, British, French and Italian associations met in 2000 and the following year EFDA bylaws were approved. The new EFDA met with the manufacturers” European Industrial Fasteners Institute. The Spanish association joined in 2003.
EFDA now has 170 independent distributors with US$4 billion (Euro 3.3 billion) in sales.
Despite multiple languages, Stapf observed “language is not a real barrier to communication if you want to communicate.” EFDA”s meetings are conducted in English.
The young association on an old continent has already dealt with European quality legislation, stainless steel anti-dumping rules, the Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive (RoHS) and other regulations, traceability and customer recalls, responsible party labeling and exchange rate issues. Just as in North America, the fastener industry faces fewer fasteners being used in products and more welding or chemical fastening. EFDA also faces what Stapf termed the “conflict between innovation and standardization.”
Upcoming EFDA interests are dialogue with manufacturers, steel and raw material, quality requirements, zero defects, a common directive for fastener supply standards, packaging and labeling and Hexavalent chrome-free products.

Stapf reported EFDA members” sales are up more than profits thus far this year. Fastener prices for distributors are “up” but selling prices are “equal.”

” Half of Europe”s fasteners are sold through distributors, 95% are metric and 65% go to OEMs.

” Asia is now supplying 29% of the fasteners in Europe. Recent anti-dumping duties against some countries triggered a “sudden increase in imports from [exempt] Malaysia.”

” North American and European markets show “similar trends,” Stapf finds. The drivers for fastener demand are (1) automotive expanding to emerging markets; (2) aerospace; and (3) the building industry with non-standard parts. Construction is strong in North America while Europe is gaining primarily from the automotive and aerospace industries with Airbus.
Both continents have increased competition resulting from free trade and “more transparency,” Stapf observed. Other similar trends are: production is shifting to low labor-cost countries of Asia or Eastern Europe; customers demand value added services requiring technology; and OEMs want design and assembling/engineering services.

” European fastener companies are growing larger through acquisitions. Medium-size family-owned companies are using flexibility, personal service and inventory to compete.
The industry leaders had 15% of the global market share in 2001 and consolidation gave their portion 25% by 2004.

” Europe has become a huge unified market. China has 1.3 billion people, India 1.1 billion, Europe 460 million, U.S. 297 million and Russia 144 million. “Eastern Europe provides an emerging market with 250 million consumers,” Stapf pointed out.

” Old barriers are falling. “Young people from different countries can meet each other.”
People, goods, services and money can move around Europe as freely as within one country.

” Unity has changed the continent which “was always fighting in the last century,” Stapf noted. Twenty million young adults are in exchange programs. “Never, ever have the chances for peace been so promising.”

” The European model is still evolving, but “neither socialism nor capitalism has proven to open fair chances for all individuals,” Stapf observed. Europe is “in search of a new balance, a “third way” with democracy in a free market based on fair rules.”
There are challenges, such as working poor, non-integration of emigrants and 10 million people ready to migrate to EC, Stapf observed.

” Stapf summarized the intention of EU regulations as consumer and environmental protection, free trade among member states and “pursuable responsibility” through “traceability / transparency, closed quality-audited circle and imperative customer information.”

” The EFDA declaration states it “is in the primary interest of fastener distributors to do whatever it takes to continuously improve quality, procedures and processes to safeguard the user of their products and services.” Thus most members are “at least ISO 9002 certified,” Stapf reported.
It is important for EFDA to team with producers and users to “find feasible and intelligent solutions to apply legal requirements without creating additional costs through administrative efforts.”

” In 2004 the US$39 billion (Euro 32.3 billion) global fastener market was “geographically balanced with North America at 33%, Europe and Asia/Pacific at 30% and South America 3%.
According to a 2005 Affix projection the global fastener market will reach US$48 billion (Euro 39.7 billion) by 2008. Asian/Pacific fastener demand will increase 6.6% by 2008, North America 4.6% and Europe”s 25 countries 3.1%.

European consolidation has been developing since the end of World War II. Stapf quoted Winston Churchill from 1945: “My vision is a U.S. of Europe.”
Economic interests began with the European Coal & Steel Commuity in 1950. “Steel at that time was what oil is today,” Stapf explained. “Countries did not want to give up steel mills.”
The European Economic Community was founded in 1957 and in 1968 six nations dropped customs duty. More countries dropped duties in 1973 and during the 1980s.
“The European Union is not a federation like the United States,” Stapf commented. “Nor is it simply an organization for cooperation between governments, like the United Nations. It is, in fact, unique. The countries (“member states”) that make up the EU remain independent sovereign nations but they pool their sovereignty in order to gain strength and world influence none of them could have on their own.”

The most visible change came in 2002 when the Euro currency became official for 300 million people in 12 countries. Two years later 10 more countries adopted the Euro to bring the total to 460 million people.
The changes have yielded a “remarkable speed of integration” and “the point of return has passed,” Stapf said of a unified Europe”s future.

Editor”s Note: EFDA is a confederation of the British Association of Fastener Distributors, Fachverband des Schrauben Grosshandels (Germany), Association des Distributeurs Francais en Elements de Fixation (France), the Asociacion Espanola de Distributidores de Fijaciones Metalicas (Spain) and the Unione Distributori Italiani Bulloneria (Italy). Bernhard Berrang of Germany is president and Steve Auld of BAFD is vice president. E-mail: bernd.stapf@bluewin.ch Web: efda-fastenerdistributors.org \ �2006 FastenerNews.com