Specifix Fasteners To Acquire Australia’s Ajax Business

Jason Sandefur

Specifix Fasteners Ltd. will take over Ajax Engineered Fasteners’ Melbourne factory, which produced automotive and industrial fasteners for Ford, General Motors Holden, Toyota and Mitsubishi, under a deal that will reopen the facility on January 1, Australia’s Herald-Sun reported.
Nearly 200 auto fastener workers at Ajax lost their jobs in early December when the company was placed into liquidation. Between 60 and 70 workers are expected to be rehired when the facility reopens.
Ajax workers received a total of $5.86 million in redundancy payments following the company’s shutdown. The shutdown prompted criticism in Australia about what some perceived as the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to cheap labor countries.
Ajax is a cold forged components and fasteners manufacturer with capacity of 8,000 million tons a year. Its facilities include cold forging machinery heat-treatment process, surface treatment system. The company also owns warehouse facilities in Australia and the U.S., in Columbia, SC, and Chicago. Web: ajaxfast.com.au �2006-07 FastenerNews.com