John Wolz

A customer who just asks for screws could be creating a problem for the fastener industry. “Lead them through a series of questions,” Joe Greenslade urged National Fastener Distributors Association members. “Ask for prints if not standards. It is cheaper to resolve unclear information here rather than after the parts are made.”
Supplying the wrong fastener can lead to trouble, the director of technology for the Industrial Fasteners Institute warned.
The alternative to “trouble” is adherence to standards, Greenslade counseled. “Standards are the foundation of the fastener industry. Understanding and adhering to fastener standards lowers the cost of doing business, making both users and suppliers more efficient and more profitable.”
Greenslade urged NFDA members and the industry to read the Fastener Industry Education Group’s White Paper: “The Proper Designation and Use of the Standards by End-Users and Suppliers Is Critical to Fastener Quality.” Web: industrial-fasteners.org
“If a random fastener fails testing, don’t just scrap the fasteners. “Find the root cause before you close the issue,” Greenslade advised.
He noted, “75% of the time customers are doing something stupid.”
“Don’t buy fasteners based on a solicitation from an unknown supplier. “That is a very dangerous way to do business.” Even a claim of ISO certification is “not enough,” Greenslade said, noting that certificates can be phony.
“Be aware that “generally everyone in the supply change ends up being named in a lawsuit. ‘I did not make it. I only sold it’ does not get you off the hook.”
Greenslade represented FIEG, a joint effort of the NFDA and IFI, to try to avoid fastener failures through proactive education.
Pointing to recently publicity about tainted toys, tires and food from China, Greenslade declared, “We don’t want fasteners to join that list.”
Recalling the 15-year “painful” battle over the U.S. Fastener Quality Act, Greenslade recalled a federal government official saying during the FQA process, “If the fastener industry had policed itself, we wouldn’t be trying to give you so much help.” E-mail: jgreenslade@indfast.org �2008 FastenerNews.com