NFDA’s Roseman at Fastener Tech 07: The Fastener World Is Shrinking

John Wolz

The fastener industry faces increased competition as a result of free cross-border trading and more transparency, the president of the National Fastener Distributors Association observed in his state-of-the-industry speech at Fastener Tech 07.

“The world has shrunk,” Joel Roseman declared. Fastener manufacturers and distributors are “buying and shipping all over the world.”

Customers are demanding more value-added services from distributors and “are applying pressure to invest in technology and labor infrastructure,” Roseman pointed out.

To provide value-added services, “fastener distributors need first class suppliers with outstanding production quality, Roseman added.
“There is increasing emphasis on assisting OEM customers in design and assembly,” Roseman finds.

The U.S. has approximately 5,000 fastener distributors serving a $10 billion market. But fewer than 20 corporations have annual fastener sales higher than $100 million. Larger companies continue to acquire “small players,” Roseman pointed out. Five U.S.-based fastener manufacturers now account for one-third of production, Roseman remarked.

China is now producing 29% of fasteners, Europe and the U.S. 15% each and Taiwan 11%. Taiwan fastener production is rising in a “dollars per pound” measure because the country is producing more sophisticated products.

Roseman, who has worked on both the manufacturing and importing sides, has been a distributor since becoming executive vice president of Canton, MA-based Arnold Industries in 2004. Reflecting on the differences, Roseman explained that “manufacturing is mental: ‘We make something’. Distribution is a mentality. We supply and so does everyone else.”

“Distribution has returned to its roots,” the 44-year veteran of the fastener industry observed, recalling when “all we had was the general supply house” and then followed by the age of specialization for product lines from fasteners to safety supplies. Today fastener distributors are “customer driven vs. market driven,” Roseman finds.
In his own prediction for the future of the fastener industry, Roseman quoted Charles Darwin: “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

Editor’s Note: The above comments are excerpts from Joel Roseman’s keynote address. Additional portions will be published in the next issue of FIN. �2007 FastenerNews.com