Cable tie manufacturer American Elite Molding is marking the 20th anniversary of its founding as Bay State Cable Ties in Massachusetts in 1998. Today American Elite produces 1.5 billion cable ties annually. AEM moved to Florida in 2004 and now has 160 employees in its 75,000 sq ft plant.

The company became American Elite Molding in 2016.

“We are an American manufacturing success story, and we wanted our corporate name to reflect that,” founder and CEO Robert Sires said.

AEM is ISO 9001 certified and is located at 5680 John Givens Rd., Crestview, FL 32589. Tel: 888 463-3454 Email: rsires@robertsires.com Web: AmericanEliteMolding.com


Bossard Group named Dr. Frank Hilgers as future manager of the business units in the northern and eastern Europe, effective May 1, 2019.

Hilgers, 52, will take over for Dr. Daniel Bossard, who becomes the Group’s new CEO next year. Daniel Bossard, who is in the seventh generation of the Bossard family, will succeed David Dean, who has been CEO since Heinrich “Henry” Bossard died in a private plane crash in 2004 in New Zealand. 

Hilgers is currently responsible for the global category management and distribution brands of fastening solutions, which he has managed for six years. He has been running this growth area very successfully for 6 years, since 2015 as a member of the executive committee. In 2019, he will add responsibility for the Germany, Scandinavia, Poland and other eastern European markets.

“With his many years of industry and market experience (Hilgers) is the ideal person to drive growth in existing markets via innovative new technologies and services and in market niches,” according to board chairman Dr. Thomas Schmuckli.

Founded in 1831, Bossard is a leader in modern fastening technology in the three industrial regions of America, Asia and Europe, with 2,300 employees in 80 locations. Web: Bossard.com


Click Bond named John Elverum as R&D director and Behrouz Khodnegah as director of manufacturing and process engineering.

Elverum’s previous experience includes 35 years of managing R&D Aerospace and Aviation programs.

Khodnegah has been with Click Bond for a year leading the Manufacturing Engineering Department. With a 33-year background in aerospace fastening systems, Khodnegah has leadership experience in both Engineering and Operations departments.

Previously he worked with Shur-Lok, Alcoa and Arconic, TriMas/Monogram Aerospace, GS Aerospace, and Lisi Aerospace.

“Khodnegah brings to Click Bond a deep experience in the design and manufacture of high-performance aerospace hardware,” stated CEO Karl Hutter.

Founded in 1987, Click Bond develops and manufactures fastening hardware and adhesive bonding processes for aerospace, surface transportation, maritime, and offshore energy markets. Click Bond is headquartered at 2151 Lockheed Way, Carson City, NV 89706-0713. Tel: 775 885-8000 Web: ClickBond.com


Phillips Screw Co. promoted Gary Dilling to a new role of director of engineering. He has been the lead engineer since 2002.

“The lifeblood of any growth company is new products and service,” CEO Ken Hurley observed. “What keeps me up at night, is how we continue to keep the pipeline of innovation full.”  

Phillips technology is found in jet engines and floor boars of commercial aircraft, engines and transmissions of cars and the space shuttle windshield, Hurley noted.

Dilling “continues to come up with key innovations and we believe he will help us accelerate at a even faster rate in this new position,” Hurley said.

Dilling had a lead role in development of Phillips’ new Lightning deck screws and high-performance wood screws.

“We are forecasting the next ten years to be a boom time for us in terms of fastener growth,” Hurley predicted. “I look to our team to continue to innovate and Gary will be a key part of our future.”

Founded in 1935, Phillips Screw supplies a variety of industries, including aerospace and automotive. Phillips is headquartered at 301 Edgewater Dr. #320, Wakefield, MA 01880. Tel: 781 224-9750 Web: phillips-screw.com


PPG announced price increases of up to 6% on all industrial coatings technologies in North America.

PPG vice president for industrial coatings Kevin Braun said continued increasing cost pressures from raw materials and labor drove the price hikes.

The change is effective July 1, 2018, or as permissible by contract, and applies to all industrial coatings end-use segments – including fasteners.

There was a similar price increase last October.

PPG sales reps will communicate price increase details to their customers for all affected products.

Alicia Cafardi, senior manager for global marketing communications, told FIN the price increases also affect newly-developed coatings.  

“New materials are also impacted due to the fundamental nature of increases with feedstocks for paint formulations,” Cafardi said.

The announcement cited North American prices, but Cafardi said the situation is similar worldwide. “We see prices increases in all region sof the world due to rising costs of raw materials,” Cafardi told FIN.

Pittsburgh-headquartered PPG has produced paints, coatings and materials for 130 years and today operates in 70 countries.  

PPG 2017 sales totaled $14.8 billion. PPG markets include construction, consumer products, industrial and transportation markets. Web: ppgindustrialcoatings.com


Ship & Shore Environmental Inc. is entering the fastener industry to provide pollution abatement.

CEO Anoosheh Oskouian said Ship & Shore integrates pollution abatement systems into current plants and future expansions. S&S includes energy recovery to reduce overall operating costs.

Customers include Rockford, IL-based J&M Plating, which installed a 15,000 SCFM Ship & Shore Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO) in 2012.

“(Their engineers) did an excellent job with the installation of our Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer and maintaining our equipment,” J&M owner Mark Morris said. Web: jmplating.com

Founded in 2000, Ship & Shore is a woman-owned business specializing in industrial air systems. Ship & Shore has offices in Canada and Asia, and is headquartered at 2474 N. Palm Dr., Signal Hill, CA 90755. Tel: 562 997-0233 Web: shipandshore.com