Fastener Talk 2008-10-13T08:53:01Z http://fastenerblog.net/atom.aspx Quick Blogcast It Is Weird Out There tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-10-11:9b0baf1a-da90-44c4-9ab7-912324185aab Traveling Salesman 2008-10-11T20:37:38Z 2008-10-11T20:14:00Z
If you look back at my posts about 9 - 12 months ago, I was saying that I thought we were already in a recession.  And, I think our fastener industry was experiencing recession type sales.  Not everyone, but a lot of folks.  And now I am hearing some good news.  So, what is the deal?

I have always thought (or heard) that we fastener people are the first to see the economic trends.  Before the public or the financial markets see a business downturn, we know things are slowing down because our customers are pushing back deliveries or ordering much smaller quantities because they do not anticipate manufacturing as much in the future.  Manufacturing that is in process continues but we see the future slowdowns coming because we supply the pieces and parts.  Conversely, as companies gear up for future production, they first must order those same pieces and parts in anticipation of future production.  (Now, I know at least half of you are saying, "TS, you're crazy...my customers do not order until the last minute and fasteners are always the last thing they order"....but follow me here, just for a minute.)

So, could we be seeing the economic light at the end of the tunnel??  I sure wish I could say "Yes sir, you know it!" but.....who knows?  The economic news we are all observing is unprecedented and I don't think anyone can say what is on the horizon.  If credit freezes then everything slows down.  But....if some of this $700,000,000,000 works its way back into the market before things get really screwed up, then maybe we are seeing something positive.  I sure hope so.  Otherwise, all us outside salespeople and sales managers are going to be writing a lot of reports and trying to explain a lot of stuff that I do not think the President, the Secretary of Commerce or any of those other folks involved in the bailout..........er, recovery plan can explain.]]> NEW FEATURE on Fastenerblog.com tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-09-28:2be5e2af-d52d-4b2c-a8e7-1d3520d287d6 Traveling Salesman 2008-09-28T13:52:02Z 2008-09-28T13:10:00Z
After some thought I realized that I would also like to hear what the "worker bees" in our industry see on a daily basis.  They/We are the blood and guts of what goes on every day in our industry.  I want to hear from the buyer who is daily trying balance price, total cost and service as they purchase fasteners.  I'd like to know what salespeople are encountering out there...the person who just landed a big, three year program based upon set prices with yearly cost reductions.  How is that person responding tho the enormous price increases we saw last year?

Hopefully, over the next year I will be able to get some fastener dignitaries to answer the following questions.  I have tried to come up with a few open ended questions that would enable the responder to answer them from their unique perspective.  I have decided to limit the number of questions to six -- kind of taking the lead from the theory that every one is connected to everyone else through six degrees of separation.  If enough people will just answer these six questions, we really ought to see a cross section of the industry that is enlightening and covers everything from A to Z.

So, the first people I would invite to answer these are you fine folks who check out this blog regularly or even just from time to time.  If you want to answer the questions anonymously, please still include a few specifics on your job or roll at your company.  If you want to answer these and include your name, please feel free to add any information you wish about your company and its products.  And with that, here are the questions I would like to see answered:

1.  What was your first job in the fastener industry and what is your current position?

2.  What is the biggest change you have seen in the industry in the past few years?  What trends have you seen in purchasing, sales, management?

3.  What company in the industry do you most respect/admire and why?  In other words, in your opinion, what company runs the best operation?

4.  What do you see happening in our industry in the upcoming months through 2009?  Take into account the cost increases of last year, the influx of Chineese products over the last few years AND the recent increase in import prices.  What is your short term outlook?

5.  What does a fastener company need to do to survive and thrive in the next 2 to 5 years?  How is that unique to our industry and different from any other industry?

6.  What is the one thing that we most lack in our industry?


So, there you go.  If I find that these questions need to be changed after I get some responses, I reserve the right to change them.  If you'd like to hear the answers from a specific person within the industry (a supplier, your boss, your customer), please send them these questions or send them a link to this site.  We can always use some more subscribers.   I hope this survey/interview works out in reality as it has in my head.  I think it could offer some very interesting insights into our fine, fine industry - of which I am obviously a big fan!]]> Financial Markets tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-09-21:541cb60c-d6fd-4741-b7de-89a80fa4156d Traveling Salesman 2008-09-21T20:20:09Z 2008-09-21T20:02:00Z
So, what is a fastener company to do?  How do these events affect our individual fastener companies?

I know if the whole economy seems to be in the dumps, it does seem to affect business in our industry.  People are more cautious, they watch their inventory closer and do not generally stock as much product.  When business is slow I continuously hear distributors say "my customers have more time to shop because they are slow".  Larger distributors like Supply Technologies are often locked into price agreements which really makes it hard when prices go up.  But how does the news of the economy over the last week further affect them?  Stock prices were swinging up and down and we really don't know why.  So what do their shareholders expect them to do?

It will be very interesting to watch what happens over the next few weeks.  If there is anyone out there that can speculate how this volatile market will be digested by our industry, I'd like to hear your comments.

Las Vegas is less than two months away.  Should be real interesting this year.]]> Awareness Test tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-09-15:b3d8ddda-379a-42d0-8d2f-7aa4e0ec9ddc Traveling Salesman 2008-09-15T11:57:51Z 2008-09-15T11:56:00Z http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4

Again, thank you to my time wasting children who bring me great things to share on this blog.  This is an intersting test that both my wife and I failed.

I think there is a lesson here though I'm not really sure what it is.  ]]> Hurricanes and Fasteners tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-09-14:39d72c54-a7f8-4057-964f-0d790717301e Traveling Salesman 2008-09-14T12:42:06Z 2008-09-14T12:26:00Z
A lot of B-7 fasteners come form the Houston area as well as a lot of galvanized products.  I'm just curious if anyone has heard of any fastener facilities being damaged at all.  Hope not.  This kind of destruction probably also leads to an increase in the sale of building materials including fasteners.  Not saying that is a good thing but, I suppose that's the facts.  You've got to rebuild stuff and it takes fasteners so I imagine some company is going to see their sales spike due to this disaster.

I am hearing a lot of people starting to talk about the Las Vegas fastener show already.  Since it is so early in November, we really are only a month and a half away.  Don't forget to get your absentee ballot before the show.  It should be very interesting as there have been several acquisitions in the industry. 

Some other time I'd like to generate some discussion on the Fastenal trade show that takes place each December in Orlando, Florida.  Many people tell me it is the best show they attend each year.  I have never been to it but might be going this year.  Vendors seem to think they get more people stopping by their booths than at other shows.  Are the Fastenal employees required to stop at each booth?  Tell me some more about this show somebody.]]> Stainless Steel Site tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-09-05:703b29d6-51b2-43e3-8f8b-5460d14d12bb Traveling Salesman 2008-09-05T09:23:27Z 2008-09-05T09:17:00Z http://www.estainlesssteel.com/stainless-steel-news.shtml

I just wanted to post this link that was provided to me by a subscriber to this blog.  It is a site that concentrates on the world stainless steel market and includes pricing information and indicators that should help you to track the cost of stainless steel.

Suggestions like this are valuable to the industry and much appreciated.  I will pass them along whenever they are brought to my attention.

FYI, if you missed the recent comment submitted under the "ThomasNet" post, we have now received a comment from India.  I think that is interesting and I am glad to see that this blog has traveled the world via the world wide web.

Next goal --  I'd like to see someone from China or Taiwan post a comment.  Enough of our fasteners come from there.  I'd like to see them represented.  Then Brazil!!  Then Africa!!!  Russia!!!!!]]> Vertex Sold tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-09-03:585866f5-249d-4574-83f1-a5f15758d7df Traveling Salesman 2008-09-03T22:00:59Z 2008-09-03T21:56:00Z
I am sure anxious to hear if they have plans to change how Vertex goes to market.  That is a very, very interesting acquisition.]]> Now that the Olympics are Over tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-08-26:fab9fefd-9063-4e8f-bd3c-7416b5253bb6 Traveling Salesman 2008-08-26T20:10:27Z 2008-08-26T19:45:00Z
I feel a little bit bad for Vancouver and London.  I think they are the next Olympic hosts.  How on earth are either of those places ever going to compete with the total spectacle that was put on by China?  The opening and closing ceremonies were spectacular.  However, I know at least a few fastener companies in the United States that have expressed to me that they felt they were helping to pay for the $40 billion spectacle with all the fastener business and other jobs we have sent to China.  It's a good thing the Chinese have not spent all their money on the Olympics.  It appears there is enough left over to purchase large fastener companies here in the U.S. and, imagine, in other parts of the world.   First Brighton Best, and...what's next?  And, do we really have anyone to blame but ourselves??  Every buyer that got the least bit of pressure to reduce costs or lose a customer just dialed up 1-800-CHINA and sent parts overseas to be manufactured.  We all know this.  I am not some great sage or prophet, but I'm not blind either.

And, trust me, I am not xenophobic (look it up) nor am I naive about the fact that we exist within a world wide market.  I grew up in the rust belt and watched entire industries crumble and come back to life.  But, I know an awful lot of people that just think things seem just a little bit different this time around the business cycle.  There are companies with a lot of cash that have been selling through marketing firms (aka, distributors) that now are in a position to buy those companies and supply our market direct.  And it's happening as far as I can see.   It just seems our fastener industry is going to look a whole lot different in the next five to ten years.

I would certainly be curious to hear from my European readers to get your comments on this subject.  Maybe I am just being a whiner and just complaining because, in general, our economy is temporarily in the doldrums.  But just about every week I hear someone express these same ideas, sometimes with a lot more fear than I am expressing here.  We are watching things happen.  I invite you to discuss.]]> New Fastener Friend in France tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-08-19:0aa503ad-f497-4b9c-8d17-0d3787c905d9 Traveling Salesman 2008-08-19T22:25:34Z 2008-08-19T22:07:00Z Spanning the globe to bring you the best in international fastener dialogue.  It's......fastenerblog!!

I want to thank and welcome a new contributer to the Fastener Talk site.  If you have not seen the recent comments, Daniel from France checked in and left some very cool links to other forums.  As he pointed out, one of the sites based in the UK mentions this site (www.fastenerblog.net) as a place to check out fastener discussions in the U.S.  So, to my European friends, welcome aboard.  We are always interested to hear about how the fastener industry operates on your side of the ocean.  And to my friend in New Zealand, check back in with us some time and let us hear how your economy is treating the fastener industry.

Below are links to a few of the sites mentioned by Daniel.  His site looks really interesting and I still need to explore it some more.  I registered on the British forum and plan to check that out some more too.

This is the link to Daniel's page:

http://www.netvibes.com/drivalin#Fastener_&_fixing

This is the link to the British Fasteners site:

http://www.britishfasteners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46

And this is a link to a site in Chinese (there are a few words in English so I hd some fun scrolling around here too)

http://www.luosi.com/blog/

Thanks again Daniel for this contribution.  I think you understand the need for greater inter-industry communications or you would not have discovered this site in the first place.

On another subject, I have been hearing some crazy rumors about potential acquisitions in our industry.  As an industry veteran wrote to me privately, rumors are rumors and not worth discussing until they actually turn in to something.  Good advice.  I still have to shake my head a little at some of the names that are being mentioned and it makes me wonder about the industry in general.  Either some companies are doing really well or some are doing poorly and are ripe for the picking.  In either case, our industry landscape looks like it is changing and I suppose that could mean even more interesting things will be popping up at the Las Vegas Fastener Show.

I'd better go check out some other online sites to see if any of these rumors have turned in to news yet!

]]> Sunday is my day off tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-08-10:381d364c-22fd-4fa0-b4ea-b90cadf31a9d Traveling Salesman 2008-08-10T20:01:12Z 2008-08-10T19:40:00Z
I just spent a few hours sorting through my old vinyl LP's this weekend.  I own some cool stuff that is just not available in CD format.  I cannot even find some of this stuff on iTunes.  So, I keep the turntable (no, not for scratching) and every now and then I pull out some old vinyl and listen to old albums.  First, I have to ask you this...does anyone remember when you'd go out, buy a new album and just sit in your room and listen to both sides, reading through the lyrics while you were listening?  Man, that was the greatest.  It was like an event and not just something going on in the background while you were doing 13 other things.  Listening to that new album was, in itsef, an event.  Eventually, you'd listen to the good ones enough that they's scratch and pop but you keep them and listen to them and know when they were going to skip over certain words in the song.  I guess without computers back then this was a perfectly suitable way for teens and twenty somethings to kill time.

Now I read that there are is a follwoing of people that are buying vinyl again and they prefer the analog sound of vinyl to the digital because the digital sound is just a reproduced sound.  They claim that, on a good vinyl system, it sounds like the the band is right there in the room for you.

So, I pulled out my old LP of Neil Young's "Live Rust" and my CD version and I got them to play almost simultaneously and I went back and forth between "CD" and "Phono" on my stereo.  My kids all left the room.  "I hate Neil Young" came from a teenager.  Needless to say, I grounded his punk ass.  But, that being said, I tried to do my own test and I think that maybe I did hear the vinyl come through just a little clearer.  Until it hit the spots where it started to crackle.  Up till then, it had the CD beat.

If there are any aficionados out there on the subject of vinyl, please do share.  The one thing I did realize is that, sitting in my basement, I have hours and hours of entertainment that is just waiting for me.  And, more than a few walks down memory lane.

My appologies to 99% of Fastenal employees.  I'm thinking the majority of you have never owned a vinyl disk and most likely cannot relate to this post.  No harm.  Go talk to you folks and just ask them, "hey, back in the old days...".  It will give you a reason to talk to them.

Now that I think about it, the fact that I am writing about this on an internet blog and not in a magazine or a newspaper may mean that anyone I am writing to might not read it anyways.  Oh well, like I said, it's my day off.]]> Stainless Steel Fastener Suppliers tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-08-08:7179f226-90f5-4005-a967-4d6499c449f0 Traveling Salesman 2008-08-08T15:05:40Z 2008-08-08T15:02:00Z Anixter Making Big News tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-08-05:61d9592b-51c1-4b90-a121-e2d1d2434ee9 Traveling Salesman 2008-08-06T13:55:05Z 2008-08-05T19:46:00Z www.fastenerjournal.com
 
All that being said, the AFJ online reports that Anixter has purchased QSN and Quality Screw de Mexico.  QSN operates 13 facilities in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, south Carolina and Texas.  Quality Screw de Mexico has five facilities.

And, didn't I just hear that Anixter picked up the Navistar fastener contract??  Look out Wurth and Supply Technolgies and anybody else that was expected to be the great consolidators of the fastener industry.  Anixter is on a roll.  And, I have heard that they have deep pockets.

While I give all the credit in the world to American Fastener Journal for reporting, I really believe that a site like this serves the purpose of letting people comment on news events that take place.  I cannot think of another forum where industry people can comment on news such as this acquisition.

Please feel free to leave comments if you:  a.  work for Anixter, or b.  know more about the situation than I do (which could include about 90% of the industry).]]> Fastener Show West tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-08-03:24dd80bb-26b1-4466-a3e2-826e209663e2 Traveling Salesman 2008-08-03T22:05:06Z 2008-08-03T21:48:00Z
Speaking of traveling, I made my flight arrangements for the Vegas Fastener Show.  You better do it soon so you don't get a middle seat on the plane.  I wonder how the changed hours and two day approach is going to go. 

Last year I printed out tear off advertisements for this site and maybe that's how some of you came to log on here.  I'm sure I'll do the same this year and stick them on the messege board.  My dilemna is that I want to get more industry people on this site and I'm still trying to figure out how to do it.  The more comments that get posted, the better and more interactive this forum can become.  I've looked all over the internet and I have not found anyplace where there is online dialogue.  ThomasNet has some places you can post notes but there's not a lot going on there really.   I'm trying to attract the people from the industry and not the person looking for a stainless screw for their model car they are building at home.  The more that people post, the better this site can become.

So, how can I get more people on here?  Any suggestions?  How about each of you that read this send it out to ten people in the industry.  Kind of like a fastener chain letter.  You know, and if you don't pass it on you'll get two mishipped orders or your bolts will rust or your most reliable supplier will do a computer change during your busiest season.  We'll threaten something really drastic like that.

Well, it is August.  So many people take off Fridays during the summer it's hard to get hold of anybody.  Throw in vacations and the summer can be quite sleepy at times.  Hope all your business picks up, our fuel prices go down and we see the industry pick up for a strong final push through the upcoming months of 2008!]]> Customer Loyalty tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-07-23:cb286b44-6e26-487c-b8dc-2930d93c1305 Traveling Salesman 2008-07-23T19:45:20Z 2008-07-23T19:18:00Z
My visiter called his office and explained that an order from this company would be faxed in and he wanted his inside salesperson to quickly process the order.  When the $4.00 order came to the office his inside sales contact called him and said "You've got to be kidding me.  We are shipping a $4.00 part next day for this inactive customer?"  Only after he explained that his customer used to spend $200,000+ per year did his inside contact process the order.   Not that you can really blame the inside contact for asking about such a small order, but my visitor friend explained that, more often than not, his insiders seem to give him the vibe that many of their customers are headache producers.

At that point I told him to wait a minute and I walked into my office and dragged out my copy of "Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless" by Jeffrey Gitomer.  As I handed it to him I asked him if he ever read the book and he started laughing and explained, "One of my salesman just showed me that book last week".  Needless to say, he plans to pick up this book and check it out.

This book is one of the very best sales books you will find and I have written about it before.  I find it interesting that another salesman came to my friend with the same book in response to the above mentioned approach to customers.  If you are a salesman, sales manager or president/owner of a company and you have not read this book...I cannot impress upon you enough that you need to pick it up and read it.  It should be on your shelves along with your IFI manuals.

While I'm doing my book reviews, if you have never read "The Fountainhead " or "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, I'd recommend those highly as well.  For you other traveling salesmen, both titles are available on CD so you can listen to them while you travel.

]]> ThomasNet Fastener Resources tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-07-22:15ae33e0-42e3-45b1-b5be-588b35aae5a2 Traveling Salesman 2008-07-22T19:52:00Z 2008-07-22T19:47:00Z
http://www.thomasnet.com/products/fasteners-27541200-1.html]]> Amazing Lion Story tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-07-21:a2835b74-ecf6-4469-b4e0-a70c719b7ac7 Traveling Salesman 2008-07-21T22:13:22Z 2008-07-21T22:10:00Z www.snopes.com which is a site you can go to in order to see if a story is legit or a fabrication.  Apparantly, this is a real film and a real story.  Pretty cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

Enjoy!]]> Fastener Industry tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-07-20:995b6444-6f3d-4616-a7ea-779db12281f9 Traveling Salesman 2008-07-20T20:47:48Z 2008-07-20T20:41:00Z
Can anyone shed a little light on this?]]> International Prospecting tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-07-16:925eabca-0551-4f1a-8070-598d8315c6e4 Traveling Salesman 2008-07-16T21:23:50Z 2008-07-16T20:59:00Z
Still, maybe this Matt guy did inspire some international curiosity in me.  This is a web based forum and I got to thinking....what resources are there are the web for someone who wants to do some international prospecting?  Are there sites one can explore to try to market their products overseas?  Well, just follow along with the Traveling Salesman and let's see what sites there are to see!!


To explore Canada's online industrial directory, just click below.

http://www.frasers.com/directory/companies.cfm?OfficeID=0&UserSearch=B&SearchBy=A&Keyword=Fasteners&ProductID=9936&WFrom=B


If marketing in New Zealand sounds good (and I expect it would to at least one of my fastener blog visitors), just click below.

http://www.nzs.com/business/trade/building-and-construction/supplies/nails--screws-and-fasteners/


Trying to break into the market in Ireland??  This one ought to help.

http://www.browseireland.com/Business/Building_and_Construction/Fixings___Fasteners/index.shtml

Breaking into the fastener market in the UK has never been easier.  The site below shows loads of UK companies and a boat load of other countires too.

http://www.kompass.com/fasteners-fixing-devices-metal-industrial/fasteners-spring-steel-industrial/clist/CH_GS_L_3_I_en_Z_WW_F_53020906_PgP_1_PgB_1_C_3570001_Rep_2460_PgT_

And for good meaure, here a couple other UK companies from another online directory.

http://www.uksmallbusinessdirectory.co.uk/cat_count.asp?strBusinessCatergory=fasteners


So, you see.  It's easy.  Just point and click and you too can be doing business internationaly.  And just think of all the great trips you'll be able to write off with just a few business connections.  No, the write-offs aren't as good as if you were a member of the NFDA, but you don't have to be a member to be invited to explore on Fastenr Talk!


]]> Where the hell is Matt? tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-07-15:2ad13253-6c98-4f73-a65a-40f92c7aa7be Traveling Salesman 2008-07-15T22:34:05Z 2008-07-15T22:30:00Z
I know, I know.  This has nothing to do with fasteners.  However, I always enjoy sharing something that I find amusing.   A little light hearted entertainment for you...

Please click on the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY]]> ThomasNet.com tag:fastenerblog.net,2008-07-12:56fe112b-5f35-4e07-9a91-99732240ce15 Traveling Salesman 2008-07-12T19:04:52Z 2008-07-12T18:58:00Z www.ThomasNet.com.    One of the readers commented that I shoul use a better seach engine and I enthusiastically welcomed any suggestions.  None have come.

All that being said, I will pass along that I have had great luck tracking down fastener companies through ThomasNet.  It has been a useful tool for me and I would recommend checking it out.

]]>