I just read on Twitter…”Houston Wire & Cable Acquires Vertex Distribution”.  This was reported by Global Fastener News.  Funny, that’s how I hear big news these days…through Twitter.  Seems like a good time to post the following piece about communications within the fastener industry.

Next Monday will mark the 10 year anniversary of Fastenerblog.com.  I dug up the first post and it is shown below.  I’ve got to laugh as the first line discusses industry consolidation…and I just wrote about that two posts ago!  Either I’m just recycling old material or things haven’t changed all that much.  But they have.  More on that next time.  And, on a side note, I can no longer claim I have ANY kids under 20.  And, what happened to “My Space”?

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Fastener Industry Future

We have all seen consolidations, companies close their doors. We’ve seen an influx of fasteners from China and India and many other countries. We have seen online ordering, we see high tech warehousing all across the country. But…..where do we go to discuss the evolution of our industry with other people from our industry?? Welcome to Fastenerblog!

I’m not sure what this site can accomplish. Perhaps distributors across the country can discuss sources for products both domestic and overseas. Maybe someone moving across the country can do some job searching on the site. Maybe a company can discover some marketing insights by linking up with other bloggers. All I know is I have kids under the age of 20 and they all have blogs and “My Space” pages and “Face Book” accounts and I thought….why not us? The bolts and nuts people.

So, welcome the Fastenerblog. Please leave a note and let’s see where we go from here!

posted by Traveling Salesman @ 8:20 PM

For those of you who are not familiar with the Old Rusty Bolt story,  I live near an establishment where I can brew my own beer.     In order to take the beer off the premises, it is legally necessary to have a label on the beer so I designed a label and called it “Old Rusty Bolt”.  The first time I did it was years ago and I produced more than I could consume before it would get too old.  I ended up giving a good amount of the first batch away to customers, suppliers and friends from the fastener industry.  A lot of people seemed to really enjoy it (Allan & Greg from Jay-Cee Sales, to name a few) so I made more and gave much of it away too.  I gave some to Eric Dudas of Fasteners Clearing House (www.fastenersclearinghouse.com)  and Fully Threaded Radio (www.fullythreaded.com) and soon after that he told me that he wanted to make absolutely sure I listened to the next Fully Threaded episode.  He said there was a surprise for me on the podcast.  Eric wrote and performed the first and only Old Rusty Bolt jingle.  You can listen to the jingle on the link below if you have not already heard it on Fully Threaded Radio.

From there, the story of Old Rusty Bolt has grown.  I shared some ORB with Larry Kelly of Buckeye Fasteners (www.buckeyefasteners.com) and soon found out that Larry was a true beer aficionado – a real lover of beer.  Not only did Larry tell me enjoyed the beer but he said he wanted to serve Old Rusty Bolt at the Buckeye Fastener booth at the Vegas Fastener Show.  For the last several years, Buckeye Fasteners has served Old Rusty Bolt beer at their booth and they have even developed two ORB commercials that are played on episodes of Fully Threaded Radio  (see links below to listen to their commercials broadcast on Fully Threaded Radio).  I cannot thank Eric and Larry enough for their support and enthusiasm about beer.

Special Request:

Stop by the Buckeye Fasteners booth at the Vegas Fastener Show and join Larry and the gang for a cold, frosty Old Rusty Bolt.  Their booth number is 840 and the beer should start flowing right around noon on Wednesday, October 26, the first day of the show.  And one last thing…when you have your glass full of  Old Rusty Bolt please take a selfie or have someone snap your picture and post it on Twitter using this hashtag:  #oldrustybolt

After the show, we will add your picture to the fastenerblog media page (see tab above).

Old Rusty Bolt jingle from Fully Threaded Radio:  (press to play!)

Buckeye Fasteners Commercial from Fully Threaded Radio

2nd Buckeye Fasteners Commercial from Fully Threaded Radio

Keep it flowin’, Hoss.  And tell ’em Old Rusty sent ya!

“Italy’s Agrati Acquires Continental-Midland”

“LoneStar Group Acquires AmeriBolt”

“PennEngineering Acquires Heyco”

“Steel Dynamics Acquires Vulcan”

“All Integrated Solution Acquires Great Lakes Fastener”

All of these headlines have been published since July!!  It seems like we are hitting another one of those periods where there are a multiple fastener company acquisitions.  It almost seems like a race.  There are several companies (and holding companies) looking to grow through acquisition and only so many companies for sale at a given time.  At least at the right price.  Companies looking to make acquisitions have to have their finger on the industry pulse,  vigilantly scouring the fastener landscape looking for that next owner or company looking for an exit strategy.

Some larger companies have openly discussed their desire to grow by acquisition.  Wurth acquired both DMB and House of Threads earlier in the year and I would expect they are looking for additional companies to buy, if the fit is right.  They seemed to say as much on Fully Threaded Radio. I know many companies are still looking and it would not surprise me at all to hear about more acquisition activity before the Vegas Fastener Show.

One other headline that surprised me was the one that said Rockford Products was closing.  There was an article in Global Fastener News regarding the closing and one line in particular caught my eye –

“I would say their biggest problem was probably mismanagement not having somebody or the right leadership in position to run the company profitably,” Rockford Area Economic Development Council VP of Development Stacy Bernardi told local TV station WREX.  As the article stated, Rockford was also a fastener company acquired by a holding company.  Also from the GFN article –  The cold-formed fastener manufacturer was acquired in 2007 for $23.2 million in a bankruptcy auction by Michigan-based BlackEagle Partners LLC, a private equity firm.  Subsequently BlackEagle had invested $30 million “without seeing any return on the investment” and the fastener manufacturer has defaulted on payments. The company is seeking potential buyers.  So…there’s an acquisition for somebody!

We have seen a flurry of activity before the Vegas Show other years and that always leaves us all with something to talk about in the show aisles.  I think there will be plenty of that to go around this year too.

We have a dilemma fastener friends.  I called and confirmed that the Bourbon Room is closing after September 11 and will not reopen until some time in December.  So, our usual after hours meeting place will be gone this year.  They mentioned what the new place will be but it doesn’t really matter anyways.  The show is moving out of the Sands Expo Center in 2018 so we probably would not be going to the new place once it is open anyways.

Anybody got any ideas on where might be a good place to congregate?  The outdoor bar by Harrah’s is crowded but not a bad place – weather permitting.  There is a place called the Laguna Champagne Bar in the Palazzo or Venetian, but I’m not sure they have music.

Please feel free to share ideas if you have any thoughts on this topic.

My favorite sales book is “Customer Satisfaction is Worthless – Customer Loyalty is Priceless” by Jeffrey Gitomer.  The subtitle reads, “How to make customers love you, keep them coming back and tell everyone they know”.

I’ve given this book to a dozen people.  I know one of these people read it and then bought the book for his entire department.  I’m not sure if Jeffrey Gitomer is as well known as Zig Ziegler or Tom Hopkins but I’d rate his book among the best.  According to Gitomer, Satisfaction is no longer the acceptable standard of customer service.  His book says, “Just because they’re satisfied doesn’t mean they’re loyal. Satisfied customers will buy from anyone.”  His book proceeds to give countless examples of how you can offer exceptional customer service that helps you to build loyalty with your customers.  There is a lot of comedy throughout the book and it is an easy read.  I don’t want to share too much of the book here but I’ll share a couple parts I found enlightening or entertaining.

Gitomer has a list of forbidden phrases – lines that send the wrong message to a customer and usually add fire to any argument:

• It’s our policy
• What seems to be the problem
• You should have done…
• Let me transfer you to someone who handles that

He suggests you give responses the “Grandma Test”.  If it sounds like something you wouldn’t want to say to your Grandma, then don’t say it to your customer.

• Sorry, we’re closed, Grandma
• What is this in reference to Grandma?
• It’s our policy Grandma

Gitomer kind of has a disdain for the word “policy”.  He writes, “Do you like when someone gives you ‘the policy’?  Kind of sounds like ‘the finger”.   “It’s our policy…to piss off everyone”.    What if customer service policies read like this:  “Hey, you’re in luck! – I just looked it up in the policy book and it says right here I can do everything you want, just the way you want it”.   In general, policy is written to tell you what you can’t do.

Anyways, you get the picture.  I like his book.  A lot.  So, I’m involved in a few fastener associations and from time to time I am involved in trying to set ups speakers or events for these associations.  So, while sipping some Dunkin’ Donuts coffee last Sunday morning, I went to Gitomer’s website and filled out a “speaker request” form to see how I might be able to get Mr. Gitomer to speak at a fastener event.  I mean the Fastener Training Institute is offering all kinds of technical fastener training.  I’m in sales, and I’d like to see more sales training offered.  I filled out the form, included my cell number and within a half hour I got a call — “This is Jeffrey….Jeffrey Gitomer”.

Needless to say, I was caught a bit off guard.  But I pulled it together, gathered my thoughts and explained how I was involved in an association that might like to hire him as a speaker.  He asked, “What industry?”  I proudly announced, “the fastener industry”, and then waited expectantly for him to ask me what was the fastener industry.  Instead I got, “My dad made cabinets and as a young man I installed a lot of screw into cabinetry.  Yeah, and I gave a presentation to Fastenal a while back”.  Damn, Fastenal beat me to the punch.

I’d like to hear Jeffrey Gitomer’s sales presentation.  I’d like the rest of the fastener industry to hear Jeffrey Gitomer’s sales presentation.  How about this.  Go pick up his book, read it over.  If you’re in sales or are a sales manager, I think you’ll like it.  And if you like what you’ve read get in touch with me so we can gather some resources and have him come to a fastener association gathering or trade show somewhere in the near future.  One fastener company has already done that.

This article appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Sunday, August 14, 2016.  Found it kind of shocking.  We need Russian planes to move equipment because we do not planes domestically that can handle the job.  Read on.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/08/russia_has_become_our_uber_for.html

I saw where the Fastener Distributor Index (FDI) for July slipped dramatically, coming in at 45.9 versus 50.6 in June, seasonally adjusted.   Over the last month I have had an opportunity to talk to a lot of people about how their year is going so far.  If I had to summarize, I’d say that a good number of fastener companies had sales that were 5-10% lower in 2016 than 2015.  That is a generalization, but seems to be a common sentiment.  If you are heavy into oil & gas, you might be down 30%.

The weird thing for me is that I really never expected to see such a significant drop in July.  Historically, July can be a brutal month due to vacations & summer slowdowns.  But based on what I have been hearing, I did not see such a big drop coming.

Everywhere, I hear people say they are doing a lot of quoting.  Sometimes that can be because end users are slow and they are out shopping.  But, I’m not sure that is the case here.  I have had some people say just in the last week or so that they have started to see some orders popping that have been worked on for months.  Even one guy in Oil & Gas/Mining told me his customers have really started to pick up in the last several weeks.  It would not surprise me to see the FDI have an equally strong rebound in September or October.  Don’t bet the farm, but as I said it would not shock me.

At the NFDA meeting in June, Brian Beauliu of ITR Economics said his firm was forecasting that business would pick up in the second half of 2016, regardless of who is elected president.  He also said he expects 2017 & 2018 to be much stronger and is more worried about inventory levels and staffing being adequate to handle the upcoming increase in business.  I certainly hope he is correct and this would also lead to an increase in the FDI were this to happen.

Sometimes companies are busy, but sales are not strong.  Purchasing departments are always busy.  If they are buying 1,000,000 pcs. or 1,000 pcs., buyers have to quote and buy and schedule and expedite.  Sales forces too should always be busy.  Unless you have 100% market share there is always business to go after.  And, in both purchasing and sales, you need to work hard to protect the business you have already been blessed with.  So, generally people are still working hard, they will just sleep more soundly when sales and margins increase.  Let’s hope things do improve sooner than later.

One last thing, following up on my last post, I want to direct you to take a look at the updates Fastener News Desk site.  In particular, check out the MFG Day page they have developed:

http://www.fastenernewsdesk.com/mfg-day-2016/

And, please, let them know if your company is going to participate in MFG Day this year.  They will get your name on the map and help promote your event.

There will be a shortage of skilled employees in the future, especially in manufacturing.  This is fairly well predicted and documented.  Programmers, machinists, etc.  Many manufacturers in the fastener industry have expressed that they worry about being able to attract young people to come work in their factories.

The Fastener Industry Coalition (FIC) is hoping to not only promote MFG Day but they hope to bring attention specifically to the fastener industry on MFG Day.  The FIC is made up of fastener associations from coast to coast as well as several national fastener associations including IFI, NFDA, WIFI and YFP.  The FIC has set a goal of getting AT LEAST one fastener manufacturer from each regional fastener association to participate in MFG Day.  They want coast to coast participation, partly to draw attention the the fastener industry but, more importantly, to support fastener manufacturers seeking to attract future employees.

For several years, the people at Fastener News Desk have been promoting MFG Day and have helped many manufacturers attract high school and trade school students with interest in manufacturing to their events.  Fastener News Desk has agreed to partner with the FIC to help them publicize those companies who participate in MFG Day.

If your company plans to participate in MFG Day activities, please respond and let us know.  Or, if a fastener company in your area is participating, please post on this site or get in contact with the Fastener Industry Coalition or your local fastener association.  We all would like to help promote all fastener companies that take part in MFG Day which is schedule for the first Friday on October which, this year, is October 7, 2016.

To learn more about MFG Day go to:     www.mfgday.com

I’m currently not a member of the NFDA but I was invited to attend the Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky as guest of another company.  For quite a while I have wanted to attend an NFDA event and Vickie Lester told me that the Annual Meeting with the ESPS Sessions was one of the more popular meetings.  And, now that I have attended I can see very clearly why these are so popular.  The whole event was just great – very well organized, very productive and fun too.  I really cannot say enough good things about the event.

As far as I can tell, the people who signed up for this meeting attended all the functions.  The opening reception was well attended and gave me an opportunity to visit with a lot of industry friends and some people I had not met before.  Immediately after the reception, a large number of attendees moved over to the bar area that was very centrally located and overlooked the Ohio River.  The bar was a large, open area and a perfect place for a large group to comfortably carry on the visiting and networking.  Central meeting areas are always great at trade shows and association meetings and I’m pretty certain Vickie had scoped this out before settling on the Galt House as the host hotel.

The following morning there was a breakfast session and NFDA President Casey McIlhon did a great job of covering association business.  Vickie, Casey and the rest of the board deserve a lot of credit as it was evident that a lot of planning went into this meeting.  After breakfast came the ESPS sessions which were even better than I expected.  The NFDA had an entire hotel floor sectioned off where companies could hold private meetings in their hotel suites.  Each half hour, there would be a signal for visitors to move on to their next session in a sort of “fastener speed dating”.  Some attendees filled their entire schedule (12 available meeting sessions) but contacted other suppliers for private meetings before or after these scheduled sessions.  I participated in several of these “additional” meetings.  The companies that secured rooms and hosted customers all seemed to be very pleased with the results of their meetings.  Attendees came prepared and had specific things to discuss while leaving time to learn more about the host companies.  NFDA meetings are usually held at places where one can enjoy oneself, but the ESPS sessions were serious business.  The sessions I sat in on were great.  That evening we enjoyed dinner at the Muhammad Ali Center which also is located on the picturesque Ohio River.

NFDA membership includes many “movers and shakers” in the fastener industry and there were plenty of them at this event.  And the atmosphere was casual and comfortable and I felt very welcome even as a guest.  Well, except for Tom Buddenbohn trying to report to Vickie that there was a party crasher!  OK, to be honest Tom has been encouraging me for several years to attend a meeting (and join) and I’m happy to report that Tom was not lying about the association and the events.  Thanks for the hospitality and I hope to see you at future NFDA events.