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As most of you know, I have participated in the FTI training courses both in person and on their webinar.  Without hesitation, I would like to share with you their 2015 Webinar Schedule:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 5, 2015

2015 FTI Webinar Schedule

The Fastener Training Institute is pleased to announce our Fastener Product Training Webinar schedule for the first half of 2015.

Carmen Vertullo will return as our guide through this continuing series of high-content instructional webinars. Carmen is the founder of CarVer Consulting, a San Diego-based consulting, engineering and training company specializing in fasteners and bolted joints. He is a primary trainer at FTI and he holds a BS in Manufacturing Engineering Technology from National University, San Diego, CA.

We began these web-based programs late last year and were very pleased with the high interest and great attendance. These interactive webinars are 60 minutes in length plus a 30 minute Q & A period. All you need is a computer with high speed internet access.

Here’s the schedule:

Friday January 23^rd                              Understanding Fastener Materials – Beyond the Basics

Friday February 20^th                            The Use, Misuse and Abuse of Washers – Types, styles and applications

Friday March 13, 20 & 27^th                Fastener Basics – A Three Parts Series – You asked for it and we’re responding

Friday April 17^th                                   Choosing the Correct Strength of Fastener – When is too much not a good thing?

Friday May 22^nd                                    The Right Torque & When it’s not – A primer for all and introduction to our advanced class

Friday June 19^th                                    Vibration Resistant Fasteners – OK, Now It’s tight but how to keep it that way

Webinars begin promptly at 11:00 AM PST. To register, please visit http://www.fastenertraining.org/webinars/  for details.

We are working on the webinar schedule for the second half of the year. We would love to get your suggestions for future programs. Please contact Jo Morris, JoM@FastenerTraining.com with any ideas, comments or questions about our classes.

In addition to our new web-based training, FTI will be offering our traditional in-person fastener product training classes. There will be over 30 classes in 10 cities throughout the US. Please visit http://www.fastenertraining.org/events/ to find a class for you!

“The objective of the Fastener Training Institute is to elevate the level of technical understanding and expertise of the individuals in the fastener industry by providing a variety of training programs presented by industry experts. Our core purpose is to enhance fastener use, reliability and safety by providing product training at all levels”.

I just finished Tony Robbins’ newest book, “Money: Master The Game”.  You know Tony Robbins, the high energy coach, author, guru.  Hard to describe him.  Anyways, this guy has access to anyone and everyone so when he writes a book about a topic, needless to say he gets to interview and pick the brains of some above average individuals.  The book was very good.  I actually learned a lot.  But, this post is not about the book.

Near the end of the book, Tony Robbins wrote a section about technological advancements that will be shaping our lives in the future.  The chapter title is “The Future Is Brighter Than You Think”.  This chapter alone was worth reading. But, on page 561, in his discussions on 3-D printing, he included the following:

“Perhaps even more importantly, NASA has partnered with America Makes, a network of 3-D printing companies, to sponsor a worldwide competition to address one of humanity’s greatest challenges; the need for shelter especially emergency shelter, in times of natural disaster such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes.  Imagine 3-D printers printing out homes on the spot, using local materials in hours, not months.”

Did Mr. Robbins just say “America Makes”??  We were just there with the North Coast Fastener Association doing a tour that was set up by our good friends from Hudson Fastener and the team at Fastener News Desk (Twitter @FastenerNews).  How ironic.  International best selling author and personal coach Tony Robbins sneaks in a comment on America Makes.   We even had former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel speak to us before the tour (the newly elected college football hall of fame member, Jim Tressel).  I guess the Hudson Fastener team must have a research staff comparable to that of Tony Robbins – or at least they are on the same wavelength.

The book is good and worth reading.  But the paragraph on page 561 reminded me to once again to thank Lisa, Cris and Shelby of Hudson Fasteners for all their hard work setting up the tour.

Things moving fast enough for you as we start 2015?  Just this past week, Anixter International announced it is going to auction off its fastener division.  I read a nice piece on Global Fastener News about some of the details.  It refers to a report in the Financial Times of London that says “the sale of the fasteners division, which produces nuts, bolts and adhesives, is likely to fetch more than $500m, with final bids due later this month”.  Just $500m?!?  We in the fastener marketplace can only chuckle nervously.  There is a $500m fastener distributor dangling out there and no one has stepped up to buy them (well, at least not at the asking price).  It is  not like there are a whole lot of $500m fastener distributors out there.  Wow!  That’s a whole lot of nuts & bolts just hanging out there looking for a new place to call home.  I know a lot of good people who work for Anixter so I hope this all ends up good for them.

Then today, the announcement that Wurth is closing the Cardinal manufacturing facility in Cleveland is being emailed frantically around the industry.  I’ve been copied several times already and, in turn, have passed along the same information to several others.  It’s on Twitter now too so this information is pretty much out there for all to see.

Today is January 9.  That is some pretty substantial news to start off the year.  I can hardly wait to see what happens in Week 2.

January 8, 2015

Young Fastener Professionals (YFP) will be providing surveys to all fastener industry personnel to conduct market research on attracting and retaining employees in the fastener industry. Data will be gathered effective immediately and will span a six month period, ending in July of 2015. Upon completion of the research campaign, YFP will present their findings at this year’s National Industrial Fastener & Mill Supply Expo in Las Vegas, NV. The presentation entitled, “How to Attract & Retain ‘Millennial’ Employees in the Fastener Industry,” will mainly focus on the analysis of the 18-34yr old respondent, but information covering all age ranges will be provided in a physical case study. All members of the fastener community are encouraged to fill out this brief survey to ensure current and accurate feedback on overall employee satisfaction. More information regarding this project can be found at www.younfastenerprofessionals.com/aboutsurvey while the actual survey can be found at www.youngfastenerprofessionals.com/takesurvey.

Young Fastener Professionals is a fastener association creating an inclusive community to empower the next generation of fastener professionals and their companies through education, collaboration and networking.

I got my January 2, 2015 edition of The Kiplinger Letter just a day ago.  It included ten forecasts for 2015.  The first one was very upbeat as it read “the economy will finally hit stride racking up solid 3% growth for the year.  Look for consumer confidence and spending to swell, propelled by more-robust hiring, higher wages and lower energy expenses plus wealth gains from stronger home values and a healthy stock market”.  I read another report in the most recent American Fastener Journal, and it was not so upbeat as the Kiplinger Letter, but it was not bad.  The STAFDA economic report was, again, not bad but perhaps not as upbeat as Kiplinger.  So, overall, I’d say the fastener and construction based magazines were just a little less optimistic than the Kiplinger Letter.

Sometimes, our industry sees things before other industries do.  We see a slowdown in parts procurement before the consumer sees the flow of end products slow down.  I’m not saying it is the case here, but I know this has been the case in the past.

What else did Kiplinger have to say?  Mostly there was a lot of political commentary, topics ranging from who will be the presidential candidates in 2016, immigration policy and Supreme Court ruling on same sex couples having the right to marry.  I was looking for more economic info but the only thing I found was a prediction for U.S. stocks to have another solid year.  But then, the last line of that topic read, “But expect market volatility and some profit taking along the way.  It has been more than three years since the last correction, when the market fell 19.4%”.   What was that?  We are going up, but we could also go down?  Sounds like a weather forecast more than a stock market analysis, but we are trying to predict the future here, and that is never easy.

I have a few questions for these forecasters.  Let me start with this one.  Really, why is gas going down so much at my local gas pump?  Really?  Is this a political move to drive down Russian oil and hurt the Russian economy?  Is this OPEC lulling us to sleep so we it is no longer profitable for us to keep drilling our own wells and using our own resources?  Heck, I just read that there are some drilling sites in Ohio that are slowing down production already.  I thought we were going to run out of oil in just a few years and that is why we were building windmills, developing solar, etc.  What’s the real deal?

Also, the economies of many of the “fracking” states were absolutely counting on all the revenue being generated by the new drilling.  So, our gas goes under $2/gallon, but do all the newly created jobs dry up and go away?  That’s a lot of tax revenue just gone.  And a lot of economic development put on hold.  How’s any of that going to help create new jobs?  We’re going to have to go padlock the Dakotas for another 20 or 30 years if this industry slows down too long.

I’m just surprised how quickly oil dropped, and I wonder what else could drop in such a short period of time.  Out fastener industry is dependent upon people building stuff and consuming parts.  Low gas sounds great, but what will that do to other industries?

There is a lot more stimulus debt out there that has propped up our economy over the last couple years and likely helped the stock market to hit new all time highs.  That cannot continue and eventually interest rates will go up, at least a little.  So, while there might be some optimistic forecasts, it’s hard to go “all in” on some of the projections.

Honestly, these big picture projections are important to our industry and what kind of year each of us will have in 2015.  But just as important are the industry specific stories.  Who will be buying who?  Will there be any product shortages?  Is stainless going up or down.  The bigger trends affect all of us but sometimes it is the littler, fastener specific news that really throws the wrench into our daily work lives.

I cannot think of anything more dreadful than going shopping on Black Friday.  I am entirely fine with those people who enjoy it.  I know for some families it is a day to shop with a sister or a good friend, and I can see where that would be fun for somebody.  But not me.  I hate shopping, and Black Friday just seems like something I dislike magnified by ten.  So…I guess I could start Christmas decorating.  Except I am the tree guy and the outside lights guy.  And about seven inches fell last night in a “lake effect event”, so putting up lights sounds like a bad idea.  Tomorrow will be 44 degrees and sunny so maybe I can put that off a day.  The tree?  Ah, that’s pretty easy, I’ll get to that later.  So, that leaves me here at the computer with my coffee and this site.  Geez, I might as well go to work.

Friday’s off are no picnic.  My son has to go to work (low man on the totem pole), my wife has her Friday things to do and my other family members are doing whatever.  It is not like I’m going to crack open a beer, watch Netflix and chill while everyone else around me busy doing this or that.  So, here I am, thinking about fasteners.

Here’s one observation for you:  there are only three more works weeks left in 2014.  Sure, we can sneak in a couple days during Christmas and New Year’s week, but there are only three full work weeks left.  All those trips you planned to make or projects you wanted to complete, you essentially have three weeks to finish.  And they don’t necessarily have to be done by the end of December.  You could start them and finish them in January.  But if you had things you wanted to accomplish by the end of 2104, the countdown has begun.  I have a perpetually changing list of things “to-do” and the sad realization has set in that I cannot possibly get all the things done that I wanted.  So, my scheduling is starting to snake in to 2015.

Do you all send Christmas cards?  I read a lot of them when I am waiting in lobbies.  They are a nice gesture, for certain but I also wonder if anyone gets offended if they do not get a card from a particular supplier.  “I did $20,000 with that guy, you think he’d at least send a card”.  I once had a customer ask me to send the yearly Christmas card to his attention because he and another buyer had a contest to see which one got more cards.  It can be a competitive thing.

Before I get some email or call from somebody saying, “I thought this blog was about fasteners” I will point out that I’m writing on what is technically a day off.  Technically.  I will be going to the office to pick up my mail and to gather up a few things I need for Monday.  And, I need to pick up some things I need to schedule next week.  But just so I do not upset those of you who prefer I talk about fasteners, here you go.

There were not a lot of mergers and acquisitions in our industry this year.  At least not like what went on in 2013.  I bet you an Old Rusty Bolt that next year is different.  I think next year we will see more activity.  I have spoken with many business owners and sometimes, just for the heck of it, I’ll ask, “do you get calls from people looking to buy your company”?  The most common answer I get is, “every week”.  There are a lot of buyers out there right now.  Oddly enough, I could easily think of five to ten companies that could or should sell their companies.  Owner getting older with no succession plan, companies losing their ability to compete, etc.  I think next year will be much more active than this year has been.

Time to log off and take a look at what the next three weeks have in store.  No Black Friday dashing to stores (thank the Lord my kids are older and I do not have to worry about the newest popular toy) for me, I’ll be trying to dash around the fastener industry.  And hoping that the snow does not completely screw up my travel plans.  But as I do it, at least I know I have the support of my family…

Going to STAFDA just a few weeks after the Vegas Show is interesting.  Both are great shows, they are just different in many ways.  Your big booth names at STAFDA are Bosch, Milwaukee, Dewalt and companies like that.  Those companies do not even attend Vegas.  Yet, there is some amount of crossover and you do see some familiar faces at STAFDA that you just visited at Vegas.

Some background about STAFDA that is worth noting:

People who attend the STAFDA show are STAFDA “members” and they pay a yearly fee to be a member.

The STAFDA show entry fee is something like $199/person

The STAFDA show moves from year to year and is not always in the same location

STAFDA has a three hour long opening “bash” and is usually held in a unique, interesting location (this year it was at the NASCAR Museum).

STAFDA has a series of meetings and big name speakers as well as a very well respected economist.  These sessions are very well attended.

The three hour opening bash is really well attended.  I would have to guess that almost everyone attending STAFDA shows up at the opening bash and stays at least a couple hours. And, because it runs from 6:30 to 9:30 and it is at a really cool place, that is where everyone hangs out for the evening.  During that first day there are also a series of training or informational sessions.

The second day starts with several STAFDA  sponsored presentations and is followed by a keynote speaker, this year it was Joe Gibbs.  Then at noon the exhibition hall opens and the trade show continues until 6:00.  During the evening, many of the larger STAFDA exhibitors host parties in the surrounding area.    On the final day there is the presentation by STAFDA’s  economist (who many say is very, very good)  and then the trade show opens again after that.

It certainly was an interesting, well run show.  I know a lot more people at the Vegas show than I do at STAFDA but there is enough overlap that it is still familiar territory.  I did have a productive time at STAFDA.  I’m not sure there are a lot of lessons that one show could teach the other.  I’m not sure I could say to the STAFDA people, “you really should adopt this because it works so well in Vegas”.  Likewise, Vegas runs just fine even if it is quite a bit different from STAFDA.

The challenge I see for any trade show is keeping as many distributor customers at the exhibit hall or at show sponsored activities so that the exhibitors get the maximum opportunity to interact with them.  When an exhibitor pays for a booth and sends their staff to work the booth, that is a large commitment of time and money.  Optimally, the exhibitor/supplier gets a lot of face time with customers and prospects and has the opportunity for a more than just a few in depth meetings with important customers or partners.

As great as the Vegas show is for me, I always find myself wishing I had more time to talk to more individuals.  The time just flies by and then there is a pretty big drop off on Friday, probably because people have partied on Thursday night or they are trying to catch flights in order to spend the weekend at home.    I do wish there was a way to keep more attendees in the show area in order to increase the total effectiveness of the show.  I noticed at STAFDA that there were periods where the aisles were slower, just like at the Vegas show.  I would be curious to hear feedback from others who might have attended both shows.  In the end, they both offer a lot of value and need to be worked by both suppliers and distributors to get maximum benefit.  Still, any insights or suggestions that might improve either show would be beneficial to everyone including those who run the shows.

I’m gathering up all the things I need to take to the STAFDA show which begins Sunday evening.  I have not been to the STAFDA show for a few years and I am looking forward to it.  At the Vegas Fastener Show, I pretty much know what I am getting year after year.  I do not go to STAFDA consistently enough to remember exactly how the show is set up or even everyone who will be attending or exhibiting.  Also, STAFDA changes locations from year to year, so that shakes things up a bit.

But, I think I know the Vegas show pretty well.  I think I do.  But, I recently exchanged several emails with Bob Baer of Abbott Interfast Corporation about the Vegas show and our back and forth emails brought up some interesting things about the show.  You see, Bob just completed a post fastener show interview with Brian and Eric for Fully Threaded Radio.  Bob and others were asked to do a show re-cap and that is why were exchanging thoughts about the show – he was doing some preparation before the interview.  And, just to fill in some background on Bob, he is a CPA and an accountant by training.  His role at Abbott Interfast has expanded over the years, but Bob is a numbers guy.  I am going to take the liberty of sharing a few of the numbers that Bob and I tossed back and forth that come directly from the Vegas Show post show data.  I hope the data is exact but, if it is not I think it is at least pretty accurate.

According to the data shared by show management,  the overall badge count was 4,322 – of those 1,939 were attendees and 2,383 were exhibitors.  And, don’t forget, one person’s exhibitor is the next person’s customers.  A lot of exhibitors are also customers to other exhibitors.

Of the overall badge count, 75% were from the U.S., 9.3% from China, 5.7% from Taiwan and 4.3% from Canada.

Of the exhibitor badge count, 69% were from the U.S., 16% from China, 8.5% from Taiwan and 1.5% from Canada.  Maybe a little surprised that there were more from China than Taiwan.

Of attendee badge count, 81% were from the U.S. 7.6% from Canada, 2.6% from Mexico, 2.3% from China and 1.1% from Taiwan.  No big surprises there.  There were attendees from 37 different countries.

This was interesting – the companies with the highest badge counts were Brighton Best (90), Star (35), Stelfast (23), AVK and Unbrako with 17 each and Alcoa with 15.  A lot of this makes sense as several of these companies have branches spread around the country.

There were 185 independent reps (9.5% of attendees – as most are registered independently from exhibitors).  There were 117 service folks which I’d guess are people like computer system people.

There were 478 first time attendees so clearly the show is still attracting fresh blood.  And there were 340 first time exhibitors (people, not booths or companies).

Finally, (and I’ll stop after this so I do not bore you to death)  the top 5 states represented at the show were:

California – 643

Illinois – 444

Ohio – 345

Michigan – 270

Texas – 228

So, what does all this data tell us?  I don’t know.  Data can be interpreted many different ways.  A few things I cannot help but notice is the strong Midwest (IL, OH, MI) representation at the show.  Especially when you figure that the 90 Brighton people were all registered as coming from CA, and then I’m guessing a lot of CA attendees can drive anyways.  The show does seem to attract the eastern part of the country and not just the west.  The percentage of Asian suppliers is not surprising, though the data shows badge counts and not booth counts.  Clearly, Asian suppliers are trying to sell more fasteners to domestic distributors and there is nothing surprising about that.

One small point I’ll make is in regards to the amount of time the show is open.  Bob pointed out to me that if you add up the hours the show is open and multiply that number by minutes in an hour (60) you get 660 show minutes.  There were over 800 booths sold this year, understanding that several exhibitors had more than one booth.  But, even if you were to cut the number of booths by half, you could not spend more than 2 minutes per booth and get to every booth.  It is nearly impossible to see everything there is to see at the show, especially when a lot of people skip the show on Friday.  Most exhibitors cringe when someone mentions staying open longer because attendance on the second day is so greatly reduced.  But I sincerely do not think you can get all the meetings and personal visits done in the allotted time.  There are so many people attending, it is hard to get quality time with more than a dozen or two dozen people and that is probably why some companies bring so many people to work the show.

Anyways, I’m soon off to STAFDA and will try to report some observations from that show.  Vegas was again a very good show but I planned ahead and set up some meetings that made it a good show.  It is always the case, it is how you prepare for and work the show that makes it a good or bad show.

I had a conversation today with Don Shan of Solution Industries today.  It made me feel kind of good because he is as much of a tortured mess as I am.  We were discussing our schedules since we have returned from the Vegas Show and we both admitted that our minds have automatically gone from the Vegas Show right on to putting things in motion for 2015.  Never mind the holidays and all the fun and family events that will take place.   My mind wants to skip right over those.  I am looking at the next two months as the time I use to make sure I enter 2015 with momentum so that I do not just wake up on January 1 with the feeling of it all starting all over again.   My mind is racing with things I want to do before the end of the year.  People I want to visit in the next two months.   I need momentum.  I need projects already started.  I need to have some answers in place when I’m asked, “so, what are your plans for this year”?   BOOM!, here they are!!

I will take time to enjoy the holidays, I’m sure.  I will attend a few parties and see some good people.  But I sleep better when I have that momentum of having started things up when I could probably get away with slacking off a bit, because it will, in fact,  be the holidays.  Again, I’m a tortured mess.   So is Don.  I imagine there are some more of you out there too.  If you are, then let’s get together for breakfast or lunch and at least we will feel like we are doing something productive.