Global Fastener News

By Dick Callahan, FIN Editor
October 22, 1987 FIN – “America has always been a tough market to break into,” explained Henry Bossard, chairman of Bossard International, a Swiss-based distributor of metric fasteners. “But we have a product line that brought itself into America. And we have been successful in taking care of that market niche.”
Bossard, which has recently been expanding in Switzerland, Austria and France, has also established a plan to clone four major service centers in the U.S. to service the North American market.

FIN attended a ribbon cutting ceremony and reception for the opening of Bossard’s new North American headquarters in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on October 1. The ceremony also recognized the company’s fifth year of business in North America.

The headquarters, which were relocated from Brookfield, Connecticut, will allow for better distribution to Bossard’s service centers in the U.S. and also to the Canadian market, Henry Bossard told FIN.

The new headquarters was strategically placed and also will serve as a model for the other three service centers, Don Nelson, president of North American operations, told FIN. The Portsmouth facility houses modern automated conveyor packaging systems and computerized labeling machinery. There will be 4,000 different types of metric fasteners, prepackaged or in bulk, marketed through a regional rep network.

By the end of 1987, the present Bossard facility in Greer, South Carolina, will be relocated in or close to Greer. Early in 1988, the company’s facility in Cerritos, California, will be moved or modified. You may recall that Bossard opened a Midwest service center last June in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.

In all three cases, the type of modern equipment currently in operation at the Portsmouth headquarters will be added to each service center. Like the northeast operations, each service center will market through its own network of representatives.

A regional manager oversees each service center. Bill Unferth, acts as regional manager for the Greer operations in the Southeast. Unferth, who is also vice president of marketing for North American operations, also oversees the sales activity for all four service centers.

Ed Sierman is the regional manager for the Northeast; Chris Balmer is the regional manager for the Midwest; and Dale Tarrantino is the regional manager for the West Coast operations.

The North American operations are headquartered at 115 Heritage Ave. in Portsmouth.

Henry Bossard represents the sixth generation in his family to oversee the business. Initially involved in silk trading, the family decided to switch to iron products in 1831. Headquartered in Züg, Switzerland, Bossard International also operates service centers in Mulhouse and Metz, France; and in Tokyo, Japan.  ©1987/2011 Fastener Industry News.

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