Global Fastener News

FEATURE

Editor’s Note: In 1999 to mark the 20th anniversary of Fastener Industry News, the founder, first editor and first publisher, Dick Callahan, recalled his years from 1979 to 1994.

“Starting FIN in 1979 was not a great piece of timing on our part. Jimmy Carter was in his third year as the 39th president, there were distractions, such as the hostage situation in Iran, an energy crisis, record federal expenditures, an unsuccessful attempt to cut taxes and wrangling over the proposed return of the Panama Canal to Panama. Double-digit inflation and rising unemployment (reaching 7.8 million) resulted in a recession – the seventh since World War II – and the election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980.

Excerpts from Callahan’s summary of 1979 to 1994:

• Regional fastener associations increased in number from seven in 1979 to 15 in 1994.

•The once-intense name-calling rivalry between importers and domestic fastener suppliers evolved into a more harmonious, if not quite buddy-buddy, relationship.

• Japan lost its spot as number-one fastener exporter to the U.S. “The fastener kingdom” of Taiwan first supplanted Japan, followed by other Asian countries.

• Japan began assembling automobiles in the U.S., but initially did not use U.S.-made fasteners.

•Domestic production of fasteners, which had been steadily declining, got a major needed boost in 1986 when Nucor opened its first bolt-making plant in St. Joe, IN.

• LIFO/FIFO inventory control practices underwent major changes, resulting insubstantial savings for distributors and others.

• ISO-9000 and QS 9000 certified manufacturing facilities grew in number as more end-users, especially in Europe, required such quality assurance systems.

• Metric fasteners, despite prognostications of imminent market dominance, did not supplant long-established inch-based fasteners.

• Mexican Maquiladora plants, feared by some, did not have the devastating impact on the U.S. fastener field that some predicted.

• After long discussions, President Bush signed the Fastener Quality Act into law on November 16, 1990. FIN then predicted “it is possible that two years or even more time may pass before suppliers of safety-critical fasteners will be subject to the FQA …”

The FQA resulted from the sale of counterfeit bolts for use in safety-critical applications when they were supplied to the military and other users.

• Bar coding, mandated by the military and auto industry, was widely adopted by the fastener industry.

• Just-in-Time delivery became more and more the norm.

• In the early 1980’s we saw consolidations, mergers and acquisitions of faltering fastener companies. It was mostly the result of the economic downturn.

• Women, at least stateside, assumed a more prominent place in the industry.

For Dick Callahan’s full summary of the fastener industry from 1979 to 1994 CLICK HERE

Click on the Fastener History section of GlobalFastenerNews.com for stories from 1979:

1979 FIN – First Fastener Industry News Published

1979 FIN – How Many Fastener Suppliers Do Appliance Makers Want?

1979 FIN – Raritan River Plant to Supply Cold Heading Rods – New plant to start production in 1980

1979 FIN – Gumbiner, Kornman & Tews Offer Predictions for the 1980s – U.S. needs internationally competitive depreciation policy to encourage U.S. industries to rebuild increasingly obsolete and unproductive capital equipment base.

1979 FIN – Keystone Consolidated Plans to Expand National Lock Fasteners

1979 FIN – AVC to Increase Raybestos-Manhattan Holdings – AVC said it plans to purchase as much as $1 million of Raybestos stock.

1979 FIN – Sullivan 1st Chairman of New England Fastener Distributors Association –

1979 & 1989 FIN – Emhart, VSI & Black & Decker – Black & Decker has traditionally supplied hardware and distributor markets and there is some speculation it may look for a buyer for Emhart’s OEM businesses – including Helicoil and Gripco.

1979 FIN – Importer Garden City: Distributors Ordering More Metric Fasteners

1979 FIN – President of Fastener Manufacturer Dating Back to 1816 Offers Forecast for the 1980s.

Click on the Fastener History section for hundreds of stories throughout the 34 years of FIN.

Trial subscription: New subscribers can email FIN at fin@globalfastenernews.com by July 15 for a 4-month subscription for $44.

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