Global Fastener News

Fasteners on the Internet

John Wolz

Partini Goes on Hiatus; Seeks New Venture Capital
The e-fastener.com and Partini.com companies are on hiatus until additional venture capital can be raised.
Pleasanton, CA-based Partini.com was launched in 2000 as a fastener Internet portal to provide global sources for distributors. Partini acquired e-fastener.com last year.
WingSpring, a Palo Alto, CA-based �springboard� for B2B Internet ventures, was the original source of funding for Partini.
Partini president Larry Del Santo noted that the market has changed and it is more difficult to raise venture capital for dot.coms this year.
Among the Partini staff laid off until new funding is found is a former president of both the Western Association of Fastener Distributors and the Los Angeles Fastener Association, Ben Benson.
Benson spent most of the past year sourcing in Asia and providing the fastener expertise to the computer staff developing the Partini software.
�They were developing what nobody thought could be done, because nobody told them �it can�t be done,�� Benson said.
Without the problems for dot.coms in the financial markets, the combination of the software and Del Santo�s leadership would make Partini bound to be successful, Benson remarked.

You know what ISO 9000 is, but do you know what TE Supplement, VDA 6.1 or CGSD are? The Chicago Bolt, Nut & Screw Association web site � cbnsa.org � features a list of quality terms for the industry � FastenerIndustry.com is designed to help fastener users find suppliers. The site is operated by Valparaiso, IN-based RME Corporation. E-mail: rmetest@msn.com � Aerospace Hardware Exchange launched ahxonline.com to facilitate buying, selling and managing aerospace hardware, including fasteners, bearings, bushings, electrical components, connectors, seals, fittings, adaptors and other standard components, president Briand Greer announced � Dennis Carver announced Carver Machine Works has a web site at carvermachineworks.com. Ontario, CA-based Carver has been rebuilding and repairing cold headers and providing fabrication of related components and soft tooling for 35 years. E-mail: BigDCarver@aol.com � HI TecMetal Group (HTG) added supplier quality requirements to its web site hitecmetalgroup.com or htg.cc � Mike McGuire launched fastenerconsult.com for marketing fastener consultants. Initial consultants are Tom Doppke, Joe Greenslade, Lon DeHaitre, Bill Pierce, David Sickels, Carman Vertullo, Jim Speck and Ben Taber � naeir.org provides information on income tax deductions for donating excess inventory to charity � A dozen major airlines and aerospace manufacturers unveiled cordiem.com, a B2B online exchange formed by the merger of two buyer- and supplier-led ventures. Cordiem � which means �central to the day� � brings together the firms previously involved in MyAircraft.com and AirNewco. The former was set up early last year by three major suppliers to the aviation industry � United Technologies, Honeywell International and Goodrich. Simultaneously nine airlines, including British Airways, Delta, Air France and American Airlines, were working on AirNewco, their own Internet marketplace. Cordiem will provide a $500 billion online trading platform for engineering and maintenance services, fuel, cabin services and airport support. It will roll out e-procurement and supply chain management tools from the second quarter of the year. � The Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute unveiled an updated web site at pmmi.org. The site is the platform for a group buying service: buyit!@pmmi.org, which provides links to a wide range of service providers.\
�2001 FastenerNews.com