Global Fastener News

Wasmer, Ferry Open B2B E-Marketplace

John Wolz

George Wasmer and Jeff Ferry, both members of multiple-generation fastener families, are opening www.1stFastener.com as a vertical business-to-business fastener e-marketplace.
Wasmer and Ferry enter a field of more than a dozen competing fastener portals.\
�If fastener companies are going to continue in business, they need to upgrade to the worldwide technology,� Wasmer told FIN. �We are appealing to people who don�t want to rest on what they�ve done. You keep up or you lose.�
Wasmer, who retired four years ago after 18 years as chairman of Lake Erie Screw Corp., said he became intrigued with the Internet potential.
�I�ve seen too many fastener companies not keep up and go out of business. They maintained an old management style, and it didn�t continue to work.�
The 1stFastener.com platform encompasses the entire fastener supply chain from raw material to manufacturing, heat treating or plating, to shipping. The platform provides sourcing, inquiry, quotes, ordering, supplies and services. 1stFastener.com includes sellers (English) and buyers (reverse) auctions.
�This is not just a search engine,� Ferry said. �You can find any fastener you want and buy parts online. At the click of a button your RFQ may go to 100 manufacturers and distributors around the world.�
Ferry estimates savings from electronic purchases at 3% to 20%.
The site is constructed and is currently being beta-tested. It will officially open November 13 and will be demonstrated at the National Industrial Fastener Show/West in Las Vegas on November 17.
Ferry�s great-grandfather, Thomas Ferry, founded Ferry Cap & Set Screw. His grandfather, Edward Ferry, founded E.W. Ferry Screw Products, and his father, William Ferry, started Ferry Brothers.
Jeff Ferry, 41, started Telefast Industries Inc.
�Each generation has done its own thing,� Ferry observed.
Wasmer�s grandfather, Charlie Wasmer, started with Lamson & Sessions in 1889. His father, John C. Wasmer Sr., founded Wasmer Nut & Bolt in 1928. He sold it in 1945, and it became Trufit. He then started Lake Erie Screw.
Ferry said he came up with the idea for 1stFastener.com while reading an article about Keith Krach, a friend and the CEO of Ariba, a leading B2B e-commerce platform provider.
Ferry started working on the web site last winter, and Wasmer joined him last summer. Ferry said the partnership combines �a tremendous amount of expertise and knowledge.�
Ferry acknowledged that fastener Internet portals are likely to create global and commodity pricing. But there is no turning back, because, even without portals created within the industry, such outside web sites as www.SupplierMarket.com will do that anyway.
�I think the deals are still going to be made contractwise,� he ventured.
Fastener Organization Participation?
Wasmer and Ferry made a presentation on B2B e-commerce at the fall IFI meeting, which also included National Fastener Distributors Association president Jim Ruetz in the audience.
The 1stFastener.com site features a banner ad for the NFDA and past editions of Industrial Fasteners Institute publications on an experimental basis. The NFDA recently mentioned in a news release promoting its fall membership campaign that the NFDA has a �web site e-commerce initiative.�
�We are looking at options,�Ruetz responded when asked if the association is entering the e-commerce business.
IFI managing director Rob Harris said the information on the 1stFastener.com site from manufacturers� organization is there on �an experimental basis. We haven�t come to a decision.�
The IFI is considering a �pay per edition or pay per hit� price for past issues of its publications, Harris said.
Ferry acknowledged there have been discussions with OEMs, the IFI and NFDA on working relationships, but said there are no agreements.
One association official noted they have been approached by most of the fastener Internet portals, and one individual with an established web site �is going berserk� trying to forge an alliance.