Global Fastener News

Heppes, Westby Lead NFDA

John Wolz

Don Heppes stepped up to president of the 253-member National Fastener Distributors Association, and Don Westby was elected vice president at the association�s annual meeting.
Heppes, of Arlington Heights, IL-based Pacific Fasteners Inc., succeeds Jim Ruetz of All Fasteners Inc.
Westby is president and owner of Westby Production Components of Port Washington, WI.
Skip Gallo of W�rth/Eastern Fasteners is the new chair of Associate members. The board voted for Gallo to complete his three-year term after he changed from manufacturer Holo-Krome Company to distributor W�rth.
Joe Butvin continues as Associate vice chair after a move from AVK Industrial Products to Bollhoff Rivnut
Elected to three-year terms on the NFDA board were distributors Randy Kemp, Kemper Products Inc.; Dave Roberts, ET Fasteners; and Jim Reitinger Jr., Automotive Fasteners Inc. Associate members elected Rick Malson of Ramco Specialties Inc. to the board.
Heppes holds a bachelors degree in engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Northwestern University. He was in the printing industry before joining Times Screw of Rockford, IL, in 1976 as general manager. In 1978 he joined Medalist Industries. Heppes was the 1986-87 chairman of the Industrial Fasteners Institute.
In 1993 Heppes acquired Pacific Fasteners from Mitsubishi.
Pacific Fasteners is a full-line distributor and provides bin stacking and vendor-managed inventory services. Pacific Fasteners has customers worldwide and exports to Europe and Mexico.
Pacific Fasteners also manufactures locknuts.
�I�ve always been of the opinion you should give back to the industry,� Heppes said of his new role. �The more you put into your association, the more you get out.�
Heppes said he wants the NFDA to continue �its rich tradition of training and education.� He also anticipates aggressive marketing for NFDA membership and participation in association programs.
Westby started in the fastener industry in 1968 as an industrial engineer at Elco and soon turned to application and sales engineering.
He joined Rockford Headed Products in 1973 and beginning in 1973 was a sales engineer for Hoyt Products.
He founded Westby Products in 1987. The company stocks a full line of fasteners for distribution to OEMs.
Westby said the company was one of the early �ship to dock distributors,� and today about half of its business is in managed inventory.
Westby observed that within the NFDA he represents the �smaller, independent distributor.�
�We�ve come a long way in building relations between Associate members and distributors, and we�ve got to continue that building,� Westby said.
Heppes can be contacted at Pacific Fasteners. Tel: 847 632-0500. Fax 847 632-0513. E-mail: pacfast@flash.net
Westby can be contacted at Westby Production Components. Tel: 262 268-0200. Fax 262 268-0817. E-mail: westby@execpc.com
NFDA to �Train the Trainer�
In 1976 Joe Butvin went to work for Service Supply and was flown to Indianapolis, IN, for training.
�I asked if it wouldn�t be cheaper to give me a book on the subject to read, and they told me, �This is a pass-it-along business,�� Butvin recalled.
Butvin, now the director of sales & marketing for Bollhoff Rivnut and the NFDA education & training committee chair, announced the NFDA�s �Train the Trainer� � or T3 � program is designed as a �mentor pass-it-on� program.
Distributors will be asked to send their lead trainer to the October 25-27, 2001, meeting in Denver for the first T3 session to prepare to use the new NFDA materials in training.
Associate members are contributing to development of the CD-ROM-based training program.
In the past NFDA produced such training programs as the �Exciting World of Fasteners� video series and two-day seminars conducted throughout the U.S. for distribution employees.
T3 is a response to �How do we provide training at all levels of our membership?� Butvin explained.
Both Distributors and Suppliers Can Request One-on-One NFDA Sessions
The NFDA is accepting reservations from both distributors and suppliers for appointments with business partners of their choice on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The NFDA has reserved 50 suites at the Adams Mark Hotel in Denver for private business meetings between associate members and distributors in conjunction with the association�s October 25-28 fall meeting.
There will be 10 25-minute appointments on Friday, October 26, 2001.
Participants are asked to prepare and exchange specific agendas to maximize use of the time.
The one-on-one sessions are designed for �meaningful discussion or planning sessions� rather than the traditional trade show role of �getting your name out and hopefully grabbing a couple of minutes of a potential customer�s time.�
For information contact Dave Merrifield. Tel: 216 579-1571. Fax 216 579-1531. E-mail: nfda@nfda-fastener.org Web: nfda-fastener.org \
�2001 FastenerNews.com