Global Fastener News

INTERNET: FastenerExchange Seeks to Reorganize, E-Fastener Back Online

John Wolz

FastenerExchange.com Seeks to Reorganize
Following the sudden death of its founder and CEO, the parent company of FastenerExchange.com is looking for a way to keep the Internet portal in business.
Kristian Dicke, a 37-year-old father of three, died in late March after a traffic accident.
Dicke was the fifth generation in his family�s fastener business, screw manufacturer Altenlob Brinck & Co. of Germany�s Ruhr Valley.
Dicke had hoped the Internet would take the family business into another era.
The parent company, Matchbid AG, has filed for the German form of bankruptcy, and spokesperson Guido Brackelsberg said there is �slim hope that that Matchbid will exist in the future.�
Dicke had founded Matchbid to create exchanges targeting specific markets, such as fasteners, wire and lubrication. FastenerExchange.com was the first market and was launched in March 2000.
Dicke was featured in the European edition of Time magazine for starting the Internet portals.
Brackelsberg said there is a possibility FastenerExchange.com will return.
D�sseldorf-based Matchbid �is detached from FastenerExchange.com AG is a subsidiary of Matchbid. Currently we are working with the administrator on how FastenerExchange will operate going forward.�
E-Fastener Back Online
After being acquired by Partini.com last year and the new parent company�s closing earlier this year, e-fastener.com president Greg Fields announced the fastener web portal is back online.
E-Fastener.com returns as an independent online database of parts and suppliers for distributors only as e-marketplace.
Fields and John Barnicle founded e-fastener.com in November 1997 in Chicago.
Fastener distributors are able to submit RFQs and orders for manufacturer brand name products on e-fastener.com. Distributors also can change and cancel orders, view and track shipments, resolve discrepancies and view invoices online.
Initial product lines are: Accuride, Avdel/Cherry Textron, Captive Fastener, Heyco Molded Products, Keystone, Panduit, POP, RAF Electronic Hardware, Southco and Sanyo Denki.
Fields is in the process of moving the e-fastener operation from Partini�s Pleasanton, CA-based office back to Chicago.\
�2001 FastenerNews.com