Global Fastener News

SHORT TAKES / COMPANY NEWS

John Wolz

� Austrim Nylex Ltd. announced a five-year, $100 million contract with Ford Australia Ltd. for metal and plastic fasteners and clips, managing director Greg Beatty announced.
�A major focus of the Ford contract will be to reduce the range of fasteners used by Ford to improve overall efficiency in production,� Beatty said. �This is in keeping with the automotive industry�s move toward modular assembly with fewer suppliers accepting increased responsibilities.�
Austrim Nylex assumes responsibility for fastener design logistics. A subsidiary, Ajax Fasteners, provides fastener design. Supply logistics, which was previously undertaken by Ford itself, will involve warehousing and coordination of 13 specialist suppliers of fasteners and clips.
The Ford contract �opens up the opportunity for Austrim Nylex to secure new export orders through its joint venture company, Facil Australia Pty. Ltd., which is 80% owned by Austrim Nylex and 20% by Facil Fasteners and European automotive suppliers Connections International.
Austrim Nylex�s annual revenues have increased from $500 million five years ago to $1 billion today. The corporation is headquartered at Level 4 East Tower, 608 St. Kilda Rd., Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia. Tel: 61 3 9529 2999. Fax 61 3 9529 1966.

� Chicago Hardware & Fixture Company relocated its Texas inventory to 3605 Willowbend #540, Houston, TX 77054. Tel: 713 664-7722. Fax 713 664-1144.
Chicago Hardware was founded in 1912 by John Herbstritt and was originally a hardware supplier for grain silos. Now owned by the fourth generation of the same family, Chicago Hardware manufactures steel forgings, bright wire steel formed products, threaded rod and specials.
Chicago Hardware has three plants in the Chicago area totaling 200,000 sq ft and branches in Chino and Tucker, GA, and Houston. The headquarters are at 9100 Parklane Ave., Franklin Park, IL 60131. Tel: 847 455-6609. Fax 847 455-0012. E-mail: chihdwe@aol.com Web: www.chicagohardware.com

� Durham Manufacturing Company opened warehouses in the Dallas, Los Angeles and Seattle markets.
The Seattle operation is based at Puget Sound International Inc., 3600C Industry Dr. East, Fife, WA 98424; the Los Angeles branch is based at Custom Goods LLC, 111 Watson Center Rd., Unit C, Carson, CA 90745; and the Dallas operation is based at Dallas Transfer & Terminal, 2424 N. Westmoreland, Dallas, TX 75212.
Durham previously had warehouses in Wallingford, CT, Atlanta, GA, Elk Grove Village, IL, and Staffordshire, England. Durham is headquartered at 201 Main St., Durham, CT 06422-0230. Tel: 860 349-3427 or 800 243-3774. Fax 800 782-5499. E-mail: info@durhammfg.com Web: www.durhammfg.com

� Bill Bailey Jr. and Brian Georgia opened Fastenersandcomponents.com to supply distribution with electronic hardware. Bailey previously was with Amatom Electronic Hardware and Raf electronic Hardware, and Georgia was with Raf.
�We are a business-to-business Internet company in addition to having the capabilities to conduct business by fax or phone.�
Fastenersandcomponents.com is located at 7802 Kingspointe Pkwy. #7814, Orlando, FL 32819. Tel: 407 226-2112. Fax 407 226-3370. E-mail: sales@ fastenersandcomponents.com

� Jeff Vance is the new operations manager at Greenslade & Company Inc., president Joe Greenslade announced. Vance has experience in the heavy equipment rental industry and underwent a fastener technology and industry training program.
Greenslade supplies fastener inspection products. Greenslade is headquartered at 5279 Zenith Pkwy., Loves Park, IL 61111. Tel: 815 654-3211 or 800 435-2657. Fax 815 654-3447.

� Mike Berg is the new vice president of operations at Mid-Continent Screw Products Company, president Michael King announced. Berg has been in the fastener industry for 26 years.
Mid-Continent is a 48-year-old supplier of fastener specials and contract packaging and is located at 3701 W. Lunt Ave., Lincolnwood, IL 60712. Tel: 847 679-3737 or 800 323-7640. Fax 847 470-9220. E-mail: Midco97@aol.com

� NYF Corp. is licensing its database of more than 100,000 parts records for fasteners from 80 manufacturers to the Infinite Content division of i2 Technologies Inc. i2 will develop a database of industrial fasteners.
NYF president Roger Crosby said the agreement will enable �the rapid development of the industry�s first comprehensive database of industrial fasteners that can be searched by parametric attributes, hosted in Infinite Content�s decision support solutions for inbound and outbound supply chain management.�
Infinite Content plans additional design, logistics, planning and e-commerce capabilities, including tools to automate and promote design reuse and to optimize design for manufacturer/supplier management.
�Having our data as part of the best-in-class Infinite Content decision support solution further exemplifies our commitment to provide value and best practice performance to our customers,� Crosby said.
NYF, founded as New York Fasteners in 1956, distributes aerospace and industrial fasteners and assembly components and is headquartered at 599 Industrial Ave., Paramus, NJ 07652-0097. Tel: 201 265-8770. Fax 201 265-3765. E-mail: info@nyf.com Web: www.nyf.com

� Nylok Fastener Corporation received U.S. Patent & Trademark Office registration for the color blue for nylon self-locking elements applied to internal or external threaded fasteners, president Max Dorflinger announced.
�Trademark registration of the color blue for our nylon patch and pellet products is an important step in protecting our customers, our licensees and Nylok from imitation products produced inside and outside the U.S.,� Dorflinger said.
Nylok supplies nylon patch-locking elements for internally and externally threaded self-locking fasteners, locking elements, adhesives, coatings and sealing elements. Nylok is headquartered at 15260 Hallmark Dr., Macomb, MI 48042-4007. Tel: 810 786-0100 or 800 791-7101. Fax 810 786-0598. E-mail: sales@nylokfastener.com Web: www.nylok.com

� Panafast Sockets opened a new Chicago distribution center: 940 Lively Blvd., Elk Grove Village, IL 60007. Tel: 847 437-1050. Fax 847 437-2733.
Panafast supplies socket fasteners and associated products to distributors and is headquartered at 1589 NW 159th St., Miami, FL 33169. Tel: 305 628-9595 or 888 726-2758. Fax 305 628-4523. E-mail: sales@panafast.com Web: www.panafast.com

� PCC Specialty Products Inc. signed a 50-50 joint venture agreement with Kadimi Tool Manufacturing Company Pvt. Ltd. to manufacture thread rolling dies and header tooling under technical collaboration with Reed-Rico and Astro Punch at Kadimi�s Gurgaon, India, plant.
Rajiv Agarwal is the Kadimi managing director.
PCC president Gregory Delaney said the joint venture �will complement the strengths of Reed-Rico and Astro Punch in the fastener tooling area.
Kadimi Tools director Rakesh Gupta said the venture offers cost effectiveness. �India and the neighboring countries will henceforth benefit greatly by the availability of our regrinding facilities.�
PCC Specialty Products, part of the industrial products segment of Portland, OR-based Precision Castparts Corp., is headquartered at 18 Industrial Dr., Holden, MA 01520-1895. Tel: 508 829-4491. Fax 508 829-5917.

� Lenny Colasuonno is the new Eastern regional sales manager for Powers Fasteners Inc., sales & marketing vice president Phillip Rose announced. Colasuonno has been with Powers since 1981 and will continue as New York branch manager.
Powers manufactures concrete, masonry and adhesive anchors, roofing fasteners, powder actuated fastening systems, carbide drill bits and accessories and has 30 North American warehouses. Powers is headquartered at 2 Powers Sq., New Rochelle, NY 10801. Tel: 914 235-6300. Fax 914 576-6483. E-mail: info@powers.com Web: www.powers.com

� Carmen Vertullo formed SimplyBetter to provide fastener technical consultation to end users and suppliers and develop technical training programs. Vertullo had been with Ababa QA and was responsible for the technical content and organization of the Los Angeles Fastener Association Certified Fastener Specialist program and led training programs for the military, turbine engine manufacturers, utilities and other groups.
SimplyBetter is located at 5877 Chaumont Dr., San Diego, CA 92114. Tel: 619 255-7688. Fax 619 527-0640. E-mail: carmenv@simplybetter.net Web: www.simplybetter.net \