INSIGHT
Strategic transitions Nord-Lock has taken a bold step in its transition from a
Swedish inventor and exporter to becoming a global solutions provider. Prior to the acquisition of P&S and Superbolt it had evidently re-engineered its business structure to ensure a far more immediate dialogue with its end customers, in the process enhancing the commercial returns it is able to reinvest in strengthening its global footprint. The engineering and technical synergies between Nord-Lock and Superbolt are evident: the commonality of understanding amongst its senior managers, at least, equally clear. Both are also a long way through the transition from product based to knowledge and engineering based businesses. Geographically, there is a good fit. For the Superbolt product
The products in the range from the Nord-Lock Group are approved by independent institutes and certification authorities
“Costs of failure are increasing every year,” stresses Maxime Thonnerieux. “Personal injury claims; product recalls; warranty claims; production stoppages. Added to all those monetary costs no company today can afford to jeopardise its reputation. As a Group our brand promise is to secure critical joints. In doing so we deliver life cycle profitability to our customer.” All too often that delivery is under pressure to resolve a serious problem. Maxime Thonnerieux and Norbert Schneider both accept that is inevitable but they are at one in actively seeking involvement in the customer’s earliest design phase. “Both our companies started as problem killers,” concedes Norbert. “That is our heritage. Now we are spreading the word that you don’t need to suffer the problems, nor do you need to go through all the effort and pain of understanding the complex engineering of a bolted joint. We have a massive reservoir of knowledge and the infrastructure to apply that experience effectively to the design of new bolted joints.” Wryly, Maxime Thonnerieux acknowledges that sometimes the first hurdle is to win recognition of the complexity involved. He recalls one senior director of a prestigious European project who, in front of a big audience of engineers, said: “I don’t want to hear that we have a problem with a bolted joint. Just tighten the thing”. “There is no school for the bolted joint,” he reflects, “and sometimes not enough comprehension of the complexity of assessing the risks involved in one.” Anticipation rather than purely response is integral to Nord-
Lock’s Performance Services partnership project. Offered to key customers it adopts a clear return on investment and life cycle cost approach. Its objective is to increase profitability for the customer by developing a comprehensive and detailed view of bolted connection design and security methods. Field application engineers assist the customer in arriving at an understanding of the real cost of bolted connections - verifying design through application of analytical software based on VDI2230, which also incorporates simplified finite element methodologies to reach beyond the limits of conventional calculations where the shape of the part demands. Physical testing carried out at one of Nord-Lock’s technical centres provides further verification of performance. “All the know-how we possess,” says Maxime Thonnerieux, “is made available right at the beginning of the design process.”
there are now well-structured and necessarily engineering- oriented channels to global markets, which previously might have been difficult to access without jeopardising its highly responsive service model. For Nord-Lock there is a significantly stronger presence in the North American market. Both brands stand to benefit substantially from strategic development in high growth Asian markets. The Group already has its own companies in Osaka and Tokyo, as well as a business in Singapore. This year it intends establishing a business in China and is looking towards both Korean and Indian markets. Over the last year, Nord-Lock has also clearly grasped the
strategic importance of new product development as well as the effective projection of its brand identity and values. Last year it launched its wheel nut programme, which incorporates the Nord-Lock twin washer security mechanism, and the product effectively provides a huge safety impact on-road and off-road vehicles. Acknowledging that the washers remain the major part of Nord-Lock’s business, Maxime Thonnerieux nevertheless sees huge potential for the wheel nut. Literally just launched is the Nord-Lock combi bolt, again incorporating twin washer security. Initially it appears to be strongly targeted to applications where installation is difficult or potentially hazardous – notably assemblies of steel structures that are difficult to reach, such as transmission masts. It will be interesting to see whether it also develops potential in higher volume applications where automatic installation systems are used. We will look to revisit the development of Nord-Lock including
a greater insight to the combi bolt and maybe a more detailed look at Nord-Lock’s manufacturing and quality processes and the extraordinary variations and applications of the Superbolt. Above all, we’ll look with interest as two distinctive and extremely competent businesses integrate and seek to develop an unshakeable grasp on the global bolted joint market.
The strong focus of Nord-Lock, P&S and Superbolt also includes an absolute commitment to product quality and performance
106 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 72 November 2011
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