NORTH AMERICAN NEWS Economic confidence jumps
More than one-third of End of 2011 FIN Survey participants expressed “high” confidence in the North American economy for 2012.
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n addition, half expressed “moderate” confidence in the domestic economy. Two years ago no FIN Survey participants rated their confidence for 2010 as “very high.” This year only 7% were negative on the economy. A 55% majority expressed “moderate” confidence in the global economy. At 21% “low” ratings of the international marketplace bested 16% with “high” confidence.
Moser tells NEFDA: “Time for U.S. companies to re-evaluate offshore sourcing”
It is time for U.S. companies to re-evaluate their offshore souring, Harry Moser told the New England Fastener Distributors Association.
dollar declining and oil soaring, this is the perfect time for U.S. companies to re-evaluate their offshore strategies and bring some of the sourcing home.” Numerous U.S. fastener manufacturers could not compete
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with low wages of Asian companies and turned to outsourcing or closed during the past couple decades. Prior to Moser’s NEFDA presentation, he met with president
Obama and his economic council headed by General Electric chairman Jeff Emmelt. Obama then made bringing back manufacturing part of his State of the Union speech. Moser, a 40-year manufacturing industry veteran and retired
president of GF AgieCharmilles, finds companies have offshored “more than what was in their company’s self interest.” The total cost of ownership of manufactured products may no
longer justify outsourcing. Today things are different, Moser told NEFDA. The wage gap with Japan and China continues to shrink and incremental costs associated with offshoring will largely overcome offshore advantages of recent years. Moser noted a 2009 Archstone Consulting survey showed 60%
of manufacturers ignored the 20% plus cost of offshoring. The Reshoring Initiative provides a free “total cost estimator”
software to compare offshoring and domestic sourcing.
www.ReshoreNow.org
oser, the founder and president of Reshoring Initiative, said: “With clear evidence of the fragility of global supply chains, Chinese and other low labor cost country wages rising rapidly, the U.S.
Portland Bolt marks 100th
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year
From its founding in a 6,000 square foot livery stable in 1912, Portland Bolt has grown to produce anchor bolts and non-standard construction fasteners not just for its Pacific Northwest region, but for customers in 32 countries last year.
onathan Todd, who joined Portland Bolt in sales in 2001 and became owner and president in 2005 said: “We are gaining market share and plan to expand on that.” “Shortly after the company was started, product was
being manufactured for projects around the Northwest,” Todd told
GlobalFastenerNews.com. “Through the years we adjusted to the needs of our customers, which in turn had us sending product throughout North America. In the last 15 years, with our reputation of dependable product deliveries and impeccable customer service, our bolts now reach all over the globe. We are extremely proud of the efforts of the people who make up Portland Bolt and the relationships we have created over a century of doing business.” In 2011, Portland Bolt manufactured 6.2 million pounds of
anchor bolts and construction fasteners and shipped to more than 2,300 customers in all 50 U.S. states, 9 of 10 Canadian provinces and 32 countries. Current markets include power and energy, marine
construction, steel fabrication, mining, pole line, light rail, and highway construction. Recently Portland Bolt added 30,000 square foot of manufacturing space to bring its current total to 85,000 square foot. An updated and larger state-of-the-art hot-dip galvanizing line was also added. Products include hex and square head bolts, anchor rods,
bent anchor bolts, U-bolts, eyebolts, square plates, tie rod assemblies and numerous varieties of specialty fasteners.
www.portlandbolt.com
Atlantic becomes master distributor Atlantic Fasteners’ aerospace division has become a master distributor and is tripling its warehouse space.
he new line of A286 socket head cap screws used in aerospace, military and defense can often be difficult to source economically in small quantities, aerospace director Marc Dionne said. Nearly all socket head manufacturers and distributors are on the west coast and require higher minimum orders and charge for certification paperwork, he went on to explain. Atlantic offer a lower minimum order and provides certifications. Atlantic Fasteners is a 30 year old, 100% employee owned hardware supplier serving commercial and aerospace/military markets. The aerospace division is located in West Springfield, MA.
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www.atlanticfasteners.com 26 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 74 March 2012
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