NORTH AMERICAN NEWS Fastener manufacturer tapping temp workers
Fastener manufacturer Termax Corp and other U.S. companies are increasingly tapping temporary laborers to meet workforce demands, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
months in length, and many offer benefits. Illinois-based Termax Corp, a manufacturing and engineering company specialising in metal and plastic fasteners, is using temp workers. Owner Bill Smith hired Matt Fuller to work as a die designer. Fuller told the Sun-Times that he began taking on temp assignments in 2009
T
he American Staffing Association’s employment index shows temporary and contract staffing employment rose 24% through May, according to the Sun-Times. Increasingly, temp positions in the Chicago area are six
after two companies he had worked for went under. Fuller is one of 15 temp workers employed by Termax to augment the work of its 273 permanent employees. Smith said Termax has turned to temps because there is a
shortage of skilled manufacturing workers. He is also hesitant to add permanent staff that he might need to cut in a couple of months. During the recession the company, which relies on the automotive sector, went from 212 workers down to 67.
Queenin, Reidl lead NFDA
Jay Queenin is the new president of the National Fastener Distributors Association and Kevin Reidl is vice president. Vickie Lester was named executive director of the NFDA.
A T
s a student Queenin worked summers at Specialty Bolt & Screw Inc and then went to law school. He became a prosecutor in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office. He joined the family fastener business six years ago and is now COO. Founded in 1977, Specialty Bolt services large OEMs. Headquartered in Agawam, MA, SBS also has facilities in Canada and Mexico. Reidl works for Hodell-Natco Industries.
Queenin reported that the NFDA has 89 distributor members and 58 associate members totaling 147. Lester continues as the Pacific-West Fastener Association executive director. She is the seventh leader in NFDA’s
44-year history. Lester started her association management company in 1986, with the Western Association of Fastener Distributors as her first client. Later that year she added the Los Angeles Fastener Association. In 2009 those two associations combined to form Pac-West. The next NFDA meeting is being scheduled for November 2012 in Arizona.
Lawson Products announces restructuring
Lawson Products announced plans to eliminate 100 jobs - 11% of its workforce - as part of restructuring efforts to stay competitive in what it called a ‘fragmented’ MRO industry.
he cuts include elimination of several senior executive positions, including the open COO position, but will not reduce Lawson’s sales force. Other cost-cutting measures include rationalizing inventory and reducing travel, marketing and outbound freight expenses. Collectively the reductions are expected to save Lawson Products about US$20 million (16 million euros) annually. Lawson Products also inked a new five-year, US$40 million (33 million euros) credit facility. “With an increased focus on MRO, we have consolidated a number of units and sold two non-core operations, which
represented approximately US$80 million (65 million euros) of annual revenue,” explained CEO Thomas Neri. In late 2010 Lawson sold Assembly Component Systems Inc and Rutland Tool & Supply Co. Neri said the company’s restructuring builds on earlier activities, including a tightened MRO focus, the implementation
of SAP, which went live in August 2011, and network-optimization and sales-transformation initiatives. Operational efficiency measures include simplifying its business processes and flattening the organization. The company
is streamlining its customer-fulfilment process and inventory management with its consolidation of three Illinois locations into a single operation in McCook, IL, which will be the hub for the Midwest. Revenue enhancement will include emphasizing target accounts, core products and service delivery (especially vendor-
managed inventory), accelerating its sales-transformation process, completing its tier-pricing model and launching its e-commerce site. Lawson Products reported net sales, including fasteners, declined 0.6% to US$314.9 million (256 million euros) during
2011. Net income declined to a loss of US$4.62 million. Fastening systems revenue contributed 21% of overall sales in 2011. Overall gross profit decreased 7.7% to US$179.8 million (146 million euros) hurt by rising vendor costs, outbound freight charges, rising labor costs and lower margin business.
26 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 76 July 2012
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