EDITORIAL Too much time to think
It is perhaps a strange thing to say but the good thing about the 2008 crash is that it arrived unexpectedly and suddenly. In other words, there was not a whole lot of time to think. Of course, there were business casualties as a result but overall companies really just had to react as best they could, in many cases I am sure survival instinct was as powerful an activator as any strategic thought. The recovery, similarly, was unexpectedly swift.
N
ow, there just seems to be too much time to think and no really reliable information on which to forecast. The reality is politicians of any colour or creed have very little real capability, or perhaps more importantly weapons in
their armoury, to influence the global economy in the short term. On the other hand financial and commodity markets, bombarded by the sheer wall of noise, of tweets, texts, RSS feeds, and other so-called news, have become ludicrously reactive. All in all it is a far more corrosive business atmosphere today than at the depth of the crash. The only reality, it seems, is that this industry in common with
most others now faces a long, hard slog that may or may not result in a return to pre-2008 prosperity levels. If you believe, Han Björstrand, who has just stepped down as Bufab president, the industry has to adapt to tighter margin trading conditions for which there is unlikely to ever be remission. So how to react? As this issue of the magazine once again
demonstrates there are major fastener businesses throughout Europe continuing to invest strategically in improving their efficiency and competitiveness. These are also, by definition since they are featured in our pages, committed to making sure the market knows about their developments and the reasons why they intend to be a more attractive proposition to global customers. Companies from the complete spectrum of fastener manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors on which we regularly report are declaring their intent to come through the next
CONTENTS
INDUSTRY NEWS Europe and World ...................................................................10-22 North America.........................................................................24-26 Asia...........................................................................................28-30 Russia + CIS.............................................................................32-34 South America.............................................................................. 36
COVER STORY 30 years of supply solutions for distributors..........................38-39
SPECIAL REPORT Fastbolt massively outdrives fundraising record ........................ 40
EXHIBITIONS Events Calendar ........................................................................... 42 News............................................................................................. 44 Fastener Fair Thailand preview .............................................. 46-51
INSIGHT Trifast goes from strength to strength....................................52-54 A little extra goes a long way ....................................................... 56 90 years efficiently meeting customer needs.............................. 88
MADE IN ITALY Featuring Italian manufacturers ............................................58-86
8 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 76 July 2012
CONSTRUCTION FIXINGS News........................................................................................90-93 Irish Anchor Code gradually taking effect..............................94-96 CE marking for anchors for seismic zones ...........................98-99 BS 8539:2012 new UK anchor Code ..................................100-103
FOCUS ON Construction Fixings ...........................................................104-105
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY News.................................................................................... 106-111 Ewald Dörken AG wins award for creative ideas........................112
MANAGEMENT + SYSTEMS News....................................................................................114-116 Getting a fix on your intangible assets ...............................118-120 Effective enterprise product cost management.................122-123
CATALOGUE RACK UK + Ireland.........................................................................135-140
PRODUCT NEWS Application Technology news..............................................124-134 Tools news............................................................................141-144 Products news.....................................................................146-162
INDEX...........................................................................................162
few years in commanding market positions as a result of those investments. Significantly, to my mind, there also appears to be a substantial increase in M&A activity. Stanley Black & Decker recently acquired Powers Fasteners in the US and is reportedly amongst a short list of bidders for Infastech. TR acquired the PSEP business in Malaysia. Just as we go to press NORMA Group announced the acquisition of Nordic Metalblok in Italy. On the other hand, one can also sense a sector of the market
that is “battening down the hatches” presumably with the intent of riding out the storm. The potential flaw with that strategy, to my mind, is that storms are violent and swift in passing – but is that really the scenario the fastener industry faces today? How long can a business hibernate, and what kind of spring is it going to emerge to, when the winter is finally over? The very real risk, I would suggest, is that it is likely to be a very different one in which catching up after a period of dormancy is likely to prove very difficult if not impossible. The other danger, is that when the forward momentum eases time to think means feeding on despondency, a diet ill-suited to a vital renewal of activity. As always this publication and its user-oriented sister
Fastener + Fixing Technology, for which Will Lowry is constantly developing a stronger and stronger international readership, is here to tell the market what you are doing. You just have to have something to tell – and make sure you tell us. As always, I look forward to hearing from you.
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