INSIGHT
Avdel turns 75 I
This year Avdel® commemorates its 75th
n 1936 Stanley Thomas Johnson started a business called Aviation Developments, quite literally from a small shed in Godalming, Surrey. The company was established to manufacture and supply riveting technology, primarily to
a rapidly developing aviation industry, which needed to replace wooden construction with compact, stronger aluminium structures. Working with Jacque Chobert, an aviation development engineer, Johnson invented a radical new fastening technology, the Chobert®
riveting system, which for the fi rst
time allowed rivets to be installed by a single operator using a hand tool from one side of the work surface. Rapidly adopted by
anniversary. Phil Matten visited its Warrington production
facility to fi nd out, not only how far the rivet manufacturer has come from 1936 minute beginnings, but also how it is faring nearly a year after becoming part of the Infastech global fastener technology group.
achieving our aim of delivering innovative engineering solutions to customers globally.” Hopper confi dently expects Infastech to exceed targeted sales of US$ 450 million (315 million euros) sales in 2011, of which Avdel expects to contribute slightly less than one third. In addition to Avdel, the group leads with the Elco brand of
construction industry targeted fasteners which dates to 1922, and iForm – created from the new business and described as a “future reference point” as the group builds future programmes on the brand. “Emphasis on innovation is a key element of our future development,” says Hopper. “Avdel has always been a market leader although previous owners have had very different spins on the business model and we’ve gone through a phase of stepping back and working through a distributor network. Now we want to get back to being actively in contact with the end customer. That is quite a big shift in our expectations. We’ve already put a lot of emphasis on applications engineering, customer services and reinvigorating our sales teams back in to face-to-face discussions.” “The main theme of the two major
investment houses backing us now is to grow the business,” Hopper continues, “so we are very well set up to do what we need to do. We want to make it more entrepreneurial delivering a genuine value proposition to the customer as a full service
the UK aviation industry this blind fastening system was key in construction of the Supermarine Spitfi re fi ghter aircraft. During the 1940s and 1950s the global aircraft industry moved into the jet age and sales of the Chobert®
as standard fastening technology. Today, Avdel is one of three lead fastening brands
manufactured and marketed by Infastech™, the new global fastener technology group formed in August 2010 when CVC Asia Pacifi c Limited and Standard Chartered Private Equity Limited acquired Avdel®
and the Global Electronics & Commercial
(GEC) businesses from Acument Global Technologies. Headquartered in Singapore, Infastech™ has manufacturing operations in Iowa and North Carolina, USA; Malaysia, Taiwan, China and at Warrington in the United Kingdom. Sales and distribution operations cover North America, Europe and the Asia Pacifi c region. The combined GEC and Avdel operations employ more than 2,000 people. Daran Hopper, vice president and general manager at Avdel, explains more. “GEC’s footprint was Asia Pacifi c centric, and was Avdel’s biggest distribution partner so with Avdel’s strength in Europe the match is unique in
increased as it was recognised
and logistics provider.” In addition to the group’s research, development and manufacturing capabilities that means increase third party sourcing and an approach to inventory holding that can effectively respond to customer requirements. “Acument was an inventory restrictive company following an automotive model,” says Hopper. “Our business unit needs an abundance of inventory to respond to walk in orders and the sporadic changes in demand patterns characteristic of fasteners – which are all too often forgotten until the last minute.” In Europe that has meant a radical restructuring of distribution operations, consolidating traditional distribution centres across Europe into a “Euro hub” – one of several conceptual changes targeted at achieving “record lead times to customers”. Meeting stringent service requirements also means an ethos now of “wherever the product is sold that is where it should be made”. This increases fl exibility in manufacturing, says Hopper, reducing lead times and freight costs. The backwash of those requirements onto the UK Avdel
operations are evident. For the research and development centre in Welwyn Garden City there is very real pressure to reduce a
60 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 71 September 2011
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