St. Louis, Missouri – September 11, 2018. Guenter Retkowski, Vice President of International Sales, is pleased to announce the team expansion for global growth. New team members will support EFC’s expansion in targeted regions and markets, including Autonomous Vehicles, Electric Vehicles, and Industrial markets.

Shanghai EFC Fasteners Col. Ltd. added seven team members: Director of Sales, Zhanchun Gu; Tina Li, Buyer; Dan Gong, Sales Engineer; Inside Sales Account Managers, Sunny Li, Gloria Shen, and Seven Shen; Logistics Coordinator, Carina Liang. Their collaboration with the existing EFC team, customers and suppliers within China has been significant to growth.

Compression Limiters

Final Deal Must Include United States, Mexico and Canada

Washington, D.C. – National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons today continued manufacturers’ call to secure the best deal possible for manufacturing workers in America:

Hall of Fame at the International Fastener Expo Announced
Industry veterans and thought leaders Bob Sachs and Robbie Gilchrist are added to the list of honored inductees for the 2018 IFE Awards

Los Angeles, CA (August 17, 2018) – The International Fastener Expo (IFE) has announced the winners of the 2018 Hall of Fame Awards. Each year, The Fastener Hall of Fame recognizes industry professionals who have made significant and enduring contributions to the industrial fastener industry on a national or global scale. In addition to their contributions, the award recipients are selected on the role they’ve played in the industry, their leadership skills in administrative and policy areas, and the educational contributions they’ve made to their companies and staff. This year latest recipients, Bob Sachs and Robbie Gilchrist, will join other honored industry members, including but not limited to inventors, business leaders, and educators.
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FROM: Jade West, NAW Senior Vice President-Government Relations

New NAW “Legislative Issue Briefs” are now available, including updates on:

The Gilchrist Foundation has awarded five scholarships from the 2018 applicants.  Congratulations to the recipients. We wish them well and are pleased to assist them with their education. 

They are as follows and their sponsoring companies;

What Are You Building?

Disc-Lock Safety Wheel Nuts

• Available in sizes from 3/4 to 7/8 (M18-M22)
• Easy to install with standard tools
• No retightening needed after installation
• Can be used with Class 10.9, Grade 8 bolts
• Coated in GEOMET 321, providing up to 720 hours protection in salt spray testing (other coatings available upon request)
• Vibration proof according to MIL-STD-1312-7

The National Fastener Distributors Association is pleased to announce the 2018 recipient of its Fastener Professional of the Year award is Jim Ruetz of AIS (Franksville, Wisconsin).

The Fastener Professional of the Year award was created by NFDA to honor individuals and companies that make a substantial positive impact on people’s lives. The inaugural award in 2017 was presented to Robbie Gilchrist of Capital Marketing (High Point, North Carolina).

The Würth Group continues its winning streak: The global market leader in the trade with fastening and assembly materials expands sales by 6.5 percent. Adjusted for exchange rates, sales growth even stands at 9.0 percent. The operating result increases to EUR 400 million.

Künzelsau. In the first six months of 2018, the Würth Group reported sales of EUR 6.8 billion. This corresponds to an increase of 6.5 percent. Adjusted for foreign currency effects, growth comes to 9.0 percent. The companies in Germany achieved sales growth of 7.9 percent and total sales of EUR 2.9 billion, while sales growth abroad amounted to 5.4 percent. The Würth Group’s companies in Eastern and Southern Europe are still developing very well, reporting sales growth rates in the double digits. “We still expect that we will be able to report sales and operating result records again in 2018, even if the ifo Business Climate Index has dropped slightly in June and economic forecasts are only cautiously optimistic,” Robert Friedmann, Chairman of the Central Managing Board of the Würth Group, states on the company’s positive outlook for the second half of the year.

Sherex Fastening Solutions, a global leader in engineered fasteners, tooling, and automation, is pleased to announce that their Sherex Taiwan production facility has received IATF 16949:2016 certification.

IATF 16949:2016, which establishes specific quality management system requirements for the automotive market, replaces ISO/TS 16949:2009. To gain accreditation, businesses must possess quality systems that focus on continuous improvement to prevent defects, and eleminate high variation and waste throughout the supply chain.

Solid Pins are common fasteners used for aligning, joining, and assembling multiple components. Solid Pins are most useful where the clamp load of a bolt is not needed. They are also used for specific functions such as locating components, hinges, tamper-resistant designs, etc. READ MORE

Tariffs are dominating the news these days with the story changing almost hourly. What countries or industries will President Trump target next? Who will retaliate?

Freedonia’s new white paper draws upon the experience of its industry analysts to assess the potential impact of the latest tariffs on industries ranging from appliances to wine. This new analysis provides quick, easy to read summaries of how tariffs could impact 20 key US industries.

The National Fastener Distributors Association (NFDA) has awarded three scholarships for Fastener Training Week, an advanced fastener technical training program produced by the Fastener Training Institute.

• Brian Goolie,inside sales/customer service, Empire Bolt & Nut, Spokane, Washington
• Laura Lamanna, engineering/quoting, Buckeye Fasteners, Cleveland, Ohio
• David Pawletki, senior applications engineer, Shamrock International, Itasca, Illinois

Applicants were evaluated based on the recommendation from their employer, personal achievements, work experience, and an essay. Identifying information was redacted so that the team evaluating the applications did not know the names or employers of those applying.

FROM:
Jade West, Senior Vice President-Government Relations
National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors

This morning the Supreme Court handed down a decision in the Wayfair case overturning the Quill decision and – finally!! – allowing states to require out-of-state/online sellers to collect state sales taxes.   NAW joined Amicus briefs in this case, and it is a huge victory for our brick-and-mortar businesses.

The World Trade Organization announced today the imposition of new tariffs on certain fastener products imported from the U.S. by European Union countries, effective June 22, 2018:

You certainly have choice of vendors when sourcing retaining rings, but not all retaining ring suppliers offer the same level of quality, expertise, and trust. Here are 5 points you should consider when choosing your next retaining ring supplier:

EFC International, a leading supplier of engineered fasteners, with their corporate office in St. Louis, Missouri, continues to expand their global presence with the establishment of their office and warehouse in Mexico, EFC Global, S de RL de CV.

“Our recently established legal entity and operations in Mexico, including a warehouse in Querétaro, outside sales engineers, customer service and support staff in Mexico, enables EFC to enhance our service level in the region.  We’re able to respond more quickly and hold inventory in closer proximity to our customer base.  We also are positioned to act as a key channel partner into Mexico for our strategic partner suppliers.   With our locations in the United States, Mexico, Germany, China and South Korea, EFC truly has become a global leader in the supply of engineered fasteners and components.  EFC enables multi-national OEM customers and suppliers to utilize our services on multiple continents, taking advantage of our global network to mitigate supply chain risks and improve local service,” said Mary Becker, Vice President of North American Sales.