WINTER 2021

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THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
LAURENCE CLAUS WHY DO FASTENER SUPPLIERS USUALLY FOCUS THEIR ATTENTION ON A SINGLE MARKET SEGMENT? from page 100
¤ Thread Laps - thread laps are open discontinuities
in the thread usually the result of misalignment of dies
during set-up. In certain applications, especially parts
subjected to fatigue loading cycles, thread laps are
considered dangerous and generally unacceptable. Thread
laps in certain locations may be allowed on many general
purpose fasteners but are strictly forbidden on many
aerospace fasteners.
¤ Cracks and Bursts- these are generally open
cracks as a result of localized material overload. In many
cases, cracks will not be acceptable to any customer,
however, they are particularly dangerous on parts subject
to fatigue loading.
¤ Seam Free Wire – seam free wire is raw material
that has had the outer layer removed. By removing the
outer layer, any imperfections in the surface of the raw
material are also removed. These imperfections usually
manifest themselves as cracks or open discontinuities on
finished parts. Once again, although this material comes
at a significant cost premium, it is commonly used in
aerospace where fatigue considerations reign supreme.
¤ Specific Process Steps – in addition to the
issues described above it is not uncommon for aerospace
fasteners to have threads and fillet radius rolled after
heat treatment. Although these operations significantly
reduce the life of the tooling used and increase part cost,
they improve fatigue life and add value to those fasteners
where they are employed.
Quality Systems And Certifications
Another significant distinguisher between market
segments are the quality systems. For the last twenty
or so years ISO9001 has been universally recognized
as the benchmark quality system. Both the automotive
and aerospace industries, however, have additional and
segment specific requirements that are important to
them. As a result, automotive suppliers are required to
have a system registered to IATF 16949. This standard
adds an additional 275 requirements on top of the 135
already included in ISO 9001. For aerospace there is
AS9100 for manufacturers and AS9120 for distributors.
Like the automotive standard these add many additional
requirements above and beyond the ones included in
ISO9001.
In the automotive market segment, generally the only
requirement is to obtain and maintain IATF 16949 status.
Industrial and construction market segments encourage
ISO 9001, although with most customers this is probably
not a necessity.
Although it probably does not come as any surprise,
Aerospace has probably the most stringent requirements.
In addition to requiring AS9100 or AS9120, some
aerospace customers provide their own approvals or
certifications. Often a supplier is unable to supply parts
to one of these customers if they don’t have the requisite
company specific certification. Additionally, aerospace
often requires source approval, meaning that only certain
companies can supply finished parts or only approved
vendors can provide selected services. Often these
vendors have to get company specific approvals or obtain
NADCAP certifications for the “special processes” they
provide.
Supply Channels
In North America the supply channels vary between
the different market segments. For the OEM and Tier
automotive community, supply is almost exclusively from
direct relationships with manufacturers. In the industrial
segment supply is a mix between direct manufacturer
relationships and distributors (many of the distributors
adding value with vendor managed inventory services).
The construction segment is serviced by distributors and
retail outlets. Aerospace is a mix of direct manufacturing
and distributor relationships.
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