Insight

Peter Schröder, the company’s namesake, founded the business after spotting a gap in the market for a German-based company dedicated to Inch products – focusing on American and British specifications and standards. Since then schröderschrauben has focused on quality, reliability, flexibility and dependable delivery as the cornerstones of its business, and by adhering to these core beliefs has established and maintained its position in the market for the past 44 years.

“Our objective is to be our customers’ primary and long standing partner for all their Inch product needs,” explains Jörg Schröder, joint managing director and Peter Schröder’s son. “Our products include all standard diameters, materials and lengths, as well as exotic materials and special lengths.”

“You won’t find a single Metric fastener in our warehouse,” adds Joint Managing Director Joachim Latza with a smile. “We have always focused 100% on Inch products and make sure that we offer a complete range. Every product you can buy in Metric we can supply in Inch.”

schröderschrauben stocks approximately 10,000 different parts and ensures that it can supply the complete line in every range. “Today, 80% of our stock is American size, with the remainder British sizes,” mentions Jörg. “If there is something that we do not have in stock we can get it quickly from one of our suppliers.”

Due to the size and depth of its range, in 2013 schröderschrauben decided to move from its previous headquarters to a new purpose built warehouse in Erlenbach, close to Neckarsulm. The move took place in April 2014 and enabled the company to introduce new racking, reorganise its warehouse, as well as maximise the new space available. The picking shelves were also restructured according to product, size and length – helping to streamline the picking process and make picking orders more efficient. There is also still plenty of space in the warehouse to expand as and when necessary.

“As a business we have seen stable growth over recent years and have been steadily increasing our stock volume,” comments Joachim. “By 2013 we had reached a point where we needed more space and after looking at the options available we decided to move into larger premises. The new warehouse is double the size of the previous site and provides us with the opportunity to continue to grow whilst delivering quality Inch products from stock, as well as a good, flexible service.”

When it comes to supplying its customers, schröderschrauben is confident of the quality of its products, having worked with its suppliers for several years and established good working relationships. “We work with big companies within the US and UK, as well as smaller distributors for specific products,” points out Jörg. “Every week there are freight shipments from the US to Erlenbach. We take quality very seriously and we ensure that our US and UK partners understand the significance of reliability and service.”

To help guarantee the quality of its products, schröderschrauben installed a quality management system in 1994, which is officially certified by DEKRA (Federal German Standards Authority) on an ongoing basis. Products are also available to specific American standards, including military standards (MS and AN parts), as well as National Aerospace Standards (NAS) – which are used by companies such as Boeing and Airbus.

“All these products have to meet set specifications,” explains Jörg. “We have 28 folders of different specifications that we are able to provide the relevant products. The customer simply tells us the number and we can see what screw is needed, what material and what length.”

Products according to ASTM standards for the oil and gas industry are also available.

For those customers that need a special length fastener, schröderschrauben works with a special machining company that can offer reworking of products very quickly. It also works with a local plating business, which means it can provide a full range of coatings and platings according to customers’ requests.

“There are only a select few companies that are solely focused on Inch products and are able to supply the range and depth of products that we are able to supply,” says Joachim. “Some of the larger companies will have Inch products in their range, but they do not specialise in Inch products and will not be able to offer the comprehensive range we can supply.”

Jörg adds: “The market is getting a lot more competitive, with companies under cutting prices. However, thanks to our experience, depth of stock, and service, we are able to offer customers a unique service. We are well known in the industry and can supply customers all over the world with the products they need. The new warehouse means that we can provide even more products from stock and continue delivering the quality, reliability, flexibility and dependable delivery that our customers have come to expect.”