Insight

Here Hans Führlbeck, general manager at Deutscher Schraubenverband, the independent industry association for German fastener manufacturers, gives an insight into how the association works with its members, as well as the latest developments within the German fastener market.

Deutscher Schraubenverband (DSV) represents not only German fastener manufacturers but the whole process chain around the production of mechanical fasteners. In total there are 53 full members of DSV, which includes a variety of fastener manufacturers – such as bolt, rivet and screw, as well as 76 associated members, covering other areas of the production process, such as coating, machinery, wire drawing, etc.

Our wide spectrum of members is a big benefit as it means we are not just focusing on speaking to fastener producers. We are covering the entire process chain, which means we are fully aware of what is going on around the whole industry.

The DSV is committed to promoting the common interests of its members and looks to concentrate on the technical, scientific and economical aspects of the industry. Regarding technical support, we have certain working groups where we discuss and commonly work on topics or issues impacting the industry – such as surface coating challenges, cold forming challenges, etc. Through these working groups, we can focus on bigger technical subjects that most manufacturers will face during the production of fasteners. We discuss technical aspects, without touching competition relevant subjects.

As part of the working groups, the DSV also works alongside German universities, through governmental grants, to study these key topics and conduct the necessary research. Over the years there have been a wide variety of topics the DSV working groups have concentrated on, such as ‘friction under certain conditions’; ‘pre-loading of bolts in set conditions’; or ‘friction involving specific coatings’ to name just a few.

Once research projects with the universities are finished, the outcome and results are published and made available to our members. It is then up to the individual companies on how they use these results and apply it to their products and company.

Creating these working groups and covering such issues is very much appreciated by our members, as they get a chance to get involved in these topics and R&D work. It also enables smaller companies, which might not have the necessary resources to conduct internal studies, to have access to this type of technical R&D work, which is a real benefit.

Managing Covid-19

Where the DSV has also looked to help our members is with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuring members were aware of the latest governmental information.

After the crisis of 2008/09, I was sure there would be another crisis eventually, but nobody had any idea it would be this type. Covid-19 was a unique development and of course our members were impacted by the pandemic, but they were all able to handle the situation and quickly adapted to working remotely where necessary, as well as working in a new way with customers and suppliers.

As a day-to-day part of the association, we provide information that comes from the political level. Unsurprisingly in the pandemic period the amount of information increased and our members appreciated the DSV providing updates, as it meant they didn’t need to get one of their own employees to search for the details.

DSV members are B2B focused, with automotive a big sector for a lot of the members. Other sectors covered by members are construction – both building and machinery, electrics and electronics, white goods, renewable energy, rail, as well as aviation. Whilst some industries were impacted by the pandemic, such as the slowdown in automotive, others saw an upturn – for instance construction.

The challenge of automotive

Another factor currently impacting those members involved in the automotive sector is the availability of semiconductor chips. Normally you have schedules from the automotive sector and the fastener companies know when and how many pieces they need to deliver. However, these days fastener companies are planning and manufacturing everything, only to be told days before delivery the automotive customer doesn’t need the products – as they do not have the semiconductor chips. This means fastener companies have spent significant costs on production, as well as extra costs to now store or handle the products, but aren’t able to sell them. It is a very difficult situation, which doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

Just a few weeks ago the prognosis for the German economy was reduced by 0.8% to around 2.5% due to general raw material availability. Not specifically steel or wire, but everything – semiconductor chips, woods, etc. The market has definitely become a little more pessimistic than it was a few months ago and companies can only hope for better developments in 2022.

Opportunities for the future

An area that does provide opportunities for DSV members is eMobility and the opportunities this will bring in the future. For me, eMobility is a given, there is no way back, especially here in Germany. The only conversation is how quickly things accelerate.

There is no more discussion on whether it will happen. Maybe in some niche areas the combustion engine will stay but it will only be a small percentage.

When it comes to electric vehicles, Germany is in a strong position as there have been a lot of governmental schemes – enabling customers to save money if they bought an electric car. This saw the usage of electric cars increase and I believe it will continue to do so over the coming years.

This growth of eMobility will also have an impact on certain fastener manufacturers, both positive and negative. Those companies that produce engine bolts are clearly going to be impacted, but that is why it is critical they start to think about how they are going to replace this market share, because in 10 – 15 years it might not be there anymore.

Manufacturers cannot sit back and complain about how the sector is developing. Markets are continuously evolving and as a business manufacturers need to look forward and have a strategy on what alternatives they can supply.

For instance, all the batteries of e-vehicles need to be fixed, which raises a whole host of technical questions – regarding electrical current in a car and what happens if it goes through a fastener. There are a lot of extra questions and a lot of opportunities. So, whilst there might be less fasteners in the combustion area there might be more engineered fasteners needed.

No market is standing still, eMobility is a major development in automotive that everybody can see in the news. However, within other sectors there is also development and it is continuous. It is not necessarily a revolution but an evolution, whatever industry it happens to be. As a manufacturer, if you just make what everyone else is making around the world, your possibilities to earn money is limited. By looking at the problems facing the different industries you can look to find unique solutions that will enable you to stand out from the crowd.

Specific fastener education will be further developed

An area in which the DSV stands out from other associations and is looking to develop further in the future is its fastener education academy, where it has seen huge success. Our fastener training academy is very technically driven and provides a high-level of training, which has proved popular with fastener companies and clients throughout Germany. With this in mind, we are looking to extend our training capabilities by providing the training also in English, rather than just German. This would enable us to reach more people across the industry, as the demand is big.

However, we do not have to rely on ‘selling’ this training. We are focused on a fastener specific high-quality education for
engineers as Certified Fastener Engineer (DSV), for technicians as Certified Fastener Technician (DSV) and also for general technical staff, to the benefit of our members and their clients – whilst also delivering all the other association services and information we can provide to our full members and associated members to support their business.