Insight

Twenty months after its launch, the JRP range of rivets and rivet nuts has not only established itself within the UK riveting market but exceeded all expectations – with even bigger plans for the future.

The JRP line includes an in-depth range of riveting products – produced to the highest quality, reinforced by technical support and first-class services. “We are really proud to have made such an impact in the market,” states Tony Williams, sales director at Owlett-Jaton. “The JRP line has been fully accepted by the market, especially the added benefits and the service levels we bring – such as no minimums, next day delivery and carriage paid. Being able to provide this to the riveting market within the UK is one of the big reasons the JRP line has done so very well. When you add in the complications of the Covid-19 pandemic during this period, it makes our success even more impressive.” 

The JRP brand was launched with around 1,000 lines, including a wide range of rivets, such as standard, sealed, multigrip, peel, grooved, load spread, load spread with washer, and structural rivets. Each type is available in a variety of materials such as aluminium, steel zinc and Clr Tri3, A2 stainless steel, A4 stainless steel, and copper. The sizes available range from 2.4mm up to 6.4mm depending on the product. Head types include dome head, countersunk and flange.

The rivet nuts within the JRP line include flat head knurled round open, flat head knurled round closed, countersunk head knurled round open, countersunk knurled round closed, reduced head knurled round open, reduced head knurled round closed, flat head full hexagon open, reduced head full hexagon open, flat head semi hexagon open and reduced head semi hexagon open. These are available in aluminium, steel zinc and Clr Tri3, A2 stainless steel, and A4 stainless steel – from M3 to M12.

There are also seven tools within the JRP range, including three for rivets and four for rivet nuts.  Plus, there are over 57 lines of spares including replacement nosepieces, mandrels and additional sized heads.

Adding to the range

The JRP line has recently been further extended with the introduction of a further 250 – 300 lines of different rivet types and sizes. “The reason we added these additional lines was due to the demand from customers – who have seen the wide range of rivets we can supply and have asked for more niche rivet products, so that we can meet all of their riveting needs,” points out Tony.

The latest additions to the range saw new lines added to the structural and specialist ranges, including bulb and hem structural rivets, as well as load spread with washer specialist rivets. A large range of black and white dome head rivets, as well as coloured multi-grip rivets, have also been added to the JRP range. Thirty-three colours have been chosen based on their popularity in the UK, and all have a RAL or BS colour reference for riveting projects requiring a colour match.

Alongside the additional lines, there has been a significant investment in greater stock holding for the JRP line. “With lead times in the current marketplace getting longer, we decided to increase our stock so that we can continue to supply our existing customers and new customers,” explains Tony. “We identified certain lines where the demand was much higher than we had imagined. Once we identified this, we made the investment in the stock levels on these items.”

Having the depth of stock for the JRP line has always been a key factor since the launch of the range. “Right from the outset we had roughly one year’s worth of stock for each line in our warehouse,” mentions Tony. “We really wanted to make an impact within the market. This has worked well and enabled us to grow at a comfortable rate, even during Covid-19 when the supply of products has been challenging, as well as more recently with the container freight issues within the market.”

Updated catalogue launched

Another new development for the JRP line is the launch of the second edition of the JRP catalogue, which incorporates the additional product lines and still includes easy navigation – thanks to its products being categorised in a sensible and logical order.

“The first catalogue proved hugely popular with customers thanks to the amount of information within it. We really believe that it is the best riveting catalogue available in the market,” states Tony. “We received a lot of positive feedback from our customers on the catalogue, as they can find all the technical information they require – quickly and easily. This is because every material combination of rivet/rivet nut is colour-coded using a system. This then follows through onto the packaging for the JRP line, which gives a visual aid to the people stacking the shelves as well to the final customers – making everything a lot easier. A hard copy request or a simple download of the catalogue can be done via the JRP website.”

Expert technical support

In addition to an in-depth range of rivets/rivet nuts, the JRP line also includes technical support to ensure that the correct type of rivets/rivet nuts are used for applications. “From the very beginning we have ensured that our products reach the very highest quality standards and specifications,” points out Tony. “Rivet and rivet nuts are technical products and you quickly get found out if your products can’t meet the necessary standards. Just as important is ensuring the right rivet is being used for the right application. That is why we offer technical support to customers – so they can ask us about material choices, sizes, and types of rivets/rivet nuts, to ensure they can meet the necessary sheer and tensile strength requirements.”

The JRP brand has gained such a good reputation within the market for its technical support that there have even been occasions were JRP has worked with its customer’s customer to resolve concerns regarding what type of rivet should be used in a certain application.

“There was one example where a customer’s customer was reporting that a particular size of rivet was splitting into two pieces when being installed,” mentions Tony. “Even with just the basic information we were given, we were able to conclude that the root cause was due to the punch used to make the hole for the rivet, which was creating a burr on the back of the hole. This steel burr was therefore acting as a guillotine on the aluminium rivet. The customer’s customer went away and checked the back (blind side) of the hole and it proved what we suspected. They simply updated their punch and the issue was resolved.”

Tony adds: “We have been able to offer this service because our distributor customers know that we only sell to them and we are not looking to sell directly to end users. We have a disciplined distribution policy, which means our customers trust us to not only help them with their customers, but also deliver directly to them if required.”

Big targets for the future

With such a successful start to the JRP line, even bigger targets and goals have been set for the future to continue developing the range, as well as grow market share. “We will continue to invest in and innovate the JRP brand in the future,” concludes Tony. “Our strategy is to take a larger market share, whether through increasing our range of lines or by further increasing our volumes. Either way it is going to require continuous investment, which we are willing to do. From the very beginning our aim was to provide a complete package for the riveting market and we are well on the way to making the JRP brand the go to choice for riveting.”