Insight

The German association FDS celebrates its 40^th anniversary in 2020, after it was founded in 1980 in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. Since its establishment the association has grown so that it now represents 43 members.

Membership of such an association cannot be taken for granted, with companies expecting a service in return for their member fee. That is why FDS looks to provide current and reliable information on the market and legislative measures. This includes information and documents for the day-to-day business regarding anti-dumping and related measures, as well as important provisions affecting the supply chain, such as REACH and ROHS, as well as information on standardisation of fasteners.

A lot of this work is done by the FDS Technical Committee with experts from the major fastener wholesale companies in Germany. They share their expertise and practical experience with the other FDS members through the association. They also engage in the bodies of the standardisation committees at national, EU and global level – introducing the wholesalers and distributors’ views and needs when a fastener is to be standardised. In this way the whole distribution sector benefits from the activities carried out by FDS experts.

Members joining FDS not only receive the services mentioned above, they also get to participate in an active network of the leading fastener distributors.

When it comes to the current Covid-19 pandemic, FDS has looked to keep its members updated with the latest information. The pandemic has hit German fastener wholesalers and distributors since March. According to individual companies, and reports from the sector, turnover has on average decreased by up to 20% – in some cases up to 50% from April. Companies delivering to the automotive industry have had major decreases. A significant range of FDS members have also arranged short time work, which is subsidised by the German government.

Throughout the pandemic FDS has looked to inform its members about the new laws passed by the German government – such as legislations on the simplification of the rules concerning short time work; the increased flexibility of the law concerning working time through the crisis; and the exclusion of wholesalers from the severe lockdown measures (retailers had to close down for many weeks, wholesalers did not).

FDS has also used video conferencing during Covid-19 to stay in contact with its members and believes this style of communication will continue to play a significant role in the future, post Covid-19. However, its members are still keen to meet their colleagues and competitors for networking in the future. Therefore, association meetings are still important for networking and socialising.

FDS believes the biggest problem regarding Covid-19 is the uncertainty of what is going to come. Its members can already see that some customers are asking for payment extensions or are refraining from placing new orders. It therefore expects a decrease of turnover within the market of -10% to -20% in 2020.

Going forward, FDS will continue to provide its members with its valued services and will also extend its activities in the field of supply chain regulation – such as providing members with more documents they can use in their day-to-day business.

Its members report that key topics for them in the future will be focusing on investments in automation of the logistic processes, which will become a prerequisite to satisfy the growing requirement of industrial customers concerning flexibility, rapidity and process safety.

Digitalisation, such as data management, machine-to-machine communication, and automated processes, will also change the workplace fundamentally, which will provide a big challenge.

The concentration of the fastener industry will also continue and might accelerate in the coming years. It is becoming increasingly important for distributors and manufacturers to supply customers on a global scale. This implies large investments, learning to deal with different cultures, and the ability to control and develop international plants and branches. In many cases, only globally oriented and financially strong companies will be able to go this way and satisfy the growing demands of customers.

The FDS will also continue its strong engagement as a national association in EFDA. Today, EFDA is the voice of European fastener distributors at European and international level and its voice is heard by the EU Commission. FDS is a very active member of EFDA and its member companies benefit greatly from the association’s membership within EFDA.

EFDA closely follows any developments that could lead to the imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of fasteners from third countries into the EU. FDS members know that EFDA is prepared to defend free and fair trade against any protectionist measures. That means that FDS members are prepared in case an investigation should be initiated – thanks to EFDA.

There are, however, other fields of legislation that become more and more relevant to EFDA’s members. European fastener distributors have to deal with complex issues from legal fields – such as the provisions of the European Chemical Regulation ‘REACH’ or the legislation on conflict minerals through the US Dodd-Frank Act and by the EU. These regulatory acts increase the level of bureaucracy within the supply chain, as suppliers or customers require declarations of conformity or other certificates. EDFA helps its member associations with information concerning these pieces of legislation and assists them with documents they can use. FDS also shares the documents it has developed in its technical committee with other EFDA members.

www.fds-online.de