Insight

Owlett-Jaton is the UK and Ireland’s leading wholesale supplier of fasteners, fixings and associated products to the distributor and merchant trade. In addition, whilst working with a network of secondary process partners, Owlett-Jaton can offer its customer base a wide range of secondary processes and added-value services.

Whilst the majority of fastener applications can be met by fasteners produced to recognised standards – ISO, DIN, BS, etc – with a standard coating, there are other applications for which standard products do not meet the needs of the application. They need something more specific – a special. Through its network of secondary partners, Owlett-Jaton can act as customers’  single supplier – providing order and delivery, convenience, efficiency, traceability and peace of mind. 

This offering can be broadly split into six categories, all of which can be combined for a comprehensive service – thread patching, machining, bespoke to drawing and sourcing, certification and batch traceability, packing, as well as plating.

The first part of the servive is surface treatment and coating applications, which are primarily designed to reduce degradation significantly, protecting the products from corrosion, which, if not protected, could potentially lead to product failure. Secondly, it may be beneficial for the products to have an aesthetically pleasing finish to either match or contrast against the application.

Owlett-Jaton provides eighteen different coating options, with typical coatings including electroplating, such as bright zinc plating, heat-based options, such as hot dip galvanising and sherardising, or organic zinc flake coatings, such as Geomet^®. Coatings may also be applied as additional topcoats to assist with torque tensioning control. 

To help increase the prevailing torque and ensure that fasteners are securely locked, Owlett-Jaton also offers a wide range of thread patching. Thread patching can ensure that parts are firmly locked into position after assembly, minimising loss of clamp load due to vibration. Thread patches can also improve sealing in gas, oil and other liquid industry applications. 

Another added service is the machining of fasteners – ranging from simple drilling to allow the insertion of locking split pins, or cutting to length and chamfering, through to more complicated modifications such as rethreading and shank diameter reduction. 

Depending on the application, there are also times when a unique fastener is required, which needs to comply with a drawing. Working closely with the customer, the Owlett-Jaton Specials team provides a fully bespoke service, ensuring requirements are met. The process includes managing the manufacturing through to fastener testing. A variety of manufacturing processes can be utilised, including cold forming for high volumes, hot forging for lower volumes of odd sized or extra large fasteners, as well as machining for small volumes. 

Additionally, Owlett-Jaton’s non-standard products are individually batch controlled and can be provided with a range of specific certifications. Country of origin and full batch traceability is provided for all special products, with batch traceability maintained from the source and great care taken to ensure it remains identified throughout the secondary process chain.

Special fasteners often end up in demanding applications, resulting in them potentially requiring additional certification. These may include Initial Sample Inspection Reports (ISIR) or Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) – with Owlett-Jaton able to provide ISIR and PPAP up to level 3. A certificate of conformity will certify the goods or services meet the required standard, whilst a 3.1 material inspection certificate will certify the batch of components, or the raw material used.

Products and secondary processes are sourced exclusively from ISO 9001 certified factories, and Owlett-Jaton has a comprehensive product quality assurance programme in place and is also itself ISO 9001 certified.

Finally, once a product returns from a secondary process partner, and the refinishing is complete, Owlett-Jaton can repackage the product in-house to customer specifications. Using brand-free, high-quality, double-walled cardboard boxes and paper tape, products can be packed to customer quantities, up to a maximum weight of 10kg. Labels can be designed to customer requirements with bespoke branding, complete with data containing product codes and descriptions, quantities, barcodes, and batch references – making the product suitable to go to the end user without any rework. The stock can then be held at Owlett-Jaton’s warehouse facility and delivered as and when required on a call-off basis.

“The world of specials is complex and ever-changing. Our dedicated Specials and Subcon teams have many decades of experience in providing products for a wide range of customers and applications. The teams can help with all customer requirements and provide the technical and documentary back-up needed to be a reliable partner in this area,” underlines Owlett-Jaton.