Insight

With so many political, economic, and industry, factors currently influencing the fastener market we decided to invite leading fastener businesses, from all European countries, for an insight into the prospects and challenges of their domestic markets.

We asked them to consider not just economic and financial issues but also technology drivers for the fastener industry and to identify priorities for the future. We are really grateful for the time and thought generously invested in assembling a unique perspective of the European fastener landscape.

For space reasons we have edited some contributions but have been careful to retain the core of each contributor’s insight. Of course, there will be other, and perhaps divergent, viewpoints. Yours may well be one and we would be very happy to hear it for a future issue: editor@fastenerandfixing.com

Meanwhile, we hope you find this anthology as fascinating as we have.

Fabory
Ronald Baarslag, general manager

We consider our domestic market to be Europe, as national economies in Europe are largely intertwined nowadays and in general we see similar developments in each country.

The European economy has been in an upward spiral for a number of years. However, growth has softened a bit over the past six months – driven by uncertainty around BREXIT; a slow down in traditional car manufacturing; as well as a tariff war between China and the USA – which is affecting confidence in the European economy.

Our volume growth over recent years has led to the need for us to invest in new warehouse facilities in Tilburg (the Netherlands) and Brno (Czech Republic). These new facilities will help us to further optimise our services and enable future growth. The tight labour market is challenging and makes it difficult to attract talented staff. However, our international presence allows us to source talent from multiple geographies and to continuously improve the quality of our team.

Regarding the fastener industry, we have noticed two significant developments. Firstly, we have noticed that quality has become even more important and more and more customers ask for certificates for the products they source or ask for technical advice on specific applications. Fabory has therefore continued to invest in our own technical support team and an A2LA certified quality and testing department. We are known for the excellent quality of our products and we really comply with our slogan: ‘Setting the standard in fastening solutions’.

The second topic is continuous innovation – needed to remain competitive and to strengthen the chain position. Our customers are increasingly demanding in terms of speed, quality and flexibility. It is also crucial to point out that this is not just about products. An important issue that affects companies today is the need for quality of services, and quality in the process, and therefore Fabory continues to invest in these matters.

We want to ensure a consistent level of service to our customers and are always working on improving existing services and developing new ones. Customers value that.

A good example of such an improvement is our online MyFabory environment. It allows customers to (re)order, create catalogues and shopping lists, track shipments, download invoices and manage their account.

These kinds of technical innovations were scarce and uncommon in our business a few years ago. At that time, Fabory was a pioneer creating these customer-friendly possibilities and we still keep a close eye on future technologies and developments.

For example, at this moment we are about to launch an App for use on a smartphone or tablet, which will also ease the order process even more. In addition, we are already investigating what actions will be needed when Industry 4.0 kicks off to ensure that we maintain our leading role and competitive edge.

A.S.F. Fischer B.V
Arnoud Booij, managing director

The Netherlands has a centuries old tradition as a trading nation, which is why so many importers of fastening materials are based in the country. The extensive logistics infrastructure enables trade with all parts of Europe. For many Dutch enterprises, export is indeed the prime component of their business.

As a leading fastener company in the Netherlands, A.S.F. Fischer has invested substantially in future development. Following the years of the economic crisis, only the most successful importers remained.

In 2012, we opened our fully automated high-rise warehouse, and this gave us space for further growth. And just in time, too, as the past few years have seen steady, substantial growth in the Dutch construction sector and Dutch industry in general. As a result, the markets for newbuild and renovation both underwent an enormous recovery. By investing at the right moment, we were able to take full advantage of this development.

The future challenges to the Dutch market lie above all in training skilled personnel to use our products in the coming years. Currently, construction production in the Netherlands is significantly hampered by a shortage of personnel. This, too, represents a challenge for us, namely making a contribution in the form of new and efficient products.

In part, due to the aforementioned personnel shortage, the Dutch market is characterised by a tendency towards consolidation, on the part of both suppliers and customers. Parties are becoming larger and less dependent on one another. Indeed, our takeover of our competitor, InterDynamics, in 2017 took place precisely against this backdrop.

Put succinctly, the Dutch market will, in the coming years as well, remain dynamic, and we are convinced that it will provide us with many opportunities.

Download the full European fastener market report here