Issue: 121 (Jan - Feb 2020)

Even with the clarity and sharpness associated with 20/20 vision you would be hard pressed to see what the future will bring for the fastener and fixing industry in 2020. Trade wars, economic slowdown and the dreaded ‘B’ word – BREXIT – have all helped to make the market situation unclear.

Hopefully our special Janus Perspective, which looks back at the challenges of 2019 and the opportunities for 2020, will help make things a bit clearer – with industry leaders from manufacturing, distribution, machine building, and wholesale, giving their thoughts, as well as key associations EIFI (European Industrial Fasteners Institute) and EFDA (European Fastener Distributors Association). With over 25 contributions, it is one of our biggest ever features, and is well worth the read.

Our Cover Story focuses on Nord-Lock and the expansion and future-proofing of its production facility in Mattmar, Sweden – where the company originally started manufacturing its famous wedge-locking washers over 35 years ago.

In preparation for the upcoming Fastener Fair Turkey show at the end of February (27^th – 29^th) in Istanbul, we also have a Made in Turkey feature that showcases the leading manufacturers within the Turkish market. Firstly there is an insight from Mustafa Tecdelioğlu, chairman of BESIAD (the Turkish Fastener Manufacturers Association), who concentrates on the growth and capabilities of Turkish fastener manufacturers. There are then articles from NORM Cıvata and how it is able to offer ‘global scale’ with ‘personal care’; Cetin Cıvata highlights how it added further manufacturing capabilities, as well as renewing its corporate identity, in 2019; as well as Mr Hasan Şemsi talking about how he has directed and inspired the development of Berdan Cıvata and its capabilities for critical application construction fasteners. Plus there are articles from Teknoform, Birlik Bağlanti and ARMA Fixing Systems.

Other articles include an exclusive interview with Sergio Vazquez Jimenez, secretary general of EOTA, defining how the organisation is still aiding the fastener and fixing industry and what have been the defining moments in EOTA’s 30 year history; Dr Peter Standring, technical secretary at Industrial Metalforming Technologies (IMfT), considers the reality of aiming for ‘zero defects’; and Süleyman Kahraman, M.Sc. mechanical engineer at Fecon R&D and Engineering Service Limited, talks about an innovative fastening approach for thin sheet metals and modelling by finite element method.