What does the process of producing cold headed fasteners look like? And how does raw material become a fastener? This infographic outlines the process of cold heading manufacturing in 7 steps.
First, we establish the rod size and material type based on print and progression.
Step 2: Tooling Created and Designed
Fastco’s engineering team makes prints and designs tooling. Then, our tool room builds the tools and purchasing orders anything we can’t make in-house.
Step 3: Cold Heading
A Cold Heading Setup Tech sets up the job on the machine. The machine forms parts via a series of high-speed, high-pressure punches and blows.
Step 4: Thread Roll
The Thread Roll machine rolls the cold headed blanks between two dies to form threads, knurls, or fetters. In addition to thread rolling, some parts may bet secondary machining on one of our 3 pointers.
Step 5: Outside Processing
This step could include Heat Treatment, Plating, Patch, or Outside Secondary Machining. Fastco has an in-house wash to clean parts as well.
Step 6: Inspection / Sort
Next, parts are received in and sorted for quality assurance. Then, our inspection team packages the parts for shipment.
Step 7: Store and Ship
Boxed parts are stored in our distribution building. Fastco ships these parts to customers per purchase order agreements.
This year, Thread Roll’s greatest achievement has been reducing our cost of poor quality. As of the end of June, we were at about half the COPQ as we were at this time in 2022, so this is a huge achievement. We are meeting our COPQ goal for the year and I’m really proud of my people for this. We have been emphasizing visual inspections along with parts being in spec and the team has been keeping their eyes on the parts. Our goal for 2023 is to be at less than half the COPQ that we had in 2022 and we are well on our way to meeting that goal.
Thread Roll Department West
Thread Roll Update on Productivity
Another big achievement for Thread Roll this year has been our productivity. We have even been able to incorporate additional volume from an cold header that was struggling to keep up with their thread roll volume. I have been pleased with how everyone has come together to add these parts into the mix. Receiving bonus checks as a result of our hard work has helped show the team the importance of working together and the impact of what we can accomplish. In addition, the quarterly incentive profit shares, financial education, and huddles have helped me, the Thread Roll team, and many other team members understand the financials in an eye-opening way that has motivated us to do.
The latest inflation report from the Fed shows that inflation continues to cool. This year through May, overall U.S. consumer prices rose 4%, not including the volatile markets of food and energy (core CPI was 5.33%). This is the slowest rate of growth in more than two years. Still, it is twice the rate of what was considered normal growth before the pandemic. Steel prices, which matter acutely to companies in fastener industry and our supply chains, remain well above pre-pandemic levels.
But the good news is that inflation is trending in the right direction. And most economists predict that it will continue to moderate. Similar to cooling inflation, disruptions to supply chains, while still persistent in many sectors, are beginning, and should continue, to lessen. Given the cause-and-effect relationship between supply chain disruption and inflation, it makes sense that healthier supply chain would go hand-in-hand with inflation reduction.
Given these positive developments, it may be tempting to settle into a more complacent, less proactive mentality in terms of spending and supply chain management. While the Fed has not ruled out interest rate hikes and inflation is still a concern, we are looking toward a (hopefully) more stabilized economy. Here are some key lessons that we should take with us from this period of extreme disruption:
Quality Matters
To ensure a robust and healthy supply chain, you must have quality product. Sometimes, this means paying more money, but the return that you will get is worth it. The costs of poor quality are about more than just dollars; poor quality creates a timing disruption as well. It is important to have quality suppliers with meticulous control plans and fair labor practices, quality customers who are financially secure and share your values, and quality team members who care about the company and are engaged in the culture.
A team member inspects a part for quality assurance
Diversity is Paramount
It goes without saying that companies should not rely on a single source for any product they bring in. Diversity also matters in terms of customer base. A company serving many industries is more likely to survive a range of economic downturns because most economic slumps are industry-specific.
Invest in your People
Inflation has caused wages to go up as well. The average salary bump is now about 5%, as opposed to 2 or 3% previously. For employers, this may feel like just another rising expense, but paying your people fair wages that meet the demands of the time is important. A well-compensated, well-appreciated worker is more likely to be an engaged and loyal worker.
Fastco team members celebrate at a cookout.
Certainly, more lessons can be added to this list, but these are three that have mattered to Fastco, our supply chain, and our community. What lessons has your company learned post-pandemic?
In 2023, Cold Heading has been working on several initiatives. For this reason we have developed an “SQDC” board in every bay. SQDC stands for: Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost.
Safety, Quality Delivery, and Cost
First and foremost is Safety. Working safely every day is and always will be our department’s top priority. No other initiative is as important, since nothing can ever replace lost lives or limbs.
Quality of product is our second focus. Making lots of parts and hitting our delivery or production targets are meaningless if the product is not useable.
Next is Delivery. As part of this focus, we use “heat maps,” which tell us what parts are due and how many are due each week. Being in tune with what is needed to help the downstream operations (thread roll, outside processing, sort) and to keep the customer supplied is critical.
Last, but certainly not least, is Cost. To this point, the primary way that cold heading helps contribute to the success and profitability of the company is to generate as little scrap as possible. This year, we continue to reduce the amount of scrap we generate compared to previous years. This is a never ending battle with the ultimate goal always being zero scrap.
For each of these categories, we have simple reporting systems. Because the process is new, we continue to learn how to use these boards in the best and most efficient ways possible.
Cold Heading Bay 2
Open Book Management Initiative in Cold Heading
These boards help support Fastco’s philosophy on open book management. Open book management has been a real eye opener for many reasons in Cold Heading.
For one, we now better understand the impact of raw material expenditures, the number one cost for our product. In addition, we also have a better understanding of how more we have to sell to make up for the losses associated with a quality issue. Finally, we have a better understanding of what our true profits are after expenses.
For me, it has been humbling to realize how long I worked in manufacturing without truly understanding how the business worked. The only comfort is to know I was not alone. It is a privilege to work for a company that educates us and involves us in strategic decisions.
Simply put, stainless steel is an iron and chromium alloy containing at least 10.5% chromium. Other common additives include:
Nickel – Nickel containing grades make up 75% of stainless steel production. In fact, more than two thirds of global nickel produced is used in the production of stainless steel alloys because nickel improves the formability, weldability, and ductility of the material.
Carbon – To be clear, steels that are typically referred to as “carbon” steels contain less than the 10.5% chromium required to be stainless. Stainless steels have less than 1.2% carbon.
Manganese – High-manganese (200 series austenitic) have lower nickel content, making them more affordable in the current market.
Molybdenum – This element improves the resistances to pitting corrosion of stainless.
Nitrogen – Nitrogen is a strong austenite stabilizer, increasing the strength, hardness, and brittleness of stainless steels.
Copper – Copper can improve corrosion resistance in stainless steels.
In addition to improving corrosion resistance, adding other elements to stainless steel alloy may also:
Improve high or low temperature resistance
Improve weldability or formability
Control magnetism
Different stainless steel grades will contain different additives in different amounts. When selecting a stainless steel, the forming process and end application should be considered.
At Fastco, we work primarily with 300 and 400 series stainless steels, as well as high-nickel alloy A286. Learn more on our materials pages.
Got a stainless steel fastener need? Send us an RFQ on this form or give us a call at 616-453-5428.
The Finance/IT/HR department provides administrative support for the entire company. The primary function of this department is to support manufacturing by ensuring our network systems function smoothly, keeping our financials in order, and managing the employee life cycle.
The four members of the administrative support team
These are functions that can be outsourced. However, having internal and direct support means quicker turnaround on tasks, less down time, and a more humanized approach to these processes.
Humans Helping Humans
I think it’s important that everyone at Fastco remembers that we are here to help you and make your jobs easier. But we are humans, too! We mess up from time to time and we don’t always have the answers, but we will always try to get them for you.
Cross-Training Improves Function
As a member of our department, I am really proud of how much cross training we have done. It makes it fairly smooth to ensure critical functions are still maintained whenever one of us needs time off. I’m also proud of how well we all get along with one another. We address any conflict right away and we don’t hold grudges.
Core values are the fundamental beliefs and priorities that drive team members’ and the organization’s behaviors. Core values act as internal compass of principles that guide decision making.
But why do they matter? At Fastco, we manufacture cold-headed fasteners; that is what we do. We hope to make a profit doing it. Is that why we do it? It is certain a piece of it, but it can’t be the only reason.
Core Values Reflect a Shared Purpose
In order to fully appreciate what we do, we need to know why we do it. And it has to be about more than money. Money matters. It’s how we feed, house, and cloth ourselves and our families. It stabilizes our lives. But it does not create happiness nor add meaning to a life or a company.
A company’s values should work to align a company around a shared purpose. That is, the why behind what they do. Fastco’s shared purpose is to create value and stability for our customers, team members, and community. It’s why we exist as an organization.
Our core values are the guiding principles that help us achieve our shared purpose. Fastco’s core values are:
Respects and helps all team members excel
Completes tasks with enthusiasm
Sweats the details
Gives honest feedback, but follows the company’s directive
Puts the interest of the company first
Fastco’s Shared Purpose
Every company needs to decide what its purpose is and what values its members will need to achieve that purpose. Ideally, this is done with company-wide buy-in. These values then serve as a metric against which to assess performance and to evaluate potential candidates.
Values Come From Teams, Not Managers
As a company evolves, their values may shift, since values are not necessarily imposed by management but discovered through the habits and behaviors of ideal team members. Over time, values may become better defined. The organization may choose to eliminate some values or replace them with others that better suit the culture and goals of the organization.
In the end, the main thing is to know who you are as a company and why you what you do. This is just as, if not more, important than what you do and how you do it.
As the climate crisis continues, we will all be pressed to come up with innovative ways to reduce our waste and our carbon footprint. From governments to corporations to individuals, there is lots of room for improvement, specifically in the area of sustainability.
While every company needs to look closely at their business practices to come up with ways to increase sustainability (and, more than likely, reduce expenditures as well), we wanted to highlight some recent improvements that our company has made to make our practices more environmentally sustainable and to reduce costs at the same time.
Scrap Reduction
A scrap tub with minimal scrap
This one may seem obvious, but it’s not easy! We have a goal to reduce our scrap by 25% this year. While the majority of our metal scrap is recycled, it is better to just not waste it at all, from a cost and sustainability standpoint.
In addition to reducing our carbon footprint and wasting material, our company can save tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars per year by reducing our scrap. We make this happen with frequent and thorough part checks on machines to avoid cost of poor quality scrap. It is also a matter of paying attention, watching machines, and being intentional when setting up parts and running them.
As a rule, cold heading is a low-scrap process compared to processes like stamping or machining. This is makes it a more cost-effective and sustainable means of fastener production.
Reusing Oil
We’ve got some really innovative team members and one recently suggested that we buy an air pump to add to oil totes in order to recycle cold heading oil for use in thread roll. Reusing the oil not only saves the company money by purchasing less oil and paying less to haul it away as often, but it is also better for the environment.
Recycled Oil
Timers and LED lighting
Over the last few years, we have been working to replace our old lighting with more efficient LED lights. In addition, many of those lights that are public areas are now on motion sensors to reduce usage.
Recently, one of our preventive maintenance technicians noticed that parts cleaners throughout the facility were always left on. He suggested adding timers to them as well to shut them off automatically when they are not in use.
What sustainable practices has your company put into place? Where do you see manufacturing continue to make sustainability improvements in the years to come?
Fastco’s Purchasing Department’s unofficial mantra is “What we need, when we need it, and what provides the best value to Fastco.” We do this by keeping inventory levels accurate and appropriately stocked, predicting future demand for tooling, supplies, and similar items, and finding an appropriate level of quality while negotiating the best price/value balance to sustain ongoing operations. As the gatekeeper of the discretionary spend, this mindset has driven quantifiable savings year over year for the company, and every dollar not spent is a dollar on the bottom line! We can’t forget our decentralized buyers either, in maintenance and accounting, who have significantly reduced cost in the Maintenance Department and office supply categories.
In addition to the purchasing function, our shuttle operators’ staging of jobs for the headers and watchful eye over inventory levels keeps us ahead of the game and limit tooling related downtime to a minimum. Our two shuttle operators (Ginny Beld & Tracy Eno) have both been the backbone of our data collection and recording over the past few years which is critically important to ID requirements, and their participation in streamlining processes and standardizing our inventory will pay dividends well into the future.
Communication is critical, not only for the Purchasing Department, but to the entire company. We encourage all departments to ask for what they need and to notice discrepancies and/or and bring them to our attention.
Overall, I am extremely appreciative of my team’s self-motivation and task management. It’s a good feeling to know we’re all working to move the Purchasing Department in the same direction with the same goals in mind.
The primary function of the cold heading process is to produce the “blanks” that are the start of the manufacturing operation at Fastco. Cold Heading is a high-pressure, high-speed progressive forming process that uses a series of dies and blows to form parts. At Fastco, our Cold Heading Department manufactures pins and rivets complete and can form the blanks for screws, bolts, and studs.
Cold Heading’s Goal
Our goal is to manufacture quality parts on time and as close to the manufacturing order quantity (or 10% over) as we can. This is critical to the company because any mistakes or missed goals (defects, late delivery, short order quantities) cause problems in downstream operations. This also has a negative financial impact on the company. Conversely, when we perform well we can positively contribute to the financial health of the company.
Pride in Our Work
Our department takes pride in what we do. That being said, Fastco’s process is a complex one. As such, it is the result of the hard work of many people in many departments. Fastco’s Cold Heading Department takes defects very seriously; scrap and cost of poor quality reduction are significant strategic priorities for our Cold Heading and Thread Rolling.
Given the progressive nature of the manufacturing process, a delay or defect in Cold Heading has significant downstream operation impact. When we recognize an issue, we do our best to correct it for future runs. We are continuously innovating process improvements to avoid defects at every level. These include regular part checks and scrap reduction huddles, among other strategies.
As a team leader, I am very proud that the cold heading team is flexible and open to new ideas. Many of our long-term employees (aka old-timers) have seen a lot of changes over the years. Each time the team is tasked to consider a new challenge, they try to embrace the change the best they can and learn from past missteps. We have learned a lot collectively about what works and what doesn’t. We are constantly trying to adapt and improve.
