Author: Bethany Tap

What is IATF 16949 and Why Does it Matter?

Post author By Bethany Tap
Post date May 9, 2022

What is IATF - a team member reaches into an inspection unit

What Is IATF 16949?

If your company is not a part of the automotive supply chain (or even if they are), you may be asking this exact question.

The International Automotive Task Force, or IATF, is made up of a group of automotive manufacturers. According to Cheryl Simon, Fastco’s Lead Auditor, “This task force develops standards for automotive industries worldwide so that every auto manufacturer works to the same standards.”

What is IATF - Fastco Quality Policy: Striving to meet customer expectations through continuous innovation — Fastco’s Quality Policy, displayed throughout our facilities.

ISO vs. IATF

You may be wondering how this differs from other automotive standards, such as ISO 9001:2015. Cheryl explains that the “International Organization for Standardization [ISO] focuses on customer satisfaction whereas IATF focuses on customer-specific requirements. To be IATF certified you must also implement the ISO 9001 standards.” Both are needed “to support the automotive Quality Management System (QMS).” In other words, “IATF is an extension of ISO 9001:2015.” The two certifications work “to make sure that every automotive company is turning out quality parts for its customers [and] has a quality system in place.” It also serves as a stamp of approval, certifying that our company is a quality supplier of fasteners.

Becoming IATF Certified

It is not an easy or quick process. Cheryl outlines seven steps to becoming IATF certified:

Evaluate your current quality system
Add systems and processes to meet the requirements
Develop the “Documented Information” for the QMS and your processes
Implement and use the new quality system
Select a registrar for the certification audit
Obtain the certificate of registration
Celebrate!

After you’ve celebrated, you still have to work to maintain the certificate. To do that, “the company needs to audit its own systems, processes, and products yearly to make sure that [they] still meet the requirements of the ISO and IATF standards.”

Continual Improvement

Another difference between ISO and IATF is their purpose. “ISO’s purpose is to facilitate international trade by providing a single set of standards that people everywhere will recognize and respect,” Cheryl states. IATF, on the other hand, “focuses on continual improvement.” IATF-certified companies always work to improve our processes through such things as “reduction of waste, decreasing variations, defect prevention, and improved operations.”

For companies in the automotive sector, having a rigorous quality standard and policy seems second nature. Since the 1980s, QMS has been a top priority as the industry works to keep up with competition abroad.

But what about those who supply other industries? You can argue that quality always matter. Cheryl says IATF 16949 certification “tells other companies that your QMS system is solid. You have good processes in place. Customers can rely on your company to give them good quality parts.”

As an IATF 16949 certified company, Fastco is poised to provide your company with top-quality parts that meet rigorous, globally-recognized standards. Give us a call today or complete our RFQ form.

Industry News

The Case for Buying American-Made Products

Post author By Bethany Tap
Post date April 25, 2022

wire coils carbon steel — Cold heading wire coils with US-made steel.

With increased insecurity in the global supply chain, the case for buying American-made products is stronger now than ever. Companies and consumers alike are seeing the rising costs of overseas products, while concerns about long-term sustainability and supply chain security remain central. These issues contribute to a growing list of reasons to shop domestic, including supporting local economies, job creation, and better quality parts.

Fastco team member — A team member inspects parts for quality assurance.

Here’s a list of the top six reasons we believe you should purchase American-made:

It’ll save you money.

The big driver to buy goods overseas used to be that they were cheaper. Labor and materials are often cheaper (but cheaper doesn’t always mean better – see #3 below). While labor and materials may still be cheaper overseas, those costs are offset by the rising costs of fuel. Not to mention extra fees for duty and tariffs. In addition, you can rest easy knowing that your purchase is contributing to the long-term stability of the American economy and U.S. workers.

You’ll get your product more quickly.

Lead times are on the rise everywhere. Even domestically, we are seeing fastener lead times of up to about 20 weeks (our current average is 8-10 weeks). However, this is nothing compared to the 6 – 8 month lead times we are seeing on imported goods. And that does not include time to ship, which is usually another 6 to 8 weeks by boat.

You’ll get better products.

The quality standards in the U.S. are higher than many other places. At Fastco, we follow the International Automotive Task Force (or IATF) quality standards, a global quality standard in the automotive industry that is even more rigorous than the ISO quality management system. We use U.S.-made steel, which has a reputation for being strong and high-quality due to the strict steel standards overseen by the EPA and OSHA.

It’s about the people.

And it’s not just about job creation. The United States has many labor laws and agencies working to protect our workers’ rights and safety. Low wages and undeveloped safety standards are one of the reasons that parts can be produced at such low costs in other parts of world.

It’s about the planet.

Global climate change presents an ever-growing threat to life as we know it. Purchasing parts from overseas can lead to higher use of gas, oil, coal, and other pollutants, particularly when airfreighting shipments. The closer to home the products you purchase are made, the less fossil fuels you’ll use to transport them. This has a direct positive impact on our planet.

You can feel good about your purchase.

It feels good to do good. Supporting local economies feels good. You’re helping build America’s future. Pat yourself on the back, give yourself a high five, and keep up the good work.

About Fastco

Who We Are at Fastco Industries

Post author By Bethany Tap
Post date April 11, 2022

The origins of Fastco

Like many entrepreneurs, Fastco’s founders Stephen Frantz and Arvin Tap had a vision. They were not just going to buy, refurbish, and sell machine equipment; they were building financial stability for their families and providing a service to their community. With goals forged in hard work and innovation, it was easy to shift their focus after buying their first cold forming machine. When they couldn’t sell the equipment, they began using it to manufacture specialty fasteners.

While Fastco has changed its purpose, name (formerly Fast Machine), and location, moving from the south side of Grand Rapids to Walker, Michigan, we are still rooted in that original vision of continuous innovation. Our longevity as a company is the result of our ability to weather storms (including a particularly devastating derecho in 1998 that destroyed one of our buildings) and adapt to the demands of the times.

Fastco plant — Aerial view of the our main building from the 1970s.

Growing through the years

Historically, Fastco has primarily been an automotive industry supplier. We evolved our quality standards to meet rising automotive quality demands in the 1990s, investing in process monitors for all of our cold formers and thread rollers. To meet automotive customers’ requirements of zero defects, Fastco invested in electronic inspection systems. We also invested in the human power to run these machines and to visually and roller sort parts. Today, parts inspection is a key part of our process for automotive suppliers.

After surviving the Great Recession, we hoped we had seen the last of financial crises for at least another generation. Still, we anticipated curve balls coming our way. We continued to improve and innovate. During this time, we grew our in-house tooling department, which now manufactures approximately 80% of our tooling. This enabled us to shorten our sample lead times and rapidly meet customer needs.

Fastco also began to see a need to move outside of the automotive industry and diversify our customer base. We expanded our work into the construction sector. Now, we are actively seeking out non-automotive suppliers in the furniture, industrial equipment, and energy industries.

Fastco Today

When the pandemic arrived, Fastco went into survival mode, like so many companies and individuals. We furloughed some, sent others home to work, and soldiered on with a bare bones, hardworking crew. As soon as the tides began to turn with the pandemic, the chip shortage arrived. Our automotive customers pulled or reduced their orders.

It was clear that diversifying our customer base was not just an abstract, distant-future goal. It was a real, here-and-now need.

In 2021, we brought in over 3 million in new business awards, 47% of which was in non-automotive industries. So far this year, 75% of the over 1 million in new business we have been awarded is non-automotive.

We may have come far from our original business concept, but we are still a visionary company, willing to do what it takes for our customers, our suppliers, and our employees. We are fastener experts, ready to bring our knowledge, skills, and hard work to the people and companies that need it. The future is full of uncertainty, but one thing is clear: we are ready for it.

Manufacturing

Cold Forming

Post author By Bethany Tap
Post date March 28, 2022

It might seem basic: cold forming is when parts are formed “cold.” In other words, the metal is room temperature when the parts start the forming process. It is a high-speed and high-pressure forging process in which a coil of wire material is fed into a machine and progressively formed into shape with dies and punches or blows.

The Process – Progressive Forming

Cold forming uses a process known as progressive forming to gradually develop the part from a slug (a section of material cut from the coil of material) to its final shape, or close to it. The forming progressions are different for every part. The more complex a part, the more steps in the process. Likewise, the harder the material, the more blows may be necessary to reach the final shape. Fastco has a great deal of experience working with harder-to-form materials such as stainless steel and high-nickel alloys.

Factory worker — An operator feeds wire into a cold heading machine.

Common forming techniques include upsets and extrusions. Upsets involve reducing the slug in height and increasing the starting diameter. There are two types of extrusions. Forward extrusion is when the material is forced through a small diameter hole in order to reduce diameter and increase length. Forcing the material around a punch/pin to form a hole in the part is known as backward extrusion.

The Benefits of Cold Forming

Using speed and pressure to form parts has many benefits. There is very little scrap in the process, as it involves shaping the metal, not cutting, shaving, or drilling it like screw machining, which can lead to almost 60% metal waste. In addition, the process is efficient and cost effective when manufacturing bulk quantities. At Fastco, we consider “bulk quantity” to mean over 50,000 parts, although this varies depending on the size and complexity of the part.

Cold headed parts are also harder and stronger than hot forged parts. Parts formed by cold heading have a better surface finish, sometimes requiring no finishing work at all. While the process cannot meet the tight tolerances of precision machining, cold heading is still more precise than hot forging with dependable and reproducible results.

What Cold Forming Can Make

A wide variety of fasteners can be cold formed, including screws, rivets, pins, bolts, bushings, and nuts. Whether or not a part is formable for Fastco specifically depends on several factors.

At Fastco, our machines form male fasteners, meaning nuts are outside of our capabilities. We do have the capacity to make some bushings and semi-tubular parts, depending on the dimensions.

Formable or Not?

The type of material, tolerance scheme and the features of the part matter. Some parts might be formable out of carbon steel, which is easier to manipulate, but not feasible with stainless steel. There are also certain features that are not able to be performed with cold heading, such as holes through the side of a part. Fastco does have the ability to send out for outside machining operations such as grinding, turning, and drilling and tapping. In addition, we have a thread rolling department capable of adding threads, knurls, fetters, points, and grooves to cold formed parts.

The size of a part matters, too. For example, our diameter range is between 3mm and 18mm; we would not be able to form parts that are outside of that diameter range. Within those limits, not every cold forming machine that we have has the same range. Our larger machines typically handle our bigger and/or more complex parts. A really small, complex part might not be big enough to run on a larger machine.

That’s why we always want to see component prints and to hear from you about the functionality of the part. Knowing what you need the fastener to do can help us determine if a tweak to the diameter, a different material, or a tolerance adjustment will make this a feasible part for us that will function just as well, if not better, for you.

Industry News

Reasons to Buy Direct from a Manufacturer

Post author By Bethany Tap
Post date March 14, 2022

Fastco Customer Service Representative - one reason to buy direct from a manufacturer is great customer service. — A customer service representative at Fastco.

Fastco’s tradeshow booth — Fastco’s booth at the Detroit Engine Expo in 2018.

If you’ve plugged the phrase “fastener manufacturer” into Google, you probably already have an idea of why it’s better to buy direct than to purchase through a distributor. To validate your hunch, here is a list of the top three reasons to buy direct from a manufacturer:

Buying direct saves money.

This first one is obvious. If you take away the intermediary, you are removing their cut of the profits. If a distributor typically adds 20% onto the cost of goods, then your business sees a 20% cost reduction.

You’ll have more control of your product with better quality outcomes.

This one might not be as obvious, but if you deal directly with the manufacturer, then you have a much clearer idea of the quality of what you are buying. With fewer parties, process oversight is better managed and maintained, improving quality outcomes.

At Fastco, we encourage new and potential customers to come onsite to tour our facility and observe the manufacturing process. If a problem arises or a design change needs to be made, we are available and eager to work through that issue. There are no third parties or bureaucratic layers to work through.

Working directly with the manufacturer results in improved communication and service.

We touched on this briefly above in terms of engineering and quality communication and service. But working directly with a manufacturer results in improved service and communication at all levels.

When you ask a question, someone at our company has the answer; you don’t have to filter your questions through mediators. This results are that we can answer your questions more quickly and more accurately.

As we’ve seen over the last couple years, the costs of goods are on the rise, from raw materials to fuel. Lead times have also increased, disrupting supply chains. Buying direct is one way to help reduce your costs and control your product in an increasing expensive and unpredictable global economy.

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