When Company Director of Chainings, John Reeves, considered a metal to plastic conversion of a consumable filter part, his idea was driven by cost savings and improved performance. The process led to replacing the entire filtration unit resulting in greater savings than envisaged and a highly advantageous point of product differentiation from competing filtration systems.

In an effort to meet growing demand for the rapid delivery of high-quality products and services that meet customers’ specific needs, manufacturers have been required to accelerate the development process and improve time to market. Key to this is the importance of validating a product’s design.

Simplifying the fastener requirements of a multi-billion-dollar automotive assembly supplier demands a consistency of approach - a methodology that Optimas refers to as a global component standard.

Böllhoff’s RIVKLE blind rivet nuts have been helping climbers to take big steps forward when it comes to maintaining their skills and fitness levels.

“The services we offer will give a component the highest thermal shock that it will receive in its lifetime,” states Roger Haw, managing director of Flame Hardeners Ltd.

Fitsco developed its ‘patent-pending’ new range of plastic threaded inserts in 2017. Since then, the new LiteFit plastic threaded insert has been specified as a ‘metal replacement’ part for an ‘in-cockpit’ application on the Eurofighter Typhoon.

When a manufacturer is considering security issues around fasteners, generally there are three aspects: 1.) the ability of the fastener to securely do its job and withstand problems such as vandalism; 2.) how secure will the fastener be in service, how for example will it seal or retain components and/or fluids? And 3.) how confident can I be in my selection and my supply chain?

In an increasingly global and competitive marketplace, YKK Europe Ltd. is leading the assault on product development times by investing in Stratasys PolyJet 3D printing technology.