Figure 1. Manufacturing custom fasteners can be challenging and requires specialized capabilities to meet unique customer needs. Source: National Bolt & Nut Corporation

Custom fasteners pose unique challenges for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). These fasteners are generally not available off-the-shelf and may be produced by only a limited number of suppliers, some of which are located overseas or a long distance from the OEM or assembly facility.

Since OEMs have become more reliant on global supply chains that can easily be disrupted, they may experience excessive production delays and downtime if critical custom fasteners are not available. Alternate sources that can rapidly supply custom fasteners must therefore be found.

Custom fasteners often have unique characteristics, and National Bolt and Nut (NBN) – a manufacturer and supplier of stocked and custom nuts, bolts and fasteners – can assist OEMs in mitigating supply chain risks.

Custom fastener manufacturing

The manufacturing of custom fasteners may be challenging and requires specialized capabilities in several different areas.

Design

The design might be comprised of irregular-shaped parts in unique applications. As an example, accommodating for a fastener’s “clearance” in a reduced space. Which standard fastener configurations may not exist. The fastener supplier may need to employ “proprietary” design capabilities on their equipment. Utilizing skilled staff to adjust the manufacture’s machinery to efficiently run the custom part that an OEM’s engineer has designed, created and provided on a CAD drawing.

Materials

Special materials might be needed to satisfy certain requirements, such as thermal stability, strength or galvanic corrosion. These materials, which might include a variety of exotic metals or plastics, must be readily available to the fastener supplier.

Fabrication and manufacturing

The fasteners might need certain forming operations, manufacturing processes or machining tolerances to meet design, strength or durability requirements. In some cases, the fastener supplier might need specialized manufacturing equipment for precision machining, custom thread patterns or non-standard coatings, surface finishes or platings.

Testing

The fasteners might need to be tested or qualified for certain environments, test methods or quality standards. The fastener supplier might therefore need special test equipment and have test procedures and skilled personnel in place who are pre-qualified to perform these tests according to industry or government standards.

Since the manufacturing of custom fasteners may be highly specialized, only a limited number of custom fastener suppliers may be capable of reliably producing them.

Figure 2. Fastener suppliers may need to employ specialized design capabilities and skilled staff for optimum product specifications. Source: National Bolt & Nut Corporation

NBN

NBN was one of the first ISO 9001:2015-certified manufacturer of stocked and custom nuts, bolts and fasteners for diverse industries, including aerospace, automotive, agriculture, chemical, energy exploration, power generation, building and construction. The company can rapidly produce a wide range of custom fasteners using a variety of materials and manufacturing processes, including specialized capabilities in mechanical design, metallurgy and plastics, material forming, machining and finishing. NBN also has a quality control department, which is an integral service that enables them to provide the highest quality products with certifications and traceability to several well-known industry and government standards. These capabilities enable NBN to rapidly manufacture and deliver stock and custom fastener products to their diverse customer base and thereby reduce production risks, delays, downtime and costs. More information about NBN’s stock and customer fastener products can be found on their website.