Hardware World News 111 compiled by Fastener World, Inc. America & Canada Stanley Black & Decker Expects More Sales in Colombia Portafolio, a Colombian newspapers, currently reported that President James M. Loree of Stanley Black & Decker (a U.S. hand tools and electronic fasteners manufacturer) has good expectations to the Colombian market. The global sales of the company currently landed at USD 1.14 billion (including USD0.7 billion generated in Latin America and about 0.1 billion generated in Colombia). Colombia has become an inevitable market for the company and it is expected that its sales in Colombia will grow 10% in 2015. McGarry Elected PPG President and CEO PPG Industries announced Michael H. McGarry will become President and CEO, effective Sept. 1, 2015. McGarry will join the company s Board of Directors immediately. McGarry, 57, who has served as PPG s President and Chief Operating Officer since March, will succeed Chairman and CEO Charles E. Bunch in the role of CEO. Bunch, who has led PPG for the last decade, will continue as Executive Chairman. Our company is strong financially and our global business portfolio remains well positioned for future growth, said McGarry. I am looking forward to leading PPG as we continue to focus on our customers, deliver excellent business performance and create additional shareholder value. Bunch said, Michael is a proven strategic leader who is ideally suited to lead PPG. He brings a strong focus on operational excellence and an unwavering commitment to PPG s core values. During his 34 years with PPG, McGarry has served in a variety of key business and functional leadership roles in the United States, Europe and Asia. In recent years, he helped lead several strategic actions that have transformed PPG s business portfolio. Acklands-Grainger Opens New Toronto Distribution Center Acklands-Grainger Inc., Canada's largest distributor of industrial, safety and fastener products, hosted a grand opening to celebrate its new Toronto distribution center located in the town of Caledon, Ontario. The state-of-the-art 535,000 square-foot facility has the capacity to stock 170,000 products and serves customers throughout Canada. Customers in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada will benefit from next-day delivery through this distribution center. Acklands-Grainger has more than 130 team members working in its Toronto distribution centre, and currently operates 187 branches and distribution centres across Canada, including 40 in Ontario.
112 Screwdriver Company Growing in Michiana Megapro, a little Canadian company that started with a concept for a better screwdriver, has been making its tools for the past 20 years in the South Bend area. The company is expanding in this area and is planning a move to a larger property in Niles. The company s screwdrivers are assembled and shipped in only two places: here and Vancouver, British Columbia, which is where CEO Hermann Fruhm started the company. Megapro s building in South Bend, the 7,500-square-foot building, isn t big enough for Megapro anymore. That s why the company is planning to move to a 21,000-square-foot building that it bought last year at the corner of Third Street and Bertrand Road in Niles. I can t wait to get in there. We re hoping to be in there by October, Fruhm said. Megapro is still a small company. It employs seven people in South Bend and another eight people in Vancouver. It sells about 300,000 screwdrivers annually, and demand for the company s screwdrivers is growing. He expects to hire more people here after the move to the larger building in Niles is complete. Most of Megapro s screwdrivers are sold to industrial suppliers. The company has different models designed specifically for mechanics, electricians, elevator-repair technicians and other trades. It also has started a lower-cost line of screwdrivers for general retail sale. Megapro s screwdrivers are different in that they re made to be versatile and comfortable to use. The screwdriver s bits are stored in a cartridge inside the retractable handle. The handle also is designed to be ergonomic so that workers don t feel strain or develop blisters. Europe Würth Group Acquires Northern Safety & Industrial Germany-based Würth Group announced that it has acquired Frankfort, NY-based Northern Safety and Industrial, one of the largest privately held safety companies in the U.S.
Würth, which has a U.S. base in Indianapolis, said Northern Safety is now operating as an allied company within Würth Industry of North America (WINA), one of the country s largest component distributors. It is the first acquisition for Würth in the safety market. 113 Northern Safety currently services more than 100,000 customers, employing nearly 500 people across its 18 locations. Würth says Northern Safety s logistics, locations, marketing strategies, and delivery systems fit directly into Würth s operations. Northern Safety s e-commerce site has become an integral sales and marketing channel for the company, and will fall in line with Würth Group s growth strategy, the company said in a release. Würth and Würth Elektronik Inaugurate IT Technology Center: Modern Data Center for the Würth Group On 10 June 2015, Würth Group inaugurated the Group s new data center in Waldzimmern, Germany. The 5,220 sqm building complex accommodates a 1,000 sqm state-of-the-art, energy-efficient data center as well as 125 workplaces for software development, IT infrastructure, network technology, virtualization, server technology and storage of both the Würth Group and the Würth Elektronik Group. Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Reinhold Würth, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Würth Group s Family Trusts, District Administrator Dr. Matthias Neth and Achim Beck, Mayor of the town of Niedernhall, participated in the inauguration ceremony. The IT technology center in Waldzimmern will be the new digital heart of the Würth Group. The new data center with its forward-looking architecture forms part of the so-called Hohenlohe ring, which also comprises the existing data centers in Gaisbach and Waldenburg. This real-time backup network can be considered a milestone of IT availability and IT security for the entire group of companies. Owing to modern air conditioning including the use of waste heat thanks to heat exchangers, the new data center will require 70 percent less energy than comparable facilities. Almost all facilities have an efficiency of more than 90 percent.
114 Bossard Expands in France The Bossard Group is strengthening its market position in France as a supplier of high-quality fastening solutions. It is taking over an area of activity from Titanox that generates annual sales of EUR 6 million. Bossard is already present in the French market at four sites with a total of 130 employees. This partial acquisition complements the product range with fastening solutions for application in demanding industries. The parties have agreed to keep the acquisition price confidential. The company Titanox has decades of experience in fastening technology. Since 1975, it has focused on the distribution of fastening solutions and holds a strong position in the French market. Bossard is taking over Titanox s division for self-clinching fasteners, which make the connection between ultra-thin and ultra-light metals possible. Self-clinching fastening solutions are used in many different industries, such as electronics, telecommunications, railway and automotive, as well as medical engineering and aerospace. This orientation toward demanding industries corresponds with the Bossard Group s strategy of focusing increasingly on high-quality engineered and branded products. Various acquisitions over the last few years have enabled the company to implement this strategy. With this latest acquisition, Bossard not only consolidates its market position in a national economy that is characterized by a broadly diversified industrial sector, but also strengthens its longstanding business relationship with PennEngineering (PEM). PEM is the world s leading manufacturer of self-clinching fasteners. With this acquisition, Bossard will become PEM s exclusive distributor in the French market. Turkey: A 25% Additional Tariff Will Be Imposed Upon Imported Hand Tools According to the Bureau of Foreign Trade of Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan), Turkey announced on Feb. 26th 2015 that it would impose an additional 25% tariff on imported hand tools. Taiwan s Bureau of Foreign Trade pointed that those hand tools which would be subject to a 25% tariff in Turkey belong to the unbound tariff lines of Turkey under the framework of WTO; as a result, the increase in tariff this time does not violate the tariff exemption promise of WTO and member states of WTO cannot request for compensation. Scissors, wrenches, and screwdrivers are all hand tools and the total value of products influenced by the tariff is about USD10 million to 20 million. Although these items are not the major exported products of Taiwan, this shows that Turkey has been gradually building its own trade barriers against imported products. Turkey imposes additional tariffs on products including hand tools to hold back the domestic demand and foreign supply, in order to reduce its trade deficits. The Turkish government hopes to encourage more foreign investors to set up their factories in Turkey through these measures and solve the problem of high unemployment rate at the same time. Taiwan s Bureau of Foreign Trade will also express its concern over this measure to the Turkish government. Asia Philippine Electric Hand Tools Market Shows Prospects According to a report by Euromonitor (2014), electric hand tools have become one of the product categories with the fastest growing market demand in Philippine home improvements. In 2013, the sale of these products was up 4% to 20.08 million US dollars. Since 2011 DIY products have become very popular among Philippine users, particularly those with moderate to high income levels and families with some of their relatives working in overseas markets. Most of them once had or will have home improvements at least one time a year. In addition, the Philippine government has been promoting the rent-to-own project in the most recent years, which is estimated to generate benefits and facilitate the growth in industrial demand. The Euromonitor industrial report also adds that the markets for sanitary ware, electric hand tools, hand tools, and household hardware in the recent 5 years have demonstrated significant growth. Boosted by the domestic demand for infrastructure and the national policies, it is expected that the sales will continue to show stable growth. In Philippines, 3 companies share the largest share of the hand tool market. These companies are Black&Decker (having brands:
Stanley, Black&Decker, and DeWalt), Bosch (having brands: Bosch and Skil), and Mayon Construction (having brands: Makita and Maktec) which started its business as a trader. B&D and Bosch with worldwide recognition have both successfully created their own advantages and attracted many loyal customers in Philippines. Mayon, with a wealth of industrial experience and the well-understanding of the market, also successfully increased the share of its brand in the market. Philippine retailing hand tool market showed no big change in 2012 and 2013. However, the 3% drop in Makita s market share in Philippines and a 3% growth in Bosch s market share made both brands rated the No.1 retailer at the same time. 115 In addition, other brands like KYK, Lotus, Milwaukee, and Homelite can also be seen in many retailing stores. With the same specifications, the prices of DeWalt products are the highest while those of Lotus products are the lowest. As a result, Philippine hand tool brands are always described as those usually adopted by builders, automotive mechanics, garden workers, as well as other professional users. Therefore, the descriptions of functions, how to install, and how to use as well as the maintenance & repair service can be really important and salespersons must also have related knowledge, and the warrantee of products and the provision of maintenance & repair service are also necessary. Japanese Hand Tool Giant Makita Sets up a Subsidiary in Kazakhstan Makita Corporation (Capital: JPY 24.206 billion) has set up and launched a subsidiary in Kazakhstan on February 1st this year to enhance local product sales and after-sale service. According to Makita's press release, the company used to supply Kazakhstan market via the sales locations of its Dubai (United Arab Emirates) subsidiary. Now with the new subsidiary in Kazakhstan, where economic growth is significant, Makita will not just accelerate product and parts supply, but also leverage the new subsidiary to expand market share in other Central Asian countries. Additionally, Makita expects sales growth to benefit more from a unified market of Eurasian Economic Union, in which Russia, Belarus, and Armenia joined in January this year. The Kazakhstan subsidiary (Makita Kazakhstan LLP) is the 50th overseas branch of Makita. Makita currently has 27 subsidiaries in Europe. Japanese OSG Corporation Completes New Coating Plant OSG Corporation has completed a new coating plant in order to enhance coating capacity and expand market share in the global plane industry. The plant completion ceremony was held on May 15 with the attendance of chairman, corporate representatives, and related construction companies. The new plant will be dedicated to providing customers with a coating processing system at higher quality as well as developing new production technology and coating materials.