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FALL 2012

  • Text
  • Fastener
  • Fasteners
  • Products
  • Industrial
  • Manufacturing
  • Industries
  • Bolt
  • Screws
  • Rivet
  • Metric
Distributor's Link Magazine Fall Issue 2012 / VOL 35 / NO.4

48 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

48 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Industrial Rivet & Fastener Co. 200 Paris Avenue Northvale, NJ 07647 Tel: 1-800-289-7483 Fax: 201-750-1050 Email: info@rivet.com www.rivet.com DISTRIBUTORS & RIVET MANUFACTURERS: WORKING TOGETHER TO SOLVE PROBLEMS FOR OEMS WITH BLIND RIVETS by Steven Sherman, Vice President of Engineering Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are always looking for more efficient assembly methods that offer low startup costs, and many times the answer is a blind rivet. This is due in large part to innovations in the riveting process that have made using blind rivets in a variety of applications faster and more cost effective than ever before. Previously, riveting was a two-person process with one person driving the rivet and the other supporting it during setting. Permanent fastening evolved from here into a single person process, but requiring the use of an expensive and specialized riveting machine. Today, further advancements have made it possible for one person to accomplish the same tasks with common pneumatic hand tools. As a result, there is no longer a need for a highly skilled workforce – making the cost for OEMs to establish a new production line dramatically less expensive than it once was. With these more efficient riveting systems, OEMs are able to bring their newly developed products to market faster. This also provides for greater flexibility, enabling them to scale production for seasonality or launch new products quickly and easily. As an added benefit, the combination of flexibility and low startup costs is helping to bring manufacturing back to the United States and paving the way for American competitiveness. Technology, however, is not the only thing that has changed the way OEMs work. The current environment is much more collaborative than it has been in the past, and distributors are working closely with their customers as well as their manufacturers to find innovative solutions that add efficiency to assembly methods while also continuing to bring costs down. challenging to customize a rivet for a specific application. Customers are forced instead to use boilerplate “catalog” rivet designs that may not work reliably. Plus, when a rivet Figure 1 - Original Application Example manufacturer is unable to access specific application requirements – either due to the fact that they are not local or because they lack the depth of knowledge needed to properly assess the application – blind rivets are often not even recommended as a fastening solution. As an example, a manufacturer of smart boards came to the conclusion that a blind rivet would be an ideal method to fasten the sides on aluminum extrusions. However, various distributors and manufacturers said there was no product available in their respective catalogs that would properly set the rivet in this particular application. This was due to two main reasons: 1) The hole could not be accessed by the rivet 2) The hole could not be accessed by the nose piece of the riveting tool. Overcoming Typical Constraints as Partners While blind riveting has existed for nearly 50 years, rivet manufacturing methods still make it Figure 2 - Problem: Rivet Access Interference Figure 3 - Problem: Nose Piece/Riveting Tool Interference please turn to page 230

THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 49

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