FALL 2024

28 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

28 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Eric Dudas Fully Threaded Radio Eric Dudas co-founded FCH Sourcing Network in 2006 and launched the industry renowned Fully Threaded Radio podcast in 2010. With business partner and co-host Brian Musker, FCH operates its widely used digital inventory marketing platform, and provides data cleansing and formatting services for fastener distributors across the industry. FCH also produces the monthly Fastener Distributor Index. Apart from industry punditry, Eric ponders the deeper existential aspects of life driving a tractor around his small farm in semi-rural northeast Ohio. eric@fastenersclearinghouse.com UNTHREADED: THE TIME CARMEN GOT IT WRONG I was not surprised to see that machine screws were judged to be the most common type of industrial fastener, according to a recent poll of fastener professionals. According to a survey conducted ahead of the recent MWFA FSTNR Week festivities, 76.6% of respondents mentioned the venerable machine screw when asked to select the top three types of fasteners from a list. Coming in second place, the mighty cap screw was named by 68.1% of poll takers. Tapping screws rounded out the top three with 46.8% of respondents naming them among the most common fastener categories. It seemed a pretty predictable top 3 list. Operating FCH Sourcing Network since 2006, I figured beforehand which would be the king of the keg. Out of almost 1.7 million inventory listings in the FCH database on any given day, almost 12% are machine screws. And as in the survey results, cap screws come in second, representing about 10%. This has been fairly consistent over the years. What shocked me is that when we asked an all-star panel of six industry veterans to select their single top pick from the list, not one of them named the machine screw. It goes to show that even seasoned pros have different ideas about the way things are, and there isn’t always just one answer to a given fastener question. Charlie Kerr of Kerr Lakeside was on the aforementioned all-star panel. Always a lateral thinker CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLE FASTENER GURU CARMEN VERTULLO AND ERIC DUDAS FACE OFF DURING ANOTHER OF THEIR LEGENDARY DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT AN ISSUE THAT PROBABLY HAS NO CORRECT ANSWER with unique perspectives, Charlie thought that the flat washer should be regarded as the most common fastener category due to its sheer ubiquity. Flat washers are everywhere, it’s true. He was the outlier on this one, but the point was taken. We also included the u-bolt on the option list. Although it’s a highly noble fastener category, the u-bolt only received one vote on the survey and none from the panelists. This wasn’t all that surprising, and even though we mostly included it on the list in deference to MWFA president Jake “Valdez” Davis (who brings BTM U-Bolt Blend coffee to Vegas every year), it proves that at least one person has a different way of thinking about it. Considering it further, I realized this was another object lesson made possible, in part, courtesy of fastener guru Carmen Vertullo. CONTINUED ON PAGE 100