SUMMER 2026

10 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

10 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Laurence Claus Laurence Claus is the President of NNi Training and Consulting, Inc. He has 25 years of experience with a medium sized automotive fastener manufacturer, holding positions including Vice President of Engineering, General Manager, Director of Quality, Director of New Business Development and Applications Engineer. In 2012 he formed NNi offering technical and business training courses as well as technical consulting, expert witness and consultation work. He can be reached at 847-867-7363 or by email: Lclaus@NNiTraining.com. You can learn more about NNi at www.NNiTraining.com. IS THAT A SCREW OR A BOLT? UNDERSTANDING ASME B18.2.1 During my sophomore year in high school, I became an Eagle Scout. Ever since, I have invested in the program so that I became a Junior Assistant Scoutmaster with a troop during my college years. I recall two brothers that were in the troop during this time. They were a year apart from one another so that when the younger earned his driver’s license, their dad bought them a car to share. I have no idea what conditions were made to get the car but one of them must have been that the boys were responsible for maintaining it. Thus, as it soon became necessary to change the oil, the boys decided that they would show their dad how responsible they were and change the oil themselves. So, they hopped in their car, drove to the local Kmart and purchased oil and a filter. This was before the internet and helpful YouTube videos, so I’m not sure what they used for instruction, but they proceeded to change the oil. Upon successful completion of the job, they cleaned up their worksite, jumped into the car, and took off to celebrate a job well done with some of their friends. They did not go too far before the car started to shudder and make horrific screeching noises. Very abruptly thereafter the engine gave a final last, loud protest before seizing up and ceasing operation altogether, leaving them shocked and confused on the side of the road with a smoking, dead engine. As they would later play the scene over in their minds, everything had seemed textbook, the oil went in and the new filter was properly replaced- so what could have gone so horribly wrong? As it would turn out, they later discovered that the filler pipe they had poured the new oil into was actually the radiator filler. That day TECHNICAL ARTICLE they learned an extremely hard and expensive lesson - better training and preparation would have prevented a catastrophe. As I have spent a substantial portion of the last ten years training our industry, this story remains ever with me as a poignant reminder of the importance of proper training. I am often reminded of a quote by Henry Ford, “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.” This is an important lesson that distributors must recognize and accept. Distributors can experience significant challenges in this regard because they have so many customers, wanting so many different products, for so many different uses. In essence, distributors need to be experts in the products they sell. To truly satisfy their customers’ needs, they must have knowledge to impart, but how do you gain this? Of course, the best method is firsthand experience. Understanding how different fasteners are properly used in the field will impart more understanding than any explanation taken from a book. However, experiential knowledge often has gaps because it may fail to teach the underlying theory or fundamentals of why the fastener works this way. Therefore, augmenting experience with an understanding of the “whys” is essential. Thus, organizations should develop in-house expertise with a thorough understanding of our industry standards. These documents contain a treasured trove of information about different fasteners. Therefore, a smart individual on a distributor’s team will educate themselves on the standards of products they commonly interact with. CONTINUED ON PAGE 88