This article is taken from the March/April 2011 issue of the American Fastener Journal. The author is [US] Chris Williamson. Since 2004, Chris Williamson has served as director of quality and engineering at Fastenal. He has also held other positions, which date back to 1995. Chris has extensive experience across the globe, working with both fastener manufacturers and fastener users. He has played an active role in several standards organizations and is currently Chairman of ASME B18, Sub-Committees 3, 4 and 18 and Vice-Chairman of Sub-Committee 2. At the 2010 ISO TC/2 meeting, Chris was appointed head of the US delegation.

In the United States, it is a major problem for dealers to recommend to customers which metric fasteners and which metric fasteners should be stored in the warehouse. Despite the many choices, the customer's requirements made us very difficult. Some customers seem to prefer the DIN standard; others follow the ISO requirements; occasionally JIS, BS or ASME metric fasteners make the problem even more difficult. Therefore, each dealer should understand some basic knowledge and take action to improve the ability to serve customers and eliminate waste in the supply chain. In addition to introducing some of the history of American metric fasteners, this article also provides a framework for fastener dealers to let them know how to improve their business in order to better serve their customers in the future.

The automotive industry has a huge influence on the introduction of metric fasteners. As early as 1960, Ford Motor Company began to use metric fasteners, and began to promote it around 1970. GM was committed to metric conversion in 1973. This is the beginning of the chaos of metric fasteners we are going to solve today. Although Ford basically requires compliance with ISO standards, other companies do not focus on a single metric fastener system as they do.

For many years, General Motors has mixed ASME, DIN, ISO, SAE, OMFS and other standards. It was not until the 1990s that General Motors began adopting more international and recognized ISO standards. Many readers do not know the OMFS standard. OMFS is the abbreviation for "Best Metric Fastener System" and was developed in response to the strong requirements of the American Industrial Fasteners Association in the 1970s by a specific ANSI committee. The first edition of the "Metal Fastener Standard" was published by IFI, which publicly introduced OMFS and pioneered the modern ASME metric fastener standard.

At home and abroad, the DIN standard has always played an important role in the fastener industry. In the early 1990s, the German agency DIN revoked these standards for strategic considerations to facilitate the adoption of new ISO documents at the time. Although these DIN standards were revoked in the early 1990s, they are still the most popular metric fastener specifications in industries other than automobiles. Yes, although the standard was revoked 20 years ago, it is still very popular. Imagine how confused a design engineer is in the new design to pick up fasteners in order to achieve connectivity. !

I am an advocate of the series of fasteners. I like to use inch system. Although I learned the metric system in elementary school, it was not accepted in the United States. Inch fasteners are easier to understand. Most of ASME's product specifications are for inch fasteners, and most refer to the material and mechanical properties of the ASTM documents. In addition, the IFI Publishing Compilation contains a lot of knowledge that dealers need to know about inch fasteners. So it is a simple matter to understand the inch fasteners. Metric fasteners should, and can, be made so simple. In this regard, the industry should work together to turn this possibility into reality.

What should be done when an engineer's company is a multinational company and he wants to specify the world's most popular off-the-shelf fasteners? He can't use the ASME specification because, except in rare cases, these fasteners are not produced and sold in large quantities, and it is impossible to purchase them in less than the order quantity outside of North America. He can reference ISO files, but the availability of these products is also a problem. If the target is spot purchase, the best option now is DIN. Some European distributors have also confirmed this, as is the case in Europe.

So, what problems do dealers have when storing and promoting DIN-standard fasteners? The so-called frozen three feet is not a cold day, these problems are not temporary. This can be illustrated by comparing DIN 933 and ISO 4014. The two standards differ slightly in the width of the opposite sides, which is easy for most people to understand, but more importantly, there are differences in material specifications, surface and coating requirements, and acceptance requirements. When users or distributors quote DIN 933 in their procurement documents, they will not enjoy the benefits of standard organizations, such as revisions that reflect current industry practices and technological advances.

As the world gets smaller, the advantages of a single fastener standardization organization become more apparent. The author believes that metric fastener manufacturers, distributors and users are far behind in standardization work. Now we should take measures, and dealers are among those who have the ability to become the most influential people.

Therefore, dealers should begin to refer to the metric fasteners under the appropriate ISO standards. It will be a good start to convert the DIN standard to the ISO standard and have no effect on the form, fit or function of the fastener after conversion. These conversions should be reflected in the procurement documentation, product catalog, and website. A long time ago, some sales companies began to do so. Dealers should advise OEM customers to use ISO fastener standards as much as possible, as this will help their customers access international products and merchandise services. ISO standards may not necessarily be a viable option due to insufficient production due to production volume or other reasons. Feasibility is the only prerequisite, and standard fasteners other than ISO fasteners may be recommended as long as it is feasible.

Standardization organizations such as ASTM and ASME are beginning to take the necessary initial steps to reduce or even eliminate duplicate documents that appear between the ISO and their committees. The American Industrial Fasteners Association currently also promotes ISO standards. According to Joe Greenslide, director of IFI engineering and technology, IFI encourages all users of metric fasteners to use ISO fastener standards in all new designs, and recommends that users use ISO standards as much as possible in existing designs. To facilitate the transition, the organization also provides an electronic version of the ISO fastener standard on its website.

Regardless of the standard production, the product standards for metric fasteners are largely interchangeable, but the differences are considerable, so replacement is not advisable without the user's explicit consent. In addition, we do not need to try to predict the future development of metric fasteners, because we (distributors) are fully capable of influencing our way forward. Encouraging the use of ISO documents will not only improve the efficiency of our business model, but will also benefit our customer base. Finally, don't forget to support your industry by participating in technical committees!

Author: Chris Williamson, Fastener Info consultants Wang Weiwu translation of gold spider "fasteners" Quarterly editorial department

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