Monkey Biz

LindFast Solutions Group CEO Mike Spencer and Chief Commercial Officer Steve Dean explain their omni-channel vision for the most dynamic master distributor in the industry, and why the future should be a barrel of fun (1:21:15). The FDI scorches on, as data center expansion and strong sales numbers drive record optimism. AFC Industries CEO Kevin Godin joins Mike McNulty to look closely at the numbers on the Fastener News Report (37:03). Young Fastener Professional of the Year, Taryn Goodman of Industrial Rivet recounts her departure and eventual return to the fastener industry (16:36). On the Fastener Training Minute, Carmen Vertullo talks fastener reusability and torque to yield (1:10:13). PLUS: Pac-West announces new officers, and keeping your leverage at lease renewal time. Brian and Eric emerge from the cyber war trenches to head to Phoenix for IFE. Run time: 01:59:57

FTR Episode 232

[00:00:00] It’s Fully Threaded Radio episode 232 And I will say it’s really just the beginning of what we’re doing over here. Um, and ultimately the objective with the e-commerce site, because we pin all of our investment in technology around customer experience, whether internal or external, and that’s a big decision maker for us.

But, uh, the objective is really simple. Like customers, our customers and partners should be able to engage and transact with LSG like any way they want, um, that supports their business. And so the supply tightening and the, and the, uh, you know, tariffs or whatever is in that pricing that got passed on, those two things I think could lead to a little bit of a buoying of that number.

But we’re in territory here that that’s not the explanation, right? Clearly there are people who are doing well and, uh, you know, we, we see the data center volume and, and what it cascades into other supporting in- you know, industry. So, you know, there are, there are definitely places where, uh, people are having really, really good months.

It was crazy. And at some point I just realized that I didn’t want to be on [00:01:00] that side of the table, you know, doing advice on transactions and deals. I wanted to be on the other side of the table, you know, working through those deals and seeing, you know, new projects through to completion. So I guess that’s kind of how my journey back here began.

Time for Fully Threaded Radio

It is Fully Threaded Radio, voice of the FCH Sourcing Network. If you buy, sell, manufacture, import, distribute, think frequently about industrial threaded fasteners, well, [00:02:00] this is the podcast for you. Hi, everyone. Eric Dudas with you, and the co-host of Fully Threaded Radio is with us as well. He’s lifetime honorary Texan and Vegemite advocate, Brian Musker.

Hey, Bri. You’re right. Well, you could’ve said if you covet fasteners, secretly think about them often. Lots of other things you could do with fasteners. And I’m fine, thanks. That’s true, Bri. Thanks for emphasizing that. I think people get the point. It’s a fastener or predominantly fastener-related podcast, and we’re so glad you clicked in, everyone.

This is episode 232 of Fully Threaded Radio. We’re gonna be publishing this time on October 6th or 7th, 2026, which is way earlier in our usual cycle. Explain that in a minute. We’re trying to pull up stakes and head out to Phoenix. Lots left to do. All kinds of things blowing up in the back office, and oh, geez.

Well, here we are pumping out an [00:03:00] episode. Glad you’re here with me, Bri. Or actually, you’re in the Chicago area, but- You’re right. We’re online with each other … amazing times that we live in. That’s for sure. Well, despite the fact that it will be very little Brian and Eric prattle on this one, we’ve got some excellent content for you.

Also grinding it out there are the guys driving LSG, that’s Linfast Solutions Group. Our feature segment today is a conversation with Mike Spencer and Steve Dean. They’re the skippers at the helm of that ship these days, and LSG is making big waves in the fastener ocean. Not really trying to set a nautical theme to this one, Bri, but- Well, you’ve succeeded very admirably already.

Okay? And my disorganization is showing this time because in actuality, in addition to learning about some of the great things that LSG is up to, sort of their vision for what’s going to be coming down the pike, and the big news they dropped with their new [00:04:00] omni-channel-minded digital platform, we’re gonna clear the air on some rumors that have been floating around about the LSG monkey, also known as the Stealthfast monkey in fastener industry legend and lore.

Yeah, right. And what, and what was the color of it? Which was the big thing every year, wasn’t it? Yes, a favorite fastener industry parlor and drinking game, the color of the next StealthFast monkey now with Linfast branding. So we’ll cover that in our feature today. Also with us, we’ll be joined by Taryn Goodman.

You might remember she was announced as this year’s Young Fastener Professional of the Year, and she’ll be receiving that honor at IFE this year. Good. Deserving. She is a very capable person doing good things over there at Industrial Rivet and also with the Women in the Fastener Industry group. You’ll hear all about that during our conversation.

On the Fastener News Report today, Mike McNulty’s joined by AFC Industries [00:05:00] President Kevin Godin. They’ll take a look at the latest fastener distributor index numbers. Still riding pretty high, I’d say, Bry, with its usual few hints of uncertainty and general pissed offness. Right. Had a few kind of, uh, weary sounding comments this time, but Kevin and Mike will take it all in stride and wrap it up for us.

Good. Right. Carmen Vertullo, as always, has the Fastener Training Minute. This time he addresses fastener reusability and torque to yield, kind of a two in one. You’ll see why those are connected on today’s Fastener Training Minute. Plus, Marco Rodriguez returns with the Cresa Industrial Real Estate Update.

This time he’s going to tell us how to keep that leverage with the landlord when renewal time comes around. A lot of people find themselves in that position. As always, Marco’s got great intel on that. And if you’re very lucky, you might be able to talk to him over at IFE. Usually there’s a circuit around there.

I believe Marco will be [00:06:00] there. You know, this is weird about this episode though, Bry. We’ve got to kind of straddle the people who are hearing this right on the way in. I mean, some of them might be listening the morning of the show, but I think most people will hear this episode after. So the way we had to drop it because of other things that are going on, it makes it a little atypical.

But nevertheless, here it is. We’ll do our best, and whenever you’re listening to the episode, we sure do appreciate it. Yeah, right. So you either enjoy it before or you enjoy it after, okay? Listener enjoyment is our number one concern here at Fully Threaded, Bry. Right. And I know that our partners share that feeling as well, and that will not change.

Regardless of when you’re hearing this, the title sponsors of Fully Threaded Radio, Brighton Best International, tested, tried, true, Brighton Best, and Linfast Solutions Group, including Star Stainless. Be sure to check out their new digital ordering platform, Linfast Solutions Group. Fully Threaded [00:07:00] Radio is also sponsored by Buckeye Fasteners, BTM Manufacturing, Eurolink Fastener Supply Service, Andrews International, Goble Fasteners, InSQL Software, Fastener Technology International, JLAN Franco, MW Components, 3Q Inc.,

Cressa, Volt Industrial Plastics, and Worth Industry USA. If you’re listening to this before IFE, then make sure you step by these various sponsors of ours because all of them will have booths over at IFE, okay? And just find out what their latest products are. Go and see them. They’re all friendly people and they’re great people, okay?

We’ll be in booth 351 out there in Phoenix, or should I say Vegas and Phoenix this year, Brian. Right. And that’s right next to EuroLink Fastener Supply Service. They’re in 349, so that’ll be pretty cool. We’re surrounded by friends. I know right next to us on the other side, it’s the IFI, so we’ll have a [00:08:00] chance to talk with Dan and Preston.

Yep. In case there are any quiet moments, it’s important, you know, to know who your neighbors are. Usually in the morning before the show’s actually started. Well, that’s half the fun of all these shows. It’s when you walk around and meet everyone. It’s also when you find out who’s got the complimentary coffee.

Jake Valdez Davis was on LinkedIn earlier in the week celebrating National Coffee Day with one of his patented LinkedIn movies. And of course, the U-Bolt blend was flowing in that particular video. I’m not sure what he’s doing this year at IFE for sure, but that was good to see. He always does such a great job online like that.

Well, we rely on Jake, actually. Well, over the years, he’s definitely come through for us. And if he’s not supplying it in the aisles, he’ll have it at his booth. And of course, Worth Industry USA has also come through. I’m not sure if they coordinate that or not, but we appreciate it all. And Worth is a major sponsor this year, of course, of IFE and the [00:09:00] presentation stage.

Thanks again for clicking into the podcast, folks. Brian and I will not engage in too much monkey business on this one for the previously stated reasons. So we’re going to drop here, play a couple messages, and return in just a moment to put a wrench to this one. It’s Fully Threaded. Radio. Two men, one server, a fastener dog, and a stunning lack of more lucrative alternatives.

It’s Fully Threaded Radio.

Heading to the 2026 International Fastener Expo? Brightenbest would love to see you. Come visit us at Booth 2041 at the Phoenix Convention Center to connect with the Brightenbest team, explore our latest products, and discover how we can help support your business with solutions you need. We’re looking forward to seeing familiar faces and making new connections at the International Fastener Expo in Phoenix.

Contact us today to receive our Brightenbest [00:10:00] registration discount code. Brightenbest, a partner you can count on. Deep in the industrial wilderness, distributors search for one of nature’s rarest creatures, the hard-to-find metric fastener. You’ve searched the usual sources. You may have even searched that mysterious box in the back of the warehouse.

Before you declare it extinct, call Eurolink Fastener Supply Service. For more than 25 years, we’ve helped fastener distributors track down the metric parts nobody else can. Eurolink Fastener Supply Service, hard-to-find metric fasteners delivered. Visit eurolinkfss.com. Heading to the International Fastener Expo?

Discover 100 years of stainless steel fastening innovation with Boomax. Explore high-performance solutions engineered for extreme loads, corrosive environments, and mission-critical applications. Visit Boomax with Linfast Solutions Group in Booth 1641. And for your next project, purchase Boomax products through Star Stainless, a division of Linfast Solutions.[00:11:00]

Hey everybody, Jake Davis, PTM Manufacturing. When I’m fixing for some Vegemite, I listen to my boys Brian and Eric on Fully Threaded Radio

Brian and Eric back with you. We’ll have Young Fastener Professional of the Year, Taryn Goodman, coming up here in just a moment. Before we do that, Bri, it occurred to me right after we turned off the recorder last episode that we completely spaced- … on reporting about the Naperville Fastener Association get-together in Chicago during Fastener Week.

How did we do that? We had too many things going on. Well, I guess in our own defense, that’s true. But you were out there. It was on the roof of that bar out there on Navy Pier, right? Yeah. And there was a big announcement because one of our good buddies won the Form, Fit, and Function Award. Isn’t that [00:12:00] true?

Yeah, Matt Delorda. That’s right. It was Matt’s turn this year. Matt, of course, with SWD, home of the Black Ox. He contributes so much to the industry, and this year, the Naperville Fastener Association. It’s the association that’s really mostly a state of mind, as it turns out. It is, because there’s not really any fastener companies in Naperville.

There used to be one or two. 3Q Inc.’s there, Bri, or what are you saying? Well, it’s a little f- further away than downtown. It’s close, okay? Mark is a solid Napervillian. And how about Chicago Hardware? They’re in Naperville too, no? Um, they should be. I could have that one wrong. But anyway, the Naperville Fastener Association, a lot of people know about it.

Mainly our mission is to distribute various drinking glasses with our logos on it. Right, and to get together once every, like, three or four months, uh, mainly in the summer. Well, to test them out, yeah. To test out the drink- the drinking equipment. Right [00:13:00] And this year they did shot glasses, isn’t that true?

Oh, that’s cool. Yes, they did. So you were there. I didn’t get a chance, and why don’t you fill us in, what went down? Oh, yeah, no. So, so Lynn and I, we were… Had, we had a bit of a mix-up in our hotels and all sorts of things, so we couldn’t even park in the Navy Pier. We had to park at a parking building a little bit like, Mike, further away.

So we arrived early because we had to dr- get through the traffic, and we’re just sitting there, and then this traveling salesman wandered up, and he’d decided he was gonna get there early as well. So we decided that we might as well sit down and have a brief meal, which we did, and the bar is a complete glass roof, which is fine unless you have one of Chicago’s wild thunderstorms.

And at some stage, the rain was so heavy on the roof we couldn’t even hear what people were talk, saying over the table. And then it all went away, and then everyone else turned up. So it was, um, it was a good, it was a good [00:14:00] showing. It was good. Sounds a little bit like being out at Shagbark when we have a rainstorm with that metal roof I have on the barn out there.

Oh, yes. This was very similar. And it was sort of heavy for a while. Not a lot of lightning. There was a bit of it, but it was just heavy rain. And then it all just went away, which is just as well, because otherwise Lynn and I would’ve got completely soaked trying to get back to the car. Okay. Well, you know about my aversion about talking about weather on the podcast.

So how, how was Matt’s reaction when he found out he was the recipient of this year’s Form, Fit, and Function Award? That’s what I really get at, Andy Bry. Well, he was ad- adequately surprised, just like we all were. I mean, not that he shouldn’t get it, just that you never know who. Okay. Was he moved to address the audience and say a few words?

Yes, he did, and they were very good words, and better than I could’ve dreamed up on a moment’s notice. But it was good. Outstanding. All right. So that was really kind of yet another one of the informal launches of the MWFA Fastener Week, which [00:15:00] is semi-comprehensively documented in our previous episode, so we won’t go back.

But I wanted to point that out. Congratulations, Matt DeLaughter, and again, great job to the MWFA. Right. So just as a general audience advisory, which we do from time to time, there’s very little AI content in today’s episode. Really? Surprisingly. Yes, it’s turned into the third rail of fastener podcasting.

Right. Matter of fact, I’m pretty sure Taryn doesn’t mention it at all. Mike and Steve address it, you know, but kinda sidestep it ’cause they’re senior management. That’s what they do. You’re right. So with that set up, let’s get to this conversation with Taryn Goodman. She’s the Young Fastener Professional of the Year.

I’m sure she’s totally into AI, Bry, but we just didn’t cover it. Just for the record, you know, I’m not trying to say she’s not aware of what’s going on in the world. Right. Oh, I’m sure she’s [00:16:00] very, very aware of it, actually. Okay. Well, just as a piece of background on this recording while we were warming it up, and she has a background in investment banking, and I asked her if she had any thoughts or comments that she wanted to make before we turned the recorder on with regard to any of the big frontier lab IPOs that are coming up, or at least they’re being discussed, and she wanted to steer totally clear of that, so…

Right. Okay. I can understand that, actually. All right. Well, here’s our AI-free conversation with Taryn Goodman. Good. All right. IFE is right around the corner. Some of you are probably listening on your way out to Phoenix. We spoke with Tim Roberto Jr., he is the 2026 Hall of Fame inductee, but we’ve got another big honor that’s happening.

It’ll be during the same ceremony out there in Phoenix, that’s the Young Fastener Professional of the Year Award. We always enjoy that each [00:17:00] year, and this time we’ve got the recipient of that honor here with us from Industrial Rivet, the rivet king, many of you know, Taryn Goodman. Hey, Taryn. Hi, Eric.

Thanks for having me. Well, congratulations to you. We haven’t talked before, but we’ve been talking a little online to warm this up, and, uh, you are a powerhouse. Thank you. I mean, I’m really honored, obviously, to receive the award this year. It’s very exciting news. So you were pretty shocked when you got the call?

How did that all unroll? Yeah. I mean, uh, I, I got the news from one of my WIFI sisters. Uh, for most of you obviously know WIFI stands for Women in the Fastener Industry. And, um, you know, I got a call, it was after hours on a workday, and I was trying to wrap up for the day and, uh, you know, she let me know that I had been nominated and that I won, and I was, yeah, really surprised, honestly.

Uh, but very excited, of course, and honored. Sort of out of the blue then, huh? So did you know the person who gave you the news? Uh, yeah, yeah. It was, um, Jen, uh, [00:18:00] Jen Kushner, who’s our chairwoman of the WIFI board. So I hope you’ll tell everybody a little bit about yourself and your background in the fastener industry.

Obviously, you’re young enough to fit the criteria, you know, so you’ve got a, uh, a limited career, but on the other hand, I read your bio and very impressive. One thing I like is you were in the industry, you grew up in it, in the family business, and then you went off, did some education, did some other things for a while, but then you came back, and I just love that story.

Yeah. Thanks. You know, per your original point, yes, I’m at the top end of the age bracket of the YFP Award, so I was really happy to eke it in this year, uh, before- … I’m no longer, no longer qualified for it. So that was nice. But, uh, yeah, I mean, you know, growing up, I guess you could say my first jobs were in the fastener business.

My, uh, family owns Industrial Rivet and Fastener. Now we’re a fourth-generation family-owned business, 114 years old. So [00:19:00] my great-grandfather started the company. And when I was younger, you know, it’s the things that, uh, working parents have their kids do, right? When our company first moved from New York State over the border into New Jersey, you know, it was my job to help alphabetize the files in the new filing cabinets.

Um, you know, s- silly stuff like that, or, you know, years later in one of our earliest computer s- systems doing order entry, you know, because of course I had taken, you know, early age typing classes, so proficient typer at that age. So yeah, I mean, like, you know, it was always those kind of, call it small, you know, jobs and ways to help out, especially on, like, school vacations and stuff.

But honestly, it was never really expected that anyone in the fourth generation, you know, would or should have to come, you know, join the family company. Uh, and it really wasn’t the plan through my whole childhood and young adulthood to do so. So it’s kind of kind of crazy how it happens like that, um, but- Yeah, funny thing, isn’t it?

It’s kind of a [00:20:00] common story in the fastener industry actually, isn’t it? Yeah, it does feel like that. Um, but you know, like I really thought I was gonna have a science-based career growing up, and I, I tried a few different facets of it, and I really enjoyed some parts of it, but, uh, ended up loving business more.

And so, like, my first career was kind of in finance and banking. Uh, I was at Lehman Brothers when Lehman Brothers went under, you know, circa 2008, too big to fail. Um, but that was, like, a wild time in, in finance, and I just, I loved, I loved the pace of it. I loved the experience. Uh, it was crazy. And at some point I, I just realized that I didn’t wanna be on that side of the table, you know, doing advice on transactions and deals.

I wanted to be on the other side of the table, you know, working through those deals and seeing, you know, new projects through to completion. So I guess that’s kinda how my journey back here began. Okay. Well, that makes sense out of your bio too. You’re probably too modest to say it, so I’ll say it [00:21:00] for you.

You got a double major listed here. You were an econ and biology major, but then you went off while you were working and did an MBA at Wharton, so wow, you’re a powerhouse, like I said. Yeah. Thank you. I definitely, um, you know, I think I realized that I had a lot of experience coming from banking, but you hadn’t studied business itself, and there’s so much of interest in strategy and business and how you manage, you know, people and processes that you don’t get in, like, an economics major, let’s say.

So that was kind of part of the deal of coming back, you know, into the, join the family business officially, was that, you know, I’m gonna come, I have this experience, but I’d like to, you know, have even more foundation before I come back full time. That was kind of in that transition between finance to coming here.

And so what are you concentrating on now at Industrial Rivet? Yeah. So at Industrial Rivet I run our finance department obviously, but also our, uh, marketing and HR departments as well, kind of the people in [00:22:00] operations side of, of running the business, a little more than on the, the product and engineering side.

Okay. Sounds like you’re on the top leadership track if you ask me. Yes, that’s, that’s true. And if you weren’t before, then this award is definitely gonna push you over the edge. Yes. Um, and no, everyone in the company was really, you know, proud to hear about the award as well, and I think realized that, you know, not only what I’m doing in here for Industrial Rivet, but also that I’m doing similar things out in the industry, especially through my involvement in Wi-Fi.

Yeah, I guess if you’re on the marketing side and you’re so involved with Wi-Fi, then you probably would’ve been out in Phoenix anyway, but I bet you’re bringing a bigger group of people than you would have had this award not come along. You know what? We’re always rolling a little bit too deep, I feel like, at this trade show.

Um, you know, as the person that, uh, does the marketing, but also pays the bills behind the trade show, I’m always wishing we brought a few less people. But- … [00:23:00] um, we always seem to have a big crew anyway in the end. And, you know, I say that as a joke. I, I really love spending time, you know, with the team, especially, uh, with the people that aren’t necessarily in our New Jersey office all the time and getting to, you know, reconnect at the industry events like IFE.

Well, uh, let’s touch on Wi-Fi a little bit. So how long have you been involved with that organization, and, uh, what have you done? Because obviously you caught a lot of people’s attention. Yeah. I think I’ve been involved in Wi-Fi really since I joined full-time, uh, which was in 2014. I think I joined the board probably 2016, if I, if I had to say, so that’s about 10 years ago.

Um, you know, I just first joined the board and, and learned about the organization and what we did and helped out a little bit. My role really transitioned into leadership there when I became the treasurer of the organization a few years in And that was really great ’cause it was obviously a higher level of involvement, but we did a lot around that time to, I’ll say, modernize the [00:24:00] organization and, you know, bring some of the back end of it into a more current state.

Uh, so like one of the first projects involved in that was transitioning from like a desktop-based QuickBooks system over to QuickBooks Online, for example, which suited the organization better because of us being a remote organization spread across the country, obviously. But like from that, you know, a lot of other initiatives and projects that I helped run with the other leadership team there.

Uh, you know, when we joined, for example, our annual members meeting was in person at Las Vegas at IFE, which is great, you know, we love having in-person events, but very limiting for our organization because not all the women in the faster industry are able to get to go to these shows. So we transitioned that event, you know, from being in person to a virtual event, which allows a much greater level of adoption, and really from top to bottom, you know, people that are senior leaders, female business owners can join those meetings, but also, you know, entry level computer-based order [00:25:00] entry clerks can also join the meeting and participate in the same way.

So, you know, we saw that as a huge win for accessibility in the organization, especially supporting the younger people who might not have, you know, the company financial support to get to go to these trade show events. Sure. Sure. Um, in addition to that, we’ve done a lot of other fun things. We’ve added tons of additional scholarships in the last decade that I’ve been involved in and some, uh, I’ve had a great involvement in.

There’s one that’s named after my aunt, uh, who passed away 10 years ago, uh, which is for an online based, uh, fastener education platform called THORS. That’s the Joanne Sherman Scholarship. That’s correct. Um, and that was really a win again because it’s got… You know, there- we’ve always had a scholarship to go to FTI training, and FTI training is amazing, right?

It’s like the gold standard of training. But, you know, it involves, for many people, driving a good distance or getting on an airplane and staying at a hotel and being away from their family Um, so again, I, I think it could be challenging [00:26:00] for some women to get to do that who maybe have families, uh, or for some younger people who maybe don’t have the financial means.

So we felt like adding this online scholarship opportunity made it more accessible that anybody could join, anybody could come and do online training at their leisure outside of their working hours if they didn’t want it to impact their normal working schedule, kind of on a more self-paced journey. So we really thought that was a huge win, especially for the young women in, in the industry as well.

Okay. Well, I can tell by the way you’re framing that all out, you’re a very business-minded, serious person when you need to be, but, uh, I hope you’re gonna have some fun out there in Phoenix as well. What are you anticipating this year? I think a lot of people are on the bubble with what they’re thinking’s gonna happen.

Yeah, I mean, I know that everybody should stop by the WIFi booth in IFE because the WIFi booth is always a fun time, and we are serving pink margaritas, so really, um, hoping to have a good time, and I think we’re gonna have a [00:27:00] pretzel cart as well. So, um, WIFi did a, uh, Southwest theme, uh, and also we’re supporting breast cancer for this month, uh, ’cause October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Uh, so we’re gonna be doing a fundraiser in the booth for the Pink Fund, uh, which, you know, we’ll be posting more about online for people to see. So excited about that. Uh, and yeah, I mean, I’ve heard that some WIFi sisters are even gonna be going to the Arizona State Fair while we’re out there. Uh, I don’t know if I’ll be doing that, but I think there’s gonna be plenty of fun things to do.

Do you guys get together offline quite a bit? I mean, I think for a lot of people in the industry, they see your booths at the shows, but, but beyond that, they really don’t have a very high awareness of what goes on. At least I don’t I mean, are you active that way, getting together in groups, doing events and things?

I would say that we usually have participation in some of the largest industry events in the year. So Fastener Fair, IFE, um, MWFA, you know, TableTop, uh, Pack West. We, we have [00:28:00] people going out to all those events, and we usually try to do something local there. Because the organization is so spread apart in the country, it’s hard to do regional events unless somebody’s really willing to step up and host and plan those.

So most of our stuff that’s not at those major industry events tends to be virtual. Uh, we’ve done different kinds of things for our members. In the past, we were doing something called the quarterly member spotlight where we were kind of getting to know, not as much in a work capacity but in a personal capacity, you know, the different WiFi members that volunteered to participate.

You know, they were telling about how they came to where they were in their career, what their interests are outside of work. Some really amazing interests, like from people who do, uh, aerial yoga to people who are like master knitters and sharing their- … you know, knitting creations and things like that.

So it was, it was kind of cool to see this side of people that we don’t really get to see, you know, at an industry event, um, and learn about them personally, even if, you know, from afar virtually. Um- Yeah, of course. [00:29:00] But yeah, we also do like training stuff. We do professional speakers a few times a year, uh, that come on and do, you know, like a 30, 40-minute presentation and then kind of 20 minute Q&A discussion, uh, format.

So there’s lots of opportunities. I feel like even some people I haven’t met in person, I feel like I know them from the WiFi, you know, online events. So it’s really a, it’s a nice community. I wish we could get together in person a little bit more, but it’s a challenge. Okay, I will ask you one more thing about your YFP award, and that is do you have someone to introduce you during the ceremony?

How’s that gonna work? Yeah, that’s a good question. Um, I, I think it’s gonna be my cousin, uh, Steven Sherman. I haven’t really, I haven’t really talked to him about it yet, but I probably should do that as its, uh, clock is ticking down till next week. But he’s at the IFI meeting this week, so we have some scheduling challenges.

But yeah, uh, it’ll probably be him. He’s on the IFI technical committee and he’s, uh, you know, my business partner and really great. So I think he’ll be the one [00:30:00] introducing me, but we’ll confirm that this week. Okay. Well, I’m gonna look forward to hearing what both of you have to say, that’s for sure. And I’ll buy you a Fresca unless you’ve already had too many pink margaritas, Taryn.

There you go. That’s perfect. Hey, before I let you go, I have to ask you how everything’s going over at Industrial Rivet, the rivet king. Uh, does that make you the rivet queen? I needed to ask you that, too. Yeah, yeah, um, definitely does make me the rivet queen these days. Um- That’s very cool … yeah, everything’s great here.

You know, our company is, uh, much like WiFi, you know, coming into itself in a new generation. Being 114-year-old company is not obviously without its challenges, right? But we have this deep, deep experience here, and we wanna make sure that we’re honoring, you know, that deep experience and the longevity, but that we’re not getting comfortable doing things the way that they have always been done, and that we keep pushing the envelope on what’s possible.

And, you know, I think [00:31:00] we’re doing it every day. It’s exciting, you know, the new products that we’re rolling out, especially in the tooling area, the new tools, you know, for setting rivets with high amounts of technology and precision. Uh, it’s just, it’s really amazing what the team continues to do here every day and how we’ve grown over the last 15 years almost that I’ve been, uh, involved here.

It’s, it’s really exciting. Are you gonna blow everyone away with one particular thing you’re gonna be showing in Phoenix? Well, our booth is very new in Phoenix, so I’m hoping that’s gonna blow everyone away, uh, in and of itself. We’ve had, you know, kind of a similar booth design in Vegas for the last bunch of years, so I’m hoping that’ll be really exciting.

And yeah, I mean, we have some new tools that we’re, we’re out with, so I hope everyone’s gonna come by the booth and test them out. All right. Well, you’re the rivet queen. I like that. I like giving people monikers and, uh, that’s an easy one for me to remember. You’re a young fastener professional in a well-seasoned company.

What a great place to be, and congratulations again, Taryn. It’s been great [00:32:00] speaking with you. Awesome. I’ll see you out in Phoenix. These guys aren’t screwing around, much. Brian and Eric, Fully Threaded Radio, internet talk radio for the fastener industry.

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Brian and Eric aren’t just the best at what they do, they’re the only ones that do what they do. This is Carmen. Now it’s back to Fully Threaded Radio

Brian and Eric back with you in Online Fastener Prime 8 House, Fully Threaded.

None of this monkey business here, thank you. Maybe so, but this is the news segment of the podcast, a lot of people’s favorite portion. This time, Mike McNulty will be joined by Kevin Godden. He’s the president of AFC [00:35:00] Industries. Think they’re gonna play it pretty straight, Bry, so you’ll be fine. Okay. I like that.

Again, we’re gonna move fast here, but I did wanna drop one piece of news that I don’t think got picked up by us already. PacWest, that’s the Pacific West Fastener Association, the grooviest of all the fastener associations, Bry, I’ll remind you. They made an announcement of their new executive officer board, and boy, that year really whizzed by because we didn’t even have Mallory on one time during her tenure as president.

Seems like it was just the other day, but here we are with a new lineup. Time flies when you’re having fun, okay? Well, I know how you feel about all the monkey business, Bry, so I’ll just- Yeah, quit it … pretend you didn’t say that and I’ll just read this lineup. The new president of the PacWest is Ryan McCaffrey with Pacific Coast Bolt.

Vice President, Ryan Koos, Parker Fasteners. Yep. Secretary, Ryan [00:36:00] Shannon of Nylock, and of course, Mallory, immediate past president. Yep. New board members this time, top of the list, David Byrne with the Ohlander Company, John Brees, Arizona Industrial Hardware, and Caleb Rierre, Empire Bolt and Screw. They have a nice lineup of really hardworking people in that association, and it’s always been one of the fun…

Well, like I said, the grooviest of all the associations. So good luck to the new board in the year ahead. Yeah. A lot of longtime FCH members on that board too. They’re everywhere, Bry. Yeah. The Fastener News report has been sponsored for many years by someone else who will be or was in Phoenix, depending on when you’re listening to this episode.

That’s Bolt Industrial Plastics. And the title sponsors of Fully Threaded Radio, Linfast Solutions Group and Brighton Best International. That’s all I’ve got for this one, Bry. Why don’t you do your stuff? Okay. So [00:37:00] for news about screws that you can use, here’s Mike McNulty.

Thanks, Brian and Eric. This is Mike McNulty from Fastener Technology International Magazine, bringing you the Fastener News Report, which is sponsored by Volt Industrial Plastics, makers of the world’s finest plastic fasteners. The Cleveland Browns are in first place in their division, political lawn sign battles are heating up, the Chicago White Sox completed an unprecedented turnaround to make the playoffs, and artificial intelligence is still not the same as human intelligence or even super intelligence, but I am still focused on fasteners and ready to deliver today’s Fastener News Report.

In this episode, Kevin Godden, CEO at AFC Industries, joins us to reveal the latest results of the Fastener Distributor Index, also known as the FDI. Also in today’s broadcast, we have our top story on Accu, plus newsmaker headlines from Nord-Lock, Simpson [00:38:00] Strong-Tie, Maclean Fogg, Suncor Stainless, Penn Engineering, Click Bond, Linfast Solutions Group, and more.

On the Back Page Report, we’re going to talk about knowing the future. We’ll get to all of that and the latest FDI results right after this.

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Mike McNulty The seasonally adjusted Fastener Distributor Index for September 2026 surged to 66.6, the best result in more than eight years, and well above last month’s solid result of 58.3 seasonally adjusted. This was the 17th straight month of the [00:40:00] FDI being in the expansion territory. The forward-looking indicator, also known as the FLI, jumped to 63.6 versus 56.9 in August.

This was the best result since 2022. Fastener distributor index data is collected and analyzed by the FCH Sourcing Network and Baird. The FDI seeks to identify demand, pricing, and outlook trends within the American fastener distribution industry. To get some insight into these results, we’re gonna talk to Kevin Godden, CEO of AFC Industries.

Hello, Kevin. Thanks for joining us on the Fastener News Report. Thank you for having me. It’s good to have you back on. Last time was in, uh, I think the end of the summer of 2025, and now you’ve, you’ve, uh, come on- onto the program with the, the best results in eight years. What do you think, uh, the latest FDI results?

Yeah, it’s very interesting to see these results, you know, given all of the, the world we live in, all the uncertainty, and all of the change that we’ve seen over the last couple years, that things continue to, to plug along. Um, you know, [00:41:00] obviously September was a, a very strong month. Um, you know, it sort of answered the question that August raised when we saw that, uh, the dip, especially in sales there in August.

It’s, you know, what was gonna happen? Were we seeing the, the, the crest? But, uh, uh, we haven’t. And so, you know, record, record headlines. Uh, obviously things are good. I think, I think when you dig into it, uh, it’s good. It’s good. Right. But I think probably not quite as strong as the headline number would indicate for a couple of reasons as you look at the other numbers.

But, uh, still a good place to be and, um, you know, I think a lot of opportunity for folks who are positioned to, uh, to take advantage of the places in the market that are growing strongly still. Yeah, I was… I have to admit, I was surprised it was so high. I didn’t, I didn’t expect any big drop or anything, but it was, I mean, the best in eight years was…

Surprised me. Yeah. There’s, there’s some things in there, uh, that you wonder how much they’re affecting [00:42:00] things, even though, even though the questions are, are designed to take them into account. Uh, for example, you know, higher prices are, you know, obviously could, could be causing some noise in there. Uh, the seasonality, these are seasonally adjusted numbers, and so there was a, a decent seasonal adjustment here.

Mm-hmm. Um, and then the other thing that, um, I’ve been watching for a couple of months now is that the, the supply chain is getting tight. And in these diffusion indexes, that is seen as a positive. But when you– uh, you know, the assumption is that if deliveries are slowing, uh, that’s due to demand. But if you really drill it, drill into the commentary, it is not demand that is driving that so much as various logistical challenges.

And so I don’t know how they weight that, but that’s probably contributing a little bit of noise As well. But, you know, look, when you, when you see numbers like this, it tells you that, uh, a lot of folks are, are seeing some- Are doing well. Yeah, had a good, had a good September. Right. So yeah, if we dive into the [00:43:00] numbers, the sales number went, went way up.

It went up to 91.5 versus 63.8 in August. Uh, employment went up not as drastically, more, you know, more moderately. Uh, supplier deliveries went up And then, uh, both inventories, respondent and customer went down and pricing went down month to month and year to year. So all those together, I guess, is what inventories getting down, pricing going down, and then sales, employment, and deliveries going up gave us the, uh, the super high number.

That’s right. And we had just mentioned it a moment ago, I think, before on the air, but sometimes when you look at the unadjusted numbers, it’s interesting. So the sales hit that record number, but the unadjusted sales numbers, I think, slightly below June. And so, um, it’s the combination of- … it’s the combination of these factors that lead that adjusted index to move that way.

And it’s, you know, look, we’re still in good territory. But one of the other things as you read the comments and you, you look into this a little bit, is there do seem to be winners and losers. Mm-hmm. Uh, you know, so there’s [00:44:00] areas that are just rocking and then there’s- Right … there’s, there’s people who are essentially flat in the base business.

And, um, so I think this is th- the last few months here, especially this kind of reading is one where there may be some folks reading it going, “What are they talking about?” Right. Because it just kinda depends on how your, how your sales mix is. But, um, overall, I continue to be impressed by the resilience of the market just, you know, given all of the challenges that we’ve had to overcome.

So, um, it’s a good place to be in fasteners, I guess. Yeah, right. Right. Now, um, you made a comment earlier where you said the numbers might not be as good as they come across. And any insight you wanna share there? Well, I was just saying that the headline number, uh, might be overestimating because there’s a couple of things in the dyna- so for example, the supplier score moving up.

You know, as deliveries slow, the headline number assumes that that [00:45:00] is a good thing because it assumes that that is, uh, a function of demand, right? If, if supplier s- uh, raising number implies deliveries are slowing, a higher number. And, um, in this case, I’m not sure that it’s all demand driving that when you look at, uh, what– You know, you got hermes, you’ve got what’s going on with containers, people doing some other things.

Backlogs are only a part of that. So that’s gonna push the number up a little bit, right? And then, you know, when you, when you start to look at, uh, uh, sales numbers, that’s a big variable there. It’s like, y- the question is, how much of that is, is price that has been just sort of now mentally built into the model as people answer the question?

I’m not saying it’s– It’s good. These are– I mean, look, these are good numbers. I’m just, I’m just suggesting that the headline number itself might be a little bit stronger than what the- Yeah … the component pieces would suggest. A little touch of [00:46:00] irrational exuberance maybe in that. Or, or, or mathematical exuberance- Right.

Yeah … depending on how they weigh- weight the, uh, weight the variables. Yeah. Yeah. Overall, overall good, but maybe– And then we’ll get to, when we get to the comments, there’s one comment near the end where they, they bring up that maybe some, some false, uh, numbers on this, you know, sales going up but volume staying flat.

Yeah. Well, that again, that’s why I said I think, you know, pricing might be embedded into that, where somebody, somebody’s sales are up and they’re not thinking about the, you know, they’re not thinking about the- We’re paying more for everything, right. Exactly right. And so, you know, the supply tightening is i- in that, in the, in the, uh, you know, tariffs or whatever is in that pricing that got passed along.

Those two things I think could, could lead to a little bit of a buoying of that number. But we’re in territory here that, that, that’s not the explanation, right? Clearly, clearly there is, there are people who are doing well and, uh, you know, we, we see the data center volume and, and what it cascades [00:47:00] into other supporting in- you know, industry.

So, so, you know, there are, there are definitely places where, uh, people are having really, really good months and, uh, uh, I, I just, you know, wanted to point out that You know, there are, there are some things in here that would push it up a little higher than what it might be if it was apples to apples flat.

Reality. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. All right. Let’s, uh, let’s look at the, the six-month outlook. It, it was almost the same as last, last month and, um, we had 44% of respondents expecting things better six months from now, 48 the same, seven– only 7% expecting things to be worse six months from now. And last month the numbers were 46, 43, 11, so- Yeah

a little bit of moving to the middle, I guess. That’s right. So last month it was like, things are good, but confidence is eroding, and that’s, that seems to be reversing a little bit based upon this last month’s, uh, uh, performance, which, which, which is good. Um, it’s– so it’s [00:48:00] interesting to see that shifting back, especially, especially to have that kind of confidence connected with these kinds of numbers.

Right. You know? So, I mean, the same as this great month is pretty good, and better is even better, so. Uh, the last number we have is the ISM PMI, the Purchasing Managers Index, and it’s basically unchanged. It was 54.5 versus 54.6 last month. It was the ninth straight month over 50 after many years of not being above 50.

So the PMI just actually took a tick down. It didn’t get this big fastener jump, but. Well, I, I, I wonder if part of that, and I haven’t really, you know, dug deeply into that, but I wonder if part of it has to do with the mix of companies in that. Because if you’re exporting, you know, if you have a lot of exports, you know, some of the, some of the things that have been going on in terms of currency and, and, uh, other things could, could be affecting the manufacturers that export in a way that your average North American fastener distributor isn’t gonna be hit the same way.

When [00:49:00] you’re in that 55 territory, that’s pretty strong, right? That’s- Right. So we’re still, what, 54 and a half. That’s, that’s a pretty strong number still. All right. Any- anything else you wanna add on the, the raw numbers before we move on to the commentary? One thing that, uh, one thing that jumps out at me from the statements that you’re seeing from some of the larger and public companies is, you know, a growing concern about…

I mean, sales are good and all of that, but what– you know, margin erosion is a concern and, uh, you know, I think that’s probably something that’s being broadly felt, you know, this, this needing to defend, defend that. So, you know, that’ll be something to keep an eye on, certainly for us as a company and I’m sure, I’m sure all of our competitors and peers as well.

Yeah, definitely. If all the pri- everybody’s prices are going up, so that affects the, uh, the net profit. All righty. Well, let’s move on to the commentary and, and in the Baird report they said commentary was mostly upbeat with participants citing record sales, building opportunities in data center, which [00:50:00] we just mentioned, dri- uh, driving demand.

Uh, also s- stretching supplier capacity and freight costs and tariff or continued, uh, irritants. So, so the first first comment is, quote, “Data center investment continues to be the primary driver of economic growth in the market. While a limited number of end markets are showing positive momentum, the vast majority of the growth we are experiencing is directly tied to the ongoing expansion of the data center sector,” end quote.

Yeah, I think that’s, uh, that’s a common experience people are seeing. There, there’s a handful of, uh, there’s a handful of markets that are up strongly, uh, data centers being, you know, the, the one everybody talks about and thinks about, and then there’s a lot of other things that are sort of flat. So, um, yeah, I think that makes sense to me.

All right. The next comment is, quote, “September will be a record sales month, and Q3 will be a record sales quarter. Demand has stretched all domestic manufacturers of structural product beyond available capacity. This supply constraint will not be a short-term [00:51:00] problem. I expect it to continue into 2027 unless there’s a dramatic economic slowdown.”

Then we have another related comment that said, “We have the inquiry, so we are seeking to increase capacity in the next six months.” So, uh, people are looking to make investments. Yeah. I think especially on the structural side, capacity is, is, you know, insufficient for, for the demand at the moment, and so that’s, uh, that’s not surprising that they’re having a really good quarter.

Yeah. Uh, next comment is, quote, “Activity levels and new business opportunities are up. Some customers are experiencing supply chain issues with other, other components that are causing production disruptions that are impacting our supply, but thankfully not caused by the items we supply.” Well, it’s always good to not be the one that’s shutting somebody down.

Everybody’s pointing the finger at, right? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Uh, then we got, I got a couple more here that are on, on good sales. Sales continue to remain high and new opportunities continue to build, and the next one is, quote, “September incoming order rate was consistent with August, still struggling with some [00:52:00] tariff issues, causing incoming costs for goods from countries like the UK, which is surprising.

Hopefully we can sustain current sales level and ride out the Trump storm, which continues to stir the markets,” end quote. So now we’re getting a little politics in there. Yeah, a l- a little bit of politics. I’ll, I’ll leave that to- … leave that to somebody else. But it is interesting, um, the way that the tariff impacts have hit, um, in terms of, you know, uh, European supply chain.

So, um, yes, I, I think it– people who are importing there, those kind of products from Europe are, are having to deal with that perhaps unexpectedly at the levels they are. But, um, you know, we’ll s- we’ll see how that, we’ll see how that u- unfolds in the coming- Yeah … coming months. I do have to make a comment that I do like the pairing of the word Trump and storm together.

That seems- Right. The, the Trump, Trump storm. Well, like I said- The modus operandi. Exa- e- exactly. Yes. Yes. All right. The [00:53:00] next comment is, is the most, uh, colorful. Uh, I’ll say that, and I’ll say it’s kind of long, so we’re gonna read through it. Quote, “Data center work is driving everything, and even when it’s not, that’s the excuse we get from our vendors who are running out of everything, a sign of poor planning.

What is more disturbing is people are saying sales are up, which by dollar volume is inevitable when your costs are up so much. But how many pieces did you sell? Things aren’t nearly as good as everyone thinks. Rose-tinted glasses, to use Benjamin Franklin’s expression. And now we’re suffering through the most idiotic trade spat in American history with Canadians.

Seriously? I have a long list of profanities to describe how stupid it is, but you could never print it,” end quote. Well, uh, the, the f- the first point of that is part of what I was alluding to, that there’s, there’s some price lift in, in the sales. But I, I would, I would say that broadly, when you’re talking about the market, uh, not any particular business, but the market as a whole, that demand is real [00:54:00] demand.

So, so it’s not pretend. There’s a lot of investment into infrastructure for data centers, and a lot of people are selling those parts. So I can’t speak to any particular, uh, manufacturer’s backlog with regard to that, but it is, uh, something that is real and happening. And, you know, if the people who are, are able to take advantage of it are seeing a strong demand, so.

Now I did, as a sidebar, I saw some article, I didn’t read the whole article, but it was talking about the amount of money that’s being spent on data centers that to recoup that. The prices currently for different AI things are just way too low to recoup that investment. So I’m wondering if down the road we’re gonna be seeing some skyrocketing prices for using AI.

Yeah. Well, it happens when you have these disruptive technologies, right? Everybody chases them. More than half the dollars are never gonna generate a return, and, uh, but that’s, you know, that’s how it works, right? Everybody chases it, and the, and the [00:55:00] ones that are able to, uh, come up with a, with a disciplined, successful business model will end up driving the others out of business, and then, you know, we’ll s- we’ll see where the prices go.

So, um- … that’s, that’s how it works. But- Yeah … there are a lot of data centers being built and, you know, those are physical locations, right, that need fasteners. And so, um, you know, the question is, how long will that last? You know, how sustainable is that? So if all of your growth and all of your, you know, plans are, are built on that, I think you have to realize that, you know, that, that train will only go so far and then, you know, they’ll have built them, so.

Well, we’ll see what happens. Uh, we got– we have one more comment, and it, it, uh, it goes away from data center. It says, “Freight costs are hurting everyone heading into the holiday season.” So I guess we’re starting the holidays already here in the beginning of October, but what are you guys seeing on freight costs?

Yeah, absolutely. Um, freight and transportation costs are increasing, uh, continue to increase, and, uh, I do think that is, [00:56:00] is going to continue to have an impact for the rest of this year at least. And, um, you know, that, that again, when I talk about the supply chain dynamic here in terms of delivery and everything, I think some of it’s capacity, some of it is, some of it is the dynamics with freight.

Um, and, uh, we’ll have to see what happens after we get through the holiday shipping season, right? Because those things are starting to ship. So, uh, we’ll see what happens, but, uh, that is a concern. It’s something we’re watching closely and, you know, that is a real variable here. All right. A job for, uh, people who are in supply chain.

There’s nev- there’s never any shortage for them, things for them to do. Yeah. Okay. All right, good. Uh, any other comments on the comments before we move, uh, let on, uh, get the port– or let you tell the listeners what’s going on at AFC Industries? No. It’s just amazing to me that we’re still seeing this kind of strength sustained over this period of time, and I’ll take it, I’m glad.

[00:57:00] But, um, yeah, it’s, uh, it’s a little bit of a surprise to me. Unpredictable. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, uh, you guys have been get- kind of busy. What’s, uh, what’s new and going on at AFC Industries? Well, we’re always busy. We always, uh, have a few irons in the fire. We have some things that we’re working on that we think are gonna be pretty interesting in terms of diversifying our, our, uh, penetration to a couple of key markets for us.

And, uh, so we’ll be looking forward to announcing some of those things. But, uh, uh, other than that, you know, we’re doing our best to take care of our customers and control, control our costs, so, you know, it’s always exciting. Well, you, you just had a recent acquisition, SES, um- Yeah … was your, your last acquisition, and I see lots of people getting hired there too.

So that’s good. Yeah. We’re, we’re excited about that. That deepens our, our engineered solutions capabilities there. Those guys, as you know, are industry veterans, good guys, a lot of experience, and, uh, we’re excited to have, uh, have them on the [00:58:00] team, Mike and Reno and, and, and that whole team. And, uh, we’re already, we’re already getting some traction there on some, some opportunities where the two businesses together are able to execute on some things that probably neither one would’ve done without the other.

So that’s always a good– That’s always good when that happens. Good. And I saw another post, you guys did something with the NAW, the National Association of Wholesaler, uh, Dealers. Yeah, I’m not sure which post you’re referring to, but we, uh, we, we did have them, uh, we did have them join us for our, uh- It came to one of your, your meetings.

Yeah, they ca- they came to our executive session before our, uh, our, uh, annual meeting and, and, uh, shared some of the things they were doing and educated us a little bit more on some of the benefits that you get when you’re members and making sure our team understood how to use those. Uh, it’s a good organization.

They’ve got a lot of good resources and, uh, we wanted to make sure our, our team was taking full advantage of them as members and, uh, they do a good job there. And so, yeah, that was a [00:59:00] good event for them and, and, uh, for us as well. And, uh, when you have an, an event like that, how big is it? So once a year we have all the director level folks and higher come.

We talk about strategy and what we’re doing for the year, and that’s, uh, there’s around 100 people at that meeting. Mm-hmm. Oh, good. Another post that got my attention was your AFC tooling vending solution, and you’re putting, uh, vending machines into facilities for tools Uh, well, we have, we have vending machines in the tooling side.

It, it’s sort of table stakes there. Uh, we design and manufacture tools as well as redistributing tools, uh, in those, those programs. So I think what that post was, uh, highlighting there was that capability, and we continue to invest in upgrading the analytics and things that come along with that, and I think that was what they were highlighting.

All right. So that was my mis- I thought it was a new, uh, a new unit for you guys, so… No, both, both on the tooling side and on the component side [01:00:00] where it’s appropriate, you know, we do vending. But on the tooling side, most of the pro- uh, uh, probably all of the programs on the tooling side have some sort of vending component to them.

Mm-hmm. Good. And then the last thing I notice, I see that, uh, your VP of marketing, Joe Shoemaker, is, uh, teaming up with Fully Threaded Radio host Eric Dudas to provide, uh, present a, a session at IFE in Arizona on October 9th. Yes. So, uh, every- everybody should come to that and, uh, uh, hear what they have to say.

I’m sure it will be interesting, and Joe is, uh, as you know, a charismatic guy, a, a very experienced guy. So I learn something every time I talk to him, so I’m sure it’ll be beneficial to the folks. Yeah. Looking, uh, that looks like a pretty good session, so… Are you going to the show or are you just sending some other people?

Yeah, I won’t be able to make it this year, so we’ve got a, a group of other folks going this time. All right, good. Any- anything else that you guys are– got going on you wanna talk about? No, like I said, we stay busy and, uh, a lot of good things going, but, uh, [01:01:00] you know, just one day at a time, right? Good. Well, uh, keep up the good work and, uh, thanks for coming on and, uh, sharing your insights about the FDI, which was, uh, as we mentioned earlier, the best number in eight years and the best forward-looking indicator in four years.

So you had a good at bat. Yeah, very good. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Thanks again. Thanks for joining us, Kevin. That was Kevin Godden. He’s the CEO of AFC Industries. The FDI number for September 2026 was 66.6 versus 58.3 in August. Visit fdisurvey.com to participate in the process and get a detailed PDF copy of Barrett’s monthly analysis.

Now for today’s top story. Acu in the UK expanded its North American operations with the establishment of its first USA distribution center, a 10,000 square foot facility in Indianapolis, Indiana. Accu also appointed Gio Cespedes as managing director of Accu Components US. The Indianapolis facility is intended to provide [01:02:00] faster fulfillment and localized support for Accu customers in North America.

The company noted that the Indiana’s manufacturing base in the automotive, electrical, and heavy machine sectors places the operation near key customers and supply chain partners. Gio Cespedes brings industry and leadership experience to the position and will oversee Accu’s continued growth in the North American market.

Gio said, quote, “I’m excited to join Accu Components at such a pivotal mo- moment as we scale our North American operations. Delivering high-quality products through our world-class digital platform alongside outstanding service is at the core of our growth, and I look forward to working closely with our team, customers, and supply partners to achieve our ambitious goals.”

End quote. Accu CEO Dan Jack added, quote, “We are thrilled to have Gio join Team Accu in this crucial senior role. Gio truly brings a unique blend of industry experience, team leadership, and personal integrity. He’s the perfect fit for Accu and will help continue our rapid growth in the world’s [01:03:00] largest industrial marketplace.”

End quote. Accu Components supplies precision components and fasteners through its digital platform and distribution operations. To learn more about Accu, turn to page 188 of the October-November issue of Fastener Technology International to read the traveling salesman recent interview with Accu CEO Dan Jack.

It’s available online at fastenertech.com. Next up, today’s Fastener Newsmaker headlines. In corporate news, the Nord-Lock Group agreed to acquire Bolt and Nut Manufacturing Simpson Strong-Tie expanded its outdoor hardware line. McClean Fogg celebrated Ford Q1 certification. Suncor Stainless expanded its hardware line with heavy duty marine grade stainless steel swivels.

Clarendon Specialty Fasteners acquired MGC Aerospace. Penn Engineering earned the Bron EcoVadis sustainability rating. And Research and Markets forecasts the North American industrial fasteners market will reach nearly thirty nine billion [01:04:00] dollars by 2035, expanding at an annual growth rate of three point nine percent.

In personnel news, Click Bond welcomed Melody Lewis as VP of People and Culture. Fiona Beattie joined Andrew Fasteners as National Sales Manager, and the Lynfast Solutions Group, also known as LSG, promoted Chris Alton and Cameron Carling to Global Account Managers. You can get details on all of these stories and more in Fastener Technology International Magazine and the Fastener News Report monthly newsletter, both available online at fastenertech.com.

Now let’s turn to the back page to talk about knowing the future. Today, there is no shortage of predictions about the future, from simply things like twenty four seven weather forecasts in our pockets to the nefarious gambling and crypto speculation apps stoking our modern vice economies, to endless opinions from hundreds or thousands of talking headmasters of the universe.

In every area of life, we are bombarded with confident expert predictions. So [01:05:00] the question that needs to be answered is, does anyone really know the future? The answer, I think, came to me in the title of a National Review online article written by Spencer A. Klavan His post is titled Nobody Knows the Future.

It’s a logical, fairly obvious, and humorous headline, but it is surprising how many people eagerly ignore it when talking about things to come. Here’s the opening section of Clavin’s commentary. Quote, “At the turn of this millennium, the titans of the tech industry were breathless with anticipation for a revolutionary new product.

They referred to it mysteriously by code names like Ginger and It, capital I-T. Based on a leaked book proposal, Time Magazine reported that It was expected to change the world by those most firmly in the know. ‘As big a deal as the PC,’ said Steve Jobs. ‘Maybe bigger than the Internet,’ said John Doerr, the venture capitalist behind Netscape and amazon.com.

Jeff Bezos called it one of the most famous and anticipated product introductions of all [01:06:00] time. The product, unveiled in December of two thousand and one on Good Morning America, was the Segway, the motorized two-wheeled scooter. Readers today re- may remember it as the preferred conveyance of Paul Blart, Mall Cop.

The Segway was discontinued in twenty twenty, and it did not redesign cities or render cars obsolete, as was foretold by the experts.” End quote. Some may even recall that Jimi Heselden, the British businessman who purchased the Segway company in two thousand and nine, died in two thousand and ten after losing control of his off-road Segway and plunging over a cliff and into a river.

Unfortunately, that is a tragic and ironic part of the story, but not the point that Clavin makes. The point is, nobody knows the future. Clavin continues, quote, “In our own present time, however, science has given us such a rigorous predictive power when it comes to the physical world that it’s tempting to believe that we can game out every variable at will.

This is probably what accounts for the confident pronouncement that business magnates [01:07:00] and secular prophets still make about what science should lead us to expect.” End quote. He’s talking mostly about recent predictions concerning AI, and he concludes, quote, “AI is not a Segway. Deep learning technology has already revolutionized many industries, and its effects on us, for good and ill, will likely continue to be profound.

Now that the AI leaders across the industry are raising concerns about an intimate spike in the dangers and capacities of the technology, it makes sense to take those concerns seriously, but not to take them as gospel.” End quote. Now, regular listeners of the Fastener News Report on Fully Threaded Radio hear from many knowledgeable industry veterans that it is hard enough to know what the next three months will bring, let alone predict the future.

But it’s always prudent to look at the signs of the times and be prepared. There is one, however, prediction that I can make with one hundred percent confidence. AI, like all other technologies and devices that are useful, powerful, and dangerous at the same time, will be used both for good and bad. It will be [01:08:00] creative and destructive all at once, with its destructive potential becoming greater when placed in immoral, untrained, or untempered hands Beyond that, nobody knows the future This has been Mike McNulty of Fastener Technology International, bringing you the Fastener News Report.

Please send your news, pictures, comments, corrections, or complaints to me at mcnulty@fastenertech.com.[01:09:00]

2026 International Fastener Expo, Brighten Best would love to see you. Come visit us at Booth 2041 at the Phoenix Convention Center to connect with the Brighten Best team, explore our latest products, and discover how we can help support your business with solutions you need. We’re looking forward to seeing familiar faces and making new connections at the International Fastener Expo in Phoenix.

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Hello everyone, this is Carmen Vertullo with the Fastener Training Minute coming to you from the Fastener Training Institute and Carver Labs in beautiful El Cajon, California. Today’s topic comes from a recent training program that I did in Atlanta for the SEFA, Southeast Fastener Association, uh, with Nancy Rich and the team there.

It was a very nice class. It was called Fastener Essentials, Not Basics. We did several sort of medium to high-end technical sessions. One of our sessions was about tightening strategies, and a question came up regarding two things. One was reusability of [01:11:00] threaded fasteners, and the other one was a concept called torque to yield.

And it was a great discussion worth knowing, and I’m sure we have talked about both of these topics on the Fastener Training Minute, and certainly in our Fastener Experts Mentor Zoom, but I don’t think we’ve ever talked about them together. So when I return, I’ll talk to you about the junction of reusability of fasteners and torque to yield.

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Well, welcome back everyone. Carmen Vertulo here with the Faster Training Minute. Today talking about reusing fasteners and torque to yield. First off, as a supplier, when the customer asks [01:13:00] you, “Can I reuse my fasteners?” The answer should always be no, no, no, no matter what, because you wanna sell them new fasteners.

So that’s just a starting point. But occasionally, fasteners will need to be reused because they’re not replaceable, or they’re very expensive, or the customer is cheap. A variety of reasons why you would want to reuse the fastener, be it the nut, the washer, or the bolt. So there are a couple ways to tell whether or not the fastener is safe to reuse.

First, do a nice visual inspection, make sure if it’s plated, the plating is in good shape, the threads aren’t nicked, the drive is not damaged or rounded over or anything like that. And that’s the first check. You do that to all three components, the nut, the bolt, and the washer. Then the most important thing to know is whether or not the fastener has exceeded its yield strength, or even its proof load maybe.

And one way to know that, or actually the only [01:14:00] reasonable way to know that, is to see if a nut will spin all the way up and down the threads. If it will, then the fastener has not been yielded It has not gone out of its elastic range and into its plastic range when it was last used. And y- you should use the nut that goes with the fastener to do this.

You don’t have to. You could also use a ring gauge, but that’s not necessary. So if the nut goes up and down the threads all the way up and all the way down, the fastener has not yielded. This may not be true for some certain weird fasteners that have a, what’s called a wasted body or a turned-down body, or even for some stainless steel bolting.

Sometimes the body can stretch before the threads, but that’s unlikely. Look at the washer, make sure the surface is still smooth, not been abraded, not been smeared. Make sure the plating, again, is in good shape. And then the nut as well, just make sure that it screws onto the bolt. Nuts aren’t really [01:15:00] subject to being overloaded the way bolts are, but make sure the corners aren’t rounded, it looks decent, and then you can reuse it.

So what does all this have to do with the concept of torque-to-yield? Well, first off, I don’t like the word torque-to-yield. We should be using the term tighten-to-yield. And the reason that in a fastened joint using threaded fasteners, that you would tighten the fastener to yield is to take full advantage of all of the holding power that the fastener has available.

In a typical bolted joint, we will tighten the fastener down to some percentage of its yield strength, probably 70 to 80%, just as a safety margin. So we don’t want to necessarily lose anything, but that’s a pretty easy target to hit. And also, torque is a notoriously unreliable indicator of tension, so you wanna have some margin there if you’re using torque as your tightening strategy So tighten to yield is in fact [01:16:00] a tightening strategy, and the way it typically works is you would tighten the fastener like you normally would with a torque wrench to some value, and then you would turn it some number of degrees past that.

As a matter of fact, one of the tests that we do on structural bolts, the rotational capacity test, is kind of a tighten to yield process. The bolts don’t always yield, but oftentimes they do. But we’re taking that bolt well beyond what its normal holding capacity would be if we were being conservative about that.

Where we see tighten to yield show up is primarily in engine bolts, racing engines, high-end cars, diesel engines, where the head bolts are tightened in to yield, and this is done with some very sophisticated methods. Sometimes ultrasonic measurement is used, sometimes a very sophisticated torque angle process is used, and those bolts are not [01:17:00] reusable.

Let me say it again, those bolts are not reusable once they have been used once and torqued or tightened to yield. The reason, obviously, is that they’ve yielded and they’re no longer gonna perform the way they did in that first tightening operation. So one of the ways that you can detect whether or not a fastener is designed or the joint is designed for tighten to yield is the assembly instructions will include that process I just mentioned, tighten to a certain level with a torque wrench, certain torque value, and then go beyond that in angle some number of degrees, 60 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees.

Now, the nice thing about this tighten to yield is it’s a gigantic fat target, very easy to hit, very consistent. We get to take full advantage of the strength of the bolt. Also, oftentimes head bolts or studs even that have a wasted shank, wasted means like [01:18:00] the waist where your belt goes, wasted down, if that’s the kind of waist you have, God bless you, a wasted shank, and that is to ensure that we have a consistent stretch throughout the length of the fastener, and it takes place evenly along the length of the bolt versus in the thread.

So that wasted shank will actually be slightly smaller than the cross-sectional area or the stress area of the threads And that gives for a very well-designed bolted joint. And we’ll only typically see tighten to yield used in rigid joints where there’s just metal in the system. Maybe a head gasket would not be considered unrigid, but other types of gaskets, such as we see in waterworks flanges and, uh, large assemblies that might involve wood, would not have a tighten to yield strategy.

Well, I’ll tell you a quick story before I go. I first had to address the [01:19:00] reusability issue when I was speaking to a group of amusement park ride owners in Southern California, and these aren’t the amusement park rides like you have at Disneyland or SeaWorld or Knott’s Berry Farm. These were the carnival rides that got transported around on trailers and got taken apart and put back together on a regular basis.

And so they really had to deal with the issue of reusability. But you could see in the design of many of these rides that the fasteners were not generally used in tension. They were used in shear, such as holding up what would be like a scaffolding with the bolts going through two sets of telescoping tubes or something like that, and then they would put sometimes a washer and a cotter pin, sometimes a nut, sometimes a nylon insert locknut.

They were mostly concerned with reusing nylon insert locknuts, and of course, they had to take the stuff apart and put it back together a lot, so [01:20:00] reusability would’ve certainly been a cost factor for them. And the important thing isn’t that you either reuse or don’t reuse. The important thing is that the people doing the work know whether they can reuse the bolt.

The decision is up to an engineer or a maintenance person for the most part. You can inspect bolts, as I said earlier, and reuse them. Locknuts can be reused if they still have prevailing torque, so if the nylon insert locknut will not spin past the nylon, it’s probably okay to reuse it. Well, there you have it on reusability of fasteners and tighten to yield fastener installation strategies.

Remember, it’s tighten to yield, not torque to yield, and that’s it. This has been Carmine Vertullo with your Fastener Training Minute. Thank you for listening.

This is Rosa Hearn from Lynfast Solutions [01:21:00] Group, home of Star Stainless, Stealth Fast, Lindstrom Fasteners, Big Bolt, and more, and you’re listening to Fully Threaded Radio

On the last episode of the podcast, we talked quite a bit about the new digital platform that was announced by Linfast Solutions Group, and that’s huge news. Of course, LSG is constantly in the news these days. They’re adding a lot of new faces. They’re doing a lot of things, and for a long time I’ve been wanting to dive into that a little more, and I’ve got two guys that are gonna help me do that.

CEO Mike Spencer, and Chief Marketing Officer… I think it’s even more than that. I think I might’ve got that wrong, Steve. It’s Steve Dean. Gentlemen, thanks for being here. Thanks for having us. Yeah, definitely thanks for having us, Eric. Thanks for hunting me down. Yeah, it’s been too long, and here we are. And of course, we’re recording this just before we get to the Vegas [01:22:00] and Phoenix show this year.

So I think most people will be listening afterwards, but, uh, I’m looking forward to seeing you guys out there and looking at what you have to show. There’s so much. I guess we’ll just dive into it. You guys are relatively new to the LSG family, but, uh, you have a long history together, don’t you, Mike? I guess we’ll let you dive into this one first, but you and Steve have known each other a little while, haven’t you?

Oh, yeah, definitely. Um, Steve and I, uh, go back probably at least 25 years working together. I’ve worked for Steve. He’s worked for me. Um, you know, I w- I, I spent 30 years at, between Anixter and WESCO, uh, Steve, 25 years. We actually met at an acquisition of Anixter, Pacer Electronics, and, uh, actually started a…

The two of us started a business unit together for Anixter at that time up in the Boston area. Had a lot of fun doing that, too. I mean, it was two people, just entrepreneurial, uh, starting a business from scratch. Yeah, I think, Eric, we’ve been really fortunate to have the relationship, and I think that when Mike asked me to join LSG, it was a really exciting [01:23:00] opportunity just, just because of how closely we’ve worked.

And, you know, really you’re talking to two f- two guys that have spent their entire career in industrial distribution in some facet. Uh, and you know, and, and at some point, even Anixter owned a fastener company, as you probably remember. Oh, yeah. Anixter was one of the very important early members of the Fasteners Clearinghouse, well, what became the FCH Sourcing Network.

And a lot of stories about Anixter in the old days, which I won’t divert us into, but uh, would be good fodder for- Yeah … after hours conversation sometime. But, uh, yeah, so it’s very interesting because since you were involved with Anixter and WESCO and that big company integration, I guess it carries well forward into what you’re doing today with LSG because, uh, integration of companies is the name of the game, isn’t it?

Well, I wanna talk a lot about what you have envisioned for LSG. That’s going to speak into your vision really for the way industrial distribution as a whole is going. But before we get into that, [01:24:00] talk about how you guys came into this a little bit more, dive into it, and Mike, maybe you can give us a little history of how LSG has shaped up over the last, well, what is it?

2018 since the StealthFast- That’s right … Livent merger, right? Yeah. So yeah, if you look back, um- You know, LSG has been around since two thousand and eighteen, to your point, when, uh, Lindstrom and Stelfast were pulled together, uh, initially, and then, uh, Nautic Partners, uh, acquired LSG in two thousand and nineteen, which really helped to accelerate the investment and the expansion of the organization and the vision of it.

You know, if you look at quickly followed in twenty twenty-one with the acquisition of Solutions Industry, that, um, really strengthened our value-added capabilities at the time. Um, followed in twenty twenty-two, we acquired Fasteners and Fittings up in Canada, which allowed us to really enter the Canadian market in a material way.

Um, same, same year in twenty twenty-two, which was busy, uh, just really a, um, transformational, [01:25:00] I would say, acquisition for the company to add to the anchor legacy brands of Stelfast and Lindstrom with Star Stainless, which really got us into that stainless steel, exotic, non-ferrous metals, uh, expertise as a market leader.

Um, you know, if you, if you continue the march forward in twenty twenty-three, we acquired Hi-Q Fasteners, which was, was, was really helpful for us as we just wanted to continue to expand our product offering, um, which– and Hi-Q did that. It allowed us to really get into some specialty and niche, uh, fastener offerings.

And that kind of pulled us together as, uh, a, a market-leading fastener channel. Um, and as the company continued to evolve in twenty twenty-four, we started to look at adjacent categories and, like, how could we continue to serve our cu-customers better. Um, so in twenty twenty-four, you would have seen the acquisition of, uh, Mirco Tape, which was really our first entree outside of the core fastener product brand.

Um, you know, it, it, and it really, it, it allowed us to diversify for the first time, give our customers some new offerings. And literally December, I think it was twenty-third twenty [01:26:00] twenty-four, and I know that ’cause it was my first day at LSG, uh, we acquired Big Bolt and Delta Secondary, which really expanded our fastener and, and, uh, diversified product mix to get into specialty manufacturing, uh, in the United States.

Um, which is really, you know, that acquisition really helps us fill in gaps, uh, ser-service customers on, like, highly technical, fast turnaround needs in the fastener space. And really by that point, you know, like I said, my first day was on the day we acquired AZ. I mean, I’m sorry, Big Bolt, Delta Secondary.

Um, you know, as we– Steve mentioned, you know, we spent a lot of time in the last really twelve to eighteen months transforming the organization. You know, that gen– the next transition of that or transformation was really the acquisition of AZ Wire and Cable, um, which was– is a leader in the, the, uh, electrical wire and cable space.

And that, you know, that was basically, we closed that deal on, uh- really New Year’s Eve of 2025 as we rolled into 2026. So really as, uh, come up for air here in a second, that’s a quick rundown [01:27:00] of the company. But if, if I look back in my short period of time, you know, in the last year and a half, but if I go back to when the company was founded, in the last 12 to 18 months, you know, I would say we have really structurally transformed who we are and our value proposition, taking like well-known, uh, long-term, uh, brand leaders, um, that were fragmented brands and really turned it into an u- unified industrial supply chain partner for our customers and our partners.

And I think, or just to add to that, because I think it’s really important is, is when you think about, you know, really LSG and what attracted us to join is it really was that strong brand leading position. And, and honestly, you know, we, we have the best team in the fastener industry and, and you know, we’re really proud of the organization and the culture that we put together as, as we transform into this supply chain solution organization.

Well, Steve, I think I mangled the title that you’re using earlier, uh, and it’s actually chief commercial officer, and that entails much more than just marketing. It’s the sales [01:28:00] organization as well, which is so important to you guys. Correct. But, uh, further to your comment just now, since you did inherit these really, really significant brands within the fastener industry, a very close-knit industry, as you now know, that’s gotta be sort of a mixed blessing.

What challenges have you had in the sales and marketing areas that you are dealing with here with everything you’re doing? You know, I, I, I wouldn’t say there’s been a lot of challenges. I, I think really was, Eric, for us, was really the integration. So Mike and I, through our careers, have lived through some very big integrations.

Um, I was on– I was fortunate enough to be on the team that acquired HD Power Solutions when we were at Anixter, and then we, and we both lived through the, the WESCO, uh, integration and merge. So really, I, I think it, it really has been more exciting and more opportunity than concerns because, again, we, we have very capable teams.

As you know, we, we have a specialist approach with a [01:29:00] dedicated group of inside fastener and now wire and cable specialists, and, and I think that approach is really important for us because we don’t wanna lose that specialty approach. But we are gonna offer, and I know we’re gonna talk about digital in a few minutes, but offer other platforms for people to be able to work with us, basically how they wanna operate with us a-and really service our customers.

But I think from the challenging part, if you look, is, is just really thinking about one LSG and how we come together as an organization and, and operate as one operating company while still maintaining the brand identity and the specialist approach. Well, that’s a trick, isn’t it? Yeah. Yeah. And it’s, and it’s really obviously critically important to us.

It is. Like, the, the power of our brands is the reason, like, this company ex-exists today. But for us to, like, continue to, like, transform and serve our customers, like, that integration has been the biggest challenge. Uh, we moved at a quick pace, and I’ll say, like, from my perspective, Eric, there’s a lot of challenges, not necessarily in the [01:30:00] industry.

The industry’s actually been really great. Um, I’m new to, I’m new to fasteners for the most part, but I will say I think probably my advantage, and I think Steve as well, is that we were neutral, uh, to the brands to help lead the team through the transformation. And I– And Steve said, we’ve been through a lot of integrations.

The, the, the teams and the, and the, and the people here at Linfast Solutions Group have been the easiest group I’ve ever worked with in terms of, like, dynamic change. And I don’t mean it’s been easy, by the way. It’s just, like, the thirst for change, the openness to it, their inclusion in, in, like, ideas and thoughts and diversity of thought to make us a better organization and leverage our size and scale has been really refreshing.

Um, and it’s really made it a lot easier than it could be, uh, ’cause transformation and change is really hard. But, you know, as we- You’ve, you’ve probably seen, and if not, like we put together our guiding philosophy ’cause we have really strong cultures and we refer to as the LSG way. And one of those is change is our advantage.

Uh, and we really believe in that. And I, and I will say we, we can really, I can say [01:31:00] I firmly believe in it because the strength of the people behind us like, uh, championing that for us Okay, well said. Good to hear. So to put more context onto that, you’re now an organization that says you’ve got about forty-one locations and north of a quarter million SKUs in your book.

And what’s roughly the headcount these days, Mike? Um, we’re in the general area of about fifteen hundred team members and associates here at LSG. Okay. So this is a sizable organization, very well represented, and as separate pieces, and now as one organization, very well known and growing. Okay. So why don’t we dive into the digital now, ’cause we’ve been mentioning it, dancing around it, and it’s so important to what you’re doing.

And we want to stress that although omni-channel is the vision for what you guys are doing, it’s a piece by piece, step by step kind of a process. And where are we at as of September first, twenty twenty-six when this announcement dropped? Yeah, I mean, I think, um, you know, good call on [01:32:00] the omni-channel.

It’s aspirational for us. We think it’s really challenging for any organization to be truly omni-channel. But, you know, if we look back at the last fifteen months, you know, Linfast Solutions Group, really, I’ll– to be honest, like our digital transformation has gone from like zero to a thousand in a very, very short period of time.

So the, the launch of our e-commerce site was a huge milestone for us in that digital transformation journey. Um, and I will say, it’s really just the beginning of what we’re doing over here. Um, and ultimately, the objective with the e-commerce site was really, uh, for us, we pin all of our investment in technology around customer experience, whether internal or external, and that’s a big decision-maker for us.

But, uh, the objective is really simple. Like customers, our customers and partners should be able to engage and transact with LSG like any way they want, um, that supports their business. And, and we knew we were missing in that, like that, that e-com B2B, uh, pathway, and that really w- is what drove the launch of that.

Um, and so we’re really excited it’s up and running. You know, stop by the [01:33:00] booth this week. You’ll be able to see, uh, demos, and feel free to sign up and, uh, work with our team on it. Steve, I wonder, since you’re heading up the sales organization, if you could walk us through a customer experience on this platform.

What are people gonna experience out there? What can they do now that they weren’t able to do previously? I think the most important thing that’s available today, Eric, is that we’ve, we’ve set up a platform where a customer can go in and place one purchase order for all three of our major fastener brands without having to deal with, you know, having to break up orders or, or understand which, which product should go to which one of the brands.

So really, when, when you think about that experience, I mean, it, it’s what you would expect from a new e-com platform, and the tool itself is, is incredible, and the work we’ve done in the PIM and just cleaning up product data that continues to go on But, but really the most exciting thing for us is, again, Mike talks about being able to let customers work with us how they want to work with us, and not dictate how we operate.

And I think it really is having [01:34:00] that one platform where you can go on now and you can order Star Stainless, Lindström, and Stealth as product On the same order and have one purchase order, one invoice from LSG. Okay, that’s huge. You got a lot of people’s attention. That’s the goal. And it really is, Tim, like I said, uh, so I talked about, you know, it’s really just the beginning of our journey ’cause for some customers it is mean, it does mean ordering online, you know.

For others, it’s gonna mean integration with the ER- ERPs, whether it’s EDI or, you know, APIs, eProcurement platforms, um, automated purchasing workflows, a- and/or our, our really our traditional technical sales channel. And as we look to the future, what’s next? I mean, EDI’s been around for a long time. I don’t see it going away, but as technology is advancing, we are continuing to invest in and look into what are other pathways beyond APIs, if they exist, or better ways to work with APIs and EDI.

And Eric, I think the other, the other part of that, that Mike talked about is, is e-commerce is just really part of our digital [01:35:00] journey. So as Mike said, we– EDI’s been around a long time. We have APIs. We’re working on, again, ways to do APIs with our customers that allow them to have, you know, one LSG PO and be able to get all brands.

And then we’re also introducing Bill Trust, um, you know, which is an online payment again that, that eases, you know, how to operate with our customers and continue to improve on that digital journey as, as well as some internal tools. Yeah, we’re brushing up against, uh, look into the crystal ball now, aren’t we?

Because I have so many questions about what you guys are envisioning for the next chapter in industrial distribution, and I know you’re at some level a lot like everybody else, you know. You have your ideas and your thoughts, but we can’t really be sure what’s coming. Having said all that, if you had to put money down on it, how long do you think before industrial wholesale distribution is experiencing wide adoption of agentic purchasing, as it’s been called?

So agent-to-agent kind of activity [01:36:00] that’s going on. Do you see that coming in our market? Yeah, I, I– That’s a really good question, and, um, not a very clear answer on that because I think to your point, as, uh, technology continues to expand exponentially, you know, as, as we view it, we– I mean, and we, we invest a lot into technology and AI research development and then deployment.

On the agentic side, we still see, like, as we build out our business, there are still so, uh, just, you know, traditional machine language is still seems to be the pathway and agentic will come. It is coming in, it’s here, um, and I think for every company it’s gonna be different. It’s how you view technology, uh, how important you think it is for your strategic vision short-term and long-term.

Um, you know, for, for us, it really back to, like I said, you know, everything’s pinned on enhancing customer experience. When we look at any technology, whether it’s AI, agentic AI It, it really comes down to sequencing from our perspective. Like any company can [01:37:00] map out use cases. Uh, the potential is unlimited.

Our focus is always around the people first. Um, you know, really in the field, by the field, for the field, and so we start with the people, and then how do we, how do we, uh, utilize tools that can enhance their experience on a day-to-day basis, which rolls downstream to our customer experience. So good question, Eric.

Like it’s, it’s like I think technology has changed so much, and we have to be so careful with our investments ’cause what may be a hard solution to solve today, six months from now could be off the shelf in a, a, a free product set for somebody. And that’s the challenge of trying to like work through that minefield and not really answer your question very intelligently.

Right. Well, that’s really the best you can ask for in this world. I mean, I don’t know anybody who can give you a solid answer on what everything looks like two years from now even. And that’s, that’s the challenge. Like, like for us We have to solve for before you invest, you gotta do the due diligence.

Like, you gotta solve for, like, what is important, you know, what is the effort involved? Is our data ready? You know [01:38:00] what I mean? Um, because, like, a lot of people, like AI just becomes this, like, hot topic of like, oh, if we, if we’re not in AI, we’re not staying up with the, the market or the industry. And our approach has been like, we can’t worry about the market or the industry.

We really gotta be focused on Lindt Solutions Group and, and that customer experience. And so we, we do spend a lot of time on that, like solving those, doing the due diligence on them. Um, we look at like, hey, do we build or we buy, and where do we lack expertise or not? And not to get way off track, the overarching concern, back to your original question about agentic AI, but even with anything we’re doing, is AI and IT governance.

It’s like a whole new world. You know, there’s– people have access to ChatGPT, Claude, uh, Gemini, everything. Like, what are they using? Are they putting our data up on that? So those are, those are like whole new challenges for any organization that we’re all trying to manage through at the same time. And how are you addressing that question?

The, uh, governance piece? Yeah. Yeah. So, like, we, um- Like, just give it to Dean, right? Yeah. Put everything on Dean. That’s [01:39:00] exactly right. De- Dean, you owe Dean a beer now, but, um, yeah, for, you know, so like we have had to, uh, map out and refine, and we’re doing it again, like literally this week, our, uh, uh, IT governance policy to continue to reshape our language around AI governance.

Um, ’cause it is, it’s, it is a whole new world, and there’s so much technology out there for free, for pay. Like, how do we keep our data on it, off of it? So it’s, it’s not easy, Eric, but it’s about educating our people, uh, kinda like putting that governance in place, educating our teams. ‘Cause really, it’s an enabler for us, just like all technology.

It’s a tool to enable our organization to continue to grow, but we gotta do it in an intelligent manner that, uh, you know, is, is really res- like for my, for me personally , the responsibility for the organization. Yeah, Eric, I, I would say too… Oh, sorry, but I was gonna add to that, ’cause Mike brings up a good point.

I think th-this is– we, we spend more time on technology probably than we ever have in our careers. Well, I’ll speak for myself. [01:40:00] Well, ditto. Yeah. But I think for us it’s so important to constantly be evaluating what’s out there, evaluating what other, especially other industries are doing in distribution.

As you know, there’s a lot more, uh, other types of distribution that are already into this. So we’re, we’re constantly doing that and, and I think the key for us is, is really what Mike said about it being an enabler for us, ’cause we don’t see it as changing our business model. It really is, again, that specialist approach, but then having these new digital tools for customers to have a better experience when they work with LSG.

Is there anything specific that’s happening in the sales organization that you’re managing that is using any particular deployment of AIs that you can point to that’s kind of really working for you these days? We have deployed AI on the new e-commerce platform for being able to find product, search product.

And then, and then we have been using AI internally, um, for quite a bit of time. Well, I wouldn’t say quite a bit. Probably this year, right, [01:41:00] Mike? Yeah. And I think what, yeah, what we’re doing is we’re trying to use AI to, for really speed to market and, and responsiveness. Uh, because one of the areas we see, especially with the complexity of our SKUs, is how fast can we respond to our customers and be able to provide pricing, availability, and feedback?

Because obviously they’re waiting for us to be able to quote their customers. Okay, so you’re processing those inbound RFQs. Yeah, that’s huge. But also important to know that, that it’s, it’s only part of the total, right? Because we still, again, as, as specialists at our inside sales team, they’re, they’re constantly evaluating and looking at everything and spending a lot of time checking and making sure that it’s correct, as well as using the tools.

Yeah, I’m just curious about this. Have you seen across your organization, uh, I’m sure you have, different people in your group that are picking it up and others that are resisting it? That’s a really great question. Um, what I would say is that we’ve had very, very good adoption. Uh, I think it goes back to, Mike, to your earlier comment.

This, [01:42:00] this team working with the LSG, I, I feel has been probably one of the best experiences coming into a, a new job and a big integration like we’re going through. The, the willingness of, of the LSG team to learn, take on new challenges, look at new technology. Uh, and as you know, we have some very, very tenured specialists in our business.

But I would say overall the team has absolutely adopted it, um, you know, for the most part. I mean, there’s always a few outliers whenever you do something like this, Eric. But I do think as we set the digital journey and we were able to map out what it looks like for our team, I think they understand it.

They understand the future’s coming faster than it’s ever come at us. And, and candidly, i- in order to be the market leader, we, we have to stay on top of this to be able to be responsive and have the best customer experience possible. Yeah, I don’t think you can deny that whatsoever. Yeah, I mean, kind of a long answer, but, but again, you know, back to the just the quality of the folks that we’ve been fortunate to work with at the LSG team is they, they really have embraced [01:43:00] it, um, you know, all the different technologies and, and, you know, and they recognize, you know, as we come together and, and maintain the brands, maintain the specialists, but as we come together as an organization, really important to be able to keep up with what’s going on in the world.

You touched on how important it is to have really solid data underneath all these systems. Last episode, we were talking with Sam Aldinger with Hyland Consulting, and Justin King, he’s with the Business-to-Business E-commerce Association, and they were really getting into the data and the PIM, you know, work that needs to be done to get all this to work.

I’ll just tell you this, Steve, uh, you may not be aware of this, but in the old days, Brian and I used our scrubber software to clean up the StealthFast and a lot of the star data and get all that into shape. As a matter of fact, some of the old Lindstrom stuff too we, we did jobs on. So hopefully some of our work is still in your systems today, but I know you’ve taken it even farther, and I’m wondering, in that [01:44:00] project of configuring all that PIM data to be completely optimized, what kind of lessons have you’ve learned?

Uh, that’s a good question. I think the, the biggest lesson we’ve probably learned on the, on the data is that we needed to have the PIM in-house and, and actually have a team that really was dedicated to it. I don’t think you can go through these technology changes without, you know, with having it be a part-time job for certain people or people dabbling in and out of it.

You know, the, the fear always is when, when you’re doing an integration or a change of technology like we’re going through as a… Well, I guess as an industry, is you, you really need to make sure you have the best people in the best roles to be successful. And then when you, when you have the, the opportunity, set up dedicated teams that really specialize in something.

I think too often you, you put together a project team and everybody has full-time jobs. You know, you get excited about it, it goes well for two or three months, and then, and then you f- you know, go back to your day job. Yeah. I’ve been there. Yeah. I mean, it, it happens to all of us. I mean, it happens [01:45:00] to every organization.

So I think, you know, our approach, we, we have a pretty methodical approach to project management, how we manage projects, expectations, outcomes, and, and timelines and accountability. A- and I think having the dedicated teams and understanding, and, and Mike mentioned it, always evaluating where to invest really becomes critical to, to the success of a program like this.

All right. I’m talking with Steve Dean. He is the Chief Commercial Officer at Linfast Solutions Group. We were talking also with Mike Spencer, who dropped off momentarily, and he may have returned. Are you there, Mike? I love talking about AI and I, I can’t get, uh, not stay on the call. He just… Yeah, he just text- We were just texting.

He said, “No internet or Wi-Fi,” but he’s back. Yeah, the, the double-edged sword that is technology. Well, glad to have you back here. Steve and I were filling in the gap while you were off. I know that you guys don’t have unlimited time today, and we’ve actually covered a lot of ground already, and I do appreciate it, and [01:46:00] I’m looking forward to seeing you guys again in Phoenix at IFE.

By the time most folks hear this, that’ll be in the rear view mirror. But, uh, it’s good to have you guys on, and I hope that you’ll join us again, and that we can get some of the individual superstars from LSG on the podcast more regularly. You know, I’m always hunting them down, you guys, but they’re so busy-

you know, that they always stiff-arm me. You guys got them really working over there. I was gonna say, someone, someone has to work. Steve and I can jump on here- That’s right … but they do the w- they, they c- they do the heavy lifting for us day in and day out, and we’re just really lucky to have, uh, all of them, on a serious note.

It’s, it’s… It makes my job a lot easier, same with Steve, I’m sure. But, uh, honestly, we have a lot of fun doing what we’re doing. The last 12 to 15 months have been really exciting to see, like, how we’ve transformed and the growth of the organization. And honestly, just like technology’s, just the transformation of the company, we’re just getting started.

Um, we’re really excited about our upside here, and, uh, we’ll, we’ll stay in touch for the rest of the journey. I gotta drop [01:47:00] one more bomb question just because that’s what I do- … before I let you go. But- Let’s go … are we gonna hear about any new acquisitions in the next, uh, six, nine months? You know, you know, that is a, that is a great question, Eric.

I love the bomb reference. Um, you know, honestly, who knows? Like w- we’re, we, we are going to continue to grow, uh, organically and M&A, through M&A, ’cause if you look at, like, how we’re gonna continue to just really execute on those commercial, operational, digital, and M&A growth levers that have made us successful to date, it is that focus on commercial excellence, operational excellence, that digital transformation, and strategic M&A.

So there’s been a lot going on in our industry, um, but we’re also looking, like, you know, outside for adjacent categories ’cause we do feel our customers are asking for it as, like, how can we continue to support their growth? Um, so yeah, who knows? Possible announcement from a Velcro company then, I’m thinking.

I don’t know about that. I have no [01:48:00] idea. All right. Well- Okay, that one didn’t, that one didn’t go over very well- … so I’ll, I’ll ask you one more. That, that one threw, that one threw me off. I was like, “I don’t know about that.” It threw me, it threw me off too. I was like, my brain started rocking, Eric. I’m like, I’m- Yeah, me too

I don’t know what he’s talking about. Well, the whole thing with the tape, you know, that caught a lot of people off guard, I gotta tell you. You know, it’s the f- it’s the threaded fastener industry. But so one more before you guys roll out of here. What’s the future of the Stealth Fast monkey, now the Lindfast monkey?

I, I mean, I don’t see it going anywhere. I mean, it’s here to stay. Yeah. Uh, it’s, to me, it’s like really exciting to see. Like, it’s a, it’s a, it’s like a cultural phenomenon. Um, whether I’m at customer sites or in our own facilities, especially if you’ve been around a long time. I mean, there are… I have seen…

I, I don’t even know, like, the total count. It’s double digits of different variations of monkey. Um, the, uh, the names may sometimes change on the back to, to include all of our brands, but again, the, the foundation of trust that these brands started, and now driven by growth [01:49:00] through, uh, this combination and, and coordination under Lindfast.

I will say I, I, I see the monkeys as, uh, continuing to be part of the culture here for a very long time. So come on by and, and grab one at the booth. Yeah. The other thing, Eric, I would add to that, too, is, is you should ask our VP of marketing that next year when you have a chance, ’cause- Yeah … I think, ’cause she, she’s the brain behind the operations there, but there’s no question the, the, the monkey is foundational to who we are.

Okay. Well, that’s a big relief, guys- … and I won’t, I won’t go into that in too much depth, but I just wanna say I hope rumors have been put to rest now with this conversation, and I think out of all the important things we talked about, some people, that’ll be the biggest takeaway sadly. Well, I’m, I’m glad.

That’s awesome, man. But we’re here to, like I said, customer experience is number one, and, uh, you know, there’s, there’s some trading from what I understand on aftermarkets around the Stealth Fast monkeys, depending on vintage, brand, and everything else, so. We’re gonna actually start posting the monkeys on the new e-com site, Eric.

Love it. The, the vintage monkeys. Yeah. [01:50:00] Eric, one thing I’d add, too. I know, I know we’re getting up on time, but, you know, really important, Mike and I are, will be in Phoenix. We’re excited about IFE. Obviously, we have a large team there. We’re gonna be demoing the e-commerce site. So really any, anybody that’s available, please come find us.

Um, you know, we’ll be in the booth most of the day Thursday. Um, I think we’ll be at the opening reception Wednesday night. Really excited about what we have coming up at the show, and the team that we have there, so I would hope everybody’s able to come by and see us. Definitely, and Eric, thanks for having us on, man.

It’s been a long time. I know you’ve been all over me, and I really appreciate the opportunity to come on and, uh, have some fun with, uh, you and Steve. Appreciate it, guys. Anytime. All right, we’ve been talking with Mike Spencer, Steve Dean, Lindfast Solutions Group. We’ll be back with more Fully Threaded in just a minute.[01:51:00]

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Hello to all the fastener professionals and FTR listeners. Once again, it’s Marco Rodriguez with the Cresa Industrial Real Estate Update, providing actionable information to help [01:52:00] drive profitability for your business. Today, I’m going to talk about the danger of waiting. Most corporate tenants start looking at their industrial lease renewal six to nine months out.

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Hi, this is Kara Bosse from [01:55:00] MW Components, your precision component supplier for fastener springs and other metal parts, and I’m talking to Eric on Fully Threaded Radio

Well, Bry, those guys, although it turns out they’re huge supporters of the Linfast Monkey, are very serious with their work over there at LSG. Mike Spencer, Steve Deane, so good of them to join us on today’s episode. Yeah. Thanks for taking the time. I’m glad they see the value in maintaining some of this legacy branding that they’ve cobbled together over there at LSG.

So important to the industry, so meaningful, so impactful. We’ll thank our other guests also on today’s episode, Taryn Goodman, the Young Fastener Professional of the Year. I guess it’s okay to call her the rivet queen now, Bry. Yeah, right. [01:56:00] Wonder if they have to change the crown. Over there at Industrial Rift.

Congratulations again. Kevin Godden with AFC joined Mike McNulty with Fastener Technology International today on the Fastener News Report. Carmen Vertullo had the Fastener Training Minute. And of course, Marco Rodriguez brought us the Cresa Industrial Real Estate Update. Thank you, one and all. The title sponsors of Fully Threaded Radio: Brighton Best International and Linfast Solutions Group.

Fully Threaded Radio is also sponsored by: Buckeye Fasteners and the Ohio Nut and Bolt Company, BTM Manufacturing, Eurolink Fastener Supply Service, Andrews International, Global Fasteners, InSQL Software, Fastener Technology International, Jay Lanfranco, MW Components, Cresa, 3Q Inc., Volt Industrial Plastics, and Wurth Industry USA.

Well, Bry, it was kind of a compressed episode, and one of the reasons is that we’re scrambling to get everything ready to [01:57:00] head out to Phoenix. And as always, we’ve got the ongoing low-intensity cyber warfare issues to deal with. It seems like it’s never-ending these days. I know. It’s really sort of hacks you off, actually.

But whatever. This is the, this is the problems of having a website, okay? But for some reason, we were suddenly hit by a whole set of bots from different companies that are not really in our wheelhouse, and they’re certainly not in our direct industry, um, who were updated the searches by about tenfold.

Now, the net result is that ordinary people trying to search were sort of noticing that probably it was pretty slow. Well, it was. And, um, the attempts to try and limit that have sort of caused us our own problems. Hey, Bry, I just have to say, I know that these are serious problems and they have to be managed, but I will also say that as much as [01:58:00] people dislike talking about AI, at least in the fastener industry, apparently, they hate even more talking about network administration issues.

Well, so do I. Oh, mate, I hate it too. This is… If I could never do this again in my life, I’d be fine. Well, to tie it all up in a bow, everyone’s very grateful for your hard work, and if you’re an FCH member who’s hit a few snags, don’t worry, we’re keeping the wheels on. We’re doing our best, so. Yep. We are.

Thanks for all your hard work, Bry, and those late nights All right. The other reason that we’re a little compressed is because we just dropped a great episode. It’s an unthreaded edition of Fully Threaded Radio. It’s a conversation with Würth Industry USA CEO, Daniel Schmidt. Cool. Just dropped that. Now we’re working on this one.

So this one will be coming out just a couple days later. Then after IFE, you can expect to see another episode with our semi-comprehensive coverage- And interviews That’s right, of [01:59:00] the Vegas show in Phoenix, International Fastener Expo 2026. That’s cool. And we’ll leave it there. Thanks for clicking in, everybody.

We really do appreciate it. Let our sponsors know you appreciate it too. For Brian Musker, this is Eric Dudas. Get out there, sell some screws. And if you’re listening to this before the show, make sure you stop by FCA to say hi, okay? And we’ll talk to you next time.

Fully Threaded Radio is a production of Fasteners Clearinghouse. Music provided by Audionautix.