Focus on distributors

Since the foundation of the company our policy has remained unchanged in that we sell only to one market sector: distributors. This clear and reliable statement provides a confident basis on which to build a solution-focused co-operation with our customer base. At the same time, it underlines the high level of integrity for which we are renown with all of our business partners. Our word is our bond.

This unique focus also makes us the European distribution specialist in the field of industrial fasteners itself. Our expertise in this distribution channel allows us to develop and implement efficient and made-to-measure solutions for the needs and requirements of distributors. They make Fastbolt a competent alternative to purchasing directly from the manufacturer, and a strategic partner to the European fastener wholesale market for fast procurement to cover intermediate needs.

01 Focus on Distributors

Quality

Our policy is designed to consistently provide quality through every aspect of our business, ultimately providing products to the highest quality level and encompassing Total Quality Management (TQM). An important contributing factor is ensuring a constantly high level of quality of the products we handle. We achieve this by creating efficient partnerships with our certified manufacturers and those suppliers that have been approved in a standard process, by maintaining a permanent presence in our  supply markets and by means of quality inspections carried out abroad as well as in our European warehouses.

Pre-shipping controls are carried out by the Fastbolt subsidiary FQC – Fastener Quality Centre Shanghai (VR China). The QS laboratory in China, which has been certified to ISO 17025:2005, is capable of carrying out all necessary quality inspections before goods are shipped. FQC also offers this service to third parties across the globe. Subsidiaries in Germany and England are certified to ISO 9001:2015.

02 Quality

Technology

The quality of information technology is a major contributor to the success of a distribution company. For this reason, Fastbolt chose an established market leader to provide an ERP system to offer perfect support for business processes such as sales and distribution, materials management, warehouse management and finance: SAP. At the same time, it also functions as a ‘leading system’ that interacts with special software for the warehouse management (LVS) and quality (CAQ) fields connected via interfaces.

In addition to the use of the above-mentioned systems, Fastbolt’s IT team develops made-to-measure applications in-house to meet the steadily growing market requirements of different customers as individually as possible.

Fastbolt is very aware of the future strategic importance of IT and software development and therefore has a trainee program for young system integration specialists.

03 Technology

Digitization

One of Fastbolt’s overriding strategic priorities for years has been to automate business processes, the main focus here being on digitization to enable formerly time-consuming analogue work and communication processes to be replaced with value-adding digital solutions. The aim is to maximise customer benefit and also boost in-house efficiency and economy by means of internal intelligent business processes.

An important element here is the Fastbolt E-Commerce solution FBonline that offers customers real-time stock levels, customised and quality-dependent net prices, as well as a wide variety of additional information, functions and technical support per mouse click. Many years of in-house development work have made FBonline a leading online platform in the market. Thanks to its specific focus on distributors, this tool can be ideally adapted to different customer procurement processes and also offers sustainable added value.

Also, in conjunction with FBonline, made-to-measure EDI solutions that automatically exchange business-relevant data between the ERP systems in defined formats form the highest level of electrical connection to customers and digitalised process integration.

04 Digitization

Logistics

The pure net price of the product is only one of many factors that contribute to the procurement cost of industrial fasteners. Sourcing, packing, warehousing and dispatch all play a significant role in the final cost, in particular with respect to screws, which is why the logistics division at Fastbolt is so important. The extremely efficient and flexible flow of goods, which is designed to minimise errors, forms the basis for optimised logistical cooperation with our customer base and suppliers; it is also optimised and supported by a warehouse management software system specifically tailored for Fastbolt. Thanks to its three sites in Germany, England and Portugal, Fastbolt has a warehouse capacity of approx. 28,000 pallet locations and also packages a high volume of customer products using packaging machines and considerable inhouse and external manual packaging capacities.

Customised logistics solutions are standard at Fastbolt.

05 Logistics

Containers direct

In addition to systematically delivering stock from our distribution centres in Germany, England and Portugal, we can offer our customers direct container shipments from Asia without us handling the containers in our warehouses.

Customer-specific quality inspections and delivery tracking on site in the supply markets ensures smooth import processes. In addition to pure material procurement, we also offer special services, e.g. individual packaging, quality inspection reports or free home deliveries. Our customers benefit from the long-term relationships that Fastbolt has forged exclusively with accredited manufacturers and factories in the Far East, which Fastbolt has audited, and our extensive sourcing expertise.

06 Containers direct

The human factor

The human factor plays a major role at Fastbolt. Despite strategic efforts to make advances with digitization and automate in-house processes in order to boost efficiency, it is our workforce that plays a decisive role in our success. At the interface of humans and systems, it is the workforce that recognise and analyse customer requirements allowing them to be implemented with state-of-the-art equipment and personal qualification in the interests of the customer. It is our proud claim that every member of the Fastbolt team subscribes and contributes to this goal and the policy of maximising customer satisfaction.

Knowing how important the human factor is for our company, we continuously strive to offer the team at Fastbolt an ideal mix of motivation, recognition, further training and prospects. It is therefore hardly surprising that Fastbolt trains junior staff to create a pool of recruits for positions in all commercial, logistics and technical areas.

07 The human factor