EDL Fasteners is a leading distributor of industrial, construction, engineering and general fasteners, servicing businesses across many sectors for more than 30 years. With a product range comprising over 30,000 line items, structured to provide the widest, in-depth range of fastening items in the country, EDL supplies a full range of industrial fasteners including nuts, bolts, screws, washers, rivets and construction anchors – in a number of material types or finishes including stainless steel, galvanised and zinc-plated. The range encompasses products with special features and benefits – for example, Dzus quarter-turn fasteners, Tappex brass inserts and PEM self-clinching fasteners. Corrosion resistant requirements can normally be met from a large range of 304 and 316 grade stainless steel items but more stringent requirements can be met with PTFE-coated or exotic materials. As the largest distributor of specialised engineered fasteners in New Zealand, with 13 branches, EDL provides the widest range of service solutions in the industry. An important part of the service offering is to build customer relationships so that EDL has a good understanding of their customers’ business and its requirements. This includes providing inventory management solutions, fastening product rationalisation audits, certifications, and assistance with design specifications, not to mention being a part of the world’s largest fastener distribution network. EDL Fasteners has taken the KANBAN system and refined it for industrial and manufacturing customers. This proven VMIS (Vendor Managed Inventory System) is customised to meet a customer’s specific industry needs. Faced with the many recurring problems of effective stock-control, the highly flexible KANBAN system offers a unique range of solutions. “As opposed to just selling fastening products, we are selling our customers a system that offers them security for their manufacturing process,” says Barry Hope, EDL’s general manager – sales. “It’s a simple problem-free procedure that guarantees a continuous supply of components and parts so that customers have exactly what they need, when they need it.” Not only can the EDL KANBAN system be used in a wide range of industries to streamline the supply process, but once certain basic requirements are met, the entire system is installed free of charge. The easy solution for the management of consumables includes all the necessary planning, delivery and the installation of racks and bins along with ongoing support through regular maintenance and supply. Latest insert technology EDL Fasteners is the exclusive agent in New Zealand for Tappex’s range of technically superior threaded inserts. This range includes more than 20 standard variations, for use in all grades of thermoplastic, thermoset, structural foam and composite material. Tappex has expanded the range of Trisert self-tapping inserts, which enable cold installation into most grades of plastic and composite materials. The concept of the Trisert design is to provide a reliable and efficient post-mould production process, where the installation torque can be controlled and monitored for increased reliability. As the internal thread is used to install the Trisert, every insert is therefore automatically checked in the moulding for the existence of a good thread. Compared to other designs where a cross-slot is used as the cutting feature, the Trisert provides a stronger insert body, which for smaller insert diameters is critical to modern engineering requirements. This slot-less design also allows pull-through applications, without any increased assembly torque problems. The Tappex Multisert range of brass inserts for plastics has been developed to provide a multi-purpose insert for various environments and application criteria. The Mulitisert’s barb form makes the insert suitable for different installation methods. The designer can therefore increase pull-out performance using the same insert by changing from pressfitting cold to heat or ultrasonic insertion. The insert is set in the plastic independently from the expansion action of the mating screw. This prevents rotation or screw breakage during assembly. The external barb form gives good flow characteristics and high pull-out performance. A plain location spigot and pilot barb ensures that the insert locates squarely in the drilled or moulded hole prior to assembly. Tappex HiMould brass inserts have been designed specifically for moulding-in during the cycle of the moulding machine. This is the traditional method of placing metal inserts in plastic mouldings, although normally the insert is laboriously screwed onto threaded pins located inside the mould tool. With the HiMould range, this process becomes unnecessary, as the insert can be rapidly located onto plain pins giving higher productivity and reducing tool down time. Despite the use of plain pins the unique design of the HiMould insert still gives guaranteed flash free threads. By using sleeve ejectors around the pins to push off the moulding, this can simplify the mould tool design and provide a faster and more reliable moulding process. The HiMould insert can be moulded-in very close to the edge of a component, or in situations where there are thin walls or bosses, which would be impractical for post-mould installed inserts. Maximum performance is created by the external diamond knurl form combined with two undercuts. After moulding-in, a large number of shear points are created over the whole length of the insert. This gives better axial and radial performances than other mould-in inserts in relation to its diameter.