Milan - the third largest economy among EU cities - is playing host to fastener firms from France, Germany, Spain, Turkey, the US and Italy this week. Fastener Fair Italy is running at the MiCo – Milano Congressi, in central Milan. Fittingly, the city’s locale is the Lombardy region – which generates approximately one fifth of Italy’s GDP.
Italy is, of course, one of the key fastener global markets and a quick glance at the exhibitor list confirms that it will be Italian firms that dominate the show, naturally, with around three quarters of the firms appearing hailing from the home nation. Many of those will contribute to Italy’s manufacturing economy, which is the second largest in Europe (behind Germany).
In terms of fastener exports, Italy is sixth in the world, with a value of €1.7 billion. Italy has significant related industries too, including the
aerospace industry, the third largest on the continent (with a turnover of €13 billion). Thanks to Italy’s industrial economy, Fastener Fair is expected to bring in managers, engineers and buyers from a wide selection of sectors including automotive manufacturing, aerospace, energy generation and distribution, marine industries and engineering. White goods manufacturers and furniture-making and other consumer-oriented industries will be expecting to send their finest along also, so too from the construction market, as well as distributors and resellers.
KEE SAFETY
Kee Safety, a global supplier of steel to steel connectors, will be exhibiting alongside Nova Milanese-based distributor, ArtSteel at Fastener Fair Italy. Visitors to stand 148 will be able to discuss the features and benefits of its product ranges BeamClamp and BoxBolt.
The BeamClamp and BoxBolt range of fixings form a series of products that provide a secure fixing method for secondary steel connections. The fixings deliver solutions for joining steel together without the need for on-site drilling or welding, providing much more flexibility than traditional methods. The system is pitched as providing a guaranteed connection every time, without the need for on-site verification, as long as the installation guidelines are correctly followed.
The BeamClamp range is a series of clamps that are used in conjunction with structural bolts to provide a solution for securing steel together. When all the costs that are required to make a connection are calculated, the clamping system, in the majority of situations, is the most economical, as the installation speed and labour costs are vastly reduced, says Kee Safety. Other benefits include a guaranteed load, adjustability, no damage to existing steel or coatings, no hot work permits and no debris created from drilling. These benefits are becoming very important in situations where drilling and welding can create hazards – for example, in a food factory, no drilling is permitted over the plant and in an oil refinery, a hot work permit is required for making any drilled or welded connections.
The BoxBolt range is the blind fixing solution for connecting into hollow sections, or where access is restricted to one side only. This system
provides an economical solution to making blind connections, when compared with traditional methods such as welding or bolting. The system
eliminates complicated fabrications such as welding internal nuts or providing internal stiffeners to reduce crushing from tightening. Like Beam-
Clamp, BoxBolt is approved for use by Lloyds Register (LR) type approval and the Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt), providing reassurance
that the connection will perform as stated. Southco and Lancaster Fastener Co are two other UK firms appearing at the show.
Aside from product, Fastener Fair Italy will be hosting seminars. This year the programme is being run by Fasten.It, centring on three main
topics; First up is the Distribution of Fasteners: Market Changes and Technological Innovation, with Bruno Troiano, UDIB at FrontLine Consulting.
Next will see a trio of speakers – Paolo Viganò, Jean-Paul Amaro and Fausto Capelli – for the Stainless Steel Fasteners seminar. Finally, a seminar covering Structural Anchors and Construction Products Regulation will be led by Barbara Sorgato, General Secretary of ECAP (European Consortium of Anchors Producers).
