SPRING 2024

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THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
THE FASTENER EXPERTS MENTOR GROUP consists of about 20 fastener professionals in various
stages of developing and sharing their fastener expertise with the fastener community. They have a virtual
meeting twice a month, under the direction of CARMEN VERTULLO, CFS. The discussion is unplanned but
always informative and technically challenging. Many of the questions that are processed by the experts are
worth sharing, and in the interest of developing their expertise they want to put their answers in writing.
If you have a fastener question or topic that you would like to put to the experts, or if you would like to join
the group contact Carmen at carmenv@carverem.com or 619-204-1543.
I have a fastener question... WHY DO SO MANY
FASTENERS FOR THE SAME PART HAVE DIFFERENT NAMES?
YOUR EXPERT
ROSA
HEARN
Rosa Hearn is the Director of Product Marketing
& Product Manager for Brighton-Best International.
Ms. Hearn holds a BBA degree, CPMM & CGBP
Certification. She is also a Certified Fastener
Specialist. Rosa has over 30 years of experience
in distribution, manufacturing and secondary
processing and has received numerous accolades
through her career.
“What’s in a name?” is a famous quote from William
Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. In Act II, Scene
II, Juliet says, “What’s in a name? That which we call
a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This
quote suggests that a name is just a label and does
not define the essence of a person or a thing. It is the
qualities of a person or in this case a “fastener thing”
that matters, not the name they are given.
If you were looking for a Phillips Type 1A, does it
matter that most of us call it a Pozi©-drive? Or if you live
in Canada would you know a Robertson Drive is the same
as a Scrulox or a square drive in the USA? Working
in the fastener industry for over 30 years, you learn the
many names fasteners are called both domestically and
internationally. You also learn the difference between
brand names and generic names.
Most of these fastener names have become a
genericized trademark, meaning that it is often used to
refer to all types of commonly used fasteners. However,
the reason why people use brand names instead of its
technical name is not clear. It could be because the
term has become so widely used that it has become
synonymous with that type of fastener.
So, here are some examples of some the most
common names you will run into in this industry, that I
wanted to share with you.
POP Rivets
Blind/Button/Dome/Nail Rivet
MENTOR ARTICLE CONTINUED ON PAGE 88