| Type | Public (NASDAQ: FAST) S&P 500 Component |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1967 |
| Headquarters | Winona, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Number of locations | 2,566 (September 2011)[1] |
| Key people | Willard D. Oberton (President and CEO) Daniel L. Florness (Executive Vice President and CFO) |
| Website | www.fastenal.com |
Fastenal Co[2] (NASDAQ: FAST) is an American company based in Winona, Minnesota.[3] Selling industrial and construction supplies[4] and services including inventory management services,[5] Fastenal refers to itself as an industrial supply company,[5] but Reuters calls it an industrial distributor.[3][6]
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Founded in 1967[5] by Bob Kierlin,[7] who later became a Minnesota State Senator,[8] it was incorporated December 24, 1968.[4]
Fastenal's offerings are purchased, not made. But as of 2009, the company has at least one cold heading manufacturing line.[9]
By 2004, 50% of product[10] by weight was processed steel.
The company places much emphasis on its series of over 2,500 retail stores in North America and Mexico.
Companies that purchase from Fastenal are either large[11] or small,[9] but most overseas customers may be comparatively mid-sized.[9]
The company sells both retail and wholesale.[4]
Manufacturers[3][12] and government agencies[11] buy from Fastenal.
Fastenal has been contracted by the US Government on a number of occasions.[10][13]
In 2004, increasing material costs were passed on to end users by the company.[10]
In 2007, Fastenal claimed that at least 20% sales and profit growth and ROI were achievable during a normal economic cycle.[14]
Customers sometimes ask for lower prices due to externalities.[9]
In 2009, Fastenal acquired parts of Holo-Krome, a US socket head screw-making company.[9][15]
Fastenal and Salesforce.com were added to the S&P 500 index in late 2008, replacing removed corporations.[16]
Fastenal's main inventory is fasteners such as screws, threaded rods, and nuts, which can be used in construction and manufacturing.[4] Other product lines do exist. The company had a total of 690,000 individual products as of 2010.[3]
The company offers a variety of services, including inventory management, small fastener manufacture, and machining.[5]
Part of its services line, Fastenal offers vending machines[5] full of needed supplies, such as MRO wares,[9] drill bits, and tool bits, for placement inside smaller[17] client company locations. Fastenal founder Bob Kierlin originated[17] this plan. While others may offer similar services,[17] Fastenal's vending machines are a disruptive technology, nonetheless.
Markets nearby, and easily penetrable, are natural expansion areas for any US-based distributor.
Entering the market in 1994,[17] as of 2009 Fastenal had retail sales outlets in every province and two Canadian distribution centers.[15]
As of 2009, Fastenal had established retail outlets in 14 of Mexico's states as well as a distribution center.[15] It started its Mexico activities in 2001.[17]
While most operations are in North America, the company also does business in Singapore, China, and the Netherlands. Overseas sales operations seek larger client companies than do the small, local North American shops.[9]
Different markets make for different names and Fastenal has been joined in China by Fastco. Fastenal's Asian trading company,[10] Fastenal Asian Sourcing and Trading Co, is a wholly owned subsidiary located in Shanghai, China,[18] where it directs sourcing[10] and import purchasing[19] activities. By 2007, its employees were physically auditing factories it purchased from for quality and "social compliance" (which means strong commitment to capitalism).[14] Established in 2003,[20] as of 2007, its activities included quality control.[14] By 2008, it was also conducting sales operations.[17]
Opening in 2001, Fastenal's Singapore location was its first site outside North America.[17] By 2009,[9] sales operations in this small city state[17] were complemented by those in its larger neighbor, Malaysia.[9]
Operation begins in 2009, as Fastenal Malaysia with hub status (8hub) and Fastenal Manufacturing (first manufacturing facility outside the US), both located at Johor's newest township, Nusajaya. To date 4 other branches in Malaysia have been opened, namely Shah Alam, Penang, Ipoh and Klang.
The company has at least one sales outlet in Germany.[21]
The company has at least one site in Hungary,[22] which started operations in 2009.[9]
Fastenal activities in this region are probably confined to sales.[17]
Fastenal has sponsored a number of NASCAR events and drivers, most prominently Carl Edwards.[23][24]
In 2012 the company will continue to sponsor NASCAR through Roush Fenway Racing and Carl Edwards in the No. 99 Ford.[25]
In 2011, Fastenal featured Esteban Gutierrez as its sponsored GP2 Series driver,[26] showing solidarity with Mexico where it has operations.[26]
Esteban Gutierrez's second GP3 Series was sponsored by Fastenal in 2010.[27]
In 2006 and 2007, Fastenal Racing sponsored the No. 18 Dodge and Bobby Hamilton Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.[27] 2006 saw Bobby Hamilton Sr. and Bobby Hamilton Jr. participate, and in 2007 driver Kenny Schrader took the front seat.[27]
A television commercial for the company was also produced this year.[20]
Fastenal sponsored the Chip Ganassi Racing entry, the No. 40 Dodge[14] with Felix Sabates and lead driver Dario Franchitti,[14] in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series.[27]
In 2009, Fastenal Racing began a partnership with JR Motorsports.[27][28] Dale Earnhardt Jr,[27][28] Scott Wimmer,[27][29] Ryan Newman,[27][29] and Ron Fellows[27][30] were seated in the No. 5 "Fastenal Chevrolet" for 14 out of 21[27][28] 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.[28]
For the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Fastenal Racing began its storied partnership with Roush Fenway Racing[31] and Carl Edwards.[32] He was seated in the No. 60 car, and Fastenal sponsored 15 out of 21 races.[27]
Carl Edwards remaied in the No. 60 Ford for the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series,[25] and Fastenal sponsored 15 out of 21 races.[27]
Starting in 2012, Fastenal will be the primary sponsor for Carl Edwards in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sponsoring him in 17 events including the 2012 Daytona 500.
Fastenal has retail stores in every US state,[22] every province of Canada,[15] 14 Mexican states,[15] and Puerto Rico,[22] and Panama.[22]
The company operates 16 distribution centers in California, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Washington, in the cities of Denton, Texas, and Houston, Texas, in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Ontario, in the state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and in the Malaysian city Nusajaya.[33]
As of 2007,[14] Fastenal operates its own freight fleet in order to reduce highway transport costs.[19]
The location of the first Fastenal site,[7] Winona, Minnesota, has now become that of the company's headquarters.[33] By 2005, a central collections office had been established in Caledonia, Minnesota, 40 miles (64 km) south of Winona.[19]
Machining is a better term for many of Fastenal "manufacturing" operations. As of 2000, the company employs 400+ people at "six" manufacturing locations,[9] including one manufacturing bolts made using a newer method, cold heading, in Rockford, Illinois,[9] an operation in West Hartford,[9] Connecticut, and another in Malaysia, etc.[9] These sites are probably joined by others in Indianapolis and in Modesto.[20]
Fastenal has sites in China, Dominican Republic, Hungary, Malaysia, the Netherlands,Germany, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.[22]
In 2006, the company had two offices in Taiwan, one of which included a product testing laboratory,[20] which, as of 2007, was A2LA certified.[14]
The company has settled lawsuits, and its corporate culture may lead some employees to criticize.
Fastenal has settled at least two lawsuits.
In 2010, the company paid a settlement to prevent litigation resulting from a 2005 cessation of a United States General Services Administration contract.[13]
In 2008, Fastenal paid a $10 million settlement to a class-action lawsuit. The company was alleged to have failed to pay overtime to some employees. Filed by former Fastenal Assistant General Managers who accused the company of misclassifying them as exempt from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and corresponding state wage and hour laws in California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, these plaintiffs were represented by Nichols Kaster, PLLP.[34] Fastenal has denied the allegations but said it settled "in order to avoid significant legal fees, the uncertainty of a jury trial, distractions to Fastenal's operations, and other expenses and management time that would have to be devoted to protracted litigation."
Fastenal was ranked the 24th worst place to work in America, according to a glassdoor.com survey in 2009.[35] Currently, glassdoor.com uses compiled employee complaints to call Fastenal employees "dissatisfied".[36]
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