Deep Sea Bolt Kitting Requirement
A customer supplying bolts as part of a direct-to-end-user assembly kept hitting a bottleneck. A specialist steel grade in sporadic supply, and an engineer losing build time to a thread-clearing problem. Here’s how a pre-assembled kitting solution solved both the material shortage and the wasted time.
Overview
The challenge
The customer needed bolts made from 709M40T (EN19T) steel in Condition T, but this specific grade and condition combination was only sporadically available, making supply unreliable for a component required for an end-user assembly. The bolts also had to be worked to a bespoke drawing, heat treated by Bodycote to Condition Y, and coated in Sheraplex.
When we spoke directly to the engineer responsible for assembling the tool, a second problem surfaced. The Sheraplex coating was building up on the threads and he was routinely spending time clearing those deposits just to get the nut running freely down the thread. A locking thread grub screw,used to secure the nut, then needed the thread chased a second time before it could be fitted.
Overview
How we helped
We resolved both issues in one step. We sourced the material, had the bolts worked to the bespoke drawing, heat treated to Condition Y, and coated in Sheraplex, then delivered the bolts pre-assembled through our kitting service, threads already cleared. We hand packed in the exact quantities required for each build, in a single custom protective box.
Overview
The benefits
By using our kitting and outsourcing services, the customer increased the efficiency of their procurement, guaranteed supply of a difficult material, and protected their KPIs and on-time delivery. Build productivity increased too, since the engineer no longer needed to spend time on the less profitable task of clearing threads.
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Time to talk
If unreliable material supply or hidden assembly time is slowing your build process down, we can help with a kitting solution built around your exact requirements. Get in touch to talk through the details with us.
Testimonials
What our customers say
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Coburns are a reliable and reactive supply chain partner, always willing and open to discuss and drive change initiatives.
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Highly recommend, knowledgeable, reliable and easy to deal with.
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Working with Coburn Fasteners is a simple and easy process. Whether you send an email or speak over the phone, nothing is inconvenient and they will do their up-most to help you. I would highly recommend Coburn Fasteners for a quote. Their fast and efficient service and delivery lead-time is excellent compared to a lot of vendors.
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Coburn Fasteners is a responsive and reliable supplier that helps SLB efficiently source off-the-shelf and buy-house items. Their support reduces the need to onboard multiple suppliers and simplifies the procurement process and help us improve work efficiency and workload management.
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When Jeremy approached us and said he could help with our kitting, it suddenly dawned on me just how inefficient our existing process had become. As our product range rapidly expanded, the time and effort involved in sourcing, designing and assembling kits in-house was becoming a real drain on the business.
