Nail, Screw, Fastener

Employee Frank Dalli has 38 years experience in the industry

Each massive coil of nail wire is almost as tall as a man

Otter Group surges ahead

The Otter Group of Companies, best known for its OTTER® brand nails, has expanded operation with the purchase of National Steel Nails in Queensland - now making Otter a truly national enterprise...

If you mention “Nails" in the Australian Hardware Industry, there is good chance that the name “Otter" is not far away.

OTTER® is one of Australia’s largest manufacturer/supplier of nails, screws and fencing products. It is the major national supplier of common nails to Mitre10 and NBSG, and is a major joint supplier to John Danks and Son. In addition, the company is a major supplier of screws to Bunnings.

That represents a lot of “major" supply contracts throughout the local market, particularly in light of the company’s additional significant supply contracts to independent outlets.

The success of the company is all the more pleasing given that it remains a privately owned operation with tight affiliations to the domestic manufacturing scene.

The Otter Group began in 1959 when Jack Otter started Otter Fencing in Victoria, servicing mainly Government-sanctioned jobs on new housing commission estates. Otter Nails as we know it today began in 1963 when Jack purchased his first nail machine, and the company has grown over the ensuing decades through a combination of increased market share, company acquisitions, production diversification and outstanding service position.

According to Managing Director, Ray Otter, the first major acquisition occurred in 1987 when Otter bought the British United Shoe Machinery Company’s nails equipment and stocks in Melbourne. British United ran an important nail division for its shoe soles! Then, in 1996, the company purchased Titan Wire Products from BHP, followed by the acquisition of Screwfix Screws in 1999.

The latest purchase - National Steel Nails - adds warehousing and manufacturing assets in Queensland to the company’s southern operations, vastly improving service delivery to northern regions.

On the face of it, regionally specific manufacturing/supply facilities might look like a luxury when dealing with portable, non-perishable goods such as nails. After all, wouldn’t a network of distribution warehouses be adequate to complement a single manufacturing base? “Not at all", says Ray, explaining that the nail industry relies to a surprisingly high degree on “direct response" manufacturing and rapid turnaround delivery schedules.

“Nails in a hardware store are a bit like milk to a milk bar," says Ray. “Customers go to buy the basics, and if the basics run out the customers will put down all the other things they were going to buy and look elsewhere. Consumers want reliable, high-quality goods - nails are a basic commodity. So we focus on always being there when there is a demand; there’s a lot of attention paid to reliability and regularity."

Most importantly, says Ray, this reliability and regularity cannot depend solely on storage and warehousing infrastructure as a supply mechanism. Not only are there hundreds of different product types and thousands of SKUs to maintain (which would create inefficient and overstocked warehouses scattered across the nation), but the nature of the business also calls for a large number of “reactive" production runs.

Otter’s different nail production runs are stop-start affairs - as dictated by (a) the need to avoid inefficient warehousing, and (b) the company’s desire to respond instantly to market demand for specific products.

Is China a Nail Magnet?

In an age when many hardware lines are made exclusively overseas, it is interesting to note Otter’s success given its requirements for local responsive manufacturing.

Over the last five years, says Ray, the company has striven to achieve a balance of local and foreign-produced product while maintaining a high-grade quality control.

Whilst a higher percentage of the company's nail supplies are now imported from China, most screws are from Taiwan. Ray says core, predictable product runs must be imported to allow the company to remain competitive with market expectations.

Meanwhile, significant local production across all lines ensures a consistency of supply at all times. “We have the capacity to turn on a machine here if a ship doesn’t turn up," he says. This level of reliability is only possible with both foreign and domestic manufacturing bases.

Local production also allows Otter to respond quickly to specialist orders for Marine-grade nails and other unusual nail designs.

Otter's Future

Now that the company has incorporated screws into its product inventory, it is enjoying the extra business diversity. This diversity is further enhanced by a wire fencing (non hardware retail) business unit.

Ray says the ability to cater to local demand reliability is - and will remain - a cornerstone of the company’s future success.

“We are extremely proud that Mitre10 members recently voted us their second-best supplier with regards to stock availability," says Ray.

He says Otter is continually trying to make life easier for resellers by rationalising SKU numbers, using up-to-date packaging and in-store merchandising assistance. Significant investment has also been devoted to streamlined warehousing and forklift systems, computerised scanning units for internal stock management, and numerous other efficiencies to make sure the local business unis are performing in peak condition.

With such mechanisms in place, Otter hopes to “nail" the opposition for a long time to come.

Source: Hardware Journal (November 2004) - Pages 12 -13

Building Materials: Project Pack Collated Nails

The growth of the DIY market and the availability of low-cost, affordable compressors and nail guns, has heralded a change in consumers’ nail requirements. As consumers recognise the benefits of automated systems, and trades people become more aware of the need to watch cash flow and reduce waste, a need has arisen for economical pack quantities of popular brad types and sizes.

Otter Nails has developed the Project Pack range of ‘DA’, ‘C’ and ‘C100’ brads in a variety of nail lengths to cater for this growing market. The collated brads are packed in quantities of 1,000 into resealable blister packs that can be merchandised in the traditional hang-sell method or cut case cartons.

Until now, ‘DA’, ‘C’ and ‘C100’ brads were generally only available in larger, more expensive, trade packs. The Project Pack range allows consumers the opportunity to purchase a range of nail sizes to suit their gun for the same price that they might have paid for a single trade pack.

Otter’s Project Pack Collated Nails are trade quality, galvanised for added protection against corrosion, and are glue-coated for extra holding power. The packaging is attractive and consumer-friendly. The nails are clearly visible through the blister pack with the gun type and application information printed in the internal sleeve. The Project Pack range is available now.

Source: Hardware Journal (November 2004) - Page 42

What’s New: Collated Screws.

Otter’s collated Screws are compatible with the most popular strip-collated screw guns on the market. The range consists of plasterboard and villaboard screws in a variety of sizes and thread types for fixing to both timber and steel. A special steel cutting point on the plasterboard and villaboard-collated steel screw cuts its own hole into steel studs without the need for pre-drilling. The screws are available in boxes of 1,000 (20 strips of 50 screws). The cartons are clearly labelled and barcoded for ease of identification at point of sale.

Source: Hardware Journal (November 2004) - Page 56

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