We interview recently retired Fasten.it Co-Founder, Carlo Ferri, and he takes us on a journey through the years, discussing the highs and lows of a fantastic career.
In December 2023 Italian based, Fasten.it, was acquired by UK based BearingNet Ltd. Both companies share similar business models offering their members ways to locate parts, sell their inventory and connecting companies together. Fasten.it is a very small team and by joining BearingNet, benefit from their larger technical and marketing teams to help bring new features to the Fasten.it website as well as giving the Fasten.it team assistance with their promotional activities.
At what age did you enter the fastener and fixing industry?
At 30, after 8 years of work experience in the Milan area, in the lifting and transport field, along with a degree in economics and commerce from the Catholic University of Milan.
What made you want to start your own business? (Fasten.it)
I have always worked for companies in the fastener sector. My own business, if it can be called this now, has been the creation of Fasten.it which was born from the belief of creating something, with the help of the internet, which would serve as a meeting point for the fasteners and fixing elements sector that did not exist before. At the beginning, the aim was to help to easily find suppliers in an increasingly global and difficult market. The business then expanded to many other services.
What is the best part about running a company in this industry?
The great thing about the fastener and fixing industry is that products almost never become obsolete.
What is the most challenging part about running a company in this industry?
In my opinion, a distinction must be made between producers and distributors. If we talk about manufacturers, unfortunately, all aspects of the activity are a challenge. For example, compliance with delivery times, the ability to produce customised parts, and keeping the production of standard parts despite the fierce competition. For trade I do not see any major challenges to overcome.
What has been your most memorable moment in the industry?
Here too, I must distinguish between producers and distributors. The memorable moment in production, in my opinion, was the transition for the big companies, to directly supply the entire immense automotive, construction, and other sectors, bypassing the distributors. For the small-medium companies the transition from commercial strategies mainly aimed at domestic markets to a large-scale development of exports. As far as distributors are concerned, I remember how in a short time they became absolute masters of the market.
Did you have a business role model, or was there someone who influenced you growing up?
Regarding fasten.it I didn’t have a specific model to follow – but support of Paolo Capelli (my late business partner in Fasten.it who sadly passed away) and Federica Capelli (who is now working with Fasten.it & BearingNet) in managing the software and all the necessary developments, was fundamental to helping the portal grow.
Where do you see the Fasten.it business in five years’ time?
I see it as the largest e-commerce platform in the industrial and professional fasteners world. All companies now have their own e-commerce, but none can offer all the availability and savings that the Fasten.it platform can provide, combined with the various warehouse availability of many companies around the world. In addition to the undoubted economic and competitive advantages, a great help in the availability of parts that are difficult to produce.
I see Fasten.it as a fundamental e-procurement service for purchasing products without having to waste a lot of time searching for the appropriate supplier.
Did the acquisition of BearingNet come at a good time?
We met BearingNet initially at the Fastener Fair in Stuttgart, they then made contact with me as were interested in acquiring a business that complimented their own business model, which Fasten.it did perfectly. The purchase came at a good time for me as I was ready to retire and it’s really nice to see my business passed on to a company that wants to maintain the fundamentals of the Fasten.it platform, and enhance it with their own skills. BearingNet, although still a small company, have a much bigger team, with great technical and marketing capabilities to help Fasten.it grow and become the platform I know it can be!
Nicola Beer, Managing Director & Chris Howard, Commercial Director of BearingNet talk to us about the future BearingNet & Fasten.it…
BearingNet has been in business for 26 years and has over 2,000 members from 80 countries with over 16 million lines of inventory listed on the site. In 2017 we created a similar platform in the fluid power industry and then decided that instead of creating another platform we would look at buying one in a horizontal industry. Fasten.it was a perfect fit for us, we loved the family business, the passion and love they had for their business and the industry they work in and we could see ways that we could implement features we already have on our platforms to make their business better and continue to grow.
Federica and Vera, two of Fasten.it’s employees are continuing to work with us from Italy, we speak every day and already have a close working relationship. We have been out to Italy to visit them and they have been to the UK to work with us, we will all be meeting again soon in Vienna at our networking event and so far everything is working really well.
Our technical team are working hard on recreating their platform, so it looks the same but works with our systems and the marketing team have taken over all of their communication and social media which has given Federica and Vera much more time to talk to the customers and grow the platform.
BearingNet will join Fasten.it this October at the Milan Fastener Fair and look forward to meeting people from the fastener industry, if you are attending please come and say hello at Stand 218.
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