Most fastener demand is steady. A production line uses roughly the same number of cap screws every week. A maintenance crew goes through anchors and threaded rod at a predictable pace. A contract manufacturer releases the same hardware kit with every build. Yet many of those reorders still arrive late, by phone, after a bin has already run dry.
Repeat orders should be the easiest business you have. The Fastener App has three tools for them.
Reorder: the same order again in two taps
Reorder lets a customer buy a past order again, or pick from saved items. A buyer who orders the same thirty lines every two weeks opens the last order, changes a couple of quantities and sends it. No searching, no typing, no transposed sizes.
AutoPilot reorder: usual items on schedule
AutoPilot reorder orders the customer's usual items on a schedule so they never run out. It also works with scanning: one scan orders what the customer actually uses, sized to the number of days of stock they want to keep. That is a natural fit for two-bin and kanban programs, where an empty bin is the signal.
The customer decides how much control to keep, using a dial with three settings:
- Suggest: The Fastener App suggests the reorder and the customer places it.
- Ask first: the reorder is prepared and waits for the customer's yes.
- Run on its own: the customer's own schedule releases the order without a check-in, for items they have chosen to trust to it.
Most customers start with Suggest or Ask first. A buyer who watches the suggestions for a few months might move common hex nuts and washers to Run on its own while keeping expensive specials, like stainless or structural bolts, on Ask first. The customer sets the dial and the schedule; The Fastener App follows them. You can see from the admin side which customers have AutoPilot turned on.
Blanket orders: releases against a contract
OEMs and contract manufacturers often buy fasteners on annual contracts: a set price for a set volume, pulled as production needs it. Blanket orders let the customer release against that contract in The Fastener App, so each release is not a new PO and a new approval.
For you, blankets mean visibility. You know what is coming and can plan imports and domestic buys around it. The buyer's desk helps on your side: reorder by vendor with minimums and free freight in view, chase late vendor POs, and track special orders.
Why steady orders matter
Steady reorders mean fewer emergency deliveries, fewer broken boxes, and fewer lines down for a nut. They also mean your inside sales team is not spending the day taking reorders for washers. That time goes to quoting specials and helping engineers, which is where the margin is.
A practical tip: tie AutoPilot to the same min and max you use on the bins. When the numbers match, the customer sees consistent orders, and your warehouse sees consistent picks.
Contract manufacturers are a good fit for this. Their build schedules change often, and a fixed blanket with releases they control lets them speed up or slow down without renegotiating, while you keep the volume you planned for.
Look through your accounts for the ones that order the same fasteners month after month. Start them on Reorder, offer AutoPilot on Suggest, and let them turn the dial when they are ready.
Want to see The Fastener App with your own catalog and customers? See how it works.