Fasteners

Without fasteners - such as bolts, screws, nuts, washers, pins and rivets - things fall apart. And that can cause inconvenience, cost money, or it can even cost lives, because these humble objects hold together all manner of "things" from aircraft and bicycles to chairs and surgical implants. Fasteners are used in very large quantities, all round the world. As an example, the value of fastener production in Europe alone is several US billion dollars a year and this figure covers the production of trillions of fasteners.

Thanks to ISO standards, fasteners have a high degree of interchangeability. This was not always the case. Fasteners designed for a single machine or installation were not uncommon. Of course, there remain non-standardized fasteners (especially bolts and screws) on the market, but even so, they usually have standardized elements such as driving features and threads, and have standardized mechanical and functional properties, thus providing the technical and economic benefits of standardization.

The technical committee ISO/TC 2, Fasteners, offers an all-in system of some 200 standards.

• ISO Standards Handbook, Fasteners and screw threads

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