Fasteners for Food & Beverage Machine Building

Choosing the Right Stainless Steel Fasteners for Your Needs

If you work in machine building for the food industry, you likely have standard stainless steel plates, profiles, and fasteners in stock. After all, without the correct fasteners, machines cannot function. So, why do so many companies choose stainless steel for their machinery? Here are some reasons:

• Strength: Stainless steel is a robust material that can withstand significant stress.  
• Corrosion Resistance: It is highly resistant to rust and corrosion, making it ideal for various environments.  
• Ease of Cleaning: Stainless steel's smooth surface allows for easy cleaning, which is crucial in food processing.  
• Hygienic and Food Safe: Stainless steel is non-reactive and safe for food contact, ensuring the safety of processed products.  
• Durability and Low Maintenance: It offers long-lasting performance with minimal maintenance requirements.

Most Commonly Used Fasteners in the Food Industry

Which fasteners do we see the most on the order lists of customers from the food industry?

• Stainless steel (tap) bolts
• Stainless steel hexagon socket screws
• Stainless steel nuts
• Stainless steel rings
• Stainless steel pre-lubricated bolts and nuts
• Captive bolts and screws
• Hygienic nuts and bolts (for wash-down machines)

The Fabory range includes more than 30,000 stainless steel fasteners, which you can order from stock on Fabory.com. Can't find the product you are looking for in the overview? Please let us know, and we will deliver it to you. In addition, we design and manufacture the product ourselves if it does not already exist.
 

Discover our range of stainless steel

Lubrinox: Pre-lubricated Bolts, Screws, and Nuts

Fabory has developed a new line of fasteners known as Lubrinox bolts, nuts, and screws. When using stainless steel fasteners, it is common for the inner and outer threads to seize together, making it difficult to loosen them. While applying a paste can prevent this issue, it requires additional time, and the workpieces and hands must be cleaned afterwards. Lubrinox has been specifically designed for the food industry to provide long-lasting lubrication in connections.

Below are the key advantages of Lubrinox:

• Prevents galling of stainless steel bolt connections
• Approved for use in the food industry
• Pre-applied at Fabory, saving an average of 25 seconds per connection
• Available in nuts as well
• Maintains the stainless steel appearance of articles
• Works effectively in combination with Loctite
• Eliminates the issue of dirty hands from manual lubrication

Manufacturer of Coolers and Dryers

Geelen Counterflow, a design and production company based in Haelen, is one of the first to test Lubrinox. The lubricated fasteners are incorporated into coolers and dryers specially designed for the food industry. Geelen Counterflow ships several units of these coolers and dryers weekly to locations worldwide.

Due to the extensive use of stainless steel fasteners, the company sought a cost-effective alternative to traditional lubrication methods. René Derckx, the technical purchaser at Geelen Counterflow, stated, “We were curious whether the solution developed by Fabory would meet our needs. The primary requirement was to prevent threads from getting stuck. We wanted to avoid having to cut or drill out a screw.”

Another coating that employees frequently use is significantly thicker. However, the Lubrinox fasteners do not require such a substantial layer. “A thick layer makes it difficult to drive screws by hand, causing them to become overly greasy. If you need to exert force, your fingers tend to slip over the hex. That doesn’t happen with Lubrinox. The feedback from the shop floor during this test has been positive,” he added.

Optimising Processes Together

Fasteners may be a conservative product category, but we at Fabory are committed to continuous innovation. The food industry has trusted Fabory for years to supply stainless steel fasteners because:

• Our fasteners are designed to enhance efficiency and comply with industry regulations.
• Smart logistics solutions optimise fastener stock management and reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), leading to greater flexibility and cost control within your organisation.
• Our Peace of Mind solutions ensure that production operations run smoothly.

Creating Peace of Mind

Fabory offers an extensive selection of over 120,000 fasteners in various designs, sizes, and materials. Managing such a large inventory requires reliable systems. Our smart logistics solutions provide insights into consumption patterns, significantly assisting inventory management. With our RFID solution and Weight Scale Cabinet, you can access your Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) monitor in MyFabory, offering insights into historical consumption and our performance. The combination of tailored solutions and actionable insights is genuinely unique.

Our Application Engineers are here to provide solutions and expert advice on fasteners, designs, and applications. In addition to these services, Fabory's experts conduct calculations and tests to ensure secure connections. We collaborate closely with standardisation bodies and technical committees to maintain high technical knowledge and support. This commitment fosters Peace of Mind, allowing you and your team to focus on your core tasks.

Please get in touch with us to explore the possibilities further.