ABSTRACT
We have established the fastening fundamentals of strength, appearance, and reusability. In Chapter 1, we touched the importance of controlling the number of fasteners used in an assembly and the value of combining assembly functions in fewer fasteners for reduced assembly cost. In the 18-82 principle, 82% of assembly costs are installation and transport functions, with only 18% representing the fastening purchasing cost. This approximately 4.5:1 ratio of fastening costs is important to weigh against the design integrity requirements. Specifying an efficient fastening system requires both qualitative and quantitative judgments on competing products and solutions. By staying current with the fastening industry and employing some of the quantitive analysis we will present, the fastener specifier should be better equipped to make assembly specification decisions.
