Why Have Bollhoff USA’s Fasteners and Technology Remained #1 for 145 Years?

Four generations, one common vision: enabling successful connections

Bollhoff Fasteners USA has been a family-owned company for four generations. They have had long-term success through innovative ideas and engineering advancements in components and fasteners. The company’s management team knows almost every employee. This connection with people is the foundation of the company’s success.

Bollhoff’s History

The below excerpts are borrowed from Bollhoff Fastener’s website: https://www.boellhoff.com/us-en/history/

Bollhoff was founded in Germany by Wilhelm Bollhoff in 1877. At the start of the Bollhoff business, Wilhelm focused on metalwork, forging, and mining. By the early 1920s, the second generation, Josef Bollhoff, began to shift the focus to screws, nuts, and threaded parts for machine construction and ship building in particular. The business achieved record sales in the ship building industry.

In 1962, the third generation of the family joined the company, Dr. Wolfgang W. Böllhoff and he began to look beyond Germany’s borders. The opening of the first branch in Austria marked the beginning of the company’s efforts at worldwide sales and distribution. Bollhoff continued to expand into Mexico and Brazil with their relationship with Volkswagen.

In 1972, Bollhoff began to manufacture their now famously trademarked RIVKLE® blind rivet nuts at their new manufacturing facility in France.

In 1994 and 1998 the fourth generation headed up the company with Wilhelm A. Bollhoff and Michael W. Bollhoff. As of 2024, Wilhelm and Michael continue to remain managing partners and under their careful direction, Bollhoff has become a leader in the industry for their continued fastener innovation, high quality, and sales growth.

In 1987, BF Goodrich sold the RIVNUT® business and it was renamed Rivnut Engineered Products. In 2000, Böllhoff Fastener purchased their first facility in the United States, which was the Rivnut Engineered Products company in Kendallville, Indiana. This facility was originally owned by B.F. Goodrich Company, who invented the rivet nut in 1936! Besides acquiring the facility, Bollhoff also acquired B.F. Goodrich’s original trademark on the rivet nut, named the RIVNUT®.

• The original use for the blind threaded rivet nut was used for the easy mounting and unmounting of de-icing boots on aircraft wings in the Aerospace industry.
• Bollhoff has been the only authorized producer of the trademark RIVNUT® since 2000.
• RIVNUTS® are used in all industries across the world.
• The RIVNUT® is designed to be installed without access to the back side of the application, but still provides strength, more thread engagement, and a reliable bearing surface for all binding applications.

Bollhoff USA: A Key Manufacturing Facility in Kendallville, Indiana

Bollhoff USA has extensive fastener manufacturing capabilities via it’s facility in Kendallville, Indiana, United States. Bollhoff Kendallville provides hundreds of millions of high-quality rivet nuts every year and is the #1 domestic manufacturer of rivet nuts in the United States of America. Bollhoff has done its part to assure domestic availability of high-quality fasteners in the American market.

Bollhoff Innovation in Fastening Technology

Bollhoff offers standard fastener design options and heavily invests into its Research & Development department to create new patented technologies and other customized component solutions together with their customers. Bollhoff Fastener’s systematic approach to innovation allows for rapid and continuous development of new products that meet customer’s demands for low-cost, high-quality assemblies.

Bollhoff has launched a 360° Joining Technology program for their customer’s fastening solutions. What does that mean for the customer? Bollhoff stands ready to assist in all aspects of joining technology solutions. Bollhoff involves the customer in the development of the process, integrating their feedback to make sure their requirements are met, and this eliminates the opportunity for less promising approaches. This is what makes the 360° Joining Technology successful. From development, to logistics, to purchasing, to assembly, to quality, to service, Bollhoff Fastener covers the customer’s full value chain. Quality, modern design, with high-tech fasteners and installation tools helps customers succeed in high volume applications. When all those factors are put together, customers get the all-around support they need throughout the process.

Bollhoff Product Lines

RIVNUT®

A Rivet Nut was first invented by BF Goodrich in 1936 and named RIVNUT®. It is a one-piece tubular RIVET that includes internal threads that act as a NUT. The rivet nut is installed blindly: it installs from the front side and no access to the backside is needed. The rivet nut install tool pulls the rivet nut internal threads up to create a secure bulge on the backside of the parent application. Rivet nuts, or threaded nut inserts, are known for installation efficiency, as the installation takes seconds to occur, and no damage nor finishing work is required on the rivet nut or parent application. Now installed, the rivet nuts lend to the parent application REUSABLE high-quality internal threads that allows secondary materials to be attached via a male bolt.

HEXNUT®

HEXNUT® fasteners provide the ultimate in spin-out resistance when used in a hex hole. Bollhoff HEXNUT® threaded inserts are the original trademarked version of “hex body rivet nuts”. Different from the original round body Bollhoff RIVNUT® fasteners, the Bollhoff HEXNUT® has a six-sided body that increases spin-out torque resistance. Laser a hex hole into your parent material, install our hex body fastener without any worries of spin-out! You could also punch a hex hole into sheet metal and hydro-formed tubing for use of a hex bodied rivet nut using Bollhoff’s 9991 hex punch cutting tool. The thick wall construction of a Bollhoff HEXNUT® allows for ultimate tensile and push-out strength. These threaded nut inserts are available in aluminum, steel and stainless steel.

PLUSNUT®

The Bollhoff PLUSNUT® (slotted body rivet nut) provides the ultimate pull out strength in thin sheet metals and soft plastics. It features a slotted body that splits into four legs during installation, which helps provide a wide load-bearing surface on the backside of the parent material. This splitting is why they are sometimes referred to as split rivet nuts. The PLUSNUT® features the widest material grip range of all blind threaded fasteners (nearly a quarter of an inch!) A wide material grip range is helpful when your application may have variable material thicknesses, such as thermoformed, rotational or blow molded plastics.

The Bollhoff PLUSNUT® (“slotted body rivet nut”) design advantages include:

• Assemble two materials together
• Allows for blind installation, installs in seconds
• Environmentally friendly
• Use in very thin sheet metal, various soft plastics/fiberglass applications
• Wide grip range for variable thickness materials and for part consolidation
• Soft installation forces to avoid fracturing in soft or brittle materials, or damaging finishes
• Available in steel, aluminum and stainless steel
• Available in 4-40 to 3/8-16 & M4 to M10 thread size

RIVKLE®

The Bollhoff RIVKLE® is similar to the original styled RIVNUT® product line but features standard European design for “true metric” hole sizes. As a global company, Bollhoff Fastener manufactures a wide variety of styles and thread sizes of RIVNUT® fasteners, including the Bollhoff RIVKLE®. Rivet Nut USA™ distributes the entire RIVKLE® product line, which includes a number of materials such as steel, aluminum and stainless steel, body styles such as round, half-hex, full hex and head thickness such as standard, thin, super-thin and countersunk.

• Multiple head thicknesses to provide increased load bearing (large head) or near countersunk benefits while saving the secondary option of actually having to add a countersink feature (extra small / thin head).
• Fasteners are manufactured with proven six sigma quality processes and provide consistency in fasteners that allows for automated robotic assembly to succeed in demanding, high volume OEM production environments.
• Increased turning resistance (ribbed body) or super spin out resistance (hex body).
• Superior corrosion resistance (stainless steel) and high temperature compatibility.

Specialty Fasteners

The Bollhoff IMTEC® products offer hybrid solutions! In-molded IMTEC® are set before the plastic is poured. IMTEC® parts incorporate wear-free and resilient metal threads in high-quality plastic components. Before the formed part is produced, the IMTEC® molded inserts are placed into the plastic mold manually or by means of a handling system. Then, the metal inserts are injection-molded within the plastic. It is important to ensure the core pins fit squarely into the mold for a good fit between the core pins and the IMTEC® molded inserts. Bollhoff IMTEC® allows users to achieve superior quality bonding in light weight plastic.The Bollhoff AMTEC® solution allows you to embed components into plastic! AMTEC® stands for – After Molding TECHnology – and refers to the installation of threaded nut inserts into plastic components after the mold has been poured. Bollhoff AMTEC® threaded inserts enable you to achieve superior quality bonding resulting from high-strength metals in combination with plastics.

The Bollhoff SNAPLOC® is another type of specialty fastener for quick installation without the need for installation tools. The SNAPLOC® system is a two-part fastening component consisting of a male ball stud and female receiving coupling for quick installation and is based on the principle of a simple snap connection. The female coupling is inserted into the bottom of the respective cover in a specially designed mount and held in a closed form. The backside of the male ball stud can be screwed into various materials and then snapped into the female coupling. With just a simple push-fit to connect and easy to pull apart to detach – the Bollhoff SNAPLOC® fastener system provides an optimal joining system with the additional benefits of vibration and noise minimization capability.

Installation Rivet Nut Tools

To provide customers with an end-to-end fastener solution, Bollhoff launched a complete line of installation tools for the insertion of their components.

High-to-Medium Volume Installation Tooling: The pneumatic/hydraulic or battery-operated rivet nut tools that are offered by Bollhoff are the best options for consumers that need a high-to-medium use tool. Bollhoff P2007 is the market leading pneumatic install tool manufactured by Bollhoff and are world famous for its workhouse reliability and speed.. These tools are “spin pull”, they both spin & pull to install the fastener. With care, these rivet nut tools will provide you with years of enjoyable use, and their lives can be further extended via regular maintenance/repair. Some may refer to these tools as rivet nut guns.

For a heavy-duty option, please consider the P3007 rivet nut installation tool (a larger version of the P2007).

Post-Purchase Support: Bollhoff stands by their tools. In the unlikely event of a manufacturing defect, there is repair support available. Tooling will experience normal wear and tear in high-volume production environments. Rather than throwing out the installation gun, the tool lab will get it back into tip-top shape!

A Cautious Tale: Please don’t be lured in by the “cheapest” tooling option; rather, look for your “best value” tooling option. With “cheap” tooling, you may encounter an increase in improperly installed rivet nuts, leading to expensive external field failures. Also, ensure that your tools can be repaired by a qualified tool lab; if not, you may be forced to “throw away and buy again” if a tool breaks.

Industries that Utilize Bollhoff Fastening Solutions

• Aerospace
• Agricultural Technology
• Automotive
• Construction Industry
• Domestic Appliances
• Energy
• Mechanical Engineering
• Medical Technology
• Metal Processing
• Oil, Gas, and Chemistry
• Plastic Technology
• Railway
• AND, MORE!

Bollhoff Fastener’s 2022 Key Company Figures

Since their beginning in 1877 in Herdecke, Germany, Bollhoff has grown to now have 43 locations worldwide, with over 3,300 employees, manufacturing over 18 million fasteners per day, and achieving one billion U.S. dollars in worldwide sales.

Rivet Nut USA™ (a division of Cardinal Components, Inc.) – Bollhoff’s Premier USA Distributor

Rivet Nut USA™, an operating division of Cardinal Components, Inc, has been an authorized preferred distributor of Bollhoff (formerly Rivnut Engineered Products and B.F Goodrich) components for over 30 years! Dedicated to sourcing domestically for precision, performance, and reliability, contact Rivet Nut USA™ today for Bollhoff fastening solutions. Rivet Nut USA’s highly qualified engineering department can help you define the best solution for your high-volume application. From  RIVNUT® to HEXNUT® to PLUSNUT® to RIVKLE® and every other fastener that you can imagine, Rivet Nut USA™ is the answer! Contact Rivet Nut USA™ today for a free estimate or Bollhoff Fastener, Bollhoff USA, product assistance at sales@rivetnutusa.com or (800) 236-3200!