Universal Fastener Outsourcing (UFO) is celebrating its 16th-year anniversary this month, and its 12th year of manufacturing the revolutionary Ballistic NailScrew®. UFO offers 80 skews of products made to the highest grade possible and sold by 50 distributors nationwide.
“We’re a company trying to do things right and that makes a difference in the markets we touch,” said Jim Boyd, one of three owners, who also handles sales and marketing.
The Ballistic NailScrew is the UFO product that’s had the most impact on pallet and crate manufacturers, Boyd said. That’s because of the huge effect these patented, pneumatically-driven screws can have on labor and cost savings.
One of the best features of Ballistic Nailscrews is that they can be driven by a pallet- or framing-grade pneumatic nailer just like a nail, requiring no special equipment. They come in multiple sizes, from 1-1/4” to 3-1/2”, and are available in collated strips, wire coils and plastic sheet coils.
Even for companies that are already using collated nails or screws, Ballistic Nailscrews can make a huge difference in speed, which means less labor and lower costs. Boyd said, “We’re twice as fast as that; we’re saving them 100% of labor above even a collated screw. A worker can do twice as much in the same amount of time.”
“We also make these in high-load coils with 900 in one coil so they can be used in multiple nailers attached to a bridge” for even faster results, he said. “We’re the only people in the world who make a high-load coil nail-screw.”
Besides being faster to insert, Ballistic NailScrews have other key advantages over other fasteners, Boyd said. First of all, they have better holding power than nails, making for sturdier pallets and crates.
“The pull-out resistance is about 30% better than a ring-shank or a screw-shank nail,” he said. “The same size nail screw will give them 30% more holding power, particularly advantageous on the lead boards on pallets.”
They are also better than other screws because they are less brittle, having been awarded the multi-use rating by the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. “Ours will take a little bend,” Boyd said, which was proven during the testing.
UFO had already done extensive product testing on the Ballistic NailScrew line through Intertek, but many potential clients were asking how the line would hold up to rigorous Virginia Tech testing, he explained. “We chose three different products, and we are the only screw that ever passed the testing with the multi-use rating,” he said. “We’ve got the seal of approval.”
Besides the labor savings and increased holding power, Ballistic NailScrews also have another big advantage over nails and staples – the ease of removal. Nail removal often requires a crowbar and causes a lot of damage to the wood, plus wear and tear on the worker, and staples make a real mess when opening a crate.
Because Ballistic NailScrews are so easy to remove, the wood is less damaged and can often be re-used for another crate or pallet, or recycled for other purposes. For us, a crate or pallet may just be a container, Boyd explained, but in some countries that wood is used for building homes.
Besides the wood, NailScrews can also be re-used if needed, as they’re usually still in good shape on removal.
The Ballistic NailScrew is a “hybrid® fastener,” a term which UFO has trademarked. “That’s because it’s a nail when you need it and a screw when you need it. It’s just an awfully good product with an extremely fast screw assembly with tools you already have,” Boyd said.
While Ballistic NailScrews may cost a little more than other fasteners, it’s because they’re made of high-grade steel, and no recycled material, Boyd said, explaining that cost savings from labor will pay off quickly and continue to pay off in the long run.
He invites anyone interested in testing the NailScrew to contact him for a free coil of 225 shipped free by UPS.
Ballistic NailScrews can be used in many applications, with strength that far surpasses that required of pallet and crate manufacturers, with the ability to go through wood and then 12-gauge steel, he commented.
For more details or technical specs and to watch short installation videos, visit the company’s website at www.911-nails.com/NailScrews.html, call 800-352-0028, or contact Boyd directly at 479-283-0526.
