FAST vs HWM Comparison

Fastenal began as an industrial retailer, expanding its product portfolio from nuts and bolts to cutting tools, safety equipment, and janitorial supplies. It transitioned into a distributor by building out a dense network of branches close to its business customers. Once a customer becomes large enough, Fastenal installs vending machines and its own personnel on-site. Today, these on-site locations exceed Fastenal's branch count and remain the firm's main focus for expansion. Fastenal acts as a one-stop outsourcing partner for its industrial customers, offering value-added services along with a wide breadth of maintenance, repair, and operations supplies.

Howmet Aerospace Inc produces products that are majorly used in aerospace, commercial transportation, and industrial and other markets. The company seeks to provide its customers with solutions by offering differentiated products such as airfoils with cooling and coatings for extreme temperature applications, specially designed fasteners for lightweight composite airframe construction, reduced assembly costs, lightning strike protection, and lightweight aluminum commercial wheels. It has four reportable segments namely, Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels.