FAST vs HWM Comparison

Fastenal opened its first fastener store in 1967 in Winona, Minnesota. Since then, it has greatly expanded its footprint as well as its products and services. Today, Fastenal serves its 400,000 active customers through approximately 1,600 branches, over 1,800 on-site locations, and 15 distribution centers. Since 1993, the company has added other product categories, but fasteners remain its largest category at about 30%-35% of sales. Fastenal also offers customers supply chain solutions, such as vending and vendor-managed inventory.

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 through 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, and lightning strike protection and lightweight aluminum commercial wheels. It has four reportable segments namely, Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures and Forged Wheels.