The builders of America's great industrial revolution were redoubtable men of vision.
Marcellus Joslin founded his company at the turn of the century to support an infant industry created by the invention of another young man named Alexander Graham Bell.
The cross arms and insulator pins that Joslin crafted were respected for their quality.
His business philosophy was disarmingly basic.
He said, do well by your customers and your people and your company will prosper.
Joslin's philosophy has withstood the test of time.
Joslin's people have maintained the heritage of craftsmanship and fundamental hard work necessary to continue pioneering the telecommunications, energy and other of today's infant industries.
As the 1980s began, Joslin launched the decade with a commitment to its hardware division.
Millions of dollars were directed to improve tool design, plant operations and new equipment designed to increase manufacturing capacity and meet greater productivity goals.
More efficient and effective methods of induction and resistance heating have been developed and integrated along with sophisticated computer assistance to all manufacturing and marketing operations.
100 million pounds of steel can be converted each year into over 5 ,000 different hardware items.
All from only 200 different raw material weights, gauges and chemistry.
A ratio that allows flexible inventory control to reduce backorder and out of stock situation.
The hardware division employs nearly 800 people at two plants and seven strategically located distribution centers.
These facilities represent over half of the total U .S.
capacity to specialize in hardware.
Among the precision hardware products Joslin manufactures is the machine bolt.
Simple in appearance perhaps, but not so simple to produce.
Machine bolts begin as 2 ,000 pounds steel cord.
Product quality is assured from the beginning of the conversion process by removing mill scale and liming it in preparation for the wire drawing machine.
Here the diameter is reduced and made perfectly round.
It becomes bolt stock after it's cut to length.
Then it's loaded into a uniquely designed automatic tongue header.
The induction coil heats the stock to about 2 ,300 degrees Fahrenheit.
The inherent strength of the raw material is preserved in this process called hot up setting, forming the head.
The bolts are inspected then enter the semi -automatic roll thread.
Joslin bolts are roll threaded, a deformation process whereby no steel is removed.
The result is stronger, more durable threads.
After being loaded into manel baskets, the bolts automatically progress through successive stages of cleaning and neutralizing in preparation for galvanizing.
The bolts emerge on a shaker conveyor and tumble into baskets that are immersed in metals of molten zinc.
To ensure a uniform coating, they are then centrifuged.
Once cooled, the nut will be added.
Joslin uses a modern nut forming process to produce nuts from round stock.
This process uses less material and takes less time than the conventional nut blanking process.
After galvanizing, the nuts are automatically drilled, tapped, and assembled onto the bolts to ensure proper fit.
Each assembled machine bolt is again inspected while packaged.
Oval eye bolts are another product Joslin takes great care to produce.
Like machine bolts, the raw material is pickled, drawn, and cut to length from coil stock.
Oval eye bolt stock is roll threaded prior to entering a specialized three machine forging operation.
Because the stock to be heated is much greater than the machine bolt, oval eye bolt stock is resistance heated.
The heated stock moves into the up setter, which makes it shorter and creates a greater diameter.
A 750 ton forging press forms the oval eye, punches out the center, and trimmed.
They are then pickled, galvanized, inspected, and assembled before packaging.
The rugged cam action screw anchor is the ingenious marriage of a helix hub assembly, an anchor rod, and an eye nut.
First, the hub is sheared to length.
The helix is blanked and 400 ton press from coil stock.
The leading edge is then sheared.
The helix or pitch formed, and the trimming edge flipped.
All three operations are performed simultaneously.
The helix is welded to the hub, then drilled and tapped, and either galvanized or painted the distinctive joslin blue.
The rods are hot up set to form the hexagonal shoulder, and then threaded before being galvanized, like these forged eye shaft screw anchors.
Eye nuts are formed on a drop hammer, then trimmed and punched.
Final inspection and assembly of all components is accomplished in Joslin's strategically located distribution network represents over one quarter million square feet of warehouse space, offering 15 million pounds of finished goods inventory, hardware, construction, and specialty products ready for immediate shipment to the electric, telephone, and CATV industries.
The thousands of products manufactured by Joslin's Hardware Division require an investment of capital, capacity, and experience unmatched by any other hardware company in the world.
This endeavor to be a vital part of America's growth is made with dedication to our customers and the industries we serve.
