Celebrating 60 Years of Western Fastener

1958 was a year of change, new technology, and a brand new company: Western Fastener. When Western Fastener started, it was the only fastener company in San Diego. Now, there are too many to count!

Bill Vollmer started this business in 1958. As folklore would have it, he was working for Premier Fastener as an outside salesperson stocking bins for Disneyland.

One day, he was called in to see the purchasing manager at Disneyland and was told his services were no longer required. They were looking for a company that could provide the same service with more reasonable pricing.

Bill left the purchasing manager's office and sat in his car for some time thinking he had just lost his biggest account. Instead of leaving, he decided to go back in and talk to the manager since he had a good rapport with her. Bill wanted to know, if he had his own company, would she buy from him. Fortunately, the answer was “YES.” Hence, Western Fastener was born with Disneyland as our first customer.

From the beginning, we've focused on building good relationships, providing superior customer service, and solving problems.

Over the years, the parts have remained mainly the same - a screw is still a screw - but their applications and how we sell and fulfill orders has changed to adapt to modern technology.

"You used to be able to tell how well business was doing based on how loud the office was because everyone was on their phones talking to customers and fulfilling orders. Now, most of our orders come through email and the office is much quieter."

- Scott Sutherland, President

We're completely online now with customers being able to email us orders or use our Electronic Data Interchange capability. We can typically fulfill local orders within 24 hours.

We've grown with many companies throughout the years and been able to adapt to their needs while also making sure we provide the best solutions.

Superior Customer Service

The one thing that has never changed with Western Fastener is our commitment to superior customer service. In fact, it’s why we’re still around.

"Western Fastener has thrived because we are able to adapt to our customers’ changing needs. We’re small enough to be flexible yet big enough to compete both locally and internationally."

- Bob Rosen, Account Representative

Our customers know that the parts they ordered will be there before they need them because of our 99.9% order accuracy.

Solving Problems

Our customers rely on us for more than just delivering the right products on time.

Knowledge of the parts, applications, and understanding of compliance standards allow us to help our customers find the most functional, widely available, and cost-efficient fastening solutions.

"One of my favorite customer moments is walking an engineer out to our VMI bins and showing them that they already had a solution, and didn’t need to create/add another unique part when a standard one would work instead."

- Allen Chapman, Account Representative

Over the years, our team has helped multiple companies find the best solutions - even when it means not selling a new part!

Thank you for 60 great years. We look forward to serving our customers for decades to come!