Integrity at Every Joint: Inside Nord-Lock’s Expanding Portfolio

DSEI Interview:

At DSEI London, Andy Radnor spoke to us about the Nord-Lock Group’s expanding portfolio, its commitment to safety, and why bolted joint integrity matters as much on the battlefield as it does in everyday life.

I’ve been with Nord-Lock for about twelve years in total. I returned six months ago after a couple of years away, having previously served as Sales Director in the United States. My background is in the fastener industry, 30 to 35 years in distribution and manufacturing. My whole career has been about nuts, bolts and washers. It might not sound glamorous, but when those fail, everything fails.

The Nord-Lock washer remains the cornerstone of the company. Instead of relying on friction, which can loosen under vibration, our design uses geometry, a pair of washers with cams that create a wedge effect. That wedge prevents rotation and maintains preload, even under extreme conditions. We’ve tested the product against every conventional locking method over the last 40 years. It outperforms wire locking, patch locking and other friction-based devices. That is why it has been accepted in industries from offshore to aerospace, and increasingly in defence.

The Group is now more than washers. Superbolt, which joined us in 2011, produces multi-jackbolt tensioners. They allow high clamping forces with standard hand tools, invaluable in confined or hazardous environments. Boltight, acquired in 2015, brings hydraulic tensioning systems, enabling multiple bolts to be tightened simultaneously and evenly, ideal for large flange joints. Expander, acquired in 2016, adding pivot pin technology to the capability, and earlier this year we added Energy Bolting, a UK-based manufacturer of high-strength fasteners with a strong heritage in oil and gas. Their expertise in alloy steels, traceability and certification translates directly to defence applications.

Research and development is global. The main washer R&D facility is in Mattmar, Sweden, where the company was founded. Superbolt has centres in Switzerland and Pittsburgh, while Boltight is based in the UK. In total, there are ten technical centres worldwide. Each combines product development with customer support, ensuring we are not only manufacturing but also solving complex jointing problems in the field.

Our mission is simple: protecting human lives. That might be a naval vessel, a bridge, a bus, a wind turbine or an armoured vehicle in theatre. We have products operating in space and on the seabed. The common factor is safety. In defence, if a bolted joint fails, you cannot simply pull over and repair it, lives are at stake. Our role is to ensure those joints do not fail.

The defence industry has always used our products, but in the past five to ten years we have made a more deliberate effort to engage. It is not an easy sector to access; specifications are not always visible and secrecy is part of the nature of the business. Defence also tends to rely on traditional methods that have been in place for decades. Our task is to demonstrate, through hard data, why our technology is superior. We have tested every competing product and we can show why Nord-Lock solutions are more reliable.

One point often overlooked is how torque translates into preload. Roughly 80% of applied torque is lost to friction and other elements, with only 20 per cent achieving clamp load. That is why we always recommend lubrication. By reducing friction, you increase the amount of torque converted to preload, producing a more consistent and dependable joint. It is a small detail with major consequences: fewer failures, less downtime, lower through-life costs.

We are not offering unproven ideas. Nord-Lock washers have been in service for more than 40 years, Superbolt, Expander, and Boltight for decades too. With Energy Bolting now part of the Group, we can address almost any bolting challenge, from the fastener itself to how it is tensioned. Where our products are not the right solution, we will say so. Where they are, we can show why.

Ultimately, everything we do — across every brand in the Group — comes back to the same point: safeguarding platforms and, above all, protecting the people who depend on them.

Editors’ notes:

Nord-Lock’s journey reflects a wider shift within the defence supply chain: an emphasis on lifecycle integrity, through-life cost reduction and the assurance of safety-critical systems. As platforms grow more complex, the smallest components are often those that carry the greatest responsibility. Fastener reliability may lack glamour, but its failure can be catastrophic.

By uniting wedge-locking technology, mechanical and hydraulic tensioning, and now certified high-strength fasteners under one roof, Nord-Lock Group is positioning itself not simply as a supplier of parts, but as a solutions provider for joint integrity across domains. For defence customers, the appeal is clear: proven performance, backed by decades of testing, delivered by a company whose stated mission is nothing less than the protection of human life.