The IFI has established industrial standards. One such standard is "IFI Standard 125", which concerns various forms of
thread-locking fluid. It has sponsored scholarships for industrial design training at the
Fastener Training Institute. In 1946, the institute held its annual meeting in New York City and announced plans to request an increase in price ceilings on their industry's products from the
Office of Price Administration. In 1947, the institute criticized a
War Assets Administration contract that sold 7.5 million dollars' worth of metal fasteners for $22.50 per ton to one nut and bolt company. The institute played a role in debates about proposals for the United States to convert to the
metric system. As of 1973, the IFI had 60 members, who reportedly produced 60 percent of the nuts, bolts, and screws manufactured in the United States. The organization initially opposed the U.S. conversion to metric measurements, but by 1973 had changed its position to support voluntary adoption of metric system standards without government interference, according to institute president Frank Masterson. In 2012, Joe Greenslade, the technical director of the institute at the time, said he concured with an article in
Physics World that "faulty
rivets" may play a role in the sinking of
Titanic. == Related organizations ==