What Semblex manufactures

Semblex Corporation is a cold-formed fastener manufacturer in Elmhurst, Illinois, making specialty screws, bolts, nuts, and cold-formed components for demanding assembly applications. The company runs multi-die and single-die headers, thread rollers, and secondary machining in-house, and describes itself as both an inventor of patented fastening technologies and a licensed producer of leading branded systems. Its catalog centers on lightweighting fasteners for light metals, thin sheets, and advanced high-strength steels, the joining problems that come with taking weight out of cars and trucks.

The product line is built around named technologies. Semblex is a licensed manufacturer of EJOT systems, including the flow-drill FDS fastener and EJOT SpringHead, and holds licenses for TAPTITE PRO, TAPTITE 2000, Torx Plus, Rolok HS, MAThread, DELTA PT, EVO PT, POWERLOK II, and Mag-Form. In March 2025 it added ALtracs Xt, a next-generation thread-rolling screw for light metals. Its own OptiFlow flow-drill fastener uses a modular head, thread, and tip design so an engineer can build a custom joint from stock features. Semblex also produces cold-formed specials, brake components, fastener assemblies and SEMS, and miniature fasteners.

The customer base is broad. Semblex names automotive, heavy truck, motorcycle, powersports, farm equipment, lawn and garden, commercial lighting, utility meters, compressors and generators, consumer electronics, and robotics among the industries it serves. Automotive is the anchor: the company frames its lightweighting work around cars and trucks, and its quality registrations are built for the automotive supply chain. It supports customers with application engineering, fastener calculators, value analysis, and customer training out of its US engineering team.

Ownership and history

Semblex was founded in 1968 by Daniel P. Haerther and three other employees as a manufacturer of small-diameter standard fasteners, and grew into a full specialty cold-forming operation in Elmhurst. Since 2014 it has been a subsidiary of Jinhap Co. Ltd., a privately owned South Korean fastener manufacturer, which also operates fastener companies in Korea and China. Semblex describes its team, vision, and management as unchanged through the ownership transition, with a focus on long-term growth.

Leadership is US-based. Gene Simpson is president and CEO, a role he took in 2021 after serving as chief operating officer, and in 2023 he was elected chairman of the board of the Industrial Fasteners Institute. Jim Schuler is vice president of sales and marketing, with Ben Ripley as director of field sales and Liz Petersen as director of purchasing. The company reports steady hiring, an average employee tenure of about 10 years, and a workforce where a third of direct labor has been with the company 15 or more years. It operates its headquarters and manufacturing in Elmhurst along with a nearby distribution and FDS operations site on Larch Lane.

Certifications and quality

Semblex holds IATF 16949, the automotive quality management standard, along with ISO 9001 and the ISO 14001 environmental standard, registered through NSF International Strategic Registrations. Its laboratory is accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) to ISO/IEC 17025 for dimensional, mechanical, and chemical testing. The company became TISAX certified in April 2025 through DEKRA, the information-security assessment increasingly required by European automakers. Its quality lab runs optical measuring for screw and thread geometry, material spectrometry to verify incoming steel chemistry, and cleanliness testing to ISO 16232. Semblex describes APQP and PPAP as standard practice, the norm for an OEM and tier-supplier fastener source.

Known customers

Most of Semblex's customers are unnamed, as is normal for a fastener supplier serving OEM programs. Program awards put one relationship on the public record and point to the automotive tier where the company operates.

Semblex also reports receiving the Torx Drive System World Class Quality Award for 2022, a licensor recognition rather than a customer relationship. Beyond the GM award, its named licenses (EJOT, TAPTITE, Torx Plus) and IATF 16949 registration place it inside the automotive fastener supply base, but specific program customers are not published.

Sourcing evidence

Semblex's US import record is that of an active manufacturer with an international supply base: 2,356 sea shipments from January 2015 through September 2026, with the most recent landing September 25, 2026. The mix is fasteners and fastener inputs, screws, nuts, cold-heading wire, and licensed screw systems, consistent with a domestic cold-former that also imports finished and semi-finished product from affiliated and partner plants. Bills of lading name suppliers concentrated in South Korea, Taiwan, and China. The most active:

Six shown of the recorded supplier list. The single largest source is Jinhap, Semblex's own South Korean parent, so a large share of the record is intercompany supply rather than open-market sourcing. By declared HS code, the record is dominated by iron and steel screws, bolts, and nuts (chapters 7318.14, 7318.15, and 7318.16), with cold-heading wire and licensed EJOT product also visible. Imports arrive in a steady year-round cadence with no strong seasonal peak, averaging roughly 24 TEU per month, and customs-derived estimates put cumulative ocean shipping spend near $3.6M since 2015, with cost data covering about 86% of shipments, an order-of-magnitude figure rather than an audited one.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck, and rail movements do not appear; some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers; and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does Semblex Corporation manufacture?

Semblex manufactures cold-formed specialty fasteners: screws, bolts, nuts, SEMS, cold-formed specials, brake components, and fastener assemblies. It focuses on lightweighting fasteners for light metals, thin sheets, and advanced high-strength steels, and is a licensed manufacturer of EJOT, TAPTITE, Torx Plus, and other branded systems, alongside its own OptiFlow flow-drill fastener.

Who owns Semblex Corporation?

Semblex has been a subsidiary of Jinhap Co. Ltd., a privately owned South Korean fastener manufacturer, since 2014. It was founded in 1968 by Daniel P. Haerther and three other employees and remains US-managed from Elmhurst, Illinois, with Gene Simpson as president and CEO.

Where is Semblex Corporation located?

Semblex is headquartered at 900 North Church Road in Elmhurst, Illinois, where it runs its manufacturing and engineering. It also operates a nearby distribution and FDS operations facility on Larch Lane in Elmhurst.

Who are Semblex Corporation's customers?

Most customers are unnamed, but Semblex has publicly announced GM Supplier Quality Excellence Awards for its 2022 and 2023 performance, documenting General Motors as a customer. Its IATF 16949 registration and licensed fastener systems place it in the automotive OEM and tier-supplier supply base, serving automotive, heavy truck, powersports, farm equipment, and other industries.

What certifications does Semblex hold?

Semblex holds IATF 16949, ISO 9001, and ISO 14001, registered through NSF International Strategic Registrations, and its laboratory is A2LA accredited to ISO/IEC 17025. The company became TISAX certified in April 2025 through DEKRA.

How long has Semblex been in business?

Semblex was founded in 1968, giving it more than five decades of continuous operation. It reports an average employee tenure of about 10 years, with a third of its direct-labor workforce having 15 or more years of service.

Last verified September 28, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.