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Mike Kangas recalled technological developments that have allowed Alaska to build an oil pipeline in the permafrost and Alaska Industrial Hardware to start in a Quonset hut and now conduct e-commerce. "Technology has led the way toward many new and innovative construction designs in the Arctic climate," Kangas said in his State-of-Distribution address to the Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association's 35th annual convention.

Alaska Industrial Hardware was founded in 1959 in a Quonset hut on a muddy road that is now in the center of Anchorage.

"The founder had a simple plan – buy surplus nuts and bolts, repackage and sell them," Kangas – the current president and general manager – said. Kangas noted Alaska has more coastline than all of the rest of the U.S. together and it is one-third the physical size the combined other 49 states. Getting product to the Port of Seattle is just the first challenge, Kangas explained. Shipping in containers from Seattle to Alaska may take from four to 10 days due to storms with 100-foot waves and hurricane-force winds. That means suppliers need to anticipate sales 60-days in advance. Customers in Alaska may be around the corner or may be a community general store served only by air.

In the winter the ground may be frozen down eight feet. "This layer has to be removed or thawed before any construction can begin," Kangas explained. That may require a big excavator with a ripping bar or a portable thawing system before footings can be formed. Moreover, a plastic tent blown up like a big balloon protects the site from refreezing.

"Without these building techniques work would stop around November – earlier as you move north – and not begin again until spring," Kangas explained. "That made for some very slow months for this STAFDA house and many others." Farther north with winter temperatures of –50 degrees the ground is so unstable "it's unbuildable with conventional construction techniques due to permafrost." Kangas noted hundreds of miles of the Alaskan pipeline were constructed on permafrost. "Thousands of piles were driven into this frozen substrate and by circulating ammonia throughout the piling, all ground heat is removed that would otherwise cause the permafrost to melt," Kangas explained. "This is one of many cold weather construction techniques pioneered and developed in Alaska."

Transportation by only air and water require "everything must be preplanned well in advance, because there are very few lumberyards or hardware stores close by. A small home can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to construct. "Anything that's loaded must be unloaded and taken to the job – sometimes piece by piece," Kangas explained.

Many northern Alaska communities are limited to barge deliveries during a few summer months. "Anything that misses these barge shipments must be flown in and at many times the cost," Kangas said.

In recent years AIH implemented an R-F scan system starting with inbound shipments, then added paperless order picking and now inventory management. "Over those same years we have reduced manpower, increased productivity and improved accuracy, fill rates and inventory integrity," Kangas reported.