Visiting Ceratizit's manufacturing sites in Germany and Austria

As manufacturing becomes ever more global, it’s never been more important to find a unique selling point to differentiate yourself from the competition. For cutting tool specialist, the Ceratizit Group, the key to success is distinctly holistic as Dave Tudor discovered during a two day tour of its manufacturing sites in Germany and Austria.

As manufacturing becomes ever more global, it’s never been more important to find a unique selling point to differentiate yourself from the competition.


For cutting tool specialist, the Ceratizit Group, the key to success is distinctly holistic as Dave Tudor discovered during a two day tour of its manufacturing sites in Germany and Austria.

All companies have their respective skills and expertise but the real magic often happens when like-minded businesses come together, pool their resources and work together collaboratively. As Henry Ford once said: “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”

This holistic approach is precisely what the Ceratizit Group has taken with its ‘Team Cutting Tools’ initiative. The group itself was formed in 2002 following the merger of Plansee Tizit and Cerametal. WNT was already part of the group; in 2015 it acquired Klenk and two years later, Komet. 2018 saw a major reorganisation of the cutting tools business under the ‘Team Cutting Tools’ umbrella.

Each constituent brand is recognised as an expert in its own field: Ceratizit for its high quality indexable inserts; WNT for a diverse product range that includes solid carbide and HSS rotational tools, toolholders and workholding equipment; Komet for its high precision drilling, reaming, boring and countersinking tools; and Klenk for solid carbide drills developed specifically for the aerospace industry.

Claude Sun, managing director of Ceratizit Germany explains why the reorganisation of the tooling business was so important: “Although we were strong as a business previously, it would be true to say that we were a collection of disparate, smaller companies and to be honest we needed to raise the profile of the Ceratizit name,” he says.

“Now we have achieved that objective through the four brands under the Team Cutting Tools umbrella: Komet is a well-known 100 year old company; WNT is a very strong 30 year old business and Klenk, although very niche and specialised, is established as a leader in the aerospace sector.”

“Collectively we’re 100% focused on cutting tools and are evolving into a true industry solutions provider,” adds Gerhard Bailom, joint managing director, Ceratizit, Germany.

“We can provide everything from technical consultancy, logistics, R&D and Industry 4.0 solutions, through to the design and manufacture of special tools, regrinding, recycling and training – not to mention over 100,000 products – all available from a single source.”

Bringing four companies together is of course challenging. Internally, as we speak, computer systems are being merged, cultural differences are being overcome, employees are being re-trained and the four companies are coming together as one.

Mr Sun predicts that from a systems point of view, work will be complete by the end of the year. “Then the challenge really begins,” he affirms. “Our goal is evolve and grow into a global top three tooling company in five to ten years.”

Big plans for the UK


Of the constituent four brands that make up the Ceratizit Group, WNT is certainly the best known in the UK. Headed up by Ceratizit UK & Ireland managing director Tony Pennington, the UK operation company has enjoyed consistent growth over the years, escalating it close to a forecasted £40 million turnover in the 2019 business year.

WNT is best known as a specialist provider of rotational tools including HSS and carbide drills, indexable insert tooling, grooving tools, reamers, taps and dies. It also offers tool and workholding products as well as specialised sliding head tooling. Service is high on the agenda: order a catalogue product by 6.30pm and receive your order next day before noon with free delivery on orders over £50.

However, success inevitably means growth and Ceratizit UK & Ireland is fast outgrowing its Sheffield-based facility: “The lease expires on our building in December 2021 so a move is definitely on the cards in the near future,” Tony Pennington reveals.

“Currently we occupy 11,000ft² but we simply need more room so I’ve been looking at potential sites on the AMRC campus. We’ll need 25-30,000ft² of real estate and that’s predominantly because I want to introduce a larger, new improved Technical Centre fully equipped with machine tools (including 5-axis) for customer projects and the development of bespoke tooling and workholding solutions. In addition, we’ll also offer value-added services like CAM programming,” he says. “We aim to be in new premises around June 2021.

And real-estate won’t be the only thing that’s on the rise. Currently Ceratizit UK & Ireland employs 72 people of which 47 are engineers. Mr Pennington is looking to expand the headcount to 90-100 within the next five years.

Not only that, the infamous but decidedly weighty WNT catalogue – now known as the Ceratizit Group Team Cutting Tools catalogue – has also been expanded to include products from Ceratizit and Komet and is available now. For those not into powerlifting, there is an online version.

Watchful eye


Modern manufacturing is as much about data collection, analysis and process monitoring as it is about cutting metal and with this in mind the Ceratizit Group’s ToolScope modular assistance system is designed to monitor machining processes in real-time.

It consists of a hardware unit connected to the machine tool which captures signals from the machine control. Then, using various applications (apps) – such as TS-PM (process monitoring). TS-AFC (adaptive feed control), TS-WEAR (tool wear monitoring) and TS-CM (condition monitoring) the system can be employed for monitoring, regulating, optimising and documentation.

The CD-XDIM (machine safety) app even deploys an airbag which, in the event of a machine collision will prevent grievous damage.

[caption id="attachment_43713" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Thorben Keune, digital sales engineer at Ceratizit demonstrates the Toolscope modular assistance system, designed to monitor machining processes in real-time[/caption]

In essence, ToolScope protects tools and machinery, helps prevent damage, and speeds up production. It works by capturing process forces (spindle motor torque) primarily via current consumption. This data is then processed using algorithms and statistical process control and displayed in real time on a torque-time-diagram.

On the basis of the actual signals, thresholds are established, which when exceeded, result in a ‘reaction’. Using long-term data collection and storage, the attrition of tools/machines can be determined. Feed rates are varied based on a target value which is set for each tool.

ToolScope comprises hardware, software and service components and being modular, the configuration can be customised for specific customer requirements. However the main components are an industry PC and app-based analysis software, supplemented by a visual representation via the machine control screen (HMI) or additional touchscreens.

A collision monitoring device (CD-XDIM) with sensors is optionally available and in order to control the machine, the machine-dependent PLC (software-side machine control) must be accessed. ToolScope has a number of advantages: because it optimises individual steps as well as the overall process, productivity is increased. Also tool breakages can be detected resulting in reduced scrap and downtime.

A new way to turn


Ceratizit’s Reutte site in Austria is the powder metallurgy specialist within the group, taking care of the entire process – preparation and mixing of the powder; forming/pressing; sintering; finishing; despatch and recycling.

The main purpose of the visit however was to unveil what Dr Uwe Schleinkofer, head of R&D, cutting tools, Ceratizit, Austria describes as a ‘breakthrough innovation’. “We have one process in the metalcutting industry that, in principle hasn’t changed in a hundred years – and that’s turning,” he declares.

[caption id="attachment_43715" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] High Dynamic Turning (HDT) using FreeTurn tooling[/caption]

“It’s always the same: a contour created on a rotating workpiece by a fixed insert with a fixed angle. The only variable parameters are cutting speed, depth of cut and feed rate. Nothing changes – until now.”

The ‘breakthrough’ Dr Schleinkofer refers to is High Dynamic Turning (HDT) using FreeTurn tooling. Interestingly, it’s a concept that Ceratizit first conceived years ago but back then the required machine tool/CAD/CAM technology simply wasn’t available.

He explains that this is by no means a solo venture – Ceratizit needed partners so at the AMB exhibition last September, the company successfully presented its ideas to a number of machine tool and control system manufacturers and CAD/CAM software developers. From day one, HDT was very much ‘open’ technology and Ceratizit is currently collaborating with a number of partners.

Cycle times


At the Innovation Centre at Reutte, HDT/FreeTurn was demonstrated machining an aluminium (AlCuMgPb 3.1645) Rotor bike hub with a tensile strength of 300N/mm² and a 42CrMo4 1.7225 clutch shaft with a tensile strength of 850N/mm². Both were machined on a 10 year old Emco Hyperturn mill/turn centre, ably demonstrating you certainly don’t need ultra-modern kit to reap the benefits of High Dynamic Turning.

For the demo, two GoPro Live cameras were used to get up close and personal to the cutting area and the action was beamed onto TV screens. On the aluminium hub for roughing, a speed of 1,500rpm was used with 2mm depth of cut and 0.4mm/revolution feed rate.

For finishing, cutting speed was 2,000rpm, with a depth of cut of <1mm and a feed rate of 0.25mm/revolution. For both roughing and finishing, an HSK-T63 toolholder and a three cutting edge insert were used on a 125mm long cutting tool.

The results speak for themselves: using just one tool with no downtime, process time on the hub was reduced from two minutes 10 seconds to one minute 35 seconds – a process time saving of 27%.

For the altogether more challenging 42CrMo4 clutch shaft, similar productivity gains were realised. One of the most surprising things about this demo was that, despite the tough material and multi-faceted, complex part, the whole turning process was impressively quiet.

Machine tool requirements

The important thing to remember here is that High Dynamic Turning is a process and FreeTurn refers to the tooling itself. For the demos, triple-edged inserts were used but technically any number of cutting edges could be used depending on the part and process. The technology will form a major part of the Ceratizit Group’s display at the EMO exhibition in Hannover this September.

However, there are some basic machine tool requirements necessary to use HDT with FreeTurn tools – like three linear (X, Y and Z) and two rotational (B, C) axes. The B-axis is essential to the process to allow rotation of the FreeTurn tool. This is a key element of HDT because the tool needs rotational freedom to change the approach angle during the cut.

The other requirements are that the machine must have a milling spindle as a toolholder with either HSK-T or PSC (Sandvik Coromant Capto) connectivity and cutting edge compensation in the Y level. A control system and coupling of the spindle axis (synchronous Y-axis movement) is also necessary.

Currently, HDT works with Siemens Sinumerik 840D, Mazatrol and Fanuc control systems but Ceratizit is in contact with many other manufacturers – Emco, DMG Mori, Grob, Okuma, Hermle, Esprit, Index and Open Mind for example to develop future compatibility.

Total freedom


Lothar Schmid, innovation manager and FreeTurn team member at Reutte, makes some pretty bold claims about the benefits of High Dynamic Turning with FreeTurn tools: 200% greater productivity; 100% less tool changes (and therefore less tools); 90% less ‘fresh air’ cuts; and 40% higher feed rates.

“For anyone involved in turning operations, the real benefit of HDT is its flexibility and the fact you can do so much with a single tool,” he says. “A three-edged insert with the ability to change the approach angle and direction rapidly ‘in cut’ means that roughing and finishing operations can be completed with the same tool quickly and efficiently.”

But, the really impressive thing about seeing High Dynamic Turning in action is the B-axis rotation and it’s this tool movement freedom that makes High Dynamic Turning with FreeTurn tooling so innovative. And it’s fast. Very fast.

Almost any contour can be machined and chip control and surface finishes are excellent. The cutting edge is nearly always cutting metal, not fresh air – and a monoblock tool construction means everything is inherently stable. Cooling channels enable coolant supply right where you need it – directly to the cutting process.

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Ceratizit UK & Ireland Ceratizit Group www.ceratizit.com

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