Editor’s comment for July 2019

You’ll find two home grown editorial features in the July issue about tooling companies – Ceratizit Group and Mitsubishi Materials.

It’s interesting how demands on tooling manufacturers have evolved in recent times. Whilst off the shelf tooling will always be a vital part of the manufacturing process, there’s no doubt that the need for bespoke customised tooling is on the increase – particularly with complex project work comprising multiple tools for a particular application.

In these cases, customers need the tools – and the processes – to do the job, and they need to be 100% sure that things are going to work within predetermined timescales, budgetary restraints and manufacturing specifications. Savvy tooling suppliers are worth their weight in gold in these circumstances.

And that’s because, in a nutshell, they’re far more than simply product shifters. If the situation demands it, they’ll work closely with their respective clients to provide an all-encompassing solution that’s signed off and proven to work before it ever hits the customer’s shopfloor.

This has been made possible largely through the establishment of Technical Centres and project teams. Both Mitsubishi Materials and Ceratizit Group have invested in comprehensive machining facilities to help prove new processes and tooling.

With Mitsubishi, customers will be pleased to hear that the company has just opened a new Technical Centre just a short hop away in Stuttgart. It represents a €3 million investment and is fully kitted out with state-of-the-art machine tools from Tornos, DMG Mori and Hermle, along with inspection equipment and ancillary technology – not to mention a highly skilled project team.

With the Ceratizit Group – which now unifies the brands of Ceratizit, WNT, Klenk and Komet – there are a number of Technical Centres already established in Europe, but plans are afoot for the UK & Ireland operation to move lock, stock and barrel to a new facility on the AMRC campus in Sheffield.

This will occupy 25,000 - 30,000ft² of real estate and will involve recruiting more staff. A new Technical Centre will take centre stage housing a raft of modern machine tools and equipment. The company plans to be up and running in its new home by June 2021.

With the skills shortage an ever present challenge, it’s good to see tooling companies upping the ante and making the long-term financial and technological commitment to support their client bases as comprehensively as possible.