Kennametal said strong brands with niche applications will become stronger and have global impact thanks to the link with the Widia brand.
Last year Kennametal Inc. launched the Widia Products Group, fulfilling a long-term “multi-brand and channel strategy” to improve access to Widia metalcutting products and services to customers worldwide; focus engineering and marketing investments; and decrease the number of SKUs, and to build a new brand that as familiar worldwide as it has been in Europe for many decades.
Widia — a brand name derived from the German phrase, hart wie diamant, meaning “as hard as a diamond” —includes Widia™, Widia-Hanita™, Widia-Rubig™, Widia-Manchester™, Widia-Clapp-DiCo™, Widia-GTD™, and Widia-Circle™.
Widia was an innovator of tungsten carbide as a cutting-tool material, and claims the world’s first patent for coating indexable inserts and developing the world’s first coated grades. Kennametal says brands with niche applications will become stronger and have global impact as a result of the link to the Widia brand.
“This clear brand alignment directs a powerful flow of innovation, products, and services to manufacturers worldwide,” said Kennametal chairman and CEO Carlos M. Cardoso. “Metalcutting customers benefit from a more streamlined organization, making it even easier to do business with us as we provide one of the most innovative bundle of products and services available to meet their needs."
The Widia and Kennametal Product Groups will be marketed separately, with the Widia Products Group being sold primarily through distribution and selected direct accounts, while Kennametal products will be sold directly and through selected value-added resellers.
“With these additions to our products and services,” according to one distributor, “we now represent everything from the spindle to the job to improve a company’s bottom line.”
New products will continue to be introduced, Kennametal said. A new premium performance platform, Widia Victory™, includes new extensions to the best-in-class Widia M1200™ series face-milling cutters and inserts, new TN series turning grades specifically engineered for steel and cast-iron applications, and the new TOP DRILL M1™ modular drilling system.
For current Widia and Kennametal customers, catalog numbers and tool markings will not change, but new eco-friendly packaging, a robust web site, and new product catalogs will be implemented in phases, beginning immediately.
