For over 15 years,
XYZ Machine Tools and
Ceratizit UK & Ireland Ltd have enjoyed a strong partnership supporting each other’s activities with shared values and vision, long-term thinking and transparent communication. This collaboration, which was sparked by the chance meeting of Ceratizit’s sales manager Glenn Stanton, with XYZ Machine Tools’ Nigel Atherton and Mike Corbett at Edinburgh Airport, has led to a lasting relationship that has ultimately benefitted the customers of both businesses.
Discussing how the partnership first started, Mr Stanton reflected: “Chatting with the guys from XYZ at the airport, we spotted a synergy between the companies in several areas, one of which was the typical customer that purchased from both businesses. Another common theme was the focus and drive we had to help customers become more efficient at a great price point.”
A machine tool is never going to perform without cutting tools or workholding and during its formative years, XYZ Machine Tools had never aligned with a dedicated tooling supplier. At the start of the relationship, Ceratizit, which was branded as WNT at that time, provided XYZ with some of the standout tooling that allowed the machine tool supplier to full demonstrate the capabilities of its machines and show the production gains to customers at the XYZ showrooms around the country.
Mr Corbett said: “High-feed milling and the development of variable helix/variable pitch solid carbide mills were really starting to make an impression in machine shops around the UK when the partnership began. It was perfect timing as the collaboration gave XYZ Machine Tools access to Ceratizit’s latest generation of tools and the chance to show customers how they could reduce cycle times and improve machine efficiency with the technical backup from a company that was at the leading edge of cutting tool performance.”
The partnership took a giant leap forward with the opening of the Ceratizit’s Sheffield Technical Centre. With Ceratizit’s business model changing, space that was once used for holding tooling stock in the Sheffield Airport Business Park facility, became available for XYZ to install a range of its machines which created a demonstration and training facility in the North East. A by-product of having these machines in Sheffield was it allowed the showroom to become the hub for training of Ceratizit technical and sales staff from the UK and European countries, and allowed the customer-facing staff to see firsthand how to get the best from their products.
Technical trainingWhile Ceratizit has subsequently moved its Technical Centre to a dedicated building located on Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) just down the road from its main offices, it still houses XYZ machine tools, including ProtoTRAK controlled mills and lathes, alongside an 800 HD vertical machining centre and a UMC-5X simultaneous five-axis machine. Furthermore, while Ceratizit continues to use the XYZ machines to deliver technical training to both staff and customers, it is also busy manufacturing bespoke workholding and fixturing which is marketed under the “Made In Sheffield” brand.
Both businesses are seeing a big change in the requirement of machine shops around the country in getting access to tooling as quickly as possible. This is also being seen at XYZ and one of the advantages of this association is that the company has its own latest Ceratizit TOM 80 vending machine (pictured left). Mr Stanton said: “As customers adapt to the changes that Brexit has brought, many are taking advantage of having a vending machine installed on their shopfloors if they meet certain criteria we set.”
To highlight the benefits that the vending machine brings to the XYZ Devon showroom in Burlescombe, Mr Corbett said: “Both our production team and applications department use this vending machine to dispense Ceratizit tooling. We have full traceability of who vends the tools and restocking is carried out without any intervention from XYZ. This facility ensures tooling is always available to our staff without needing to call upon Ceratizit’s next-day delivery service, adding to our efficiency.”
Looking to the future, Mr Stanton continued: ”As we develop new tools, grades of carbide, and add to our existing five-axis vices and zero-point workholding systems, XYZ will always be involved in the development of these products allowing customers to see first-hand the latest technology we are offering in any of the XYZ showrooms across the country.”
Mr Corbett concluded: “Both Ceratizit and XYZ feel that everybody is a winner with this arrangement. XYZ get their tooling and workholding provided to show the power and robustness of their products, while Ceratizit gets to demonstrate its cutting tools and workholding in action to prove the performance gains that can be had by investing in their equipment. However, as far as both companies are concerned, the main winner has to be the customer who can produce components as efficiently as possible and reduce the cost per part by tapping into this long-established partnership.”