I am coming towards the end of my first year in the cutting tools market and I’ve learned a lot! I have become fascinated with all aspects of machining, but what strikes me most is the passion that exists in the manufacturing of components – large and small, relatively simply and bewilderingly complex.

One of the aspects of the industry that I’m slower to understand is the willingness to purchase products from non-authorised sources. Investment in new CNC’s, or the maintaining of existing equipment, is not cheap. Often the materials being machined can also be incredibly expensive, making the slightest mistake in a process very costly. And yet; I speak to customers, other distributors and carbide manufacturers who describe supply chains that introduce a huge amount of risk into this expensive and unforgiving environment.

A couple of examples. I was speaking to an experienced technical sales engineer from one of the national distributors. He was explaining that, as his company does not have direct access to one of the largest carbide manufacturers products, they are forced to either convert the product or give a pretty miserable service to the end user as they have to source through a third party.

“My problem”, he said “is that the existing product does a great job, but we need to convert in order to make a margin and improve our service levels”. In this example, at best, the end-user maintains the status-quo having gone through the time and effort of conversion.

In another customer they were buying a major brand through another, competing carbide manufacturer! When our engineer pointed out that the grades being used had been superseded on a number of occasions (that the customer was using >15yr old technology) the customer was baffled. I wasn’t. Where is the incentive for a competitor to introduce improved technology when an easy, steady flow of income was available to them?

The advantages of using an authorised distributor (or one of the myriad labels the OEM’s apply to their routes to market) are many. I’ll focus on two:

Technical Innovations

Using the latest technology in cutting tools provides a genuine competitive advantage to component manufacturers. Reduced cycle times and scrap rates drop straight to the bottom line. But you only know what you know, so it pays to be with a supplier who will keep you abreast of the latest grades and geometries.

Supply Chain Certainty

Every hand-off in any process can lead to waste – be that time, cost, rework etc. This is the same in the cutting tool market. To deal with a supplier who has to go another distributor for a quote, who then has to contact a manufacturer (if you’re lucky enough for the supply chain to be that simple) will definitely introduce additional profit margins for the suppliers and almost certainly increase the lead-times for the customer.

In conclusion, cutting tools are where the investment in machinery and people meets the material to generate added-value. In order to compete in an increasingly difficult market, I propose that using authorised distributors minimises your risk, keeps you competitive and helps with the ongoing security of your bottom-lines.

Paul Lynch