Kennametal establishes WIDIA Product Group

The WIDIA Products Group will include WIDIA, Hanita, Rubig, Manchester, Clapp-DiCo, Greenfield Tap & Die, and Circle; brands all dual-branded under the WIDIA name – WIDIA-Manchester, WIDIA-Circle, etc. This announcement is part of the longer-term multi-year brand/channel strategy that has been under way to improve access to metalcutting products and services to customers worldwide, focus the company's engineering and marketing investments, decrease the number of stock keeping units, and build a robust distribution brand. Tooling systems brands KM and Erickson will be available in both Kennametal and WIDIA Products Groups. The WIDIA and Kennametal Products Groups will be taken to market separately. The WIDIA Products Group range will be sold primarily through distribution and selected direct accounts, while the Kennametal brand is positioned primarily as a direct brand, sold also through selected resellers. For current WIDIA and Kennametal customers, catalogue numbers and tool markings will not change, but new eco-friendly packaging, robust website, and new product catalogues will begin to be implemented in phases.