Ceratizit adds applications knowledge for customers in the south and south west of England

1 min read

In announcing its latest recruit, Ceratizit UK & Ireland continues to expand and develop its levels of customer support. Joining the growing applications engineering team is Darrell Hessan, who began his career as an apprentice toolmaker before progressing through general sub-contract manufacturing, where he gained experience across a range of machining roles on one-off, medium- and large-volume production.

Darrell Hessan along with Shaun Thornton at Ceratizit UK & Irelands Technical Centre in Sheffield
Darrell Hessan along with Shaun Thornton at Ceratizit UK & Irelands Technical Centre in Sheffield

The wide range of experience that Darrell has will be put to good use working with Ceratizit customers on new and current projects helping to drive down manufacturing costs and improve overall manufacturing efficiency. His focus will be on the south of England while providing additional support for customers in the south west.

He said: “Having started my engineering career as a mould toolmaker, I quickly gained knowledge of many engineering competences from a vastly experienced factory. This gave me a great start when I moved to a general sub-contractor position, where I gained more exposure to additional machining techniques.”

With experience came more opportunities for Darrell, who moved on to volume production work gaining knowledge of 4 and 5-axis machining of various materials ranging from aluminium to HRSA’s (heat resistant super alloys). He was also tasked with passing on his knowledge through involvement with apprentice training.

Of particular interest to customers he will be working with in his new role as an applications sales engineer with Ceratizit, will be his knowledge of tooling budgets, cycle time reductions and cost-down efficiencies. “It is an honour to be part of the Ceratizit UK team and support customers the way I had been looked after for many years, putting my experiences within industry to good use supporting others,” he said.  

Speaking of Darrell’s appointment, Shaun Thornton, Ceratizit UK & Ireland’s technical manager, said: “We now have applications support across the country, with 12 engineers dedicated to providing project support for customers.

"They are available to work from initial concept on new components or simply to look at opportunities to improve existing machining methods, ultimately reducing manufacturing costs for Ceratizit customers.”