Thierry Wolter, executive
board member, says the
UK is a “vitally important”
market for Ceratizit
The cutting angle
of the dynamic
FreeTurn tool can
be adjusted 360° for optimal use in
every position of the workpiece
Positioning
for future growth
The Ceratizit Group used 2020 to reposition itself, bringing together all the latest innovations and products
it offers to customers. The UK also remains a vital market as shown by investments the company has made
Covid-19 has had a profound effect on
every machine tool industry business
and for the Ceratizit Group ( www.is.gd/
ZWKM2n ) it was an opportunity to reposition
the company for future growth.
The company’s strategy of covering
everything from how to use the tool, optimise
the machine process and make sure it runs
smoothly, is all falling into place, and it can
now offer customers a whole package of
cutting-edge of products with service,
innovation, and digitalisation at the heart.
Speaking to Machinery, Thierry Wolter,
executive board member, explains the UK is a
“vitally important” market for Ceratizit and as
part of this commitment, it has invested in a
new Shef eld-based Technical Centre (see
more on page 20) that is set to open in April,
helping to make it more self-suf cient.
“We need to bring innovative new products
to the market and customers need
innovation, but they also need to know how to
use them so this centre in the UK is very
important for us, as to just have good
products is not suf cient,” he says.
2020 was a challenging year due to the
pandemic and when Ceratizit’s scal year
ends at the end of February, Wolter says
gures will be down 20 per cent on the
previous 12 months, but it is looking forward
to a strong 2021.
Ceratizit has used the pandemic to
reposition the company for 2021 and the
years. Wolter uses Winston Churchill’s phrase
‘never let a good crisis go to waste’ as an
example of how the company has approached
business.
“After all the acquisitions Ceratizit has
made in the past, we looked at how can we
bring business to a new level and used 2020
for doing that,” says Wolter.
“We are very strong nancially and can do
things right and with the right timing, which is
very important.”
THE FUTURE IS DIGITAL
In December, Ceratizit added another digital
tool to its armoury when it launched
LiveTechPro – an app that can be used for
immediate and competent visual support to
deliver technical assistance in case of
machining issues, or can simply be used to
help optimise processes.
The UK market is being used as a testing
ground for the technology and it has come at
a perfect time ,as with local and national
lockdowns in force due to Covid-19, the need
for technical support to maximise cutting tool
performance remains high.
The LiveTechPro app provides the platform
for Ceratizit’s technical sales and applications
engineers to have their eyes and ears there
with manufacturers, helping to immediately
solve any solutions remotely. Wolter calls it
“the next best thing to actually standing next
to a machine”.
The technology features a live,
18 February 2021 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
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