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In a move to better serve their automotive and general engineering customers throughout the NAFTA region, Sandvik Coromant Company has expanded and realigned their Engineered Tooling operation. The project, part of a $10 million capital investment program, will increase Sandvik's Engineered Tooling capacity by approximately 25%.

Engineered Tooling is the made-to-order tooling often found in dedicated high-volume, long-run production operations, such as in machining transfer lines.

"We will increase staffing in design, proposals, and customer service while consolidating manufacturing in our more modern facilities," says Alan Godfrey, Sandvik Coromant's vice president of marketing. "In fact, we will create Competency Centers for particular types of Engineered Tooling. This will allow Sandvik to better service our customers."

align=right border=0>At the customer support end, Sandvik will add design and engineering capacity at their Bloomfield Hills, MI, and Windsor, Ont. Locations, while using modern and advanced computer technology to create a real time link into the production locations for accuracy and speed in manufacturing. For operating efficiencies, Engineered Tooling manufacturing will move from Bloomfield Hills to Sandvik's modern tooling plant in Mebane, NC. The Mebane plant is already a world-class manufacturing center for tooling.

"The redeployment will benefit consistency as well as efficiency of Engineered Tooling manufacturing," says Jan-Erik Nordh, vice president of manufacturing. "The Engineered Tooling operations will be moving into a modern, high-volume environment with state-of-the art machinery, high precision inspection equipment and highly advanced process controls."

Redeployment of the manufacturing will take place between June 4 and July 27. Customer service will be uninterrupted during the transition.

Expansion of Engineered Tooling capacity, and additions to the Mebane plant, is part of Sandvik Coromant's $46 million NAFTA capital investment program that began in 1997. The program also included expanding carbide insert capacity at Fair Lawn, NJ, building the new Stafford, TX plant to produce CBN, PCD and ceramic inserts, and expanding customer training capacity by 50%.

For more information, contact Thomas Carlberg, Sandvik Coromant, (201) 794-5223.

Sandvik Coromant Company, 1702 Nevins Road, PO Box 428, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410-0428 USA. Tel: 201-794-5000. Fax: 201-794-5165.

Source: Sandvik Coromant Company

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