WINONA, Minn. – Fastenal, a national distributor of industrial and construction supplies, has signed an agreement to become the North American National Distributor of the WIDIA Products Group, a complete portfolio of precision-engineered products for the metalworking industry.
Through the partnership, Fastenal’s 2,500+ stores will offer thousands of milling, turning, holemaking and tooling systems products from WIDIA™, WIDIA Hanita, WIDIA Circle, WIDIA Manchester, WIDIA Metal Removal, WIDIA Rübig, WIDIA ClappDiCo, WIDIA GTD and WIDIA MetCut – representing some of the world’s most popular metalworking brands. WIDIA-brand products and services have defined innovation in the metal cutting industry for more than 80 years, from the world’s first patent for carbide indexable inserts to the development of the world’s first coated grades.
“The WIDIA expansion fills out the higher end of our metalworking product lineup and allows us to provide a truly comprehensive offering,” said Fastenal Business Development Manager Mike Rusk. “From the customer’s perspective, it means that the local Fastenal store can now take care of all of your cutting tool needs, from general purpose high-speed steel to carbide production tooling.”
Aligning with high-end suppliers like WIDIA is part of Fastenal’s push to expand its presence in the metalworking industry, leveraging its vast manufacturing customer base as North America’s largest fastener distributor.
As part of this initiative, Fastenal has made industry training available to all sales personnel, while deploying metalworking specialists across North America to support local stores and customers. The company is also adding tens of thousands of metalworking products to its Indianapolis-based central distribution center, dramatically expanding the range of inventory available for 24 to 48 hour delivery.
To help customers in the metalworking industry improve productivity and efficiency, Fastenal is introducing its latest FAST Solutions: the FAST 4000CT℠ and FAST 2000CT℠. These compact machines provide workers with secure point-of-use access to round tooling and individual indexable inserts, utilizing the FAST system to track and control usage. The more compact FAST 2000CT is rolling out in June, and the larger FAST 4000CT will go to market in July.
“We have the inventory, the expertise, the automated supply solutions – and now, with the WIDIA agreement, a full line of products from the best brands in the industry,” added Rusk. “With all of these pieces in place, we’re looking forward to offering a new level of value and service to our metalworking customers.”
