Three companies, one brand, a long, proud history
In 1872, entrepreneurs Solon Wiley and Charles P. Russell went into business together, manufacturing high-quality tools for thread cutting. Four decades later, their company was purchased by the Wells Brothers Co., and became known by a more familiar name, Greenfield Tap and Die. The company patented the original gun tap, helped develop many of the technical specifications used to machine threaded components over the past century, and remains a leader in tap and die manufacturing.
WIDIA has a history nearly as rich. The company began producing tungsten carbide in 1926 for use in cutting tools, and the name WIDIA is actually an acronym for »like diamond,» coined in recognition of the material´s extreme hardness. WIDIA was later awarded the first patent for coated indexable inserts and went on to be a global leader in cutting tools, its name becoming synonymous with carbide throughout Europe.
So it is too with Hanita, which over the past 60 years has become known the world over for its premium grade end mills and coatings. It has also become a favorite of the aerospace and defense industries in Israel, the United States, France, and elsewhere, thanks in large part to its development of the revolutionary VariMill line of titanium-hungry variable pitch end mills.
Today these three brands reside under one corporate roof—the WIDIA Products Group—but it´s important to recognize that they remain distinct from one another, each with its own product managers, employees, and goals, as do the many other brand names that have come under the WIDIA umbrella. Most of the Greenfield taps that you were buying 30 years ago are still available today (although a number of new ones have since been added to the product line). The same holds true for Hanita end mills and coatings, and any number of the thousands of WIDIA cutting tools produced over its long history.
Simply put, we´re still here, but with the strength of the WIDIA organization behind them, all of these iconic brands will only continue to become stronger, more capable, and provide ever more productive manufacturing solutions for you and your company. In recognition of this commitment, WIDIA has recently launched several new corporate logos to represent these historic names, and to respect their industry achievements. We invite you to take a look, check out our catalogs and the NOVO website, and if you´ve lost touch over the years, give us a call. We´re not going anywhere.
