Located in Westbury, Wiltshire, Atkinson Equipment has been at the forefront of precision engineering since the late 1960s. What began as a family business developing oil heating, refuelling and liquid transfer equipment has evolved into a sophisticated manufacturing operation serving multiple demanding sectors.
In February 2025, Atkinson Equipment took delivery of a Citizen L32-VIII LFV sliding-head turning centre, a significant investment driven by a contract to manufacture gym equipment. The machine acquisition was primarily for a four-component project, each part was required in quantities of 30,000, totalling 120,000 parts.
To streamline the supply chain, Atkinson Equipment wanted a single-source tooling solution for the new Citizen machine. The RFQ went beyond cutting tools. The ISO9001-certified company needed collets, bushes, sleeves, tool holders, drills and peripheral equipment to create a seamless transition into production. The OFTEC-approved company approached Ceratizit.
“The breadth of products was impressive, but what really set Ceratizit apart was their technical knowledge and support,” says Ben Hale, engineering production manager. “The Ceratizit team was actively involved in maximising productivity and delivering prolonged tool life to optimise machine performance.”
Ceratizit systematically evaluated existing inventory, identifying opportunities to swap out standard products for equivalent or superior alternatives from its own catalogue. This like-for-like exchange delivered immediate benefits, reducing cutting tool costs while improving tool life by up to 20% on most product lines while simultaneously enhancing productivity by anything from 10 to 50% in certain cases.
“The difference between working with a distributor and working with Ceratizit became crystal clear during the project,” notes Hale. “Ceratizit engineers can tell you what will work best for your specific application, material and production volume. That expertise enabled us to push cutting parameters further than we thought possible.”
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