E-Archive

Interview

in Vol. 20 - January Issue - Year 2019
A New Winning Proposition For The Cut Wire Shot Peening Market
Mr. Joan Samuel, the Head of Global Product Management of Winoa

Mr. Joan Samuel, the Head of Global Product Management of Winoa

High Durability Cut Wire manufactured by Toyo Seiko

High Durability Cut Wire manufactured by Toyo Seiko

Fig. 1: Signature of Winoa-Toyo Seiko distribution agreement in South Bend (IN) – September 2018

Fig. 1: Signature of Winoa-Toyo Seiko distribution agreement in South Bend (IN) – September 2018

Fig. 2: Industrial case study – consumption reduction when switching from standard to high-durability cut wire

Fig. 2: Industrial case study – consumption reduction when switching from standard to high-durability cut wire

Fig. 3: Winoa’s high-durability cut wire offer

Fig. 3: Winoa’s high-durability cut wire offer

MFN had the opportunity to talk to Mr. Joan Samuel, the Head of Global Product Management of Winoa.

(?) MFN: Mr. Samuel, thank you for taking the time for this interview. Would you, first of all, introduce yourself to our readers?

(!) J. S.: My name Is Joan SAMUEL and I have worked for the Winoa group for more than 10 years. As the Head of Global Product Management, I’m in charge of managing the products portfolio of our company and making sure that our customers get the best value for their money by providing them with a unique combination of innovative products, leading-edge technologies and added-value services. All in all, our everyday concern is to ensure our customers enjoy a unique experience when working with Winoa, boost the performance of customers’ blasting processes and reduce the related operational costs thanks to Winoa’s exclusive blasting solutions.

(?) MFN: What do you mean by exclusive blasting solutions?

(!) J. S.: At Winoa, we don’t see ourselves as a simple blasting media manufacturer. Indeed, far from just being a commodity supplier, we have the constant wish to team up with our customers in order to bring added-value to their process. And this goal can only be achieved by offering not only standard blasting media but a complete range of high-performance Premium products, comprehensive services and exclusive technologies that support the usage of our blasting products. Let’s put this statement in perspective through facts and figures: every year, Winoa’s teams perform more than 1,700 blasting line audits, resulting in more than 3,000 technical expertise reports and 250 blasting cost reduction projects, each project resulting, on average, in 60 k€ annual savings per blasting line. To achieve this, Winoa relies on a global team of 21 applications experts, 6 Test Centers (France, Czech Republic, Austria, USA, Brazil, Japan), a 100+ team of technically skilled regional sales managers and, last but not least, the exclusive WA COST technology, a blasting cost optimization software developed thanks to more than 50 years of experience in the steel abrasive industry, thousands of trials in our Test Centers and trustworthy business relationships with more than 10,000 customers. Only Winoa is able to offer such a combination of high added-value products, services and technologies to meet customers’ expectations efficiently and sustainably. To loop with the beginning of my answer, we don’t only manufacture and sell steel abrasives: we are committed to boosting the process performance of our customers through unique blasting solutions.

(?) MFN: Indeed, referring to the articles about Winoa’s innovations published in recent years in MFN, we have seen many innovations being launched on the market (WA CLEAN, WA 3D, new Premium products…). Can you give us a taste of your current and future developments?

(!) J. S.: In a nutshell, Winoa goes digital. Indeed, today’s world is undergoing severe transformations and disruptions driven by digital technologies, and we can see many reasons for the steel abrasives business to seize the great opportunities brought by the digital world. Leveraging the capabilities of the new technologies to further enlarge the added-value of our solutions is the motto of our current technological developments. A good example of this digital approach is our WA CLEAN technology (cleanliness evaluation device for surface preparation operations), which will soon be available for mobile devices, in the shape of a sensor to be plugged into a smartphone and a related mobile app. This new version of our successful device WA CLEAN will be smaller, easier to use, more versatile, and will bring new possibilities for data recording, sharing and exploitation. A winning evolution for the users!

(?) MFN: We have recently seen a lot of innovations coming from Winoa for cleaning and preparing operations. Would you have news to share with our readers about shot peening?

(!) J. S.: Shot peening is the most technical application of steel abrasives, and as such, deserves the best technological content and products at the highest quality standards. For years, Winoa has been supplying top-notch quality high hardness cast steel shot to automotive, aerospace and other miscellaneous industries requiring shot-peening operations such as bio-medical, energy generation, construction… And today, I’m very proud to announce that, to complement its shot-peening product range, Winoa has signed an agreement with Toyo Seiko company to distribute high durability conditioned steel cut wire globally, except in Asia and India. This distribution agreement was signed in September 2018 in Toyo Seiko’s manufacturing facility in the USA (South Bend, IN) – see Figure 1 – and became applicable on October 1st, 2018.

(?) MFN: Could you remind our readers what Toyo Seiko is and what is high durability cut wire?

(!) J. S.: Toyo Seiko was founded in Japan in 1975 and is a company of the MIYAZAKI SEIKO industrial group, a Japanese major manufacturer of secondary-processed wire and bar products made of specialty steels. The company is managed by Dr. Yoshihiro Watanabe and employs around 100 people at three production sites (Japan, Thailand, USA). In 2017, the company registered a turnover of more than USD 40 million. It exports its products to more than 28 countries and serves major automotive and aircrafts manufacturers. Toyo Seiko has managed to become the world leader in the manufacturing and sale of top quality cut-wire by bringing on the market a unique and unrivalled value proposition: high-durability conditioned cut wire. This specific quality of conditioned cut wire, obtained due to a unique and patented production process, lasts much longer than the traditional conditioned cut wire found at other suppliers. Concretely, the high-durability conditioned cut wire from Toyo Seiko shows a lifetime 30 to 50% longer, resulting in major cost savings for the end-user and a lower environmental footprint of the shot-peening process (reduced waste generation). Figure 2 shows a case study about a major connecting rods manufacturer in Japan who has switched from traditional conditioned steel cut wire (0.6 mm/640HV/G2) to Toyo Seiko’s high-durability cut wire and has witnessed a cut wire consumption decrease of 55%, from 11.5 tons/month to 5.1 tons/month. A clear winning-proposition for the customer!

(?) MFN: Why have Winoa and Toyo Seiko decided to team up?

(!) J. S.: In a nutshell, because we share a similar DNA: we are both global companies with a leadership position, offering to the market top-quality products combined with high expertise and service level, with a strong commitment to carry the best-value proposition to customers. In other words, we embrace the same vision of the steel shot business through not only selling a consumable but high added-value shot-blasting solutions as well consisting of products, services and technologies.

(?) MFN: What can the market expect from such collaboration?

(!) J. S.: As mentioned earlier, this alliance will create an unparalleled value proposition in the conditioned steel cut wire market thanks to the combination of Toyo Seiko’s high-value products and of the Winoa group’s high level of service and expertise. Consequently shot-peening customers can expect to get the best of the cut wire technology: a top-notch quality and high-performance product for safer and more cost-efficient shot-peening operations, in combination with Winoa’s well-known and recognized consulting, training and testing services.

(?) MFN: Can you then explicitly describe the Winoa’s high-durability cut wire offer?

(!) J. S.: Our high-durability conditioned steel cut wire offer is summarized in Figure 3. It will be available in a large range of sizes, two hardness levels, three conditioning levels and four types of packaging.  Products will be available according to SAE J441, VDFI 8001 and AMS 2431 specifications, covering the large majority of customer’s needs.

(?) MFN: Thank you Mr. Samuel, for this interview. Would you have a last word for our readers?

(!) J. S.: Thank you for giving me the opportunity of having this interview. As a last word, I would like to highlight how proud we are to collaborate with a highly reputed company like Toyo Seiko, as well as our enthusiasm to bring to the market such a winning proposition coming from the experience of two world leaders with a mutual understanding of the shot-peening industry.

MFN would like to thank Joan SAMUEL for this interview!

For Information:
Winoa
528 Avenue de Savoie
38570 Le Cheylas, France
Tel. +33.4.76 92 91 57
E-mail: joan.samuel@winoagroup.com
www.winoagroup.com
www.wabrasives.com
www.phenics.com