Full Description

Kennametal Inc., incorporated in 1943, is a supplier of tooling, engineered components and advanced materials consumed in production processes. End users of the Company’s products include metalworking manufacturers and suppliers in the aerospace, automotive, machine tool, light machinery and heavy machinery industries, as well as manufacturers and suppliers in the highway construction, coal mining, quarrying and oil and gas exploration and production industries. Its end users’ products include items ranging from airframes to coal, medical implants to oil wells and turbochargers to motorcycle parts. The Company specializes in developing and manufacturing metalworking tools and wear-resistant parts using a specialized type of powder metallurgy. Its metalworking tools are made of cemented tungsten carbides, ceramics, cermets, high-speed steel and other hard materials. It also manufactures and markets a line of toolholders, toolholding systems and rotary cutting tools by machining and fabricating steel bars and other metal alloys. The Company operated two global business units consisting of Metalworking Solutions & Services Group (MSSG) and Advanced Materials Solutions Group (AMSG).

On October 1, 2008, the Company acquired Tricon Metals and Services Inc. (Tricon) in its AMSG segment. Tricon is a supplier of custom wear solutions specializing in consumable proprietary steels for the surface and underground mining markets, including hard rock and coal. It also made a small acquisition within its MSSG segment during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009. On June 30, 2009, the Company completed the sale of its high-speed steel (HSS) drills business and related product lines as it continued to focus on shaping its business portfolio and rationalizing its manufacturing footprint.

MetalWorking Solutions & Services Group

In the MSSG segment, the Company provides consumable metal cutting tools and tooling systems to manufacturing companies in a range of industries worldwide. Metal cutting operations include turning, boring, threading, grooving, milling and drilling. The Company's tooling systems consist of a steel tool holder and cutting tool, such as an indexable insert or drill made from cemented tungsten carbides, high-speed steel or other hard materials. It also provides solutions to its customers' metal cutting needs through engineering services. Engineering services include field sales engineers identifying products and engineering product designs.

The Company serves a range of industries that cut and shape metal parts, including manufacturers of automobiles, trucks, aerospace components, farm equipment, oil and gas drilling and processing equipment, railroad, marine and power-generation equipment, machinery, appliances, factory equipment and metal components, as well as job shops and maintenance operations. It delivers its products to customers through a direct field sales force, distribution, integrated supply programs and electronic commerce.

Advanced Materials Solutions Group

In the AMSG segment, the principal business lines include the production and sale of cemented tungsten carbide products used in mining, highway construction and engineered applications requiring wear and corrosion resistance, including compacts and other similar applications. The Company manufactures and markets engineered components with a metal cladding technology. These products include radial bearings used for directional drilling for oil and gas, extruder barrels used by plastics manufacturers and food processors and numerous other engineered components to service a range of industrial markets. Kennametal also sells metallurgical powders to manufacturers of cemented tungsten carbide products, and it provides application-specific component design services and onsite application support services. The Company provides its customers with engineered component process technology and materials, which focus on component deburring, polishing and producing controlled radii.

The Company’s mining and construction tools are fabricated from steel parts and tipped with cemented carbide. Mining tools, used primarily in the coal industry, include longwall shearer and continuous miner drums, blocks, conical bits, drills, pinning rods, augers and a range of mining tool accessories. Highway construction cutting tools include carbide-tipped bits for ditching, trenching and road planning, grader blades for site preparation and routine roadbed control, and snowplow blades and shoes for winter road plowing. The Company produces these products for mine operators and suppliers, highway construction companies, municipal governments and manufacturers of mining equipment.

The Company’s principal international operations are conducted in Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America. In addition, it has manufacturing and/or distribution in Israel and South Africa, and sales agents and distributors in Eastern Europe and other areas of the world.