With a comprehensive wire die portfolio, die room equipment, and inventory management, the company has a history of producing some of the best and most appreciated die systems for the wire industry
Woodburn Diamond Die, Inc., headquartered in Woodburn, Indiana, USA, has grown big and notable as the supplier of wire drawing dies. Founded in 1957, it formed a joint venture in 1997 as Walson Woodburn Wire Die Pvt. Ltd to expand its product portfolio and market territories. Currently, this joint venture is serving the Asian market, the Middle East, and Africa.
As ISO 9001:2008 certified organization, Woodburn Diamond Die is one of the few companies to offer a comprehensive line of wire drawing dies of its own manufacture. The company serves the wire industry through three primary locations. Its manufacturing facility in Woodburn, Indiana, USA remains the corporate headquarter. A wholly-owned subsidiary, Woodburn Wire Die, S. de R.L. de C.V., is located in Juarez, Mexico and serves the southwest USA and Mexico. And, the third is Surat (India) based Joint Venture – Walson Woodburn Wire Die Pvt. Ltd.
Wire & Cable India talked briefly to Mr. Bill Schwehn, Sales Manager, Woodburn Diamond Die, Inc. on the margins of Wire show at Dusseldorf, Germany. Excerpts of the talk:
Wire & Cable India: To start with, tell us something about the company and its development as a foremost wire drawing dies supplier of the world.
Bill Schwehn: The Company actually began in 1957 and is headquartered at one of its mills in Indiana, USA. We expanded our operations over time and entered into a JV, namely Walson Woodburn Wire Die Pvt. Ltd in 1997 to tap the growing Asian and the Middle East markets, including Africa also. As a group, we are today pretty much around the world with multiple representatives covering just about every continent and location in terms of supplying quality wire drawing dies.
As a diamond die manufacturer, probably some of our biggest assets would be the products going into multi-wire equipment, wire breakdown machines, and maintaining in-house inventory programs for the customer, apart from producing all possible kind of wire drawing dies such as single crystal diamond dies, polycrystalline diamond dies, tungsten carbide dies, etc.
We have expanded our know-how of equipments to include some of the newest and best upgrades on technology to make dies more accurate – both sizing- and polish-wise – which has made wire drawing more efficient and profitable for companies. The company has also extended its portfolio by including new products such as pressure die system for the steel industry.
In terms of territorial expansion, we are currently looking into growing our new company in Brazil – which will supplement our present manufacturing in India, USA, Mexico, and Russia.
WCI: Tell us how your global presence has helped you.
BS: Of course, it has many advantages for the company. With such kind of extensive presence, you can connect to your customers individually and immediately. As a company, you can look into what their problems are and offer them solution forthrightly, whether it’s a new die product or reconditioning. Moreover, tremendous market reach has its own dividends in the form of direct revenue generated, which in turn goes into making company bigger in operation and more technologically efficient.
WCI: Is there any product development going on at Woodburn, or any recent addition?
BS: The newest product is the pressure die system. It is mainly for the steel industry. Here, you have a drawer die and pressure die combined into a single package. It helps lubrication become much more intensified, which creates a better lubrication process in a die and improves its longevity in the wire drawing process.
WCI: Dies are crucial components for wire and cable manufacturing. Do you have any suggestions for wire manufacturers for selecting right dies?
BS: The problem, which I personally encounter many times, regarding the selection of dies, depends much on who is selecting these dies – whether it’s purchasing, or engineering people, or the production group. The problem also gets accentuated when pricing becomes the prime factor while selecting dies. If it’s strictly based on pricing, you can always find someone who can offer it at a price you desire, or even lower than that. However, it’s not going to pay you in long terms as quality of investment decides the quality of what you produce. According to me, there are three key parameters when you go purchasing equipments, viz. quality, delivery, and pricing; the first two should be the priority.
And, being able to draw on many years of our staffs’ experience, we will be able to support the wire industry’s decision on how best to equip its die needs based on the material to be drawn, the type of equipment being used to draw the wire, and which die materials will be best suited for the practice.
