Walter USA Acquires PDQ Workholding

Walter USA LLC announces it has acquired PDQ Workholding LLC (PDQ), a Columbia City, Indiana, specialist in workholding fixtures and tooling for various industries, including automotive and general engineering. With the acquisition of PDQ, Walter aims to strengthen its offering of workholding products, primarily to customers based in the Americas, and enable earlier access to component projects to improve efficiency and develop future sales of cutting tools.

The acquisition also supports Walter’s strategy to grow in advanced machining solutions and lightweight materials in a key region. This includes increasing its exposure to aluminum machining applications and enhancing partnerships with Machine Tool Builders.

“When a customer begins designing a product or component, they procure fixtures ahead of cutting tools. Therefore, PDQ has early access to new projects, creating a first-move advantage on the sale of cutting tools,” says Christoph Geigges, president of Walter.

“PDQ is one of the leading custom workholding companies in the U.S., focusing on advanced fixtures used by companies in the same targeted industries as Walter. We know the initial tool supplier to any projects captures much of the replacement tool value in the first three years,” continues Geigges. “Therefore, having PDQ within our portfolio of companies will significantly enhance our business opportunities in the Americas and strengthen our value proposition to customers. We are delighted to have PDQ within the Walter organization, and we look forward to working with them.”

PDQ focuses on custom stationary, hydraulic and automated fixtures, alongside indexable tool bodies and carbide round tools. PDQ’s customer base spans 80% of sales in the U.S., with the remainder split between Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Switzerland, Thailand and South Africa. Walter offers a wide range of precision tools for milling, turning, drilling and threading applications. The company intends to help customers in the aviation and aerospace industries, automotive, energy and general metalworking industry improve process reliability and increase productivity. As a partner capable of creating digital process solutions for optimal efficiency, Walter is working to implement Industry 4.0 throughout the machining industry.