Address: N22 W23855 Ridge View Parkway West, Waukesha
www.walter-tools.com
Industry: Manufacturing/Wholesale
Employees: 260
There is more than 350 years of cutting tool experience behind the name “Walter,” and as president of Walter USA, LLC, Muff Tanriverdi knows that continued focus on that historical experience and innovation will be the driving factors in 350 more years of success.
“Innovation has cultivated several first-to-market products for the company throughout its history,” Tanriverdi said. “We strive for that and we strive for excellence and innovation not just in product technology but in all sorts of company operations. We aspire to be the competition’s leader. The one everyone else wants to emulate.”
The company was founded in Germany back in 1919 by Dr. Richard Walter, a scientist who invented the carbide tungsten material that he realized could be used in the manufacturing of metal cutting tools. Since that time, historic brands including Titex, Prototyp, and Valenite have merged with the Walter brand.
In 1979 Waukesha Cutting Tools entered into a license agreement with Walter to market their tools to the U.S. Eventually in 1999, Waukesha Cutting Tools was acquired by the company which later made Waukesha its U.S. headquarters.
Tanriverdi came to Walter USA in 2000. The company has grown ten times its size since his arrival.
“Walter developed a culture of innovation that we still hold on to today,” Tanriverdi said. “In addition to investing in technology, we also established the Tech Center (in October, 2012), an area where we can develop, test and apply solutions or innovations for our customers.”
The firm also uses the Tech Center space as an internal and external training facility for employees and customers.
“We emphasize the importance of walking the talk,” Tanriverdi said. “Everyone talks about employees being the number one asset. Well we demonstrate that through a variety of different training and HR programs that really value their feedback.”
