Allied Has Recipe for Success

Over its 45-year history, family-run Allied Tooling has navigated its route to success with a reputation for quality and innovation that has foundations built by longstanding staff with unsurpassed expertise – and of course, industry-leading technology from Vollmer UK.

The foundation blocks have been laid for more than a generation, but in the last six years, the Poole-based company has more than doubled turnover to over £7m – and growth is destined to continue at pace. Central to this expansion has been a company re-branding, the introduction of PCD round tools and saw blades, becoming the UK’s exclusive AKE saw blade partner, and also a rapid expansion of available product lines. This has all culminated in the Dorset manufacturer winning long-term supply contracts with prestigious brands such as Princess Yachts and Wren Kitchens. The 60+ employee manufacturer for the woodworking and kitchen, marine, construction, composite and motorsport sectors has ramped up its investment in grinding and erosion machines from Vollmer.

The first Vollmer machine arrived in the 1990s and the company has purchased more than 20 Vollmer machines over the years. In the last six years, the company’s entry into PCD tool production has seen it acquire two Vollmer QXD250 6-axis disc erosion EDM machines with H5 loading stations, a CHD270 8-axis TCT circular saw blade sharpening machine, a VPulse 500 wire EDM with 5-axis simultaneous interpolation, a QR270 erosion machine for finishing the tooth tops of saw blades, and the most recent installation, the Vollmer QM ECO Select. This investment adds to Vollmer machines that already include Loroch KBN and KSC HSS saw blade machines, a CHHF 21H TCT saw blade repair machine, TCT saw blade machines such as the Vollmer CHD250R2, CHD251 and CHD270 with ND340 automated loading, a CHX840 HS and a CP200. These machines manufacture everything from solid carbide and PCD tooling, TCT and HSS saw blades, bandsaw blades, drills, endmills and many more products.

Commenting upon the business growth, Allied Tooling Managing Director, Mr Wes Hacker says: “We have always endeavoured to cater for the diverse demands of the industry whilst building a high-quality brand with sustainable growth. This has seen Allied move away from ‘cottage-industry’ work like hand tools, planer knives, lawn mower blades – stepping into more complex, higher value and higher volume solutions. This has seen us fill our factory with state-of-the-art machines to adopt greater levels of automation and technology. In the last five years, TCT saw blade servicing and sales are up 100%, carbide round tooling sales are up 100% and our diamond tooling that was once outsourced is now produced in-house with growth beyond 400%.”

It’s not a coincidence that Allied has been the exclusive UK dealer for AKE since 2019, or that it has won major contracts with multinational companies – it’s the propensity to work tirelessly to deliver on its promises, pivot and invest when required.

The Vollmer Journey

The 16,000sq/ft Allied facility is crammed with Vollmer machines, so Allied is adopting a ‘one-in and one-out’ policy until it finds a suitable facility for expansion in the North East to service Wren Kitchens. The latest tranche of Vollmer machines commenced when PCD tooling went from being an outsourced solution to a serious addition to the product range. Identifying the industry trend at an early stage, Allied invested in two Vollmer QXD250’s with the H5 28-tool automation solution in June 2018 and a VPulse 500 in March 2023.

Alluding to this, Wes says: “The QXD 250 is perfect for TCT saws up to 320mm diameter, but it also has the flexibility to process all our PCD end mills, drills and cutters. With our in-house brazing facility, the QXD250 may be a machine designed for manufacturing new tools, but we also take advantage of its flexibility to service tools. With the 28-tool chain magazine, we can set the QXD250 to run around the clock, giving us a combination of lights-out productivity with flexibility. The arrival of the QXD for PCD tools certainly enhanced our reputation as a serious player in this niche and the lights-out automation reduced our lead times by more than 2 weeks on bespoke tool solutions.”

The same HC5 28 tool external workpiece storage system is also on the VPulse 500 machine that arrived in March 2023. Discussing this, Wes adds: “We purchased the VPulse 500 for its flexibility. The simultaneous 5-axis kinematics and polymer concrete base deliver unsurpassed precision with astounding flexibility. This flexibility is derived from an EDM wire that can access areas of a tool that a disc erosion machine cannot. Furthermore, the new VPulse EDM generator significantly improves productivity.”

Best-in-Class Saw Service

In October 2021, a Vollmer CHD270 sharpening machine with a four-station ND340 automation system was installed. Adding to their CHD251 and CHD250, the new arrival increased productivity by more than 30%.

The success of the CHD270 was followed in January 2023 with a QR270 erosion machine for processing the tooth tops of PCD circular saw blades. Discussing this machine, Wes says: “HSS and TCT saw blades are long established, but like the uptake in PCD shank tools, PCD saw blades are now becoming a growth market as the industry recognises the benefits of PCD on particular materials and applications. As this market shift develops, Allied will be well positioned to service customers.”

It is this strategic foresight that led Allied to bolster its PCD saw sharpening technology with a Vollmer QM ECO Select machine that was installed in January 2024. Whilst capable of processing PCD round shank and circular saw blades, this most recent arrival was acquired for saw blade servicing. As Wes says: “The QM ECO Select was bought for its flexibility, replacing an older machine for large saw blades. The QM ECO can do anything with diamond tooling up to 600mm diameter and it’s this flexibility that appealed to us.”