WDS

This section of the site gives you general, technical and legal information about the WDS Online Store, including our privacy and copyright statements, full company contact and registration information and our terms and c......This section of the site gives you general, technical and legal information about the WDS Online Store, including our privacy and copyright statements, full company contact and registration information and our terms and conditions. Privacy Statement Security Statement Terms and Conditions Copyright Statement Techinical Information WDS Company Profile Originally formed in 1952, WDS adopted it’s name from the Woodside Die Sinking Company Limited and soon established a sound reputation for standard components, jigs and fixtures, later moving on to acquire companies such as the specialist broach manufacturer W.H.Marley. Throughout the 1980’s the divisions broadened their expertise and developed to meet the high accuracy and low cost requirements of the CNC machine tool market. The specialist design and manufacture of base plates, cubes and workholding systems required by the modern systems kept WDS at the forefront of the technology, enabling the company to remain a market leader and keep bespoke solutions as the mainstay of their business. WDS moved closer to providing a complete machine tool accessories portfolio during the 1990’s by purchasing the small tools division of Jones & Shipman to include products such as machine vices and rotating centres. Towards the end of the decade £1million was invested in relocating the business to the present site at Leeds. This epitomises the WDS culture, providing open modern offices the latest machining technology, a continuous improvement environment combined with a proactive distribution facility offering scope for further expansion. A strategy of sustained growth fuelled by a series of acquisitions, new product development and an unrivalled ‘can do’ approach to business and customer satisfaction made WDS an attractive proposition and resulted in the company being acquired by the Hasgo Group in October 2000. The trend of increased investment and strategic acquisitions continued into this decade with WDS incorporating the Hydraulic Workholding Division of SPX Spencer Franklin to broaden the product portfolio further with another well-established name. With and annual turnover of £6 million, WDS is now the UK’s leading manufacturer of standard parts for use in jigs and fixtures, machine tools, production equipment and consumer products. The range of products available from WDS grows daily and so has the methods available to designers and engineers for identifying, specifying and purchasing any of the 10,000+ parts currently held in stock. For example, WDS has made ordering workholding solutions cheaper and quicker by removing small order surcharges and splitting their main catalogue into six separate volumes covering Machine Accessories, Hydraulic Workholding, Stainless Steel, Broaching, Indexing and General Workholding. Staying at the forefront of web technology has allowed WDS to create a company website www.wdsltd.co.uk that provides users with free access to download items in any current 3D CAD format. WDS’ 3D CAD service has more recently evolved again to reduce product time-to-market by creating an in-house facility for supplying personalised catalogue disks that display products in the file types specifically required by the individual designer. In addition to the range of standard knobs, wheels, fasteners and threaded parts, WDS also offers a full design and manufacture ‘Specials’ service for all threaded parts in a range of materials and finishes. Components and fixtures can be modified individually or whole production runs set up with short leadtimes, making WDS a valued supplier to small customers through to OEM’s and resellers servicing the MRO market in the UK and overseas. The future will see more of the same as WDS continues to thrive offering a flexible, open and pro-active approach to doing business by ensuring our offering meet our customer’s ever changing business objectives. By focussing in on the needs of particular markets such as the food, medical, aerospace, automotive and electronics manufacturing industries, WDS is enabling more systems and machine designers to benefit from their specialist knowledge of materials and design capability. With ISO BSI 9001 and 14001 accreditations to their name as well as membership to the GTMA, MTA, PPMA and Northwest Aerospace Alliance organisation, customers in these industries can again be assured that WDS can meet the exacting standards required