2018: A Look Back



It’s that time of year when many companies take the opportunity to reflect on their accomplishments. As Mate looks back, it’s amazing to see what we achieved during the past year.

Respect. Support. Inspire. At the core of all we do.

As always, our Respect · Support · Inspire mission statement guided us throughout 2018. Our core belief is that we believe business is as much about building quality relationships as it is about building quality products. We respect your situation, time and peace of mind.

Our team is always committed to your success, even helping you solve problems on site. We’ve been in your shoes and understand your challenges; we know what it’s like to compete for the next job and manage deadlines.

Mate is your go-to source to inspire and help you succeed. From cost reduction and quality improvement to bringing unique ideas to life, we are here to help.

With this in mind, following are some highlights of our major initiatives for 2018.

Making it Easier for Customers to do Business with Mate: portal.mate.com

To make it easy for customers to do business with Mate, we launched portal.mate.com, the most comprehensive customer portal for tooling library, history management and more.

Designed and built with the customer in mind, portal.mate.com lets you manage your tooling library, special shapes, forming tool drawings, purchase history and service subscriptions all in one convenient mobile-friendly site. It’s the hub for your critical tooling information. This free, value-added resource is available to all Mate customers through a quick and easy online regist ration form. Once you are set up, you’ll have full access to your entire history with Mate. Available system functions include:

  • View your complete order history of all Mate purchases, with shipment tracking and advanced search
  • View and retrieve your special shapes and forming tool drawings
  • Reorder or request quotes for previously purchased items in your order history
  • Receive email confirmations for orders or RFQs requested
  • Improved visibility and search for special shapes, forming tools and press brake tooling engineering drawings with better search and filtering
  • Create, save and associate your own tool inventory number against the Mate etch number
  • View and download copies of invoices
  • Manage your Mate notification subscriptions
  • Manage multiple companies’ information
  • Mobile-friendly

For more information, contact Mate customer service or your Mate sales engineer.

Expansion of Our QCT™ Thick Turret Product Line

We knew it was just the beginning when Mate launched its patent-pending Ultra® QCT™. As this quick change, tool-less punching system became popular, customers began asking us about making QCT available in other thick turret tooling styles.

In 2018, Mate listened and expanded QCT across all of our thick turret product lines: Metric QCT™, the long-stem punches also known as Mate Original Style and Amada Style; AMX QCT™ for Amada punch presses using the air-blow system; and MXC QCT™ for Wilson HP series systems in both Standard and ABS style.

Mate QCT punch inserts are made from M4PM™ tool steel, proven to be the most durable, longest lasting tool steel in the industry. Punch drivers are coated with SuperMax™, Mate’s next generation coating to minimize wear and preserve fits. Another nice feature is that only one punch driver is needed for rounds or shapes. With its longer lasting materials, QCT is a great value having a lower overall price than full body punches.

Mate’s American Precision Style Press Brake Tooling with Maglock® Takes Off!

When Mate launched its American Precision Style press brake tooling with the patent-pending Maglock® magnetic safety system, we believed it would become the fabricator’s choice in the future. Interest in this product is extremely strong and continues to accelerate!

Called brilliant by industry experts, Maglock uses rare earth magnets to attach and seat the punch to the holder with no separation between the surfaces. Safe and reliable, installation of a Maglock punch always results in the shoulder seating onto the holder. The strong yet balanced Maglock connection also makes lateral (left or right) position adjustments easy. The reversible/symmetrical punch tang design enables the punch to be installed facing forward or backward. Mate punches and dies with a standard profile all have a uniform height, which is important for operator safety when used with laser or optical safety systems.

Mate press brake tooling is induction hardened, and critical working surfaces are precision ground to exacting tolerances for quality and predictability. Mate’s American Precision Style system also offers the “buy-by-the-inch” pricing system that lets you buy the length of the tooling that you need; just specify and buy the tooling length required by the part design.

Versadie HD™ for Slitting Thicker Materials

Customers also asked us about improving slitting in thicker materials. Mate launched its new Versadie HD™ thick turret insert slitting dies in thick turret D and E stations.

Versadie HD uses Mate’s proven Versadie™ insert system featuring MPM82 steel, but is designed for use when slitting thicker materials that require more than 0.016” (0,406mm) die clearance.

The die body itself is made from S7 tool steel. We improved slitting performance by incorporating more rigidity through use of a hat die design. The die body allows shimming after the insert is sharpened during routine maintenance. No special shims are required. Like Versadie, simply use standard thick turret die shims.

Mate YouTube® Channel

If you haven’t visited Mate’s YouTube channel, you’re in for a treat. Currently, there are 60 application animations and videos available, including customer testimonials and success stories.

We’re really proud of the animations like the cluster tool shown here, which depict how various forming tools work in the punch press, including cross-section views and the final output. In fact, as of this writing our hinge tool animation has over 800,000 views! So please take a moment to visit Mate’s YouTube channel and be sure to subscribe to receive notifications of updates.

Thank You!

Finally, thank you! We want to express our most sincere appreciation to you, our valued customers, and wish you a bright start to 2019.

Blog Author

John Galich

John Galich is Marketing Manager at Mate Precision Technologies.