For many years, a common purchasing policy among Russian cutting tool distributors has been simple: “Buy from whoever is cheapest and has stock.” While this may reduce unit price in the short term, it creates long-term problems: chaotic inventories, inconsistent performance, difficult after-sales support and weak differentiation in a crowded market.

Multiple brands, standards (DIN, GOST, non-standard) and material grades (basic HSS, mixed qualities) coexist on the same shelves. Sales teams struggle to clearly explain differences; identical drill sizes behave unpredictably from batch to batch; and when large customers ask for long-term agreements, distributors find it hard to present a coherent solution—only a price list.

A Unified Drill Platform: From Selling Pieces to Selling a System

To shift from price-driven to value-driven business, distributors need to build a unified drill platform, at least for core steel drilling applications, with clear control over standards, materials and surface treatments:

• Adopt DIN338 as the backbone standard, aligning shank form, overall length and tolerance with global practice;

• Promote a HSS-M35 + Black & Gold line as the flagship steel drilling platform, with general HSS lines as complementary tiers;

• Define SKUs by diameter ranges and sales priorities, not by ad-hoc requests, to avoid unnecessary duplication and gaps;

• Provide clear “material–machine–parameter” guidance for each series, enabling both sales and technical support to speak the same language.

Example Steel-Oriented Unified Drill Platform

What This Means for Russian Distributors

• Clearer inventory structure: Moving from “a shelf of mixed brands” to a small number of clearly defined platforms;

• Unified communication: Sales teams can tell a platform story, not just describe each drill in isolation;

• Improved ability to sign long-term contracts: Large accounts prefer a combination of platform + parameters + service commitment, not just price points;

• Brand upgrade: From simply “selling drills” to providing drilling solutions.

By shifting from “buying wherever it’s cheap” to building a unified drill platform, Russian distributors can strengthen their bargaining power, simplify operations and offer more professional, consistent support to domestic manufacturers.