ISCAR Metalworking

ISCAR Metalworking is an Israeli manufacturer of cutting tools for industrial machining. Founded in 1952 by metalworker Stef Wertheimer, the company began as a family enterprise and developed from a local tooling operation into an international supplier serving demanding manufacturing sectors. Its portfolio covers tooling for turning, milling, holemaking, threading, parting, and grooving, as well as related inserts, carbide grades, coatings, clamping arrangements, modular systems, and digital technologies used to support machining operations. The company is headquartered in Migdal Tefen in Israel’s Upper Galilee. It moved its operations there in 1982, and the Tefen site became an important base for manufacturing, engineering, and the company’s broader industrial development. During the 1970s and 1980s, ISCAR expanded its range of indexable tooling, including replaceable inserts and tool systems for turning, milling, and grooving. It also developed additional carbide compositions and surface coatings intended to improve tool life, productivity, and performance across different workpiece materials and cutting conditions. International expansion accelerated during the 1980s under the leadership of Eitan Wertheimer, Stef Wertheimer’s son. ISCAR established a wider presence in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, enabling it to support manufacturers outside Israel and to adapt its tooling portfolio to regional industrial requirements. In the 1990s, the company continued expanding internationally while developing modular tooling systems for more flexible machining applications. Its products became associated with production environments such as automotive and aerospace manufacturing, where tool reliability, repeatability, and cycle-time performance are important. ISCAR became part of the International Metalworking Companies Group, a network of specialized industrial tooling businesses. In 2006, Berkshire Hathaway acquired an 80 percent interest in ISCAR through the IMC Group. Berkshire Hathaway purchased the remaining shares in 2013, making ISCAR a wholly owned Berkshire Hathaway business. The acquisition gave the company the financial and organizational backing of a major international industrial holding company while allowing it to remain within the specialized IMC structure. Today, ISCAR operates internationally and supplies tools and machining technologies to aerospace, automotive, energy, medical, mold and die, and general engineering customers. Its activities extend beyond the sale of standard cutting tools: the company develops tool geometries, insert designs, clamping systems, grades, coatings, and digital manufacturing technologies intended to improve the productivity of metal-removal processes. CEO Ilan Geri and IMC Group chairman Jacob Harpaz are identified with the company’s current leadership. ISCAR’s market position is based on engineering-led product development, a broad range of indexable and solid tooling, global technical support, and integration into Berkshire Hathaway’s IMC industrial network.

ISCAR was established in 1952 by Stef Wertheimer, a metalworker who began the business in Nahariya, Israel. Its early development reflected the needs of a growing industrial economy: the company concentrated on practical metal-cutting equipment and gradually built manufacturing and engineering capabilities around carbide tooling. It started as a family business and later became one of Israel’s prominent industrial exporters. During the 1970s and 1980s, ISCAR broadened its product range substantially. The company developed indexable tooling, in which replaceable inserts are mounted in tool bodies, for turning, milling, and grooving. It added carbide grades and coatings intended to provide different combinations of wear resistance, toughness, heat resistance, and cutting performance. This period helped establish the technical base for a portfolio that could serve different machines, materials, and production conditions. In 1982, ISCAR relocated its operations to Migdal Tefen in the Upper Galilee. The Tefen industrial zone became the company’s principal home and remains associated with its headquarters. Under Eitan Wertheimer’s leadership during the 1980s, ISCAR expanded outside Israel, building operations and commercial coverage in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Internationalization brought the company closer to customers in major manufacturing regions and supported the development of products for a wider variety of industrial applications. The company continued its global expansion in the 1990s. Alongside its growing international presence, it developed modular tooling systems that allowed manufacturers to configure tooling for particular machining tasks while retaining flexibility across machines and operations. ISCAR’s products were adopted in sectors such as automotive and aerospace, where production economics depend on tool life, dimensional consistency, process reliability, and efficient material removal. ISCAR became part of the International Metalworking Companies Group, an international network of specialized tooling companies. A major ownership change followed in 2006, when Berkshire Hathaway acquired an 80 percent interest in ISCAR through IMC. The transaction was significant because ISCAR became one of Berkshire Hathaway’s major non-insurance businesses and gained the backing of a large, long-term corporate owner. In 2013, Berkshire Hathaway bought the remaining shares, making ISCAR fully owned by the group. From the 2010s onward, ISCAR has continued to manufacture and develop tools for turning, milling, holemaking, threading, parting, and grooving. Its work has expanded beyond individual cutting tools to include tool geometries, clamping systems, insert technologies, carbide grades, coatings, modular platforms, and digital tools for industrial manufacturing. The company remains part of the IMC Group, which operates a broad international network of subsidiaries, and serves customers in aerospace, automotive, energy, medical manufacturing, mold and die, and general engineering. Its present identity combines Israeli industrial origins, global technical and commercial operations, and ownership within Berkshire Hathaway’s IMC structure.

• 2013

  ISCAR becomes wholly owned by Berkshire Hathaway

  [1]ISCAR Metalworkingen.wikipedia.org

  Berkshire Hathaway purchases the remaining shares in ISCAR.

• 2006

  Berkshire Hathaway acquires a majority stake

  [1]ISCAR Metalworkingen.wikipedia.org

  Berkshire Hathaway acquires an 80 percent interest in ISCAR through the IMC Group.

• 1990

  Modular tooling development

  [1]ISCAR Metalworkingen.wikipedia.org

  ISCAR develops modular tooling systems while broadening its international presence and industrial customer base.

• 1982

  Operations move to Migdal Tefen

  [1]ISCAR Metalworkingen.wikipedia.org

  ISCAR relocates its operations to the Tefen industrial zone in Israel’s Upper Galilee.

• 1980

  International expansion accelerates

  [1]ISCAR Metalworkingen.wikipedia.org

  Under Eitan Wertheimer’s leadership, ISCAR expands its operations and commercial reach into Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

• 1970

  Expansion of indexable tooling

  [1]ISCAR Metalworkingen.wikipedia.org

  During the 1970s, the company expands its range of indexable tools and replaceable inserts for industrial cutting operations.

• 1952

  ISCAR is founded in Nahariya

  [1]ISCAR Metalworkingen.wikipedia.org

  Stef Wertheimer establishes ISCAR as a family metalworking business in Nahariya, Israel.

Engineering-led, high-performance metalworking solutions provider for industrial manufacturers.

• Replaceable carbide tooling

  Indexable inserts and tool systems

  ISCAR produces indexable inserts and compatible tool bodies for turning, milling, grooving, and related operations. The replaceable-insert format lets manufacturers change the cutting edge without replacing the entire tool, while different geometries, carbide grades, and coatings can be selected for workpiece materials and machining conditions.

• Milling tools

  HELI-MILL

  HELI-MILL is a family of milling tooling associated with helical cutting geometries and indexable inserts. It is designed for material removal and milling applications where cutting efficiency, insert security, surface quality, and the ability to replace individual cutting edges are important.

• Turning and grooving tools

  JET-CUT

  JET-CUT is identified with ISCAR turning-tool offerings. The range is part of the company’s broader effort to provide application-specific cutting geometries and tool configurations for production turning and related metal-removal processes.

• Drilling and holemaking

  Holemaking tools

  ISCAR’s holemaking portfolio supports industrial drilling and related operations. Such systems may combine replaceable or solid carbide cutting elements with tool bodies and clamping arrangements selected for production requirements, workpiece materials, and required hole quality.

• Specialized cutting tools

  Threading, parting, and grooving tools

  These tools address specialized machining operations in which edge geometry, chip control, rigidity, and dimensional repeatability are critical. They are used across industrial production environments and form part of ISCAR’s broader catalog of indexable and modular tooling.

• Manufacturing technology

  Digital machining technologies

  In addition to physical tooling, ISCAR develops digital technologies intended to support industrial machining. These capabilities complement tool geometries, grades, and clamping systems by helping manufacturers select, configure, or manage tooling for particular production applications.

• 2013

  Completing Berkshire Hathaway ownershipM&A

  Background

  Berkshire Hathaway already held a majority interest in ISCAR following the 2006 transaction.

  Action taken

  Berkshire Hathaway acquired the remaining shares in ISCAR.

  Aftermath

  ISCAR became wholly owned by Berkshire Hathaway and remained within the IMC Group structure.

  Source

• 2006

  Accepting Berkshire Hathaway’s majority investmentM&A

  Background

  ISCAR had developed from a family business into an international metalworking-tool manufacturer operating through the IMC Group.

  Action taken

  Berkshire Hathaway acquired an 80 percent interest in ISCAR through the International Metalworking Companies Group.

  Aftermath

  ISCAR became a major industrial business within Berkshire Hathaway while continuing to operate as part of the IMC network.

  Source

1. 1ISCAR Metalworkingen.wikipedia.org
2. 2ISCAR official websiteiscar.com