Kennametal is known for its metal-bending prowess. The drills, borers, cutters and other tooling and related components the Latrobe-area company produces help customers shape and bend metals into engine blocks, landing gear, wheels and a host of other consumer and industrial products.

But there wouldn't be any metal bending if there wasn't a lot of mind-bending first. Much of that takes place at the Quentin C. McKenna Technology Center adjacent to Kennametal's headquarters. A little more than half of Kennametal's 300-person research, development and engineering staff works at the center. Other research is done at facilities in Solon, Ohio; Rogers, Ark.; Germany; and India.

While some companies locate their research facilities away from corporate headquarters, Kennametal's top scientist likes being close to home. Chief Technical Officer William Hsu says it gives his staff a chance to showcase developments to customers visiting headquarters as well as ready access to company resources, including Markos I. Tambakeras, Kennametal's chairman, president and chief executive officer.

"We just had a meeting with him because he's very, very interested," Hsu says.

Kennametal spends more than $45 million annually to develop new products and processes for its customers. The investment has paid off.

Products developed over the last five years account for more than 40 percent of Kennametal's $1.97 billion in sales during the fiscal year ended June 30. That's up from just 17 percent five years ago. The performance earned Kennametal an award from the American Productivity and Quality Council.

Much of Kennametal's research is aimed at making customers' manufacturing plants more productive. That's done by developing coatings made of titanium, alumina and other materials that, when applied to tooling, allow it to operate at faster speeds and last longer. Researchers also attack the problem of designing tooling that can be changed more rapidly when it does wear out so that factory down time is reduced.

If Kennametal proves tooling made from tougher grades of tungsten carbide, ceramic or other advanced materials can boost productivity, "then you can charge them more and they will be more than willing to pay more," says Hsu, who joined Kennametal last year from DuPont.

As a rule of thumb, tooling that boosts a customer's productivity by 30 percent carries a price premium of 10 to 15 percent, he said. The higher price for tooling is more than offset by savings on labor and other items that account for most of a factory's operating costs, Hsu added.

One of Kennametal's hottest selling new products is the KenTIP drilling system, which is built around an insert made of cemented tungsten carbide that's attached to the end of a drill. The insert can be as small as the nail on your pinkie finger.

Replacing just the insert instead of the entire drill shaft or more of the tooling is quicker and ensures holes can be drilled to precise specifications without requiring factory workers to realign production equipment every time an insert is changed.

Hsu says KenTIP has at least three patentable features -- Kennametal obtains about 30 U.S. patents each year. Most countries honor laws protecting intellectual property, but Hsu, a Chinese native raised in Hong Kong, says acceptance is spotty in some developing countries, including China. However, he sees indications of increased respect.

"It may be changing for the better, but that is clearly an area of concern," Hsu said.

In September, Kennametal signed a $20 million, five-year contract with the Army Research Laboratory to develop both armor piercing shells and ceramic armor for the military, research that's under way at the Latrobe lab.

"We're kind of working both sides of the equation," said Dave Siddle, a staff engineer at the research center.

Penn State and several local companies also are involved in the research.