Milwaukee Pipeline Series: Hand Tools Designed with Technicians in Mind

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Beyond the Wrench with Jay Gananan from Wrenchway.

Welcome to a very special edition of Beyond the Wrench.

I am live and recording from the Milwaukee Pipeline event.

It's been absolutely mind-blowing how cool this thing is.

It is really, really neat.

And I'm joined, my first lead-off guest is Leah Balto, who is the Group Manager of

Product Marketing at Milwaukee Tool.

That's a mouthful.

It's a big title.

We're going to dive into all of what that means along with a lot of hand-tool things, which

personally, I'm pumped.

I think this is going to be a lot of fun.

So let's start off with your background a little bit and how you got into this position.

Was this something that you dreamed about as a young lady coming up into this industry,

or how did you get in this world?

Believe it or not, I did not.

I wasn't playing with drills when I was a little girl.

What?

I was playing with Barbies like all the others.

But no, so yeah, as you mentioned, I'm the product manager covering mechanics hand tools.

I've been with Milwaukee Tool for about four and a half years now, covering product for

this category the entire time.

And before that, I did product management at a couple other companies in wildly different

industries.

So I worked in the appliance industry, the plumbing fixtures industry.

Is there similarities between the industries or is it way different in every aspect?

The industries and the products themselves are way different, but the principles of product

management are consistent.

Different companies do it different ways.

I've been in different environments and seen kind of how companies adapt it.

I really love the way Milwaukee Tool does it.

Oh, man.

We talked about that last night.

Just the culture and the pride and just how many nice people there are at Milwaukee Tool.

It is that Midwest nice thing really, really applies to Milwaukee Tool, doesn't it?

Yeah.

And it's not fake or forced.

Like that's why we want to bring you guys in and just spend a couple of days with

you so that you can see it and feel it for yourself.

So hopefully that's coming through.

Oh my goodness.

We yesterday got to take a tour of a few different facilities and one of those facilities we walked

into and a lot of people, including you, I think were clapping all the way up this,

the four stories and I had no idea that was coming.

So when I walked in, I was like, oh my goodness.

This is wild.

This is crazy.

We call that the beehive.

I can see why.

It was great.

But the reason we're here today is to talk a lot about these hand tools and the evolution

of hand tools with Milwaukee.

I think I've talked to several people at this event in that this is really, Milwaukee

as a whole in the automotive space has evolved a lot.

But when it comes to hand tools, it's one of those things where I don't think it

gets talked about enough, right?

We see all the really cool power tools and what I think a lot of people are missing out on

are all of the changes within the hand tool lines, right?

I guess what's driven this?

What's driven all of the innovation with the hand tools?

A lot of times, even something as simple as a wrench, you're not ultimately thinking

there's a whole lot to do there, but you guys push the limits on everything per usual.

That's exactly what people said when we started getting into the hand tool space.

They're like, Milwaukee tool, you guys, you do cordless.

And so we always like to say, we're not a cordless power tool company.

We're a solutions provider.

And then you'll see that with all the expansions of product line.

I mean, lighting and lifestyle, PPE, hand tools.

So we're really focused on bringing that full solution to the end user,

in addition to delivering best in class on our cordless.

A little bit of history about hand tools.

So we actually started getting into hand tools in 2010.

And a lot of people still don't realize that we even have hand tools.

So we've actually been doing it for about 15 years or so.

It started, I like to share this story.

So Tim Albrecht, our group president that you heard from this morning,

he would go around with a duffel bag of prototypes for hand tools doing research.

And in 2010, we launched eight hand tools.

And everyone told him, they're like, you're crazy.

How are you going to innovate in a hand tool?

And now we're an entire business unit within the company.

And our business unit just hit a billion dollars globally.

Oh my goodness.

Yeah.

So it's been a really cool journey.

We started with the basic hand tools, fastening screwdrivers, pliers.

And then specifically on the mechanics hand tools,

we started really getting into mechanics hand tools in about 2018.

Okay.

We've been launching a lot of product since then.

I mean, as you know, technicians love their hand tools.

You got to have the right tool for the right fastener for the right job.

And that means that there's a lot of them to launch.

So we've been very busy launching to get full product line

that's going to meet everyone's needs and application.

I guess there's a lot to get to here in our 45 minutes.

So I want to dive right into the tools.

Let's do it.

What do we have in front of us here?

All right.

So in between us, we have our 300...

Start here.

Yeah, let's start here.

Let's start here.

In between us here, we have our 366 piece master mechanics hand tool set in Packout.

And we have one of the trades as an example out here.

So each one of these drawers will have a durable reinforced tray.

So you have your high density EVA foam on the inside there.

But then one of the things that we saw when we were doing research on this project was

other foam trays, if a technician didn't know what size socket they needed

and they didn't want to grab a handful of sockets when walk across the shop,

sometimes you just need to...

It's easier to take the whole thing with you.

And with existing solutions in foam trays,

when you have the weight of all these tools, it's kind of awkward and floppy.

And they all fall out.

Yeah.

And so that was something that we were hearing about from end users.

And so we said, well, why don't we add this rigid reinforced base layer,

especially it's going to be in Packout.

We want it to be modular.

We want it to move with you.

So we have created these nice handle grip areas.

And so that's what each one of these trays within this set is going to look like.

And some of our innovation inside the set with our sockets.

I always...

This is my favorite story to tell.

So when we first started getting out

into looking at mechanics hand tools and everyone was like,

how are you going to innovate a socket?

Like, it's a socket.

Yeah, it's round.

It's...

Yeah, yeah.

And so this is how we discover our innovation.

We go and we talk to the end users who are doing this every single day.

We don't just talk to them.

We also watch them and observe what workarounds are they doing,

what pain points are they running into all the time

that they don't even articulate because it's just second nature.

So one of those things, every time they were working on something,

you need to set a socket down, have a free hand.

You set it down and it rolls away.

It is frustrating.

Absolutely.

Exactly.

And so we made our sockets with four flat sides.

So it doesn't roll away.

That is so helpful if you've got a car on a lift.

Totally.

And a lot of us will put a socket on the lift

and it might get tipped over, then it rolls over.

It feels like no matter what you do, somehow that's going to roll

in the most inconvenient spot that you could...

You couldn't roll it in a more inconvenient spot.

And having something that simple of an idea is really, really impactful.

And maybe you're not spending that 10 minutes looking for the socket

that just rolled off and come back even more frustrated

because you just lost the time of that socket rolling off.

Yeah.

And innovation doesn't have to be complicated, right?

It's innovation to us.

And we follow this a lot in hand tools because hand tools are basic tools,

but you were able to find innovation by really, really digging in

and having that focus on the end user

and listening and understanding and observing.

So back to our earlier point when we started getting into hand tools

and people are like, how are you going to innovate in hand tools?

You just got to look for it.

Like there's opportunities there.

You got to talk to people and watch their workflow.

So yeah, the anti-roll properties of the four flat sides are really cool.

Another cool thing that a lot of the techs really, really love actually

is you can get a wrench on the flats of these.

I like that.

You don't have room for it to add that ratchet head.

You can come in from the top or the side.

So that's a really nice benefit as well.

All really helpful things.

Is it just six-point or you have the 12-point sockets as well?

We do, yeah.

So that's one of the new products that we're talking about today.

So we have out in the hands-on space,

we're showing our full lineup of 12-point sockets with the four flat sides.

Those are shipping now, so run out and get them.

And we also have e-torque sockets available today with the four flat sides.

And then we are launching early next year in expansion on our bit socket lineup.

So I actually have...

All right.

Do you want me to move this out of the way or no, you're good.

All right.

Yeah, so you'll see the four flat sides again.

And one of the pain points we saw specifically with bit sockets,

a lot of the existing solutions have just a round chrome base and the bit is press fit in.

Yes.

There's a lot of durability issues with that.

Yeah, they fall out.

Yeah, they fall out, they snap off, they wobble inside the socket.

So we wanted to completely eliminate the possibility for that to happen.

So all of our bit sockets are out of one single forged piece of steel.

So there is no separate bit that has the opportunity to fall out.

So that gives you that durability and then also the four flat sides really help with

create a slim profile as well when you're in those really tight spots.

So we have bit sockets today in torques and hex.

That's what you see here in the set.

We are early next year, we are launching into additional lengths.

So we have long reach, we have ball end hex and we have low profile.

Also expanding into triple square and safety torques as well.

With the torques bits, have you noticed anything with strength in this particular area, the torques

bit itself?

What do you mean?

Maybe twisting or anything like that.

Yeah, so you're going to, I mean, these bits are going to fail.

Yeah.

If you use them improperly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So you will see sometimes like, if someone puts the chrome bit socket on an impact wrench,

which you're not supposed to do.

You're not supposed to do that.

You could see some twisting and maybe even

snapping at the tip where it's seated inside the fastener.

But just in general, they look stronger than a typical torques bit.

I mean, just the construction of it is so much better.

Yeah, we're using S2 steel for the whole socket.

So that's a big reason why the competitor solutions are two piece because you want a

high hardness S2 steel on the bit.

But then on the drive end and where the ratchet goes, you need it to be a little more,

have a little more ductility because that's the repeated use of the ratchet.

So that's why a lot of solutions are two piece.

We actually have a unique heat treating method where we are able to treat the

steel differently on the tip and on the drive end so that you have the best of both worlds.

You have that high hardness and durability on the tip, but then you have the ductility for

long lasting life cycle on the drive end.

I am very, very impressed with this set in general.

It looks like a better version of what's been around for forever, right?

For decades.

Since I was a little kid, I remember having a torques bit that the tip would just fall out.

It's very inconvenient.

It's very frustrating.

This is really, really nice.

Yeah, yeah.

We're really, really excited.

And just having it work with our pack out system to open so many doors.

I mean, you'll see outside in the pack out van, there's so many different solutions,

so many things you can do, especially with the launch of rack.

So we're really excited to be able to marry those two innovations and make this a really

modular and versatile kit for someone.

So what we've heard from a lot of technicians are, hey, this can be my work station.

I can just wheel this around from bay to bay.

Which is way easier.

Yeah.

Then walking back and forth.

And when we were dialing in the mix of the 366 tools in this set, we did a lot of research

with users on what are the common sizes that you're using, common types of hand tools.

We know we're not going to meet every single need, every specialty tool.

But what will get you 90% of the jobs done?

So that's how we landed it, the mix that's in here.

Also looking at a lot of tech school required tool lists too.

So I think this.

Thank you for doing that.

Yeah, yeah.

And that's an opportunity that we're seeing with this kit as well,

like a starting apprentice set.

And a lot of the, we've been working with a lot of the schools in ASE.

We have a few of these units floating around, have some instructors trying it, and they love it.

Especially with the foam tool, you can easily look at it and see if you have a socket missing.

So that helps them keep track of them too.

Oh, it's so nice.

And with the way this is laid out, if a piece is missing, it's pretty apparent

that a piece is missing.

That's really, really helpful.

Did George see it yet?

George did see it.

All right, all right.

If it's George approved, I guarantee it's good.

But no, I think there's a huge opportunity there.

That's a huge barrier in our industry as a whole is that tool cost investment up front.

And on top of a number of other things that are a challenge, if we can start to remove

those barriers for those entry level technicians, that's hugely, hugely helpful.

Yeah, we've also heard from shop owners too, our workforce is dwindling.

There's not enough people coming into the trade.

So a lot of people are talking about that now, which they should.

And a lot of shop owners are trying to think of unique ways.

I mean, I'm sure you've heard this too from shop owners,

thinking of unique ways for employee retention and recruitment.

So what some shops are starting to do is, okay, maybe we provide the tools for a new

technician if they stay on with us for a certain amount of time, year or two years,

then they can keep it.

And for the shop, you don't want to have to type in 300 different part numbers.

There's enough for new hire onboarding that you've got to do.

So having this be one kit, one click, one skew that you purchase

is something that the shop owners have really, really liked as well.

Oh, I can imagine.

Now, what else do we have as part of this kit?

Oh, let me tell you.

I'm excited to look at the rest of it as well.

Yeah, so we have three pack-out toolboxes here that are on a rolling dolly.

So this whole thing comes with everything you see here,

including the dolly as the master set.

But we're also selling these pack-out toolboxes as their own separate kits as well.

So we've organized it in a way, so this top stack actually has all of your sockets.

So that tray is in the top drawer here.

We have it separated out by all your metric in one drawer,

all your standard in another.

You get quarter, three-eighths, and half-inch drive.

Oh, I love that.

Yeah, so this is the metric set, and then you have the same thing with the standard.

And that's clean.

Yeah, here you have the bit sockets, and you've got some impact sockets here too.

Hey, cool thing about impact sockets.

I have those.

Tell what size this is.

I love that.

I absolutely love that.

And even if it gets a little dirty, you can still tell what the number is.

Yeah, I mean, again, talking about innovation doesn't have to be complicated.

When we were out in the field for impact sockets, we saw guys taking paint markers

and rewriting every writing size.

Yeah, so I mean, it's a couple extra manufacturing processes to do this.

We hard stamp, remove the material, and then go back in and paint it.

So this is not going to wear away.

You're going to be able to see the size of that socket for years and years.

Very underrated.

That is so, so helpful.

Yeah, absolutely.

So yeah, that's innovation on our impact sockets.

And then on the bottom here, you have all your ratchets.

Nice ratchets.

Yeah, you got your adapters and universal joints.

So that's this top stack here.

This is a 242 piece ratchet and socket set.

All right.

And then in the middle here, we have our combination wrenches.

So again, separated by metric, all in one drawer, SAE, and another.

You have a 15-piece set of the non-ratcheting wrenches.

All of our combination wrenches on the open end have, you'll see these grooves here.

This is what we call our max-byte open-end grip.

So it increases the contact with the fastener so that you're actually making contact on four

of the flats, but you'll see the cutouts on the corner.

We're not putting any of the load on the corner.

So that helps you apply up to 25% more torque before you risk stripping the fastener.

Yeah, like not rounding it off, right?

Or if you run into one that's already rounded off, that's what the side teeth

are for to help you kind of get that grip and get the job done.

What I also love about this, just the feel of the wrench.

You don't have the sharp points on the end.

I once had an instructor tell me that he wouldn't use a specific brand of wrenches

because it would cut the circulation in his fingers when he was pulling hard.

So it is, ergonomically, feels really, really good, natural, very thin.

It's a nice piece.

Yeah. And that was totally intentional as well.

Going back to that user research, we heard the same thing from users.

And just sitting here holding it in your hand, you probably can't tell much of a difference

between something that's a little rounded off and something else.

But all day, every day, especially when you're putting all that torque on it,

users know they notice the difference.

So even just that rounding of the sides for the iBeam handle really, really makes that

difference. Really nice set.

As I'm looking at this, the way that it's stored with the foam is just awesome

because you don't have wrenches kind of flying all over the place.

And in fact, I don't think you could if you put them in properly.

And honestly, I don't think you could shut the door on it if you didn't put them in properly.

So that's really, really nice.

And even I personally have some aftermarket kind of wrench organizers.

And you'll still notice the rattling and the sliding back and forth.

This you're not going to have that with.

They might skip out.

Yeah. And it's not because I threw it.

It's because it actually just slipped while it was in the tool.

Yeah. And especially mobile mechanics too.

I mean, this thing's rattling around in the back of the truck.

So yeah, that's a big pain point for those guys.

So they really, really like the foam.

Yeah. And you talked about the van with the whole pack out setup on it.

I was able to kind of look through that before we had this conversation.

Super impressive.

And as mobile becomes bigger in the service business,

I was talking to the guys in the van.

I'm like, it just has to be significantly quieter when you're driving

because everything's actually in a spot and staying in a spot.

And it's actually got some cushion.

Really nice setup.

Yeah. You don't have to redo your setup after you arrive at the site.

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

Oh, that's really cool.

Yeah. That's really, really nice.

You want to keep going?

I want to keep going.

I want to see it all.

So the top two drawers are the non-ratcheting wrenches.

In these bottom two drawers, we have our ratcheting wrenches.

And all of our ratcheting wrenches have 144 ratcheting positions.

So you get two and a half degrees of arc swing.

We heard from users that especially when you're down to a combination wrench,

that's usually you've tried the power tool, you've tried the hand ratchet,

and that's your last shot.

So we know that they're using those in really, really tight spaces.

Oh my goodness.

Having that low arc swing is really important.

Well, and you're absolutely right.

Because I think normally when you're using something like this,

you have like that much space and it is irritating.

So this is really nice.

Yeah.

I like that.

Yeah.

That's a nice setup.

Yeah. So those are ratcheting wrenches, again in metric and SAE.

And then in the bottom stack here, we have just an assortment of your

other hand tools that you'll need for your day to day.

So picks, pliers, screwdrivers, we've got some dead blow hammers in there,

snap ring pliers, got an ink saw and knife.

So it really is a one-stop shop for everything you need.

It is.

So if I were a shop and I were to buy this kit for, say, a new technician,

what is the strategy for adding on to this then?

If maybe they're starting to get more specialty tools

and that they're needing some more space,

easy to add on to something like this?

Yeah. Well, with it being part of the Packout System,

especially if you have Packout Rack or if you have shop storage plates on the wall,

you'll be able to use the modular system.

You know, we don't want people to be stacking more on top of this thing.

No. I think most shops would agree.

They'd look at the top of toolbox and they're like, oh my goodness.

They'd like get the stuff off of there.

Yeah.

Yeah. But we last year launched our toolbox attachments.

So we have brackets that go on these supporting bars here

and then a bunch of different attachments that you can have on the side.

So they have a really strong magnetic bar if you have like a large pry bar.

Yes.

We actually did the strength testing of that magnetic bar with a R42 inch pry bar.

And she stays up there.

Really?

Yeah. Yeah.

So that's kind of nice because you can add to the side of it

and this kit can grow with you.

And then if you want, you know, an even more elaborate setup,

that's where you have the shop storage and Pack Out Rack coming into play.

Pack Out Rack.

I think that is going to change some stuff in the future.

Just because it is with the modular type system, the storage in general,

I know it's not a storage conversation, but as you look at the evolution of everything,

it is, it gives you a lot of confidence that you get that young technician in

with a set like this.

They can grow and there's opportunities for them to stay organized as they move forward.

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Links are in the show notes.

One thing I did want to dive a little deeper into was you mentioned

going into shops and being able to

observe stuff that maybe they can't even say or they can't communicate.

When you're going into a shop, how is that process or how does that work?

Is it kind of awkward at first?

Or you go in and say, hi, I'm Leah and I'm just here to watch you.

Yeah, it can be.

It's weird when a stranger comes into your shop and says,

can I sit in the corner and just watch?

Try to make it as less awkward.

But no.

So the product managers at Milwaukee Tool, we work with our job site solution sales team.

So that's a team of people who are all across the country who are part of our sales team,

but they are selling the brand to end users.

So they'll distribute our neutral and they're going out and selling the brand

and getting that end user demand.

So they have a lot of great relationships with end users.

So we partner with them a lot for research.

But also just walking on too.

I mean, it's really easy to do for automotive shops.

Yeah.

I don't envy some of my counterparts who are having to chase a construction site

throughout the process or around the state.

There's a tech, a mechanic shop on almost every corner.

So I can just walk in and give them some free fastback knives and say,

hey, can I just sit in the corner?

You can have whatever you want to.

When you are observing, is there anything you're looking for,

just a frustration, you're looking for something where...

What I'm trying to get to is how do you question something like a socket rolling off

in where me, I probably wouldn't even think of that.

How does that idea come to mind?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. And there's different types of research that we do depending on the phase of the project.

So they're anywhere from the wide open like, hey, I just want to watch your workflow.

That is where we actually uncover a lot of innovations and those unarticulated innovations,

even just watching them.

I mean, that's part of how this was born is we watched the technician walking

across the shop back and forth, back and forth so many times.

We're like, what if we could save you some time?

Yeah.

Didn't have to do that.

So yeah, it's high level watching the workflow all the way throughout our development process.

So for the sockets, for example, we had very targeted specific conversations about the

sockets and the questioning is an art because you don't want to lead them,

you don't want to put words in their mouth, but you don't want to talk too much.

Yeah.

That's the biggest thing is you ask open-ended questions, let them explain,

you know, kind of dig deeper if you've heard something that sounds interesting.

So yeah, I have a lot of conversations at the toolbox where they're showing me what they currently

use and talking about pros and cons, but then I marry that up with the observational research

to really get that holistic picture where, yeah, I'll just, I'll sit next to them while

they're working on something and I might jump in every now and then be like, hey,

why'd you do that or what's that for?

And a lot of times they're like, oh, I didn't, I didn't think about it because

you've been doing it for several decades at that point, right?

Yeah, those workarounds that they don't even know that they're doing every day.

Well, it's, one, I give you a lot of credit for that because that would be really, really,

it takes patience, right? Because you're sitting and observing, two, I would be terrible at

that job because I would definitely be the one leading them into what I was thinking.

It's definitely an art.

Yeah, yeah. And so have you, as you're observing, has there ever been anything,

this is going to be a really vague question, so I apologize for this.

And we'll leave it a little open end if we can talk about it.

Are you practicing your research questioning?

Yeah, yeah. I'm trying to get better at it, trying not to lead you into an answer.

But has there been like a light bulb moment for you that you can recall where

you're in a shop and you're like, oh my gosh, like that, that should be fixed?

Yes. All right.

I'm going to grab it because my favorite tool is here.

All right. So this is a humble hose pick. Everyone asked me, what is your favorite

product? This is it. And I'll tell you why. I have a personal attachment to her.

My very first project at Milwaukee Tool when I started was on a hose pick set.

And the person before me had done some research already and had team was going

down a direction and I was in the field watching users and listening to them.

And what I saw was they were taking a flathead screwdriver or a pry bar

when they wanted something flat, because the hose picks that they had today were really

sharp and sometimes those damaged the inside of the hose. They wanted something that had

like a blunt edge that they could really put some torque on because those hoses get really stuck

on. Oh, they stink to take off. Yeah.

So they were taking a flathead screwdriver or a pry bar, but those have the sharp corners.

So I said, what if it's flat, but you rounded the corners and maybe gave you a better angle

for some leverage. So the flat hose pick. That is brilliant.

Ensure protection, no puncturing of hoses. I, as I'm looking at this, I am recalling,

I think it's like ripping a bandaid off of how many times I tried to get a hose off and

either poke the hose because you're using something sharp, but it was the only thing

that would reach at that angle. Or you just, it never felt, even with a, with a normal,

you'd have a bigger pick, maybe with an angle that just never felt like you were in the right

position and it was really hard to put any pressure on. This is a more of almost like spoon style

a little bit and that is cool. And that one comes in a kit. So we do have three other

geometries, just like you were talking about, because sometimes you need to come at different

angles. So we have your typical offset, your, your angled hook, and all of those

have a point on them that we've actually intentionally made dull. I'll grab another one.

Yeah. I'm also noticing handle wise, it's not just the normal circle handle.

Yeah. And that's, I mean, that's also intentional. So we want to make it ergonomic and

easy to, easy to use. That was the other thing that we heard on research with these

are the, the durability of those cushion grips in the market today, especially in an automotive

environment. The chemicals just eat away at that thing. And then it's, you know, just disintegrating

and you know, it's not good for anyone. So we wanted to do an over mold that would have that

durability. So we actually do solvent testing for all of our products and we like submerge it

in like gasoline and brake cleaner and leave it there for 24 hours, like put it through the

ringer to make sure that it's going to hold up. So these handles are very durable, but also ergonomic,

so that, you know, it's in your hand all day, every day. And that over time, if it's the

wrong tool or the wrong geometry could really cause long, long issues. So, yeah. So we try

to bring ergonomics and comfort in, in all of our hand tools. But yeah, you can feel here

that we have a specific grinding spec on those tips so that they are thin enough to fit between

the hose and the fitting, but not sharp where they will damage the inside of the hose.

Oh my goodness. Yeah, my engineers didn't love me when I told them, I was like,

it needs to be pointed, but not too pointy. But we made it happen. We made it happen.

Well, I can imagine, and as I'm looking at this tool right now, you can think of all of the

different times that you're trying to get to that hose, that especially radiator hose that might be

right up against the radiator, or some of the hoses maybe on an intake where it's just really,

really challenging. That angle seems really nice. And going back to the handle thing again,

I actually get the sense that if you started using these pretty consistently,

it would be really hard to go back to a round handle.

Yeah, absolutely. The durability thing too is also seen through an all metal core.

So this shank actually goes all the way through the handle to the base of the handle. So again,

when you're really pulling on those, that was another thing we were seeing with

existing solutions is that you pull hard enough and then you've got the handle in your hand,

but the pick is still in the hose. Oh, yes, I think we've all had that happen. And

one thing that you mentioned there that I think I don't want to skip past, which is

long-term health of a technician. And that's something I've been pretty passionate about,

because you see that 60-year-old technician out there that might, maybe their hands

are really, they've taken a beating, right? And so every time we get a tool like this

in a technician's hands, it's making the physical life of them better.

That's pretty impactful. That's some really, really big stuff. And I think

for those young technicians that are out there listening to this,

that's where the smart investment is, stuff that's going to save you. And I've talked,

I had a guy on the podcast once that talked about how he has his shop doing yoga

to make them more flexible. And I think the longer we go with this, the more I look at

technicians like athletes and you need to have the right tools to keep them in good working

order and really just healthy for their own personal lives for the long haul.

Yeah. And it's something that a young technician starting out may not think about it because

they're not seeing the negative effects of it, but you're going to see it. It's just

going to come years later and hit you. So yeah, all you young techs out there,

make sure you're taking care of your bodies and thinking about comfort and ergonomics,

because it's, you don't see it until like you said, you have that 60-year-old technician

who's just their body is just broken. Yeah. Yeah. I did see a couple other things in the drawers.

Yeah. We can talk about them.

I am a huge fan of the Needle Nose players from Milwaukee.

Hey, I am too.

Yeah. They are all of them. They just, again, ergonomically feel really, really nice.

Grip level is great. I personally have that set right there. And they, I love them.

I want to talk to you about our long reach pliers. Yeah.

So these we actually showed at Pipeline two years ago, I think. So they've been out in the

market for a little while, but what we were seeing with the long reach is that you have

your single joint pliers, but if you just open the handles a little bit,

they're so wide and you can't get them anywhere, especially in an engine bay,

or you're trying to reach down like a spark plug socket hole.

If you're using that, it's probably not in a great spot in the first place.

Yeah. Exactly. So, and then you have your double jointed ones, which give you that access,

but you lose a lot of the grip strength in that because it's now having to go from your

hands through two joints to the tip of the pliers. So this is something you'll hear a lot,

is we hear trade-offs where it's, hey, I got a pick between these two things that are

out of direct trade-off with each other. If I could have the best of both worlds,

that would be great. It's hard to think of combining things that haven't been combined before.

That's why we have smart people that work at Milwaukee Tool. So this is a product of one of

that. So you have a single joint pliers, you still maintain your grip strength,

but the crossbar handles maintain your slim profile and actually gets a slimmer profile the

wider you open your jaw. Oh my. That is such a cool design. I had not seen these yet.

Really? Oh, great. I'm glad we're talking about it.

No. I, and as a, I think in my own collection, I have a long-reached needle-nose pliers,

and it's very similar to what you were talking about, where you lose even kind

of like the side to side. It's just the grip, honestly, they were probably cheap ones

about 20 years ago, but they still like, looking at this, you're like, my goodness,

this would make people's lives so much better. Yeah, because I mean, when you're using those,

like you said, you're probably picking up a really thin washer. You need that grip strength

at the very tip of the jaws to be able to grab that thing. So that grip strength is,

is really important. I'll be putting an order in for one of these soon.

Yeah. Yeah. We have these in the long-nose straight and 45 degree angle. We also have them

in three different sizes of hose grip pliers. So you have that sort of rounded end. Oh. Yeah.

And still have teeth all around the jaws. So if you're trying to take those smaller diameter

hoses off, you get a really nice grip on those. Big fan of the pliers as well. Love.

Yeah. Yeah. Love them. Was there anything else I missed in the box as we, as we're going

through this? Because I do want to ask you about some other things after this.

Okay. No, I think, I mean, I could keep talking about...

I think we could talk about this all day. Couldn't we just kind of go tool by tool?

Well... I don't want to bore you or your listeners.

No, this has been, this has been amazing. And I think what I want to ask about is,

how do you keep pushing the limits on things, right? Because if you're going into that shop

and you're seeing kind of the, I don't want to call it low hanging fruit to start with,

but as I've sat through quite a few Milwaukee presentations now,

how do you keep pushing the limits on that so you can kind of keep identifying these pain

points for folks and try to fix them? Yeah. I mean, it's part of our culture and our mentality

to always be looking to improve. And I mean, you heard it in the general session today,

we're always looking to disrupt ourselves. And I think it's that mentality of almost

staying a little paranoid and continuing to act like you're the underdog and you have

something to prove. I think that mentality is definitely at the heart of it.

We're pushing boundaries, discovering new solutions, but then we're not forgetting

about those solutions when we launch them. You'll see, we're on gen two,

gen three of certain products that have been in the market for a while.

In terms of, you know, you've got the low hanging fruit,

we keep an eye on other sub-trades too. So for example, on mechanics hand tools,

right now we're really, really focused on that aftermarket automotive service technician.

But, you know, you have your diesel and heavy equipment technicians too,

you have your paint and body, even like your quick lube and tire guys sometimes have

different needs than your all-around aftermarket service mechanics. So there's, that's typically

what we'll do is we'll identify an opportunity, we'll go deep in that opportunity, not just scratch

the surface with a couple of SKUs and move on to the next thing, but make sure we have a full

offering and then figure out what adjacencies we have and see where we can keep digging.

Yeah, it kind of resonated with me in the session this morning too. I think somebody

talked about the sub-segments of each industry and how you're making tools more and more specific

for specific jobs. And something as simple as a hose tool is hugely helpful. And it took people to

really kind of look at that and say there's got to be a better way. And as you kind of start to

get into, like when you start to get into a shop and you look at all of the different jobs

in a shop, that's where I don't think it ever stops, right? Kind of pushing the limits and seeing

maybe that lube tech that's struggling with things. A lot of our industry will a lot of

times just gloss over that person. And it's a shame because you can make their life better

right off the bat. You can make their life simpler right off the bat by actually intentionally

looking at what they're doing. Yeah. Well, and I mean, the vehicles themselves are constantly

changing too. And we know that. That's opportunity, right? Yeah. Totally opportunity,

but we know that the vehicle manufacturers who are putting them together are not thinking about

how you will take them apart. So it is not easy to take those things apart. I do not envy you

guys having to do that work, but yeah, I think that's going to keep it fresh and continue

to present opportunities for us to provide solutions that adapt with how vehicles

are adapting in the market. Well, as we conclude the podcast, one thing I want to ask is how

that helps you personally when you come in with that mentality of trying to push the limits all

the time. I have to imagine that makes your day-to-day life a little bit more enjoyable.

Oh, totally. It's such a privilege to be surrounded by inspiring people every day.

It makes me want to be better. And I feel like you hear everyone at Milwaukee saying this over

and over and over. It's our culture. It really truly is. It's the people that we work with

that really make my job so rewarding. And especially on the product side, the reason I've

stayed in product for over a decade is I'm helping people. I'm helping the end user. And

it's so rewarding for me to, you know, at the very beginning of a project working with a technician

and maybe just asking questions. I don't have any ideas yet. I'm just trying to understand problems

in the middle of the project. I'm bringing them a 3D printed prototype, you know, the first

samples off the tool, making tweaks along the way. And then at the end of the project,

when I get to deliver them their shiny new package of this tool that they helped build,

it's their eyes light up. And they're just so happy that someone listened to them,

that someone solved their problems. And I mean, if you're passionate about something like

you have opinions you want someone to talk to who can actually make a difference. And so

we're really, you know, it's just really rewarding to feel like I'm helping people

make their living, do their job, stay safe and, you know, stay healthy too.

That couldn't have been a better way to end it. That is such a good point. And you feel that culture,

you feel that innovation when somebody like me, an outsider comes in. And it's just been an absolute

pleasure to get to know you, get to know what you do. And now I can actually tell somebody,

if I see them using that tool, hey, I know the person that designed that.

But thank you so much for joining us on the show.

Thank you, Jay. I appreciate it.

That wraps up another episode of Beyond the Wrench. If you like this episode,

please show your support by rating and following the podcast. You can also watch the video interviews

on Wrenchway's YouTube channel. Speaking of Wrenchway, did you know Beyond the Wrench is

managed and produced by the Wrenchway team? Wrenchway is an online community dedicated

to promoting and improving automotive and diesel careers. We help technicians find the best

shops to work at. And we also help auto, diesel, and CTE instructors get more support from local

industry. You can learn more by visiting Wrenchway.com.

Milwaukee Pipeline Series: Hand Tools Designed with Technicians in Mind

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