Milwaukee Pipeline Series: Solving Shop Lighting Challenges

We're trying to always focus on delivering the most performance, the most efficient level

of performance for the best cost.

Beyond the Wrench with Jay Gannon from Wrenchway.

Welcome back to another very special episode of Beyond the Wrench.

We're here at the Milwaukee Pipeline event, and we've had a lot of fun here today.

So many different things to see, so many different products to talk about, and today, Jason Isaacs

is joining me to talk about lighting.

In our space, in the automotive and diesel spaces, lighting is a hot topic just because

there are a lot of shops with very poor lighting.

So we'll dive into everything lighting, but how you doing, Jason?

Doing well, yeah.

Thanks for having me.

This is going to be fun.

How you holding up there out on the floor?

Fortunately enough, I didn't have to spend all day talking.

I've got a product manager from my team that covered that for us this year, so I had

the opportunity to walk around and really get ideas for next year.

Oh, very, very cool.

So we're going to start this off very similar to how we start off every episode of Beyond

the Wrench, which is talking about you, talking about your background and really what led you

to what you do today.

And I should mention your job title is Director of Product Marketing.

Is that accurate?

Yeah, yeah.

That's 100% it.

So my role within Milwaukee is really managing the portfolio products we have, making sure

we're continuing to deliver on what users are needing out in the marketplace and making

sure we're growing that business on its own, and that as this organization has

gotten bigger and bigger, we've really focused on creating smaller teams within the group

to make sure we're still managing really the intimate details at a category level, that

that way we're not ignoring things over time.

So that's a credence really to the leadership group to get people in the right spot to

deliver on what our customers really need.

So what does your day-to-day life look like at Milwaukee?

Yeah, it's on the product management side.

It's one of the most cross-functional roles that's out there.

So you touch a little bit everything from sales to distribution to commercial planning.

So what promotions or placement programs are we running to get products actually into distribution

to production planning on the manufacturing side?

And then at the beginning, really the development and even before that, what are we going

to make?

Oh my goodness.

How do you get prepared for a role like that where there are just so many different elements

to it?

Another kind of cool part about the company, like when I start and we're skipping over how

I got here.

Well, we'll get back to that too.

But that's been the cool part of this.

My entire time in corporate Milwaukee has been in lighting.

So like 12 years doing this, I started when there was really nothing.

There's a handful of products and I've been able to kind of grow this into a pretty substantial

business that covers a lot of different users and applications.

So like as we talk through this, let's go back and talk about what got you interested

in this in the first place, right?

So when you go back, maybe you're in school, was this something that you had on the

radar as to what you were going to do with your life?

Sure.

And I'll even start a little bit before that, just set kind of the stage a little

bit.

But originally from a really small like agricultural based farm town.

So I grew up doing farm work, construction, things like that.

Summer jobs.

Yeah.

And so like grew up pretty blue collar grassroots type of stuff.

And at that point in time, didn't really know what I wanted to do coming out of high

school, but was familiar with a lot of things in that space.

And then most of my family is in the automotive industry.

So auto body from farm implement type work to car truck, kind of really across the board.

And then my dad drove a semi truck over the road as a sole proprietor.

So I would help him on the weekends, changing tires and doing just general maintenance

there.

So pretty well versed background on some of the hands on, on side of things.

But when I finished school, I'm like, I have no idea what I want to do.

So I actually joined the, joined the military and went into the army for five years.

So I did that for a little bit of time.

And then I'm like, okay, time to put that behind me and work on kind of the next

step.

And I went to the university in Nebraska and still didn't really have any idea what

I wanted, wanted to do long term.

I'm like, came out of time in the military and I'm like, okay, what's the thing

I can go do that's most versatile on the back end.

So just went, got, when got a standard like business administration degree, sure, that

had a lot of flexibility within it.

And then ironically at the career fair at university in Nebraska, Milwaukee had a booth

set up and I'm like, okay, like I know tools, I'm comfortable with tools.

And that really started the process in is that was the first kind of glimpse of

how fast this company moves.

Cause it was like one quick conversation at an interview table.

They're like, hey, you got an extra couple hours and interviewing with a couple

managers that they had there.

And then I was up in Brookfield like a month later.

Wow.

And that was at the kind of the tail end of the spring semester.

And I was graduating at the fall semester.

And within a month of interviewing, they call me back.

They're like, no, it probably wasn't even a month, a couple of weeks.

And they're like, Hey, what do you think about upstate New York?

I'm like, wait a minute for a sales position.

So I'm like, okay, I was on the East coast before in my time in the military,

back to the Midwest.

And this is 2010, 11.

So the, the job market was kind of on its back.

Coming back a little bit.

Yeah.

Back a little bit, but like everything was still a little iffy.

I'm like, let's go.

And it was definitely the best life decision I've ever made really

because it's got me here.

And I never really, it was a sales position, but they're like, we have

a big leadership development program that allows you to go a lot of different ways.

And then started to get a better understanding of different paths.

And for me, like sales wasn't really for me.

It was a great experience to learn a lot about like our largest

distribution partners and things like that.

But pretty quickly I had my eyes set on product and, and did a couple of years

in sales and then was afforded the opportunity to interview for a role

on corporate and I've been here ever since and it's been a, been a blast.

Oh, it's such a great company.

And we've talked a lot today about culture and really what a great

culture that Milwaukee has.

Did you feel that as soon as you kind of came in the doors and started

your career?

Yeah, in like the people I started with are like some of my best friends

that were in my wedding.

So that's, and I think Tim even brought it up on the Q and A portion of

what, what kind of keeps people here.

And, and it is very like foundational to like, hey, no job is easy, right?

And like having other people that you're really close to that, to

like even kind of having a confidant to like go to like, hey, I'm

having this problem.

How like, have you ran into this before?

And just having like those close relationships to be able to go at

like those conversations, it's, it's priceless.

It is, it is.

And that's I think what everybody's looking for when they're going

to work somewhere, right?

Is they want that support of culture and Milwaukee's done a

phenomenal job with that.

I do have to ask, as somebody that came from a small rural town,

we had a conversation about this before we hit record, uh, you

talked about summer jobs working on a farm, did that include

the hang?

Oh, of course.

That's, that's whenever I'm complaining about my daily, like

my daily job, my daily responsibilities, I look back and

like, at least I'm not in a haymow anymore.

Yeah.

It can, it can always be hotter, harder, hotter, sweatier.

Yeah.

No airflow whatsoever.

Yeah.

It's a, that's actually bringing back some memories for me

right now where I'm like, Oh my goodness, the middle of

August, it was not, not fun to be in a barn at that point.

Yeah.

Uh, talk about a time like it was kind of warm outside today,

but like when you're doing physical labor all day outside

and then you have to go put it up in a barn, like it's,

yeah, we got it pretty good right now.

Yeah.

Well, this is, uh, thank you for all the information on

your background, such a cool background.

Now, when we talk about lighting, uh, this is your

specialty.

This is something that I think a lot of shops are

interested in just because there's been, uh, what I

would consider a lack of lighting for a long time and

it makes your job really, really hard when you can't

see what you're actually working on.

Uh, talk to me a little bit about what Milwaukee has

done in the lighting space.

Yeah.

Uh, it's pretty broad.

Um, we started really the mainstay of what we did

was really leveraging like M12 and M18 to get

lighting off the ground.

So, uh, and this has been well over a decade ago

where like it was, hey, in the automotive space,

like everybody had the incandescent droplight,

uh, 25 foot extension cord, dropping it down in the

engine compartment, gets hot, all that stuff.

Right.

Um, and we brought, uh, M12 and M18 stick lights

to the market pretty significant time ago.

Yeah.

Um, but that was like that really easy one to

figure out.

And so we did that.

And then the big thing at the time was really

how do you go out and deliver a light that's

as bright as halogen products in the market?

And, and obviously now halogen is kind of gone by

the wayside for LED technology.

Um, but the first one we launched is our, uh, kind

of baseline M18 floodlight.

Um, when we launched that, we launched it right

as I was starting on the lighting team and, and

right as I showed up, I saw all the back order

issues that we had with it because we launched

a product that's, uh, was $100 in the

marketplace against products that are 15, 20

bucks in, and we're like, okay, like this

could go well.

Um, and I think we had orders in our system

for what we thought we were going to sell in

the first six months.

So that really opened our eyes of like, okay,

this is much bigger than this one individual

product.

Uh, and then from there, we've just really

scaled it in a way that, uh, really leaning

in, in on like form and function, uh, like

making products easier to move around.

Um, and as that, as LED technology and

efficiency has continued to grow, uh, we've

partnered with some of the premier LED vendors,

uh, across the world to make sure we're

always leaning in heavy on the efficiency

side, um, which a lot of the commodity stuff

doesn't have to do because they're always

plugged in.

Um, so we're trying to always focus on

delivering the most performance, the most

efficient level of performance for the

best cost.

As somebody that, uh, once I had, I had

a treble light on a car and I had raised

it up on a hoist and it was connected to

a cord, which was connected to the wall.

Uh, and credit to the strength of this

old light to stay in the wall, stay plugged

in, but I raised the hoist all the way up

and it actually caught and acted like a

slingshot and, uh, came back down and

just it shred into a million pieces,

right?

Shattered like crazy.

So as you're developing this

technology, I'm sure you're seeing

some of those kind of cases where,

you know, hey, like maybe that's not the

safest or maybe that's not the best way

to do that.

Yeah, absolutely.

And in, like we swung hard at durability

in this category from when we started.

Almost have to, right?

Yeah, it was like one of the biggest

downsides of the stuff that was out

there at the market at the time and

kind of still is to a certain extent.

Um, and it, it was a hard thing to

do long term too.

Like in that, that floodlight that we

made, uh, that really springboarded

us into a lot of other segments of

lighting, uh, is bulletproof.

Yeah.

Um, like we, one kind of story about

that product, it was out on, um, on the

Tramway at Disney World.

They were working on it at night.

Uh, battery died.

Someone left it on the tracks.

Uh, Tram came through the next

day, ran it over.

Uh, the whole thing was flattened.

They bent it back, plugged a

battery in it and it still work.

Oh my goodness.

So in like, one, it was a really

important thing, like, hey, we weren't

going to solve for that, right?

Uh, which is fine.

Uh, but it set at such a high

durability standard in this space.

And I was like, okay, like that's

the low watermark.

Like we can never go below that.

And, and it really set the stage

to, to force us, uh, force our

engineering teams to really think

differently about how we design and

develop products in a way that they

can live in a lot of these

environment.

We're not trying to design stuff to

get ran over by train by any means,

but like we need to keep that

always really front of mind against

a really heavy commodity market,

which makes total sense.

And, you know, I, I am interested

in the development side of this,

right?

Because it's easy to say lighting.

Oh, we got lights on the ceiling

in, in our environment.

That doesn't, that doesn't play

well a lot of times because you

do have a hood going up or you

have something that's going to

block whatever lighting you have.

Talk to me a little bit about how,

how do you find opportunities to

build something different?

Sure.

Uh, it's not as complex as what

you would think.

It just takes time.

Okay.

And, and takes time to take a step

back and listen and watch and

understand the situations that,

uh, in a really intimate detail.

And, and a lot of times it's like

you talk to someone in an

automotive shop or in any

environment, it's like, this is

the problem.

And, and you're like, okay.

And you ask a couple other

questions and, and you get to a

much deeper underlying problem

that you really need to solve

for that also solves for the,

the thing that's front of mind

for them.

So, uh, it's, it takes a lot of

time there, um, in the first

place and like I push my team

to like, hey, we don't have to

design the solution, right?

Um, we have to go out and

clearly identify like where the

products are, where they need

to live, uh, what the problems

are with the existing things.

And then we have an entire

design group where like, hey,

here's the problem.

Like we're going to step away

and, and come back with some

options to help us solve this.

And did that, did that, was

that a progression in your

career, would you say?

And just being able to ask the

right questions and, and really

being able to get to the true

problem.

Yeah, it's, it's definitely the

hardest part of that role, of

the role of a product manager

because it's, it's easy to

jump to the, jump to the

solution, like, oh, I can go do

this and, and that takes care of

it. And, and really peeling back

the onion to understand

everything at a very granular

level, to make sure whatever we

bring to the market is, uh,

delivering on the user need and,

and unique, right?

Uniqueness sells really well,

especially in the automotive

space. Yeah.

And that was a really hard

because you think you're doing

it the right way.

And the good thing is, is

like when I came in, my

manager, uh,

manager and manager's manager,

we're really good at challenging

me on, like, like, this is

really baseline, like we need

depth around this and

continued coaching and

understanding of how to do it

well. Because this is a trait

that, like people go to school

to do this as, as a career

path. And, and we're

trying to figure out how to,

how to do it as product

managers, but also do the

development and commercial side

and all those types of things.

One thing that I think has

resonated with every Milwaukee

employee that I've talked to is

that piece right there and how

key that is to the success of

the company as a whole.

Being able to go in and

truly understand that, hey,

we've got to dig a little bit

deeper. Are there times when

you're trying to dig a little

bit deeper where you're

getting resistance from the

people you're trying to get

more information from?

Oh, for sure. Um, and

every, every person you talk

to in the field is unique

in their own way.

Some people are very closed

off and I don't really

want to, want to engage in a

conversation or they care more

about the work they, they need

to get done, which is fine.

But you find some people that

can really articulate the

problems and you can drive

the depth. And the, the

challenge for us is we want to

try to get in there and do

this as fast as we can,

because we're getting in the

way of that individual making

money too.

So we have to be really

efficient with it and try to

keep it as condensed as

possible. And for us, like

you kind of trial run a

survey or a path of question,

line of questioning, you try

it once and you're like, OK,

this, this didn't work right.

And then you're back out in

your car, like kind of

rescoping, restructuring

everything in a way that

allows you to get, get to

where you need to go as

efficient as you can.

How, so I want to walk

through like day of in a

shop and really try to

understand this process.

Is it as simple as you've

got a pad of paper and you

pull up a chair in the corner

of the shop and just watch

the text work or how does it

that look? Yeah, it can be

sometimes it's very

prescriptive around trying to

really focus on something

hyper specific.

And then there's times where

it's very exploratory and

and you're trying to just it

may be observational

and sometimes it may just be

kind of digging in on on

what someone's doing.

And the hard part in an

automotive shop is you

never know what's going to

be there. Yeah, like

they may be

replacing a rear differential

and then the next time you

go in, they're doing brakes

and tires on a vehicle.

And it's like, OK, this is

totally different than what I

saw last time, but I need to

maximize my time now.

So how do I steer the line

of questioning in a way that

fits to that person's

application?

Interesting, because I'm

a true believer in like if

you're not seeing the actual

work that's being done to

to feedback into the product

you're developing, it

becomes a little bit

challenging on understanding

like some data driven decisions

through that process.

I'll give you an example that

used to drive me absolutely

nuts. I started off my

career as a technician and

front brake jobs were always

a pain because you would

hang the light like on the

strut or, you know, and it

was twisted the wrong way

and you could never actually

get it to where you wanted

to look at it. Did you see

that scenario in any of

these shops?

Yeah, and I would like to

show you our M12

underbody life for that

specific evaluation.

But yeah, they're and

that's the craziness about

an automotive technicians'

needs around lighting.

They're always having to work

around something, always having

to reach around something to

get to nut, bolt, hoses,

whatever. It's a very,

very unique application

versus a lot of the other

core trades that we focus

on, but also opens up

a huge opportunity for us

to go out and solve things

in a unique way.

Interesting. So in that

scenario, you see that

there's a problem and you see

that, hey, maybe we've got

to come up with a different way

to get the light in that

really kind of compact space

with the technician having

their hands in there and

really just I think a lot

of a lot of opportunities

block light from being able

to really have that

technician be able to see

what they're working on.

From that stage, I mean,

are you then kind of

in your mind just trying to

figure out, OK, how could

I get the light in there?

Yeah, there's there's quite a bit

of that.

And sometimes like.

We don't even make it that far.

It's a lot of times it's like,

OK, this is the problem.

And then you hand it.

Yeah. And then like, hey, we

may come back into the office

and grab a couple of designers

and engineers and go flip

up a hood in the parking lot

and say like, OK, this is

what I saw. And like, what

are ways that we think we can

solve this or to get every

the most value you can get

out of a development team is

getting them immersed in the

problem.

And if you can get everybody

bought in on like, hey, are

we all in agreement that this

is actually a problem?

Yeah. And then then it's

just like clockwork.

Everything starts and you

can't always solve

everything right in every

application. But those are

the things that make really

our team the most powerful

is really outlining those

situations really well.

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Links are in the show notes.

How has the automotive side

of lighting grown over the

years? Because obviously the

product line has exploded

with all kinds of different

things.

Walk me through that piece a

little bit. You started off

when you started your career

with a lot less selection

of lighting products.

Now it's crazy.

Yeah. So when I started,

I think we had five products.

And for perspective, now we

have over 60 products

across five different battery

types and four different

battery types. And then we

have internal or chargeable

products and then a small

mix of other like alkaline

stuff that that's not really

a focus for us.

But the hard part is like

we have a lot of users to

feed from our brand.

And and we dip in like

every couple of years we go

heavy on like what's the next

user group that we really

want to focus on.

And you've seen that through

product development from us

over the last better part

of a decade.

And when we started like,

hey, we started with a very

baseline like, hey, here's

a stick light that's powered

off of one powered off of M

12, one that's powered off

of M 18.

The next easy, easy answer

was like, hey, a lot of guys

are using corded

underhood lights.

Like, hey, we've got some

batteries that can that can

help power that.

So so we went went down

that path.

And then 2017, 2018,

we were starting to get

another portfolio products

up off the ground

around personal lights.

So like flashlights,

headlamps, things like that.

And and you walk into an

automotive tech shop

and be like, hey, do you mind

if I take a look at your

toolbox and or like, where do

you keep your flashlights

in your toolbox?

They pull up on a drawer

and it is with all the other

stuff.

Yeah. Yeah.

And it but they may have

two or three different

pin lights, a few different

flashlights.

And we're like, oh, wow.

Like, there's a huge need

here.

Like, obviously, like

if they have this many

things, none of it's doing

really well or they just bought

it on a bargain deal

somewhere.

Yeah.

Which is an uncommon either.

But it opened up our eyes

to where where there's

a substantial amount of

opportunity and is with

how diverse applications

are in the automotive space

like size is really critical.

Yeah.

And and we started to build

in a lot of functionality

into our personal lighting

program to help with that.

So whether it's a pin light

that slips in,

someone's shirt pocket

and they wear it literally

every second that they're

in the shop.

We did some unique things

around putting like FDA

approved rubber on the back

because the first thing

first thing you have to do

when you need a light

and you need to work

with both hands that flashlight

goes in someone's mouth.

100 percent.

So then there are

a million times.

Yeah, absolutely.

We just did the FDA approved

rubber on the back of the

light with a thought of that.

That is rather than just

biting on a big metal tube.

And then then we did like

on red lithium USB,

which is a single cell

swappable battery platform

that we have.

We did stick light,

which is kind of a common place

in the automotive space.

And then probably four years

ago, I'm going to get the year wrong

was really one of the first

really unique products

that we launched

in the automotive industry

was the M12 underbody light.

And and that was a product

that really came to came

to life around really just

watching technician

hit the button on the lift

to send the car up in the air.

And then they're like fighting

around trying to figure out

how to light up everything

underneath.

And and it's like, OK,

they're a text picking up

a flashlight or trying to

grab a corded light

and set it on the ground

and cast it up.

And then they look down

and they're staring into it.

And it's like, OK, why can't

we just take the light

closer to the application

and just make it adjustable?

And and it kind of came

from an idea of being

at the dentist and like.

Oh, yeah.

They pull the light over your head

and it's just that thing

inversed.

So wow.

So then we thought about like,

hey, what are the other like?

Hey, this thing isn't small

by any means, but it's adjustable

in the right way.

How do we get as much out

of the space that we're

taking up in this environment

as we can?

And and then we saw guys

going to put their sockets

on the on the arm of the lift

or ratchets or whatever.

And we're like, why don't we

just put a magnetic tray

in this and then boom,

engineers in a in a week

had had magnets integrated into it.

And then guys were just setting

magnets and bolts and nuts

just right on that magnetic tray.

So now you think of it

from a from a shop owner

standpoint like, OK, you're

saving a few seconds here

and there, but a few seconds

here and there over a year is

huge, add up to a ton of time.

And that was really one

of the really cool products

to see going to the market

and really a lot of people

gravitate to it out of the gates.

That was one of those

like the first time you walk

into a store and see that

you're like, that's pretty cool.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So when when you you're going

through this, it feels like

it's not just all about

the lighting itself.

It's about how the light

gets to where you need it to be.

So like if it is a magnetic base,

if it is something else

like the adjustment in it,

like that that's kind of a game

changer because I don't feel

like there was anything else

like that before that.

Yeah, for sure.

And the light is one of the.

Can be one of the easier parts.

There's a lot of times

where it does become challenging,

but really making sure

you're maximizing the utility

out of the product is one of the

things that we really try to lean

hard on in a space

with a lot of other options,

right? Like there's

hey, we have the largest

market share and all of our

battery system.

So like that is something one

we don't take for granted

first and foremost,

but also like it gives us

a lot of flexibility too.

But we don't want to just ignore

the fact of like, hey,

people are going to just buy it

because it's M12 or M18.

We want to do everything we can

on each one of those products

to make sure it delivers

as much as we possibly can.

So what else do we have

in the automotive world

lighting wise?

Sure.

So another kind of the big

brother to that M12

under body light last summer.

I guess we're just right out of

a year of it being in the market.

We did the what we named

the M18 extendable boom

boom light. So once we got

that school M12 product

into the market, it was like,

OK, like this is great,

but it's great for cars and

trucks. We need something

bigger for everything

from over the road vehicles

to heavy equipment.

Just the application area

grows and the size of the

equipment grows. So we needed

something proportionally larger

to tackle those applications as

well. So which was

its own challenge in its own

right of how to how to get

that that thing hammered out

because once you put forty

some inches of extendable

length off three different

arms, like you need a lot

of magnetic oh my goodness.

Yeah. So I think

that magnet can hold like

up to two hundred pounds

to get to to hold it

at full distance, especially

like and we're like, OK,

what what if the frames rusted?

Yeah, like that comes into

consideration.

So we threw everything we

could at the magnet magnetic

strength on it in development.

We're like the first prototype

we stick it to something and

we're like, oh no, like

how do we get this thing off

of here?

And I think we ended up

like using a pry bar to bring

it loose. And it's like, OK,

we need to come up with something

different.

So we kind of framed up the

problem, took it to the

engineering team and they just

went and created a mechanical

advantage arm in it

that just had a little plunger

on the bottom that popped it

loose. It takes like, I don't

know, ten pounds of pressure

to break it loose and good to

go. How did you get around

like the rusty frame thing

because that probably is

an issue in and of itself

where you want to make the

magnet really, really strong,

but you also have to be able to

get it off or you like, I feel

like if you're talking about a

rusty frame, those of us in the

Midwest, we really struggle

with this, right?

It is like

you're just making a really

strong magnet or you just make

the magnet stronger to get

through some of the rust to

maybe some of the true metal

that can can hold it.

Yeah. And and like, hey, rust

is one thing, but it's also

frame coatings.

Oh, yeah.

So like you go get into

that and some of that stuff

is I don't know how thick it is,

but it like more than a quarter

of an inch and you look at

magnets like any air gap

between the steel surface

and that magnet has an

exponential effect on on

the strength of that magnet.

So so we tried to take all

of those situations in mind

as we're like, OK, what does

the magnetic strength need to

be in use to stack all those

things up? And it's like, OK,

on bare steel, this thing's

going to hold 200 pounds.

Man. But we and magnets

aren't free either.

So like, we had to continue

to add cost in it to do what

what was right for the application.

That is so cool.

Now, other examples, I just

want to run through with you

and see if just one example

that in my own personal

experience was a challenge was

underneath the dash.

Sure. I don't know what you

what you suggest for something

like that. But that is a lot

of times if you're a technician,

you're on your back,

upside down sideways,

you're kind of it's very

uncomfortable.

And the worst thing is if you

don't have light placement in the

right spot.

Yeah. So that's been a common

challenge that that we've tried

to solve in a few different

products because it continues to

come up. And and for me, it's

like, OK, we don't have this

thing totally solved.

Sure.

But we're we're making

incremental improvements kind of

with a lot of the products

we're doing on the red

lithium USB line.

So we have a couple really

small compact floodlights

and then also on internal

rechargeable. We have a it's

roughly the size of an iPhone.

So really slim, low profile

light.

We see a lot of guys

though it's magnetic so you can

put it on.

And it's got some flexible arms

on the back so you can clip

it to like your arm

coming in for your break

and stick it to that.

And then you can pivot it and

angle it up up underneath

the dash, which isn't the best

for a lot of applications

because a lot of times you're

staring into it.

But you can also slip that

back up underneath the dash.

So if you're doing wiring or

working on gauges or whatever

underneath the dash, like you

can do all those things pretty

efficiently as well.

So we haven't necessarily

come out with Milwaukee

underdash light, but try to

keep that in mind for a lot

of the auto auto specific

products and general use

products that we have.

One request I would have.

I think is out of maybe out

of the blue a little bit.

But would be what would be

great is if you had some form

of like air tag in the light

because it happens more than

you think where that that's

especially with the smaller

lights, they get stuck to

something and then like, where

did I put that light?

It's on somebody's car

underneath that like a dash

somewhere and it's hard to

find them.

Yeah, yeah.

Another problem that that

we still need to continue to

work on on the right

solution.

I think there's there's

tech to your point.

There's technology available

that's out there.

And there's challenges that

come with kind of everything.

But but it's something we're

still committed to spending

time on.

You talked about the headlight

earlier.

What what what is the actual

name of the the headlamp

that goes that you wear on

your on your head?

So we have a few different

ones have a few different.

Yeah, so we have one of the

ones that's really been

beneficial in the automotive

space is our

internal rechargeable

headlamp floodlight.

So it's it's a really cool kind

of unique execution where

the headlamp is actually

removable from the band.

Okay.

And it's magnetic on the back

so you can for a technician

they're looking in an engine

compartment or whatever

and another great product

for some of the under dash

applications.

Yeah, really slim low profile

light that you can just

take off.

Obviously it's magnetic

because that's what it holds

it into the into the headlamp

strap.

But you can take that off and

move it to any magnetic surface

and stick it where you need it.

So it's kind of a quasi

mini floodlight slash headlamp

that that does really well

in the auto space.

That's another one where it

feels like in the last couple

of years that's come on really

really strong where you walk

into a shop now and it's not

uncommon to see the technicians

walking around with the headlamps

on all day long.

And I don't know that I saw

that, you know, several years

ago, you used to have way back

in the day, the really wonky

ones that didn't fit right

and the light was terrible.

But these ones, they put off

some light.

I mean, it's it's it's

impressive.

Yeah, it's the power source

and LED technology that that's

out there now allows you to

really deliver a significant

amount of light and in

actuality, a lot of times

it's more than what most

people need.

Yeah, like to actually do

that, do a job within

arm's reach.

You don't need as much light

but like on a package, it's

like, am I going to buy

1,500 lumens or 1,000 lumens?

And that's another area where

we've got to do a better job

of kind of crafting like how

much performance is actually

needed because it all comes

at at the sacrifice of how

long that light's going to last

to.

Do you have any advice on

that side of like if you're

out in the market and you're

looking for something and

it's described in lumens?

I know a lot of hunters

are very familiar with it.

But if maybe you're not

that hunter that's out

there, is there something to

keep in mind when you're looking

for a light?

And it's all hard to say

in like if you've been

through our battery rotation

here, one of the common themes

that we say is like not all

lithium is the same.

Yeah.

In the in the lighting

world, not all lumens are the

same.

And kind of the an easy

way to describe it as lumens

is kind of the volume of light

that's coming out of it.

And then as you

direct that light, you can

actually increase the intensity

of that light as well.

So there's a lot of times

where you can take 500 lumens

of light direct in the right

way.

And it actually seems brighter

than a thousand and the numbers

are somewhat arbitrary.

Right.

Just to kind of make a point.

But we spend a lot of time

on optical development as well.

So we have engineers

and test equipment next time

you're in town.

I'd love to show you a little

bit of it.

Love it.

But we take

we simulate our optical designs

and software.

And then we we test it

through that simulation to see

if it's actually doing what we

wanted to do and we can model

it into a actual

environment and space.

And then we'll 3D print it

or have it soft-tooled and

manufactured or machined

and then drop it into the

product to make sure, like, OK,

do these things all work out?

Usually like, OK, we got to

do it a couple of times to

get everything tweaked and

worked out.

But we're always battling this

balance between like how

much performance is needed for

the application and how long

do people need these to last

to not be a burden on

the daily workflow, right?

Because once you have to

either remove that battery

or remove that light from the

environment to charge it.

Yeah, pretty obvious, right?

Like, you can't get a whole lot

done.

So we were very specific

on how we managed that

relationship.

The battery side of it, I think,

is so important also

just like everything else,

Milwaukee.

If you've got your charger

running and you are pretty

consistently putting batteries

on it, I think it is a little

bit more of a habit from a

technician standpoint to just

go throw a battery on the

charger, whereas if it's not

a universal battery that's

going to be used in other

things, you forget to plug

that light in one night

and you come back

and you have a dead light

and you're starting the day

with a dead light and it's

kind of frustrating.

And that's the unique thing

that Milwaukee provides

in the industry is a single-cell

swappable battery that's

compatible with other stuff.

And a lot of our competitors

in that space are things that

are available in the market.

Like some of the common

competitors out there have

20, 30 different batteries.

And we're like, OK, like...

It's overwhelming.

We're just thinking about it.

Yeah, you just buy...

You buy a light and you're

like, OK, what are the other

things that I can put on

the same battery from a

competitive standpoint?

You have one or two things

where we have 15 different

products that work on that

same battery.

And we feel like there's a high

level, a high value of

swappability in that space,

especially for a high

frequency user like an

automotive technician.

I work with a lot of entry

level technicians just in

general, a lot of experienced

ones too.

But do you have any advice

for them as they're maybe

starting their tool collection

and what way to go with

the lighting?

Because it can be cool to have

the underbody light.

It can be cool to do all of

this.

But if you had that

young technician that was

starting, would you have any

advice on maybe what the best

path for them to go down

in terms of lighting with

Milwaukee?

Yeah, I think if a new

technician really bought two

products out of the gates,

they would be in a good spot

to really spend some time

doing the work to figure out

what they really need.

And those two things are a

headlamp and we have a bunch of

different ones.

And then also a pin light,

like doing that inspection

work to actually executing

the work are two critical,

like hyper common things for

an automotive technician.

And like, hey, they need

that high torque impact wrench.

They need those really highly

productive money making

tools in their toolbox

before they start adding on

all these other things.

And like, hey, would I love

for somebody to go just buy

every single product?

But absolutely.

But it may be not the right

thing.

Until they start to make some

money.

Yeah.

Like, don't get yourself so

far in debt out of the gates

on it.

Like, work your way into it

and buy it by what you need

because that's that's going to

set yourself up better

to one, be more comfortable

personally.

Yeah.

And then also kind of growing

to the space and be a little

more specific about what

your long term needs are.

That is incredible advice.

I hope we actually take that

clip for the advice piece alone

because that is I think

it can get overwhelming with how

many options are out there.

And just to know, hey, these

are things that are going to

get you by until you start

to make some money until you

start to find yourself in a

better financial position.

So I just think that's

fantastic advice.

We're getting close to the

end of the show.

And there are a couple things

I wanted to ask you about

first, product specific

things.

Yeah, absolutely.

That I was just interested in.

And so we'll do kind of a rapid

fire.

Tell us a little bit about them

because I am I am curious so

that you have the Red Lithium

USB stick light with magnet.

Yeah.

So that and I kind of a

little bit represent on the

front end.

But that was a really cool

product that's really solely

focused for the automotive

technician.

So that's a good one that

like, hey, we talked about

the inspection piece to

actually doing the work.

And and that's another really

good product for for a new

technician to think about.

That light just kind of a

visually looks like a standard

stick light that's out there in

the market.

But there's a lot of bells

and whistles into it as well.

So at the end of the stick

light portion, there's a

little inspection light.

So doing some of the

general inspection work,

whether it's the front of the

engine or underneath, a really

good solution for doing those

things.

And then you talked about

trouble lights, things like

that.

So something that provides a

broader area of light that

actually has a light bar on the

front and the back that you

can you can turn on the front

or the back or both.

So if you need to drop that

into an engine compartment

and say you need to pull spark

plugs or something like that,

you can it's got a hook on the

bottom, you can hang that

hook on a wire loom running

across an engine compartment.

And then you have light

across the entire side of the

engine.

So that's a really good one.

Trying to think what else

am I missing.

Oh, Anna, as most of our lights

do, it's got a pretty strong

magnet on it.

So if you're working underneath

an engine and you need to have

that kind of mounted task light,

it's kind of a somewhat of a

mini, mini, mini version of

that M12 or M18 boom light.

Oh, very cool and very handy.

The Red Lithium USB 400L

necklight.

Yeah.

So the necklight is a really

cool one.

And you think of like, hey,

we spent a lot of time

talking about headlamps and

in the need of getting in and

a wrap, getting light in and

around things.

And sometimes shining light

from the top of your head

or based on the direction of

your eyes, isn't always the

best way to do it.

So a lot of times actually

casting light up from

underneath is beneficial.

And something that you can

kind of wear all day and not

have the compression of a

headlamp on your head.

So that's a really great one

that's part of our Red Lithium

USB platform that you can

swap batteries between also

that stick light as well.

So you have that swap ability,

capability, ability.

So that's that's another good

one.

Try to think if there's

anything.

I've never actually worn one

of those, by the way.

Like I need to I got I have

to try one of those at some

point.

We'll figure something.

All right.

The last one I'll ask you

about paint and detailing

color match.

Yeah, we didn't even get

into the collision side.

Yes.

So this was we'll have to do

it again sometime because

we'll we'll have to dive

further into that.

And I will say as a caveat

that is our only like

collision paint and body

body type of product.

But I really came from

spending time in shops that

like, OK, you go through

one side of the shop and

it's all all technicians.

And then you go to the other

side and it's a bunch of

auto body guys.

Yeah.

And we spent some time in

there and like we're seeing

a lot of these color

match lights that are out

there of color correction

and and all that.

And we're like, OK, we

can do this better than

some of the stuff that

we're seeing.

Yeah.

And we got with some of our

LED vendors to get the right

LED for it and in an

appropriate optical design.

That's probably one of our

least known products, to be

honest with you.

But so far I have a feeling

it's coming.

Yeah. Yeah.

And it's crazy to see

how many people gravitate

to that product once they

get their hands on it.

We've we've shown it as

at SEMA a handful of years

and you get the big dogs

of the paint custom paint

space and I'm just like,

hey, check this out.

Tell me what you think.

Like I don't even want to

try to sell you on it.

And versus some of the stuff

that's out there that's seven,

eight, nine hundred dollars

for a really affordable price

that does everything that

those products do and more.

Man, I learned so much

about lighting today.

I really hope we get you

back as a guest sometime

because this is this is

really interesting.

And I think some of this

you you just think

about the future of lighting

and how much of an impact

you've already had

and looking forward what it's

going to continue to be.

It's it's exciting stuff.

So I appreciate you

joining us here today.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

This has been a blast.

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