MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp., with some 85 years as a manufacturer of heavy-duty power tools and accessories, is now entering what company officials described as the “under-served and dormant” test and measurement instrument sector. The target audience is HVACR technicians and electricians, with many units coming in separate models for HVACR or electrical needs, the company said.

During a press briefing at the company’s corporate headquarters, President Steven Richman said, “There is an opportunity for Milwaukee to deliver overdue change. We are dedicated to lead the industry by delivering new products with disruptive innovations, best-in-class performance, and solutions to enhance end-user productivity.”

By “disruptive innovation,” Shane Moll, senior vice president for marketing and general manager for tools, said Milwaukee Tool was looking at “new products that not only obsolete those of our competition, but of ourselves as well.

“This is not about a cordless drill that works a little bit better.”

Regarding test and measurement instruments specifically, Mike Jones, vice president and general manager for that sector, said the objective would be “to deliver product solutions that are real and tangible.” He described the sector as a “billion dollar market.”

He said the initial launch taking place this summer includes 12 new products.

According to a statement from the company, “The first wave of the new test and measurement line includes innovative alkaline products and applied lithium-ion technology to deliver additional tools on the growing M12 cordless platform.”

Lithium-ion batteries, common in consumer electronics, are rechargeable batteries in which a lithium ion moves from the anode to the cathode during discharge and in from the cathode to the anode, when charging. Promoters of the technology said such batteries have good energy-to-weight ratios, no memory effect, and a slow loss of charge when not in use.

“Milwaukee plans to become the new standard of excellence in the test and instrument category,” the company said. “Milwaukee will continue to build this platform to offer industry-leading performance safety and ergonomics.”

The test and instrument category is a new business unit for Milwaukee Tool.

PRODUCTS

Among new products from the sector highlighted at the briefing:

• M12 Cordless Laser Temp-Gun™ Thermometer. “Checking mechanical equipment or electrical circuit breakers can be dangerous,” said Jonathan Morrow, director of marketing and product management for test and instruments. “With the added power of lithium-ion, this model can safely measure temperatures between –40 and 1,472°F with a 40 to 1 distance-to-spot ratio.”

• Clamp meters. “They were designed with embedded non-contact voltage detection and LED work lights,” said Morrow. He described the meters as an example of configurations for HVACR and electrical. “DC microamps and contact temperature measurement are incorporated into the HVACR model, while frequency measurement is included in the electrical model.” Among the clamp meters is the M12 cordless Clamp-Gun™ clamp meter. Morrow said, “The power of lithium-ion technology on a tool that is traditionally powered by alkaline batteries gave us endless opportunity for innovation.”

• Digital multimeter. “Ghost voltages appear when energized wires create a magnetic field impacting other wires in the bundle and create a false higher voltage reading than actually exists. Our Lo-Z measurement feature eliminates ghost voltage and gives a correct reading,” Morrow said.

• Fork Meters. “They were designed with embedded non-contact voltage detection and LED work lights to increase end user productivity,” said Morrow. “In the HVACR model, you will see dc microamps and contact temperature measurements.

Publication date: 07/06/2009