Owner: Craig Nemitz
Shop: Movin' & Lubin'
Location: New Berlin, Wisc.
Everything has a place in Craig Nemitz's Snap-on set up, from his hand tools to his diagnostic equipment.
So much so that outside of his main box, a sliver Snap-on Master Series three-bay box with added hutch and locker, he has a power cabinet dedicated to Milwaukee Tool cordless tools and a diagnostic station specifically designed for the Snap-on Verus Edge scan tool.
Nemitz, general manager of Movin' & Lubin in New Berlin, Wis., was one of the first technicians in Wisconsin to purchase the diagnostic station. After seeing the cart displaying a Verus Edge on a Snap-on Diagnostics distributor truck, he knew he had to have it for himself.
"I walked on there and pretty much said, 'Yup! I got to have that,'" Nemitz laughed. "I said, 'You're not leaving here without taking that off the truck.'"
The tool cart features a 32' flatscreen display monitor, hooked up to his Windows-based Verus Edge scan tool, which sits in the first drawer of the cart, in a molded setting. The three other drawers on the cart house other diagnostic tools like multimeters, fuel pressure testers and TPMS tools.
So far, Nemitz says the decision to purchase the tool cart was a good one for efficiency, especially when working in a larger shop.
"The main reason I wanted to get that cart, and set it up like that, was so I could wheel it around and go right to the job with the cart," Nemitz says. "It was really just about being able to have everything right there for me. We have a fairly large shop, so to keep having to go back and forth to grab this tool, or grab this connector for my multimeter – or something like that, it just became too much of a hassle."
Additionally hugging the main box is a blue Snap-on power cabinet, which he eventually wants to get powdercoated in "Milwaukee Tool Red" to match his diagnostic station. The cabinet houses several Milwaukee Tool impacts—some of his favorite tools to use—along with a sawzall, angle grinder, hammer drill and work lights, among other things.
Both the power cabinet and the scan tool station were purchased within the past two years as an addition to the main box, which Nemitz has had for six years.
The 22-drawers of the almost 10’ long, 6’ tall main box are 29” deep and organized by category, as are the three shelves and four pull-out drawers in the side locker.
The wood worktop is kept clear, featuring easy-to-reach tools displayed on the peg board of the hutch.
"I'm an extremely organized person," Nemitz says. "My theory is that if I can go to my box and grab a tool with my eyes closed it's going to make me a more efficient tech."
Previously Nemitz was working out of a single-bay Matco toolbox, which he out grew quickly as tools start piling up, something Nemitz isn't fond of.
"It'll take some guys a half hour to find a tool," Nemitz says. "If you just clean up and keep things organized, it keeps it moving a whole lot better."
Eventually Nemitz says he would like to get a bulk storage cabinet for the top of the hutch to house any extra miscellaneous items that currently sit on top of the box, although he considers this addition to be low priority.
"I'd like to get [those items] all secured and inside the box, so it looks real clean from the outside," Nemitz says.
Although Nemitz likes to keep his tools in place and organized, he says if you look at his box you can tell they're well used. After all, he has been a technician for 13 years, starting out at Movin' & Lubin' as a support technician and working his way up to general manager.
Now his son, Ethan Nemitz, 9, who is in the shop with him any opportunity he gets, looks to be following in his father’s footsteps.
