When completing my interviews for this month’s cover story, one thing was evident among the distributors I talked with: tool technology continues to evolve, and is affecting other seemingly unrelated tool categories.
In the last five years, you’ve certainly noticed the shift in cordless tool adoption. Arguably, there’s still some catchup in this tool category compared to their traditional pneumatic counterparts, but the power and convenience of cordless tools is taking over, and technicians have taken notice.
Atlanta-based Cornwell Tools dealer Bob Shaftel made a pointed remark during our phone call: the increased adoption of cordless tool technology has also spurred the development of other tools and equipment innovations in the shop.
Similar to having the convenience of an air hose right in the bay, technicians need an easily accessible means to recharge cordless tools.
Tool storage solutions have evolved to include power at the storage source to charge anything from cordless tools to personal devices. (Of course, you still need accessible power to plug in the tool cart itself.)
“Our roll carts are putting USBs and 110V plug-ins in the carts now because of the shift in the industry, where you can plug in your cordless tools in your roll cart now, to have it charged up,” Shaftel says.
This is only the beginning. We’ve already seen it with some battery testing devices and electrical diagnostics, but cordless tool manufacturers are also looking at smartphone integration with the tools, for features like pre-set torque and tool tracking.
Milwaukee Tools already launched its One-Key tracking device last year; the updates to that feature now allow a tool to be shut off remotely if the tool is in the wrong hands.
Along with smartphone integration, cordless power tools will continue to see advancements in battery technology, overall performance and new features to help technicians work safely and more efficiently.
Manufacturers will continue to think of new and innovative ways to improve the use of their tools. It’s an exciting time in our industry, to be sure.
