Innovation Award Profile: Lisle Corporation Electrical Disconnect Pliers, No. 37960
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Q: What makes this product innovative?
A: This has been something that people have dealt with for a long time. There are a lot of these little electrical connectors that are found on vehicles. The main thing here is there's a little tab that you have to slide over to unlock before you can pull out the connector. Other times you may need to just push down on the tab to pull the connector out with the pliers. What makes [the pliers] innovative is on one side you'll have some nice jaws to really grip and support the bottom of the connector. And then, on the other side, there's a hook style, and that's what's used to unlock the tabs.
Q: What was the inspiration behind creating this product?
A: This one actually came from our tool idea program. Someone submitted their tool idea to us, and we went to market with it. We've been doing this program for over 50 years, and we catalog all the tool ideas that we receive. So even if years go by and we finally go forward with a tool idea, we would contact the person and say, ‘Hey, we'd like to pay you a royalty and bring your tool to market.’
We currently pay over a hundred people royalty for their tool ideas that we went to market with. This one was a definite home run. It's our best-selling tool now.
Q: How will this product improve the lives of technicians and shop owners?
A: The pliers are very useful because you're going to use these instead of messing up your hands and fingers when you're down there trying to get the connector loose. It's going to allow the technician to use the tool with one hand and then also be able to get to those connectors in tight spots. Another key thing – it’s going to save you time and money, but also, like many Lisle tools you're not going to break the bank, and it's very simple to use.
Q: What has been the feedback from technicians who’ve purchased this tool?
A: People absolutely love this tool. Every time we come out with a new release of tools, internally we're kind of like, ‘I wonder how this one's going do?’ And we guessed wrong. We didn't have any idea it would do as well as it did. And it's just sometimes hard to know. But we've sold hundreds of thousands of these pliers. We create a quick 30-second video for a lot of our tools. And what's cool to see, and what helped this tool kind of take-off, was several people on social media turned around and did their own video, and it kind of went viral on social media to help give it a push. So these have sold really really well. [There’s a] definite need for them.
To view the full interview, visit VehicleServicePros.com/55244961.
