Matco has been promoting their newly announced partnership with Milwaukee Tool, calling it a match made in power.
Matco says that this partnership will combine “the innovation of Milwaukee cordless products with the power and personalization of Matco’s flagship Infinium line.”
What does that mean?
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the partnership with Milwaukee Tool gives auto technicians the freedom to choose from a wide scope of cordless tools when stepping onto their local Matco truck.
Oh, okay. Matco tool dealers will start selling Milwaukee Tools.
Press materials add:
Paired with Matco’s cordless Infinium line, the addition of innovative Milwaukee cordless tools will offer a well-rounded selection to get the job done under the hood and around the shop.
Matco VP of marketing says:
This partnership will allow Matco Tools Distributors tremendous flexibility in offering the perfect cordless solutions for their customers.
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The addition of hundreds of Milwaukee products presents a wonderful complement to the performance and flexibility of our Infinium line.
Matco’s press release mentions their Infinium tool line three separate times.
What does any of this have to do with Infinium? I suppose this is to reassure customers that Matco’s Infinium cordless power tools will continue to be sold and supported.
Hundreds of Milwaukee products? How many SKUs are they really going to add to their trucks for immediate purchase?
Lastly:
The company’s move to incorporate Milwaukee cordless tools will ensure the continuation of a long-lasting tradition of providing customers with only the best tools on the market.
While all of this sounds like big and exciting news for Matco, it’s too soon to see if or how this partnership will benefit users or Matco customers.
Maybe there will still be an sold-your-door convenience, but I doubt that Matco dealers will be able to offer the same prices or promotions as other Milwaukee Tool dealers.
It sounds to me that maybe Matco has been losing market share. If they can’t sell you an Infinium tool, maybe they can sell you a Milwaukee cordless power tool.
Milwaukee Tool has steadily introduced new cordless power tools, hand tools, lighting products, and other products aimed at transportation maintenance techs. It seems to me that this partnership is a strong sign all those efforts have been paying off.
I also find myself thinking about how Matco Tools has had quite a few different corporate owners over the past few years. Danaher spun off Matco as part of Fortive, and then Fortive recently spun off Matco to form Vontier.
Vontier owns 6 companies, including Matco, and describes themselves as “a global industrial technology company focused on smarter transportation and mobility.”
Should this partnership work out well for both brands, might there be a chance Milwaukee Tool would seek acquire the company?
After all, Milwaukee Tool’s fiercest competitor is Dewalt, whose parent company – Stanley Black & Decker – owns Mac Tools, their own automotive maintenance tool company and franchisee dealer network.
A partnership between Milwaukee Tool and Matco holds a lot of potential once you start thinking about what it could lead to.
Rog
This feels like Matco’s attempt to stay relevant in a dying niche.
OldDominionDIYer
That thought crossed my mind as well. Was wondering if Matco will continue to carry Makita as well? That would be weird.
Kenneth+Stephens
Never even knew they did. My matco dealer only carried infinium until now. And still says he won’t carry Milwaukee unless he can sell them for less than our USA tools distributor
Brian
Only way to buy anything matco is on ebay or some other second hand source. Seeing a Matco truck is more rare than exotic car. Its sad but, snap on owns most areas.
Jeremiah
All tool trucks can sell at all shops (if the owner allows tool trucks there at all). Snap On can’t tell Matco not to go to a shop. Heck, I’ve seen multiple trucks parked in the same lots, next to each other, or one pull out and another pull in, right after.
Soup
Ok, now that that is over, start selling the track saw.
Cro
Being a former Matco tools distributor getting any infinium products was a real problem then trying to sell it was another… Too expensive and warranty was shit… Now independent I sell mostly Milwaukee ECT.. Matco will never get the proper pricing to compete in this market with the Milwaukee brand… If anything this will kill off the infinium line for a better priced and warrantied tool line ..
Chuck
Maybe that’s the intended goal. Matco and Matco tools may have started to slip in sales after the pandemic and now that Milwaukee has been boosted in the overall market, Matco could phase out their line and work in the Milwaukee stuff. Wouldn’t be a popular choice, but how many tools and power tools have we seen last completely forever? They either disappear or evolve into a new part number. To be honest, I’m more shocked that Milwaukee hasn’t jumped into the truck dealer market. They accommodate both construction and automotive with their tool line and a driver could hit auto shops and construction sites and make a killing.
fred
I always thought that the tool truck business was just as much about revolving credit financing as it was about professional quality mechanics tools brought right to your workplace. If I understand Matco’s business model correctly – then it is mostly franchisees selling the product. If those truck guys were seeing lackluster sales of Infinium products – with their customers using M18/M12, Dewalt or Makita tools instead they may have provided feedback up the line to “corporate” that something needed to change. As you note – Matco was not likely going to pair with Dewalt – so Milwaukee was a logical choice. As far as selling Milwaukee at competitive prices – maybe Matco think that they don’t need to compete on bottom-line price – since they offer delivery and revolving-credit. They may even offer some sort of trade-in arrangements to keep you in the latest/greatest M18 impact gun – even though you might end up “owing your soul to the company store” (as in the old Tennessee Ernie Ford song).
Jared
I agree, I don’t think they will have to match Home Depot pricing to sell some Milwaukee tools. It’s about credit and convenience – at least for some.
There isn’t much on a tool truck that is a “deal”.
Jim Felt
And there isn’t much about Home Depot that our biggest contractor vendors care to support. They and their clients simply need higher end products and speciality vendors.
Jesse
My last Matco dealer carried Milwaukee on his truck for business reasons. His prices couldn’t complete with HD of course, although as mentioned he is also selling a service! If a battery or tool failed, you simply hand it to him and he does the mailings etc. etc.
He began carrying the M12/M18 products because of their popularity in the auto/truck repair industry and he knew as a business man, the Infinium line of tools, while pretty nice I’ll add, are OUTRAGEOUSLY and almost comically priced!
Pastor Dan
“You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older, and deeper in debt.”
Juan
My dealer been dealing Milwaukee out of his truck for quite some time, that’s how I got my impacts from
Collin
I would like to see Milwaukee’s take on the Ingersoll Rand 12 volt body saw, basically an inline recip saw.
A cordless 6″ DA sander for body work would be useful in helping cut the cord for auto techs. Unfortunately, the kind of power that pneumatic 6″ DA sanders have seem to be slightly out of reach for battery platforms.
Doresoom
They have a patent application for an M12 body saw.
MM
Awesome! I’ve been hoping for one of those too.
With any luck Milwaukee will set up the tool to use both standard body saw blades and T-shank jigsaw blades.
Chris
This would be awesome. At a previous job we bought into the IR12 system solely for the body saw. The work environment was such that we could be running hoses and cords all over the place and IR was the only thing on the market. The saw worked great, although the little grub screws that hold the blades would often back out, as they do so often on pneumatic saws. I’d love to see someone update that method of blade holding.
Pastor Dan
Um, like a Sawzall, perhaps?
MM
Much too large, and takes the wrong kind of blades for precision work.
Some compact reciprocating saws are getting close, like the Metabo and Metabo HPT models which also take jigsaw blades, but they are still much larger at the nose of the tool compared to a body saw and thus you can’t fit them into tight places as easily.
Tim
How much of the market does Matco has compared to Mac since Dewalt is Milwaukees fierce competitor.
Snappy
The mobile tool business is dying. As a former tool truck owner I saw the writing on the wall and got out.
Customers expect you to compete with harbor freight, lowes, and Asian made tools, while providing warranty on 100 year old tools they bought at a flea market. Not to mention they want interest free payments and take 10 weeks to payoff a $50. tool.
Most likely what happened here was Matco realized that their franchisees where already selling milwaukee tools that they purchased from outside vendors because their own line is over priced garbage.
Greg
Coming from a current dealer, just because you were a bad business owner doesn’t mean we all are. Most likely didn’t go to work and just blamed matco for everything when it was your own fault for leaving.
Matt
Exactly!
Tim
If they’re just selling Milwaukee tools along side their current offerings this is not gonna go well for Infinium.
If they’re transitioning their own tools to Milwaukee batteries like they did with Makita and whatever 20v battery they worked up they have a winner.
Paul
Tool companies are going to take an even bigger hit because of the dying mechanic breed… Nobody is getting into the mechanic trade and when us seasoned mechanics retire things will get really bad… Dealers can’t even fix cars anymore and all these tool prices are getting out of sight… I don’t buy much because of high rediculous prices.
Gary
The trend that you have identified is unsustainable … at some point we will no longer be able to peddle dollars for imports, and we will have to learn to make things — and fix things — again! IMHO.
fred
You may be right – as there is a cyclic nature to most business. But the period of the cycle can be very long (decades or centuries). Making things (manufacturing) of most commodity goods will probably still gravitate to places with low labor and other costs. But fixing things is another story. We have become a throwaway society because we value our time more than most of the goods that we buy. When I was a youngster, mom darned socks, radio (then TV) repairmen had shops and made house calls etc. Now we mostly only repair/maintain larger-ticket items like cars and houses. Enviromental concerns (like used appliances filling our dumps) may tip the balance – but the youth of America (and the teachers that advise them) _ will also probably get the message that not everyone needs to be doctor, lawyer or stockbroker to earn a living – and that trades where you work with your hands can be a good way to earn your living.
Jeremiah
What do you mean by, “Dealers can’t fix cars any more”? Not being snarkey, just asking.
Jeremiah
It’s not just the automotive arena, but most trades are and have been seeing a lower and lower amount of younger guys looking at it seriously.
I was in the auto body field for a while, and there was only two guys younger than 25 in the shop. I was enrolled in a college course, and there weren’t a lot in the class.
TomD
Milwaukee has been pushing hard into the automotive mechanic world, and so this makes some sense. Especially since Home Depot carries some automotive tooling but not the whole line.
Maybe eventually Milwaukee will buy Matco and retrobrand it as Milwaukee Automotive Tooling Co.
OhioHead
Interesting observation about a potential name MKE Automotive Tool Co., if you look at the last couple of SBD/DW partnerships (or small ownership stakes), ultimately SBD acquired the company.
Hilti’s direct to the pro, program works very well, the tool truck program (generally) work well, could MKE be positioning themselves for a “direct to pro” program via a Marco partnership?
It would anger a lot of supply houses if MKE using the knowledge gained via an automotive partnership if they went “direct to job site” route.
Pastor Dan
Ooh! I like it!
nigeldh
I agree with OhioHead. This might be a way for Milwaukee to get “field presence” like Hilti. I believe that for commercial accounts Hilti offers “one stop shopping” with agents in the field.
Milwaukee already has fasteners – the special strips required for their cable and fence nailers. Milwaukee would have to team up with Simpson Strong Tie to cover the connectors / fasteners market that Hilti already offers.
Granger, Global Industrial, already offer stockroom services for industrial customers.
Example: http://www.hilti.com/content/hilti/W1/US/en/business/business/equipment/tool-services.html
OhioHead
In the early/mid 90’s into the early 00’s DW had “swarm” teams in metropolitan areas to create “DW brand awareness,” I do not know if MKE is doing this “now,” in the specific case of DW, the swarm teams did not sell tools but loan tools to get the pros to switch to yellow.
Plz remember from 92-96 B & D Industrial tools (grey) were identical to DW tools (introduced in 92 & yellow), in 96/97’ish B & D Industrial was “shut down,” and DW became the de facto B & D “pro brand.” The sales of DW were significantly higher then the B & D Industrial tools.
I am proud owner of a 96 B & D Industrial 3/8 corded drill…….this drill was sold as the DW 106.
Former 00 – 02 DW swarm & HD sales team member, here.
fred
Black and Decker’s transformation of the Dewalt brand from an almost one-trick-pony (RAS manufacturer) into their flagship is the stuff of marketing legend. They had so diluted their own B&D brand (here in the USA anyway) – selling plasticky orange “burner drills and saws” to the DIY crowd at cheesy discounters in the 1970’s – that it became hard to remember that they also made industrial quality tools. I have a 1970’s era B&D Supersawcat and an old 3/4 inch chuck D-Handle drill that represent what the company was capable of producing – before the Dewalt era.
OhioHead
Excellent insight, B & D Industrial as you state made excellent tools, my dad has DW “saw cat” DW364 (I think), what was the B & D RA drill w/ a clutch (timbercat(?))?
JR Ramos
That was indeed interesting to witness. The Professional and Kodiak labels were the same tools, and we were quick to figure out that they’d simply turned the housings yellow – our local rep at the time insisted they were different but he was…well…an impressive salesman by the numbers. I think what really did it for them was that easy return policy and better warranty. They pushed that so hard that many people gave it a shot over other quality tools (and I don’t think most that we sold to had even heard of the DeWalt name previously, just a few).
I recall that rep laying on the schmoo one day after our company had already signed on to stock their products. He took the 3/8″ drill (DW100? 101? I have one here somewhere) and while explaining how tough they were he launched it down the store aisle. Plugged it in and sure enough, it worked like a drill…but the chuck spindle had bent noticeably. Ha.
I still won’t forgive them for what they did to Porter-Cable, though. Nobody seems to care much but that was a real travesty for both tool users and for the manufacturing sector.
fred
Being a woodworking furniture building hobbyist, my personal collection of power tools has many from the Rockwell (as in Aerospace conglomerate) era of Porter Cable. I for one, miss the quality and innovation that the Porter Cable brand once represented. But I can see that B&D having spent so much to build up Dewalt as their flagship – then adding in the capabilities brought with the acquisition of German maker Elu – it was inevitable that Porter Cable would have to play second-fiddle when they were acquired from Pentair.
Fritz+gorbach
Interesting partnership. Matco is unique among the tool truck brands, as they are the only one that doesn’t produce even their own hardline hand tools. So Matco is essentially all overpriced rebrands. If they offer good service overall with this, they may be just fine with slightly higher priced tools.
I buy virtually all of my Dewalt tools from either a small local industrial supplier or from my Mac tool man. In almost every case I will pay 10 – 15 percent more than I could buy a tool at a big box or online. But I support local businesses who also support me. And while I don’t need the financing offered, it typically saves a few bucks if you pay upfront on the trucks. The Mac guy will drop stuff at my home or meet me along the route, as I don’t have a regular stop, and charge my CC, and my industrial supply house is 3 minutes from my shop.
And when I need warranty service, I just hand the item over and wait a few days for repair or replacement.
Also, as milwaukee expands further into a hand tool/mechanics tool brand too, with some nice storage to boot, would it be that far off to see the Milwaukee tool truck riding around under the Matco flag? Might be a great outlet for their items
Tim
You have to be on glue if you think Mac makes their “expert” line of sockets and wrenches
Stuart
Please try to be respectful towards others.
Rob
Going to be interesting…Lots of comments on the mobile dealer making money. The more MKE infiltrates a channel I wonder how Matco will continue to differentiate the assortment, price, promos, etc. How will Matco manage to justify a line their Cornwell competitors also sell (last 2+ years)? The partnership seems inventible but the long term success seems blurry based on the heavy margin expectation the Matco group has gone after in the past. Maybe MKE is testing the mobile market and limiting the risk of doing it themselves? The parent company (TTI) already has reps all over the U.S. at Home Depots and through out industrial, MEP channels, maybe this is the cash grab for the next couple years until Milwaukee Mobile Dealers roles out…
Nathan
Yeah I can’t say I’m surprised by this move as the matco cordless stuff is not well liked by anyone I know of. MAC had the good fortune to have dewalt stuff you use.
I’ve always wondered who was making Milwaukee’s hand tool line – wonder if there is a tie somewhere to the parent of MATCO. Ie like Vontier uses the same production company in _________ to make their kit next to milwaukee and some said gee they use red on their tool boxes – why don’t we sell their cordless stuff.
I can’t see a truck operator selling them unless they sell them on credit like the other stuff. because online pricing and fulfulment will crush that. many of the hangar guys are using milwukee cordless stuffs – so that first sale is probably already gone. warranty help might be nice though.
complete side note – MAC branded – Dewalt 20V Atomic impact wrench and driver would be nice to see on the truck. If was was turning wrenchs today just for the competition.
Chuck
I came to this page after Google searching if Milwaukee had authorized mobile vendors/trucks. I was curious after seeing a Facebook ad from Matco advertising to find more truck drivers. Matco has been going hard to push more franchisees on the roads and that leaves me wondering why? Are they losing sales and revenue to Mac tools? I’ve read some of the comments on here which are very mixed, but I do see one concerning factor. Electric Vehicles will phase out a lot of mechanic work due to less engines needing repairs. Not to say that things like brakes and alignments won’t exist, but I know a few mechanics who have stepped away the moment that they needed to understand a laptop more than a vehicle because of the complex electronics systems in modern vehicles. Tools will always exist but so will big box vendors and now Amazon selling Dewalt and Milwaukee who have stepped up in quality and most mechanics already have enough tools to work with or know a better secondhand way to get them instead of paying a truck driver for them. The lockable storage systems are now the biggest hot ticket items since so many tools need places to be stored. Good luck fitting a bunch of Packout on a tool truck.