I have talked with a lot of people at many tool brands over the years, and over time it became clear that Milwaukee Tool was a very different company.
While much can be said about their products, I think it’s the people behind the tools that makes the brand very different and special.
The people that grew the company from where it was 18 years ago are still at the helm.
Advertisement
The brand has grown, and many of the people who joined around 2007 to 2010 are still there. The culture has stayed the same, and it seems to me so has the drive.
At media events and sometimes in between, they delve beyond tool highlights or main marketing points. We have conversations about the power distribution components, trigger switch programming, aerodynamics of mower blades, duty cycle of the batteries.
We talk about the challenges they faced, and sometimes it’s a tool that just launched or will soon, or from 10 to 15 years ago. Other times they share about motivations and the how, why, or why not behind different design and product decisions.
Almost everyone I speak with at any brand will always tell me that they care about end users and that they have pride in their brand and work. The people at Milwaukee Tool have showed this many times over the years – that they truly care about what they do, I find that to be really special and unfortunately increasingly uncommon.
At last year’s Pipeline event, I asked Milwaukee Tool leaders, managers, and more – as many as possible – for their time, and asked them a couple of questions: who they are, what they do there, how long they’ve been doing it for, and what they are most proud of.
Some were caught off-guard, and although I felt a little bad about putting them in the spotlight, I feel it’s important to peel back the curtain. These are all people who care, about the brand, about their products, and about making tools that improve the work experiences for end users.
Advertisement
There are so many stories, interactions, and conversations I could share with you – and many I cannot. Hopefully this gives you at least a small glimpse at a side of the brand that is usually hidden from public view.
Here’s how they answered:
Here’s a link to same video as is embedded in case you need it. I have also been uploading shorter edits in a series of shorts.
Joe
I’m 2 minutes into the video, and so far everyone you’ve spoken to has been at Milwaukee for 17 years. So I have to ask… what happened 17 years ago??
Tom
Steve Richman.
Stuart
Steven Richman was brought on as Milwaukee Tool Group President in early 2007, according to his LinkedIn. He became CEO of TTI last year – https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-tool-president-promoted-tti-ceo/ .
Cubbie
About ten years ago I was at my local Home Depot and saw who I thought must’ve been someone from HD corporate. When the cashier said they were from Milwaukee, I thought I’d go over and give some end user feedback (namely, why they hadn’t released a blade-left 7 1/4” circular saw). Turns out it was Steve Richman. We had a good conversation about the saws as well as other tools in the lineup. I was bought into the 18v line but ran with DeWalt for 12v. When I told him I preferred DeWalt ergonomics to Milwaukee’s he offered me a deal – bring in the 12v set to the rep and he’d discount the 12v drill/impact combo (their just released gen2). Took him up on it and a week later met the rep back at the store. Thought it’d be discounted at the register but the kid just handed over the set. Told me that Steve was surprised to have a customer come right up to him and said to give it to me. Not only a kind gesture but a savvy one as I have many more M12 tools now.
I know it’s only one interaction but I think it shows the values and culture of Milwaukee Tools and its people. Looking forward to what Steve has planned as head of TTI now.
SamR
And I would add he learned what not to do from “Before joining Milwaukee Tool, Richman held management positions with Black & Decker and served as president of SKIL and BOSCH power tools.”
Jay
Joe Galli is the reason. I still remain shocked that he left TTI and the industry with such little fanfare in May of 2024. Stu – I have long since thought you should try to find him and interview him.
No single person has had a bigger impact on the global power tool industry than Joe Galli has over the last 40+ years. It isn’t even close.
Nathan
When were they bought by tti? It was sometime in 06 or so right?
Stuart
According to old press the acquisition was announced in mid 2004, and from Milwaukee’s website it was finalized in 2005.
Dave
Good corporate governance. TTI just hiring good people, trusting them, and giving them the money they need to develop good products without micromanagment from high level exec’s that don’t know what they are talking about. Basically a unicorn in modern business. I see a lot of Milwaukee reps and exec’s, and they have practical experience in the trades.
Contrast that with Bosch, love a lot of their tools, but you can tell a lot of their engineers, reps, exec’s, etc. never swung a hammer in their life, and it shows in some of their products and marketing. Big company and has all the development dollars, but not always put in the right place. Or DeWalt, which is just a convoluted non sensical mess of a company. It has micromanaging exec’s written all over it. Constantly trying to squeeze even penny out of every asset for the next quarterly results until there is nothing left.
Stuart
While standing in a dinner line many Pipeline/NPS media events ago, Steven Richman told me that they didn’t expect to sell a lot of the fluorescent light bulb and ballast testers that they had recently launched. https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-fluorescent-bulb-ballast-tester/
So why did they launch a tool with low sales projections? It was something that workers needed.
Why does Milwaukee have such a vast M12 line of cordless power tools? Other tool brands could have done the same, but they did not. Why did Milwaukee open a factory in the USA for the production of hand tools? Surely other tool brands could have done the same, too.
Every company has their own structure and culture. Differences are to be expected, and what works for Milwaukee might not work for other brands or companies.
From my experiences, conversations, and sometimes reading between the lines, I believe that Milwaukee’s successes stem from its people, their passion, and the strategies they used while adhering to their ideals.
They built up the brand as we know it, and I think Milwaukee’s leaders have personally investment too much to change their ways. Even if they wanted to, there’s so much “old blood” that I like to think they continue to hold each other accountable.
TomD
There’s a term I can’t remember – but basically it’s like the “people only use 40% of Office’s features” – it’s just that each group uses a different 40%.
Those “long tail” tools are incredibly helpful in making the whole brand “sticky”.
Saulac
Products DNA. In Milwaukee case it is still the same people. The “new” Milwaukee are still very young. Toyota has been the best in preserving their DNAs. Honda has lost some. Nissan has lost it all.
Justin
Toyota has done an absolutely terrible job of preserving their DNA. Under Akio Toyoda, he killed off more manual transmissions than he brought back, outsourced the Supra to BMW, and bullied Subaru into building the 86. Toyota just about eliminated their entire enthusiast base for 15 years, before giving US buyers three very mediocre sports car options. GR is already reduced to a wheels and appearance package in Japan, and TRD means nothing to North American buyers anymore. The latest Tundras have massive recalls for engines and rear axles with major manufacturing defects. Toyota is riding on their 1980s and 1990s reputation, and seriously lagging behind the competition with current offerings.
Saulac
I’m with you on mr Toyoda and the Supra…but when you talk about how terrible Toyota is regarding sport cars…it’s their DNA.
John
A few years ago I handed down all my Dewalt tools to my daughters and switched to Milwaukee. The decision was driven by Milwaukee’s more compact and lighter weight nailers and stapler. And they’ve been my favorite Milwaukee purchases to date.
That said, I’ve had several dud tools among just a dozen Milwaukee purchases, though Milwaukee quickly and painlessly replaced two of them, and I was able to return the third to Home Depot:
1. 6” M12 circular saw would not cut straight right out of the box. Blade would just bind up in the kerf. They confirmed it was a manufacturing error and replaced it two years later (I had put it aside and hadn’t wanted to bother with it at the time) with an updated model.
2. M12 xc 4.0 battery would sometimes work, and sometimes not, after only about ten re-charges over a period of a year. Milwaukee replaced it.
3. Milwaukee 25-ft tape measure with auto-lock broke within a couple months. Auto-lock broke, so there was no way to keep the tape extended. Home Depot issued refund . The auto-lock button was obviously a cheap design, so I bought a different Milwaukee model instead.
4. In addition to these issues, I’ve been very frustrated with how difficult it is to change out my M12 batteries, of which I have five. They are SO tight that at times I have to wrestle to remove one for CLOSE TO A MiINUTE, including taking short breaks to allow my fingers a rest. It’s just such a bad design. You have to pinch opposite sides of the collar, but there is no *click* or other release mechanism. It’s just brute force strength, and then a lot of wiggling, and a fair amount of praying for good measure. Now, after a couple years, I’ve noticed it’s generally getting a bit easier, but they are ridiculously difficult when new. This is so far my only complaint with M12, but it’s a big one.
All in all, I’ve been happy with Milwaukee. Concerned about quality and quality control, but at least they stand behind their products. Now, they need to address the M12 battery release design.
fred
Thought that it was my fat fingers – but I too struggle with M12 battery release. Sometime resort to using soft-jaw canon plug pliers. Sould not have to!
TomD
It’s not illegal to shave down the clips or even break one off.
John
Hmmm, interesting. I may try a little light shaving/sanding on my smallest (least expensive) battery to see if that helps. Thank you.
John
Thanks for the validation, and for the tip! Had thought of looking for something like that, though didn’t know what it was called.
Can hardly believe Milwaukee thought this was an acceptable design.
fred
I can see that the battery housing – which is often part of the handle – needs to be secure, But I have never had a Bosch 12V battery fall out – and yet have no struggle getting them to release for changeout – despite the form factor being very similar.
jake
I have trouble removing M12 batteries at times too. I suppose the curved soft-jaw canon pliers would be a better choice, but wonder if the knipex cobra jaw protectors might be ok.
jake
I wonder if Milwaukee could recommend (or offers) a m12 battery removal tool for those of us that might appreciate it (sheepish grin).
Nate
I have never understood how the M12 battery latch made it through product testing.
Among all their other nice features, it’s a standout stinker, and one you’re forced to interact with nearly constantly.
JoeR
Thank you all for the confirmation. I had thought it was just my old man fingers. Otherwise, I keep buying M12’s. The Knipex pliers have been my go to in extreme situations (hands simply too tired to exude that much force). What I also found has helped a bit are those 3D printer batt caps sold on AMZ. I’m thinking keeping the M12 batt clips under constant pressure eases the use at switchout.
I have a few corded Milwaukee tools from before the buyout. Though larger, bulkier, heavier – there is no doubt about the quality of the tool. Good stuff, sometimes a bit outside my budget.
Tim B.
Wow… here I thought I was the only one with those M12 battery removal tightness issues!
Empiric Sleeves
I’m relatively new to power tools and after a lot of research I took the plunge on Milwaukee starting last Dec.
I chose Milwaukee in part to all the reviews and insights Stuart has provided here at ToolGuyd. So far, very happy. And especially happy to have decided to invest in both the M18 and M12 lines. Love both these lines.
Milwaukee even recently replaced the cheaply made contractor bag that came with a 5-tool M18 Fuel combo kit (zipper stays failure that poked through the canvas — common issue) with a much beefier Milwaukee contractor bag with dedicated circular saw interior pouch, etc. Nice.
Thank you ToolGuyd and Milwaukee!
Mark M.
The longevity of their leadership is impressive and it shows they are aligned on their mission. Pretty awesome (and I’m a fan). As John mentioned above, I too have had a couple of duds (early hammer drill that chronically overheated under modest loads, and a collet on a newer impact that won’t consistently lock up). What I find interesting is for other brands, those could be real sore spots for me, but Milwaukee hits SO many homeruns on 98% of the other things I own, the duds are forgivable. Same for the M12 battery lock mechanism, I don’t like it and would argue it’s a poor overall design but I have so many M12 tools that rock, it’s pretty easy to overlook.
MattW.
Almost needed a spotlight and intergation room!
Al
Be nice if they could leverage some of that longevity and spirit of innovation into batteries that don’t fail. Tremendous failure rate on Milwaukee batteries compared to other major brands
Justin
From my experience, Milwaukee’s poor reliability is on par with Ridgid, both of which are plagued by the same issues: batteries, trigger switches, and motors.
I feel like Milwaukee’s aggressive focus on marketing unrelated hand tools and accessories for home gamers has taken away from their original reputation as an innovative manufacturer of industrial grade tools. My Ridgid tools cost me a lot of downtime on jobs, and Milwaukee has done the same since offshoring everything under TTI’s ownership. My corded USA made Milwaukee tools are still very durable, but I am disappointed that their current cordless offerings have not provided me with the same satisfaction. I don’t want a Milwaukee branded Stanley cup that clips into my Packout, or a rebranded Husky box in red with rubber bumpers, I just want a cordless tool that works as hard as I do.
Sure, the warranty process has been easy, but I have lost a lot of time on tools that simply gave up without warning, or were straight up DOA. After having most of my Ridgid tools stolen from a job, and lukewarm feelings about the handful of M12 and M18 tools I owned at the time, I made the reluctant switch to DeWalt a few years ago for my mainline. In 5 years, I haven’t needed to warranty a single DeWalt tool, just two batteries out of 30+, but that’s truly it. I admit, Milwaukee has a lot of very cool tools that few others offer, especially in M12, but I think they lack the focus they need to make truly great ones.
Plain+grainy
I guess Milwaukee is alright, but I’m still waiting for that Packout thing to take off! LOL!
Plain+grainy
I think Packout was launched in 2017. Looks like a home run.
ColeTrain
I remember going Makita, DeWalt and Ridgid before even considering Milwaukee in2005/ 2006. They were nothing other than a plug in recip saw and palm sander
Blocky
I bought into Milwaukee V18 in late 2008. Went out of my budget on two drills and two 3ah batteries. I was pretty burned up when M18 became the standard months later.
But those v18 drills ran hard for 10 years and with new batteries and motor brushes could probably have kept going another 10 years. 5.5lbs w/ battery.
Matt_T
You got 10 years out of your original batteries? I haven’t heard of anyone getting close to that on the canadian cardboard packs. Maybe they’d switched to asian cells by late ’08?
But yeah the V18 tools were tanks. Built way better than the newer M18 stuff. The platform was let down by batteries, that should’ve been recalled, and then abandoned.
William
I absolutely love all of my Milwaukee tools I have spent a LOT of money getting all that I have which is a lot of M18 fuel power tools and kits and a lot of socket sets and hand tools, I have always been really happy with everything, then I bought a kit that came with a drill and impact and as a bonus it included an M18 fuel Blower I was excited to try that blower and just a few minutes into using it I guess the battery malfunctioned and got extremely hot and burnt me it put a large red welt on my side. I contacted Milwaukee told them what happened I was contacted by somebody in product safety that had me send the battery back to them and they sent me a new battery the battery that burnt me was a M18 4.0 the one he sent me back was an M18 8.0 I appreciate the upgrade but was kinda disappointed after all I have spent on their product at least they could have done was sent me some goodys or something I mean I was burnt by their product, thanks Milwaukee.
David
Are you sponsored by Milwaukee or receive any financial compensation from them or their parent company ?
scott taylor
Stuart, let me answer that question. You’re not from around here are you?
David
And what does it mean ?
SamR
Before posting a question, please review previous posts to avoid drawing the wrong conclusions.
al
Yes, clearly
fred
I’m not sure if it is a reaction to tariffs or just a matter of trying to diversify sourcing – but the Milwaukee items that I purchased this year were (a bit surprising to me) said to be made in places other than China. Most of what I bought were newer items from the Milwaukee Pipeline. Of the 14 items – 11 were made in Vietnam, 2 in China and 1 in Thailand (a saw blade). In any event, I think that I’m glad to see that they are able to change sourcing.
s
it’s more than likely got nothing to do with the tarrifs. historically, the chinese population is following the same trends as the american population did in the 70-80’s.
the main issue is that because of the aging and established manufacturing facilities and burgeoning population, china is seeing a demand for higher wages. no different than america, they bet HARD on STEM, and left a gigantic gap in the established manufacturing sector, which leaves less new people to take on retiree’s roles, which drives up individual wage costs.
so same as when america offloaded production to china, the last 5 years or so has seen more production offloaded to other poor/cheaper countries in response to that.
even items in places like the dollar stores are starting to be made elsewhere because other countries have cheaper labor now.
Justin
Yup, even Apple is building all of their next gen iPhones in India. When all four iPhone 17 models launch next month, the entire initial shipment for the USA will come from India, and not China.
Joe
I love all of the Milwaukee M12 tools. Especially the ratchet. It has a lot of torque and you can feel it without it even being on a bolt. The first tool I purchased is the 3/8’s right angle impact. You wanna talk about a tool beating out a 1/2 ” drive with taking of lug nuts and bolts. Even broke a couple wheel studs. Keep up the good work Milwaukee. The only downside I have is the batteries. Can be a pain in the you know what just to get them to release. Always get spare batteries and keep them charged