Content about Milwaukee

Do it Best Corp.’s 2012 vendors of the year include a variety of companies representing categories from lumber to lawn and garden.

The Do it Best Vendor of the Year Award is based upon revenue growth, fill rates, new product innovation and other important criteria.

Three special category honorees were Simpson Strong-Tie for overall sales growth, Master Lock Co. for collaborative forecasting and replenishment, and Milwaukee Electric Tool for outstanding products and services. 

A. O. Smith's board of directors has announced Paul Jones will transition from chairman and CEO to executive chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2013. Ajita Rajendra will assume the role of president and CEO.

Jones will continue to lead the company’s board of directors as the executive chairman and will remain involved in the company’s strategy development, mergers and acquisitions, investor relations, and developing executive talent for the Milwaukee-based water technology company.

Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. has introduced a tool for cutting large diameter cable.

The M12 600 MCM Cable Cutter has a compact design and powerful cutting mechanism. It takes care of two cutting challenges: fitting the cutting tool in panels/boxes and generating enough force to get the job done.

When the President of the United States visits a factory, that's news. But there was even more to President Obama's trip to Master Lock's Milwaukee plant -- there was talk of jobs. 

After recognizing Master Lock several times in recent months for moving some jobs from China back to the United States, President Obama visited Milwaukee last week led a discussion on jobs and the economy. 

President Obama traveled to Milwaukee on Feb. 15 to visit a Master Lock factory where the company brought back approximately 100 jobs from China. The visit also included a discussion of the economy and American manufacturing. 

Obama gave a callout to Master Lock in his State of the Union address for moving jobs back to the United States, and company president and CEO John Heppner participated in the January “Insourcing American Jobs” forum at the White House. 

According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the number of independent hardware stores in Milwaukee has shrunk 50% since the mid-1990s. 

The article quotes Doug Mamayek, owner of Mamayek's Hardware, which is one of several recent hardware stores in the area to close. "We haven't been profitable probably for almost 10 years now," he told the newspaper.

As founder of the home channel’s leading Internet retailer of power tools, Don Cohen of ToolKing.com has as good a perspective as any on the trends shaping the power tools market.

His observation: “Faster, smaller, cheaper, better — that’s where products are going,” Cohen said. “There are more technology-enhanced products that are better looking, and better working, than ever before.”

National Ace Hardware is closing its store at 3555 S. Howell Ave in Milwaukee, according to an article in the Journal Sentinel.

Reaching out to home microbrewers, Milwaukee-based Perlick Corp. launched the patent-pending Stainless Steel Perl Faucet as the new standard on all residential beer-dispensing units.

Following the launch of its Hand Tool business in 2010, Milwaukee Tool plans to launch several new products in October 2011, the company said.

The new products will fall into three new categories, which include Pliers, Snips and PEX Cutting.

Milwaukee-based A. O. Smith Corp. has named Ajita Rajendra president and chief operating officer, effective Sept 1.

Rajendra will be responsible for A. O. Smith’s water heater operations in North America, China, Europe and India, as well as the company’s water purification business in China. The $1.5 billion business has 17 manufacturing plants around the world and employs approximately 10,000 people.