Milwaukee Tool has announced the opening of Milwaukee Tool – Chicago. Located downtown, the location will serve as an engineering design and innovation space to accommodate the company’s continued investments in new technology.
Milwaukee Tool says it fosters a culture of disruptive innovation that has led them to pioneer numerous new technologies in the construction industry. For example, its M12 and M18 cordless systems continue to push the boundaries of cordless tool performance for users across the globe. Over the last decade the company has experienced double-digit growth globally and currently employs more than 10,000 people in the United States. Chicago’s flourishing ecosystem of technical talent is one of many reasons Milwaukee chose to expand to the city, the company says.
As Milwaukee Tool continues to pursue advancements in productivity and safety on the jobsite, the level of innovation necessary to design and develop breakthrough solutions requires engineering expertise across many disciplines. The company continues to actively invest in emerging technologies around motors, power electronics, lithium-ion batteries, wireless connectivity and IoT, embedded systems and artificial intelligence.
“We’re proud to be part of the fast-growing tech scene in Chicago,” says Steve Richman, group president, Milwaukee Tool. “Our People are our most valued asset and, together, we’ve built a culture that’s unparalleled in the industry. As we push the limits of new technology to deliver the best solutions for our users, we look forward to continuing to recruit, attract and retain the very best people.”
Milwaukee invested more than $14 million to renovate 70,000 sq. ft. of space within the historic Old Post Office in Chicago. Approximately 10,000 sq. ft. is dedicated to lab space for design and development of critical new technologies. True to the company’s cross-functional, collaborative culture, this space will be home to multiple disciplines within their Engineering Team, including embedded systems, firmware, power electronics, systems and mechanical engineers, pcb designers and project leaders.
This location also will act as an extension of the company’s global headquarters in Brookfield, Wis.
Milwaukee says its cycle of disruptive innovation and its focus on the trades has firmly positioned the company as a leader, with more than 585,000 hours spent on jobsites with users and more than 1,500 patents filed in the U.S. in the last decade.
The company says it was the first to invent the technology that enables the use of lithium-ion in power tools. By coupling its own brushless motors to the most capable electronics packages and advanced lithium-ion batteries (all designed and developed in-house), the company has continually pushed the boundaries of cordless tool performance. This is what ultimately drove the development of their M12 and M18 cordless systems. A little more than a decade since their introduction, these systems are still the leading cordless power tool systems in the world and are home to more than 500 fully compatible solutions. These are solutions that challenge the notion that users must rely on cords, hoses or gas for power, Milwaukee says.
Milwaukee Tool is a global company with manufacturing, distribution and operations presences across North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The company has designed, engineered and manufactured products in the United States for nearly 100 years.
In the last year, Milwaukee has invested $216 million in domestic expansion projects including Chicago. Its other domestic presences include Greenwood, Grenada, Olive Branch, Clinton and Jackson, Miss., as well as in Brookfield, Menomonee Falls, Milwaukee, West Bend, Mukwonago, and Sun Prairie, Wis., Cookeville, Tenn., and Greenwood, Ind.
