After starting with a simple manual drill 100 years ago, Metabo has grown into a multi-national company with a huge variety of tools available. By Lynne Testoni
In the early decades of the 20th century, hard work and a commitment to excellence went a long way. European tool powerhouse, Metabo, was one of the companies forged (almost literally) in those early days.
Founded by Albrecht Schnizler and Julius Closs in 1924, Metabo was established after Schnizler designed a manual drill. The drill was called the ‘Metallbohrdreher’, or metal drill, which is where the name Metabo originated.
As it grew, the company established a strong reputation in developing tools for metalworking trades, including grinding, welding, and boilermaking. Metabo is known for quality workmanship and selling tools that go the distance, says Metabo digital marketing specialist, Mirko Kovac.
“Our tools are not your throwaway tools,” he explains. “They can be serviced, and we have a great spare parts network here in Australia.”
The company’s customers are professional tradesmen, who have often been using the brand for years.
“Older, experienced tradies respect our brand and know our quality,” Kovac says. “And they always come back to us.”
THE GERMAN MINDSET
While Metabo is a small player in Australia, it’s a large operation in Europe.
Kovac adds that as a European company, Metabo has a slightly different mindset than Australians when it comes to developing tools for the construction trade. “The German mindset with tools is that you buy the specific tool for that project or to suit what you’re trying to achieve. So that’s why we have a huge range of drills and grinders. In Australia, we often want one tool to do everything, but that’s not always the best approach.
“If you want to do it the most efficient, safest, and fastest way—and get the best result, you have to buy the correct tool. Some tools are better at grinding, some are better at cutting and even with drills, you’ve got different speeds, different power ratings, different output.
“For example, with grinders, you’ve got grinders that are specific for stainless steel, so they spin slower, and don’t heat up the metal and discolour it. That’s why our range is so vast.”
THE FUTURE
Looking to the future is always about innovation, says Kovac.
“We always try to innovate, and we have a good design team in Germany,” he says. “Obviously, like all brands, we have to look at cost in order to still present a product that is affordable.”
He says that the company has invested a lot of effort into designing battery management of their tools, regulating the power depending on how the tools are used.
“Intelligence is built into the machine,” he says. “It’s always based on the end user and the task that they’re trying to do. For example, when you’re cutting steel, you don’t want the speed of the cutting disk to slow down, so that’s where our technology comes in. Jobs vary and the demands on the tools are diverse. With our products, the tool output changes accordingly.”
In another initiative, Metabo recognised that often tradespeople use many different tools from many different brands, resulting in confusion in the workshop or on construction sites, especially with the move to a cordless worksite in recent years. Under the leadership of Metabo, nine power tool manufacturers launched their cross-manufacturer battery pack system CAS (Cordless Alliance System) in 2018.
With around 400 tools from 40 manufacturers, CAS is the world’s largest battery alliance. Professional users can combine 18-volt tools, battery packs and chargers from a wide range of manufacturers.
