Innovation Award Profile: Milwaukee Tool M18 REDLITHIUM FORGE XC8.0 Battery Pack

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Q: What makes this product innovative?

A: When we launched the Milwaukee Tool M18 FORGE XC8.0 and HE12.0 Batteries they were the first REDLITHIUM FORGE Batteries that we launched on the M18 system. As part of our FORGE Promise, FORGE is all about delivering the most power, fastest charging, and the longest life of any of our battery offerings. How we did that with the FORGE XC8.0 Battery is that it delivers 50 percent more power than the High Output XC8.0 the prior generation. So if we're putting it in perspective, this battery delivers the power of our old High Output 12.0 Battery, but it does so in a pack that's in XC size form factor, so it's smaller and lighter, but punches above its class. 

In addition to that, this battery also has cool cycle technology, which is the venting that you can see through the top as well as through the bottom of this pack. When you pair this battery with our Dual Base Supercharger, which is our most powerful M18 Charger, you're actually unlocking active cooling technology that keeps the battery cool on the charger, which means faster time to charge. It means that the battery's going to be cooler coming off the charger, which means more run-time on demanding applications, and it also means a longer battery life because you're keeping those cells and thos eelectronics cool every time you're putting it on the charger. That ultimately means that a user can actually get three times more work done during the day when they use that FORGE Battery and that Dual Base Supercharger together. 

The third piece about that is longest life, so that means it increased a pack with more durability and lasting longer on the jobsite. That's increased protection to drop and vibration. We have a chemically resistant housing on that battery to protect against oils, creases, and solvents. We also have a patented ingress coating that we put all around the core of that battery and that protects against water, dirt, dust, and debris. It's also one of the reasons why we're confident to have those vents in the battery to have cool cycle and airflow technology through that pack.

We're incorporating new tablet cell technology and in a full redesign of the pack, mechanical and electrical, all those pieces together is what gets us FORGE. To put that into perspective, this system of batteries now allows the M28 system to deliver over 3,000W of power. That's over 10 times the capability of M18 system from when we launched it back in 2007. We've done that without sacrificing compatibility the entire time. So a user can take their old tool and pair with that battery, getting all the benefits. They can take their old batteries and pair them with the new tools. That's the promise of our compatibility within our system. These abtteries just allow us to push the capability within that system and still work with the 300 plus tools that we have. 

Q: What was the inspiration behind creating this product?

A: There's several pieces. Ultimately, users need more productivity. If they have ways to get more work done, they're going to look for it. Our goal is where can we continue to create adoption from gas, pneumatic, corded, hydraulic solutions that are out there today. Our goal was not just to be the best cordless solution on the jobsite, our goal is to be the best power tool solution on the jobsite when we're out there. Ultimately, the name of the game here is to continuously chase more power density, more energy density in our batteries and ensure that we still protect that user's investment. So, if the user has five tools, 10 tools, 100 tools in our system, they know that they can upgrade their battery, keep getting that increased power capability, and they don't have to rebuy all those tools as part of that process. There is that continuous chase for increased productivity, and ultimately more productivity mans more money for the professional at the end of the day. 

Q: How will this product improve the lives of technicians and shop owners?

A: So we talked a little bit about how these batteries are going to be our most powerful. When we talk about power, that means the ability to do more demanding applications. Maybe that means with the circular saw, they're able to do double stack, triple stack, or five stack OSB and cut them all together at once. That's more productivity right there. It also means that they can do those more demanding applications longer before having to swap the packs or before the pack overheats. 

Between those two benefits, they're just able to be more productive in a single charge. Then when you pair that with that cool cycle technology on the Dual Base Supercharger, you're minimizing the time that that battery's spending on the charger. So, more time on the tool, less time on the charger. Ultimately, you're just getting more and more productivity throughtout that full day, and again, that just means more profitability, more money for the professional. 

Q: What's the feedback been like from technicians who have purchased this tool?

A: The goal is to continue to drive cordless adoption here, and when we see our users gravitate towards these packs, there's two areas that we see users that have our existing high output batteries batteries today, and they're upgrading to FORGE batteries. Ultimately, they're seeing that faster application speed, the ability to do more and have more run-time. That fast charging capability and the feedback has been phenomenal. We're barely able to keep these products on the shelves. We're doing our utmost to get more and more product in, and that's a good sign. That shows that people are hungry for more capability and productivity. 

Then there's the users that are new that are coming into the M18 system. As they're starting to see these FORGE batteries and the capability they're delivering with our solutions, they're now seeing a point where they can actually take our FORGE batteries, our next generation tools, and be a replacement for gas or corded on the jobsite. For them, it's pretty much a game changer to be free of those shackles of the cord or of the challenges of gas, and now see that cordless is able to keep up or potentially deliver more for them. So we're seeing it on both fronts for existing and for new users. 

Q: Is there anything else our readers should know about the tool?

A: Like I mentioned, FORGE is trying to push the boundaries of where we take our system. Most power, fastest charging, longest life. We're going to continue to keep pushing the capability of the MAT system. Whenever we see a new battery that's pushing capability, know that it's going to be in FORGE first if it's representing those aspects. We also know that the technologies that we're introducing in FORGE we want to be able to trickle those down to our entire offering of batteries. There's a lot more to come, a lot of development that we're doing, not only on FORGE, but across our landscape of packs and FORGE is really paving the way for us there. We're excited to see where that goes for the future. 

To view the full interview, visit VehicleServicePros.com/55301401.