I’m sure you’ve heard about ToughBuilt StackTech by now – it’s a relatively new and highly appealing modular system of jobsite tool and equipment storage products.
ToughBuilt launched StackTech in late 2023, and has already expanded the system. There’s much more on the way.
Toughbuilt provided teasers for some of their pending products, including several powered products, including a jobsite vacuum, a fan, and a couple of different lights.
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Their compact tool box strikes me as being a great size for a jobsite radio or charging box.
If you look at the side of the forward-looking ToughBuilt box fan, it says “20V” as part of the model number.
Might this be a battery-powered product?
They also have a tower light on the way.
ToughBuilt does not presently have its own cordless power tool system. Will these tools have built-in batteries? Removable?
I’m thinking aloud here – would it be in ToughBuilt’s strategic interests to partner with a cordless power tool brand?
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Let’s think it through. Fans, radios, active coolers, lighting products, device chargers – there are plenty of opportunities for battery-powered solutions.
They can also potentially roll out a jobsite power solution, similar to the new Milwaukee Roll-On, but that might be looking a bit further into the future.
What does ToughBuilt know about cordless power tool-type batteries? Do users want to buy into another new system? StackTech has earned a lot of early adoption, but that’s modular tool boxes. Would the same be true for battery-powered equipment?
Dewalt has an increasing number of 3rd party partners whose tools work with their 20V Max or FlexVolt batteries.
Metabo has their CAS system, a battery and power tool alliance.
Bosch has AmpShare, which they don’t seem to have done much with since announcing it in the USA last year.
Metabo HPT? They’ve got decent batteries that are often reasonably priced.
There’s also CEENR, which recently developed a multi-brand-compatible battery system.
Tool users tend to be polarized when it comes to built-in batteries. What happens when a built-in battery goes bad? When it comes to removable batteries, users tend to want affordable pricing, expandability, and reassurances they can buy a replacement battery 5 or 10 years down the line.
Partnering with a cordless power tool brand could help ToughBuilt reduce the amount of work needed to develop new battery-powered StackTech devices and accessories, while alleviating some common user hesitations.
Dewalt has a directly-competing tool storage system, and so they’re probably out of the question.
Metabo’s 18V CAS system hasn’t been widely marketed in the US, and their 18V system doesn’t seem popular enough here to provide much benefits. That seems like a lose-lose arrangement.
Metabo HPT doesn’t have any tool storage system here, their cordless tech has become competitive and affordable, and they’re also available at Lowe’s. I think there’s some potential there, but does the company have enough name recognition to have positive impact?
Makita’s battery system is pricier, and Makita USA seems to have been working on a competing tools storage system that might one day materialize.
Bosch has an L-Boxx tool box system, but it’s not in the same size or performance category as ToughBuilt’s. Their 18V cordless power tool system seems to have waned in popularity in the USA in recent years, and their AmpShare system doesn’t seem to have been given much fuel to rocket off the starting line with.
I think Bosch might offer the most and stand to benefit the most from a partnership with ToughBuilt.
What about CAT, which is made by the same company as WORX?
However, if ToughBuilt does their own thing, that will give them the most freedom without 3rd parties placing any conditions or barriers in the way of their natural development and progress.
A partnership doesn’t necessarily have to be broad or permanent at first. Imagine a StackTech-compatible jobsite radio that’s “powered by Bosch,” maybe similar in nature to the Bosch Power Box.
ToughBuilt has expanded from offering tool belts, pouches, and bags, plus a couple of innovative hand tools over the years, to now offering all that plus core hand tools and an innovative modular tool box and storage system.
They’ve obviously been thinking about powered accessory and tool integrations.
What will make the most sense when it comes to actually powering some of those cordless accessories or equipment?
They might seek to become a cordless power tool brand. Or might it make more sense for them to partner with one?
As a tool user, how would you feel about this? Let’s say you buy into the StackTech system, or are considering doing so. What type or brand of battery would you want to see for powered accessories and solutions?
Reminder: this is all a hypothetical thought exercise.
Rog
Why not DeWalt? The color branding and 20V name is already there 😛
Perry
I would venture that they won’t use dewalt because it would possibly alienate dewalts relationship with home depot, where they sell more tools than they do through lowes.
Stuart
It’s tangential but potentially relevant; according to Stanley Black & Decker:
SBD has Stanley (mainly tape measures) and Dewalt and Home Depot, Craftsman, Dewalt, Irwin, and Lenox at Lowe’s.
Michael F
I would love to see these numbers but filtered down to only DeWalt power tool sales. It’s a bit surprising to me that they sell more at Lowes than Home Depot but 13% to 14% isn’t exactly a huge gap for the 2023 year.
Mopar4wd
Pretty sure SBD sells more DeWalt thru Lowes then HD. Lowes seems to sells a ton of them. while the HD near me hides the DeWalt stuff in the back.
Leo B.
That tower light looks a lot like a Husky one- the 2200 lumen one at Home Depot. It’s a good light, but hard to find, so it’ll be nice to have options!
Ovan
The truth is similar, the advantage of Husky is that it is more versatile because its lamp can be used without the tripod. I’m waiting for a version with more luminens and one that can be used with a cell phone application
Joe H
Would be interesting if they just made mounting plate adapters so that a person with a DeWalt radio or Milwaukee fan, or RYOBI charging station can be mounted to different areas of the toolbox system then ToughBuilt doesn’t have to develop such tools themselves and people with different brands of power tools can be more compatible with this system and more compelled to buy it. There are many companies that make adapters to mount different brand power tools to things already.
Robert
While teaming up with an established cordless power tool company, if Toughbuilt wants to expand into cordless options, is logical in the abstract, it seems practical business considerations prevent that. The companies that have major storage systems, Dewalt, Milwaukee, Flex and Klein to a lessor degree, probably don’t want to cannibalize their storage products sales by enabling Toughbuilt as a competitor. Those with less of a storage marketing position and hence more open to taking a risk, Makita, Metabo HPT, Metabo, Bosch, frankly seem to fumble operations in the USA and so may not be much help to Toughbuilt in cordless power integration.
Jared
I think it would be great if Toughbuilt did that. Even better, what if they made their cordless accessories such that they could be powered by multiple brands?
I don’t think that’s impossible – my kid has an RC car with a multi-fit battery dock for use with cordless batteries. It fits Dewalt, Black & Decker and Porter Cable… and I think one more, but the brand eludes me.
Usually the challenge with adapters or universal batteries is that they may not be capable of supporting the discharge level required for tools with a heavy power draw. If we’re talking about fans and lights though – that shouldn’t be an issue.
It does rule out a charger, but still.
Stuart
The biggest problem with adapters and universal batteries is safety, and after that it’s consistency.
Fowler
I’ve been thinking for a while now that power tool companies should do more collabs for devices that are out of a tool company’s area of expertise. I would love to be able to buy a cordless vacuum from a power tool company that was designed by an actual vacuum company, DeWalt x Shark or something like that
Stuart
Technically… doesn’t the history of Black & Decker’s Dustbuster count as SBD being a vacuum company?
Mopar4wd
Black and Decker sells stick vacs too my in-laws have one.
TonyT
What about TTI, since they own Hoover now? Hoover and Ryobi both broad lines of cordless vacs, although I wonder how much expertise goes each way….
Doresoom
I agree, Bosch seems like the best bet as far as already having AMPShare and a less popular stacking toolbox system than other brands.
Before you mentioned it, I had completely forgotten about L-BOXX!
fred
Just my guess – but I think that Bosch would not partner with them – but might consider acquiring them if they thought that the ToughBuilt product line was a good fit as a business opportunity. The L-Boxx system – while just so-so IMO – might just fit Bosch’s often enigmatic style – and they may not see a need to get into what’s becoming a crowded marketplace.
Doresoom
LOL, “enigmatic style.” Perfect description of Bosch’s marketing.
frankovics.andras
Bosch “has” Sortimo and the ‘L-Boxx Contractor’ line nearly/is in production.
Mike
They could use those new universal batteries. Stuart covered them earlier this year and torque test channel had a recent review that showed them to be quite capable.
TdotW
Yes, *CEENR* Stuart brought them up in article while discussing battery options. These universal batteries are a going to be game changing for many tool users! Love having the ability to buy a different brands ‘tool only’ when a specific tool is needed, not having to buy all the batteries & yet another battery charger to add to collection!
Saulac
I am building my own vac using a half size part storage and a M12 box vacuum, which is about one inch smaller in all dimensions compare to the half width tall box. Their own modular tools or not, I do hope they will have adapters/plates/cases…allow DIY. If they do it good enough brands may start to make tools to fit their system.
Jon
Probably not Dewalt because they’re owned by Stanly Black & Decker who also owns Craftsman. Both have a toolbox division. Definitely won’t be Milwaukee or Ryobi, for obvious reasons and that they’re all owned by TTI. Bosch is a good candidate, would give life to their tool line. Makita would be good, they’ve languished on the innovation side of late. What about Festool?
Michael F
Festool is really committed to their line of Systainers because they are produced by Tanos, a sister company of Festool. I agree that Makita could be a good option, but Makita would probably have to abandon their own modular tool storage system and then which line do you choose? LXT or XGT? Difficult decisions.
Perry
It won’t be makita, lowes doesn’t carry them, and if they did it would mean dropping one of their other brands, which are all pretty well established in lowes at this point.
Michael F
At first glance, it seems like a really difficult business development strategy for ToughBuilt to partner with a battery provider. Some of the challenges include:
1. Choosing the “perfect” battery partner. Once you choose a battery partner, you’ve essentially alienated everyone not in that system. I’m not sure consumers would be willing to buy into another battery system just for their StackTech compatible powered boxes.
2. Willingness of companies to partner. Most of the likely candidates have directly competing modular tool storage systems and probably wouldn’t be interested.
3. Choosing a battery partner with wide availability is not easy. StackTech is currently a Lowe’s exclusive, so do you choose a partner with batteries also sold at Lowes?
I think, if anything, the new CEENR packs probably make the most sense but fail in point number 3 above. As far as I know, you can’t currently purchase a CEENR pack today in either Home Depot or Lowes, which means you’re not going to be walking out of the store with a working ToughBuilt StackTech fan unless they bundle, which increases pricing.
Ken
I agree Bosch would be a great fit. The batteries have recently been given a visual makeover with the AmpShare branding so that they are mostly black and would not clash too much with the toughbuilt color scheme – just a few extra red bits would stand out on the batteries.
Personally, I think Bosch makes the best cordless batteries among all brands. They are also among the most economical. Currently their 12Ah battery is available on Amazon for $140 – almost the magical $10/Ah threshold that was established in the before-times as a great deal.
Nathan
They should stand alone and not get into cordless tools.
It’s a crowded field. Most of the things toughbult makes now are support and storage tools. Keep in the nitche area and maybe start making items for other systems. That fan make it to take DeWalt batteries with adapter d or Milwaukee batteries with adapter m. Or Ridgid with r …..
JR Ramos
With their shaky/poor financials it might make more sense for someone to just buy them rather than partner on something like this. Not sure Toughbuilt is going to right the ship in a meaningful way despite making some good and/or great products (and the Lowe’s thing doesn’t help at all).
S
I’m seriously questioning if toughbuilt will be around by the end of the year. They made a push to develop and release a massive amount of new product, while picking up Lowe’s as a distributor…
Only to be dropped by Menards, at the same time they were actually ‘shelved’ at Lowe’s in favor of Klein’s Mod Box taking up prime floor space with blingy signage. My local stores carry ‘core’ toughbuilt packages, but they’re all 2 or 3 shelves up out of easy access, like kids toys above the refrigerator for time-out.
There’s no clear word on expansion of retail/ hands-on locations for the brand, as well as lacking enough visibility or brand recognition for a web-only approach.
They came in late to the game, and swung hard.
everyone loves a good underdog story, but they seem to be getting lost in the noise of all the other models available.
If they were to come to market with battery powered items, I would love to see compatibility with a mainstay brand. Though looking through the current market, DeWalt/Klein are one of the only big brand partnerships I know of. So I’m not optimistic that any brand would be very keen to cutting an agreement to it, due to the possible/perceived impact to their own models of similar products.
Stuart
I’m sure there’s a contract in place; Lowe’s doesn’t give a brand main aisle shelf space on a whim without extensive arrangements.
ToughBuilt managed to capture a lot of attention on social media. That’s good for the brand, but great for Lowe’s.
Perry
The area I’m in, sacramento valley, in California, has lowes carrying a lot more toughbuilt than Klein modboxes. At my local lowes, the Klein displays are relegated to the corner and have dust on them while the tough built seem to be selling quit a bit. It may just be a regional thing. I would be really interested in the toughbuilt myself if they weren’t already so heavy when empty
Ben
I would also add that over the past year their stock price has dropped from $66.95 to $2.61. If I were another large company’s board, I wouldn’t touch that until TB declares bankruptcy. Then I could buy them out, snap up their IP and integrate it with my battery platform.
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/tblt
Yup, its me
I went to lowes to get some stuff, and looked at the tool storage while i was there. I really liked the toughbuilt line, and compared to the craftsman, and lowes kobalt brand , It was a lot better designed. I liked the rubber wheels, the way it connected, and the different ways to customize it. If i had the spare cash, i would not hesitate to buy it. IMHO. I will say that I loved the Klein series of boxes, but they are TOTALLY out of my league.
Mike
Obviously should be LXT. Those Makita patents are vaporware like the nailers.
Functional, non descript black that doesn’t scream “Steal Me!” was never going to cut it. Wall to wall modular teal is where it’s at.
Perry
I doubt we’ll see makita partnering though. It wouldn’t make sense to do so without having lowes sell makita tools.
Michael F
It would work out great for me since I’ve got plenty of LXT batteries but I don’t think Makita has a culture that would accept that kind of partnership. There’s also the Lowes distribution issue.
eddiesky
Their brand colours confuse me to think they are Dewalt or Cat. Which they are not.
And with having Lowes only distribute, it would kill them if Lowes drops them or won’t have space.
I want a drawer unit. I want a XL capacity unit. And I want the wheel base, as well as the handtruck unit. But for now, I just need something that isn’t going away.
Plain+grainy
I ‘m watching for a solar inverter/ generator rolling cart. I see this new technology working its way onto the job site.
Deezel
Positec would be a great partner!
Plain+grainy
That Worx for me.
Jared
Ha! Actually, that seems like a pretty good guess. the color scheme almost works and that would explain the 20v branding.
Bob
Makita should be in the mix.
They need a new container system and it would not take a lot to change the color scheme.
Scott
Easiest to do is provide an adaptor as add on that fits specific battery brand.
Chip
I dont see Makita…xgt to expensive, let how long will teal support it.
Dewalt owned by SBD with multiple in-house competitors.
TTI the same.
Bosch is the only brand independent enough to do it.
And that is if,and only if they can make the end of the year.
They missed getting financials to the SEC to end last year.
You can get financial emails from somewhere that I forget where I signed up at?
I bought a few shares at the first of the year at $3.20,but sold ($.270) as it is slowly sinking down.
JR Ramos
They got $32 million in loans recently, noted that supply chain monies as the foremost reason (that’s really not a good sign on top of all the other fiascoes over the last year (and a little prior)). I think they probably need to revamp their strategy and approach to both product line and marketing but they’ve established themselves as they are and people don’t seem to be chomping at the bit anymore to carry their line. Shame, since for the most part they have made some excellent products. See how it goes, hopefully they stay above water.
kri
Sortimo or bosch not shure how much they own of that company bosch blue came out with new tool belts canvas bags that can bet attached to lboxes tool puches that some kind click system in europe and they dont market tools in europe with stupid names like they are calling drills some cool terminator names haha in the american market
sortimo they out fit cars for trades to highest standard crash tested and everything
not just a bolted metalsystem shelfs in back of a vw caddy or mb sprinter
https://www.mysortimo.com/en/Mobile-working/c/118730?q=:tsa
this is the new tool belts and bags they put bosch logo on
JoeM
I’m biased here, let’s get that up front. I’m more-than-a-little fond of ToughBuilt, and already invested in DeWALT. So, let’s take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt.
Surebonder glue guns have a cordless edition. They run off Ryobi One+ batteries, but also offer Surebonder-made Battery Adapters for Milwaukee, DeWALT, and Makita. I believe ToughBuilt should capitalize on this same level of versatility, by picking their own battery interface, then selling the battery adapter for each accompanying brand separately. As long as the StackTech item runs on the same/equivalent voltage, they should be covered. And, yes, I am talking about the fact that we know 18V Lithium-Ion batteries operate at 20V Nominal Voltage across all the platforms. ToughBuilt should have their own interface, dedicated to an adapter. Once attached, it’s up to the user to supply the battery of the system they use, as well as whether or not they want to keep the adapter attached to the tool, or the battery, when not in use.
It’s a simple and stupid solution. StackTech is already pretty system-agnostic in design, I don’t see why the battery system can’t be the same. If a Glue Gun can handle an adapter, StackTech should excell at doing the same.
Ryan
Speaking of the L’Boxx, have you heard anything about the L’Boxx Contractor system they showed off at Eisenwarenmesse a few months ago? It looks like it is meant to compete much more directly with the current wave of modular storage.
I saw a few (very) short clips of the reveal at the show, but beyond that all I’ve really been able to find is this single German interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hyeV5KSxuI)
Stuart
Yes. I spoke with an L-Boxx rep a few months ago, but haven’t received any new or firm details since then. What’s shown in your video is a bit different (better) than what was described to me.
The box in the video is clearly not a finished production sample. I think it’s still far away.
It also remains to be seen if Bosch will be supporting the system in the USA.
Ryan
I would imagine they plan to. The rep from BS mentioned some America specific tidbits a few times.
They designed the system here, system measurements were handled in imperial as opposed to metric, the system was made with American complaints of the original L’Boxx being “flimsy”, etc.
Of course, none of that means they are targeting the individual consumer as opposed to corporate ones. Still, it would give Bosch an option in this (very crowded) market.
Q1 2025 the fella was saying, so hopefully some more news in the coming months.
Mycotech
Just make it all USB-C and let people choose how to get it there. Every brand must have a USB c converter for their own batteries, and you’d also be able to power it from…. Well, lots of things. That’s what the U is for.
M
This is great and all, as much as I would want some of these it’s already impossible to buy existing stuff that is supposed to already be out. Shame, love the boxes I have but can’t find any of the other things that brought me to the system.
Hope they can turn this around because would like to see some powered stuff come out too.
Reno Paddy
The tower shows “hybrid power” at its base so I’d assume the 20V on the box fan would denote a 20V max battery. That light also shows “25,000 lumens” which is insane. Of course the mini catalog I received with an order shows “Summer 2024” so time will tell.