In partnership with its end users, ITW’s Paslode is innovating the next generation of cordless nailers.
Over 25 years ago, ITW’s Paslode division invented the first cordless nailer, often called a nail gun. This product innovation provided contractors, builders and remodelers with the ultimate solution in both productivity and convenience.
This patented, award-winning cordless technology drives every nail precisely. The cordless nailers provide new freedoms such as easier setup, hose and compressor cleanup, reduction in time and labor costs, and the virtual elimination of job-site clutter.
Today, Paslode continues to innovate its cordless nailers to meet the needs of its end users, who seek greater convenience and safety when using nailers. ITW’s Customer-Back Innovation process is key to gathering and understanding customer and market insights in order to guide these innovations.
In Australia and New Zealand, the team at Paslode conducted field interviews with over 100 framers and builders to understand their pain points around existing applications for fixing metal connectors, bracing and cladding projects that require pneumatic coil tools. For instance, when framing a house, builders struggled with the lack of flexibility and time lost when being constrained by a hose for applications that required an air-powered coil tool.
Using this input from end users, Paslode’s Asia Pacific team partnered with ITW’s Global Tool Unit in the U.S. to create a cordless coil concept and solution that would help resolve these pain points by prioritizing safety without compromising productivity.
“Our focus on the customer very early on in the innovation process is unique, and the ability to highlight their pain points and prioritize them helps ensure we are working on delivering a solution that is closely aligned with their needs. Some organizations work the other way around and start developing solutions without a real understanding of what is most important to the customer. By taking a Customer-Back approach, we can be confident that we are delivering a solution that addresses the critical needs of the customer and provide them a truly valuable solution.”
Jason Messina, Product Innovation Manager, ITW Construction, Asia Pacific
Moving from discovery to development, the team at Paslode continued to seek customer feedback and field validation on prototypes to ensure modifications to the nailer were truly resolving their pain points. The result was a new cordless coil nailer with a durable, yet lightweight body for greater comfort and control. Powered by a Li-ion battery and gas fuel cell, the new model has no hose to trip over or compressor to manage, increasing the convenience and usability of the tool.
The team at Paslode continues to gather feedback from its users in order to continually drive improvement. With the customers’ needs at the core, Paslode’s innovation process aims to better the user experience.
“Seeing that our innovation process is providing a significant improvement to our customers’ existing process and hearing how excited they are to use the product make Customer-Back Innovation an awesome way to innovate. I am proud to be part of such a fantastic team that has been committed to delivering both the best possible solution for the customer and growth for the business.”
Jason Messina, Product Innovation Manager, ITW Construction, Asia Pacific
