Looking Back and Looking Forward
Dennis Stauch is the VP and GM of Outdoor Power Equipment, Makita U.S.A.
PUF: What's this product line that's aimed at electrification for outdoor tools?
Dennis Stauch: Handheld Outdoor power equipment including chainsaws, blowers, straight trimmers, and hedge trimmers are products that most households use in one way or another. Until the last few years, most of them have been gas-oriented machines or corded machines. You deal with handling gasoline or you plug them into the wall with a hundred and ten volts.
Gas has been dominant for a long time through the homeowner, farm, ranch and commercial segments. It's a revolution that's going to occur with cordless equipment. Makita is on the forefront with the battery technology and the products that we're designing.
One reason is because we've been doing it for a long time. Makita was one of the first entries in the cartridge style portable lithium ion battery products well over a decade ago. Our statement is, we want to cut the cord. That implies hydraulic, electric, or pneumatic, because the same functionality can be done with a battery.
We have taken that technology and put it into outdoor power equipment products. We are also in the front along with a lot of other manufacturers doing something very similar, making a wholesale revolution or conversion in the industry from gas products over to cordless, or away from hydrocarbon fuels.