Our Visit to PB Swiss ToolsSeptember 23, 2024

DRPD visited beautiful Switzerland to experience first-hand what makes the PB Swiss Tools brand special. So what does it really mean to "Work with the best."?

A History of Innovation

It all started in 1878 as a small village forge producing intricate metal products for the time such as watch chains and mouse traps. In 1918, Paul Baumann assumed control of the family business and the "PB" initials were instilled onto the company name.

When World War II struck, the Swiss government halted the import of all hand tools and asked Paul Baumann if his company could shift focus and produce tools for the Swiss Armed Forces – he accepted the challenge. In 1953 facing growing production demand, Paul's son, Max Sr., convinced his father to invest in an American-made injection molding machine to produce a new type of molded screwdriver handle – an innovative technology that was unheard of in Europe at the time. While this machine came at a great expense to the business (over half the annual revenue), it quickly paid off and PB Swiss Tools was now well on its way to global success.

Unmatched Precision & Quality

Today PB Swiss Tools operates two manufacturing plants in Switzerland – one in Wasen for plastics & final assembly and another in nearby Grünen for metalworks.

Tools are produced using a high-grade steel formulation specifically made just for PB Swiss Tools. Some 400 tons of raw steel material coming from 2 premium suppliers in Germany & Italy is used to manufacture over 13 million innovative tools every year.

With an uncompromising commitment to precision, nearly all PB Swiss Tools are manufactured using CNC processes as traditional forging does not provide the required precision for Swiss-quality tools.

Heat-treatment is done to an ideal level so that the metal is both hard & robust while also remaining elastic so as not to become brittle and break easily. Tools are thoroughly cleaned and finished using a variety of methods depending on the application – nickel plating, plasma coating, powder coating and chemical treatment being the most common. Special care is taken to ensure these finishing methods do not increase material thickness and impact tool precision.

We witnessed an incredible attention to detail where quality is constantly monitored throughout the entire production process. Work areas are kept clean and organized to 5S standards with the help of premium Lista storage cabinets. The Swiss production staff truly strives for perfection in every detail.

We also noticed a clear commitment to sustainability. Production waste is carefully collected and reused wherever possible. Over 4-million liters of water and 50,000 liters of machine oil are filtered and recycled during production every year. Innovative heat pumps also recycle heat emitted from production processes back into usable energy for factory operations.

Foundations for the Future

A large investment of nearly 3-million Swiss Francs was recently made into 2 new machines that will propel exciting new PB Swiss Tools products into the future. The recently installed Sumimoto Demag injection molding machine and Asic robotic assembly machine will enable new innovations along with increased speed & precision.

Perhaps most importantly, we were met with a collective team of people who have an undeniable passion for producing the highest-quality tools. With an impressive new executive team recently appointed, you will be happy to know that PB Swiss Tools will continue to operate under family leadership with Marco Baumann taking over the CEO position.

This important visit provided reinforcement to the fact that PB Swiss Tools is undoubtedly producing the best tools in the world.

The future of PB Swiss Tools is bright and DRPD is proud to be your trusted provider for these wonderful tools.