# Knipex

Knipex (English: /kəˈnɪpɛks/; German pronunciation:) is a globally-distributed German manufacturer of hand tools, best known for its pliers. Knipex tools are principally used by professionals in various trades but find increasing popularity in DIY and EDC markets.
For four generations Knipex has been an independent, owner-managed family company. The company is headquartered in Wuppertal, Cronenberg. All manufacturing of core products like pliers takes place in Wuppertal, Germany. Peripheral items such as Knipex-branded leather punches and tweezers are made elsewhere by third-party manufacturers.

## History
### First Generation

The company was founded as a forge in 1882 by Carl Gustav Putsch in the basement of his family home. The firm began with one employee and two apprentices. Until the 1960s the firm was known as the C. Gustav Putsch Drop Forged Pliers Works (Zangenfabrik-Gesenkschmiede). In its early days manufacture focused on carpenter's pincers and farrier's tongs, at first made by hand and then increasingly produced using drop forging hammers. At the apex of the company's success under Carl Putsch the forge had 27 employees and finished 7,000 sets of pliers per week.

### Second Generation

Carl Putsch ran the company until his death in 1927. In 1942 the second generation of ownership, also named Carl Putsch, registered the "Knipex" brand in Germany. During the economic expansion of West Germany during the 1950s Knipex has continually added new and more specialized types of pliers to its catalog.

### Third Generation

Karl Putsch took over as company manager in 1954. Manufacturing operations were increasingly automated. The development of new tool patents and product specialization was given greater emphasis.

### Fourth Generation

Various subsidiary companies were acquired during an expansion campaign that began in the 1990s, enlarging the Knipex Group. Many foreign sales offices were established. Presently better than 60 per cent of production is exported to more than a dozen countries worldwide. The Knipex group has been led by Ralf Putsch since 1996. He is the great-grandson of founder Carl Putsch.

## Products

The tool catalog of Knipex encompasses about a hundred types of pliers, with more than 900 variants in length, handle design and finish. These tools include common items such as side cutters, electricians pliers, plumber's pliers as well as more specialized pliers for use in electronics. The range also includes special electrician's tools for cutting, stripping and crimping conducting wire. The tools specialized for electrical work find application in aerospace, solar power technology and optical fiber installation. Many of these tools are available in a parallel line of electrically insulated items, designed to protect users from voltages up to 1 kV and the currents they may induce.

### Decimal product codes

All Knipex products are identified by a decimal system. This takes the form of three groups of numbers, usually stenciled or printed on the tool's handle. The decimals are decoded as follows: the first group indicates the model of the tool (type of pliers), the second its style (variety or shape of its jaws) and the third some measure of its size (length of the tool or whether meant for metric or imperial units).

### Leading product lines

Knipex has acquired a reputation for high-quality hand tools, some of which are considered best-in-class. Knipex tools frequently mentioned in this sense include:
* Cobra pliers, water pump pliers whose jaw-width can be adjusted with a push-button using one hand (1984),
* Cobolt cutters, high-leverage miniature bolt cutters (1988),
* Pliers wrenches, parallel jaw, ratchet action wrenches meant to replace sets of crescent wrenches (1994).

### Competitors

Knipex's main competitors in the German market are Wera, Gedore, Wiha and Hazet.

## Manufacturing

Knipex has pursued a corporate strategy of specializing in pliers combined with complete in-house manufacturing. In addition to drop forges that use company-made dies Knipex's production process also includes in-house machining operations such as broaching, drilling, milling, grinding and laser machining.

## Employment

More than 1,600 staff are employed at their Wuppertal factory and offices. This number including more than 40 trainees (Auszubildende) pursuing various apprenticeships. These apprentices labor in a special workshop dedicated to industrial instruction.
Employees of Knipex are unionized within the IG Metall union.

## Structure

Knipex is the parent company of the Knipex Group. The largest umbrella of the Knipex corporate entity employs more than 1,800 people. These workers are spread over four German production companies as well as in a number of international sales offices located in the United States, Russia, China, the Middle East and Mexico.
In Germany the Knipex group comprises,
* Rennsteig Werkzeuge in Viernau, Thüringen (acquired in 1991 for its crimping and wirestripping tools)
* Orbis Will GmbH + Co. KG in Ahaus, Münsterland (acquired in 2003 for its expertise in plastic grips and handles)
* KNIPEX-Werk GmbH in Wuppertal
* Will in Neustadt, (acquired in 2006)
* LMIS Software in Osnabrück (majority stake acquired in 2017)

### North America

Knipex Tools LP is the North American sales and marketing branch of the Knipex Group. It has offices in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

## Knipex museum

The company home in Wuppertal features a two-story corporate museum that houses machinery, tools, preserved workplaces and everyday objects meant to relate working and living conditions during the history of that region's tool industry. The museum is open to the general public once per year as part of the Wuppertal-24h-live event and to groups year-round by appointment.