Products

Product Central: Briggs & Stratton Elite Series Portable Generator with StatStation Wireless
Outdoor power equipment is one of those categories we habitually return to because the cutting-edge products tend to look vastly different on a year-by-year basis.

This year, as with the previous year, the products have come back bolder, stronger and, actually, quieter (thanks to advancements in engine technology). Manufacturers are serving up more robust battery offerings, as well as innovative new lineups to be powered by them.

Here is a product featured in a recent issue of HBSDealer:
Briggs & Stratton expands new oil change technology
Briggs & Stratton recently released its Just Check & Add oil change technology. Now, it's expanding the feature to more walk mowers across more brands, including its popular 625ex Series engine.

Just Check & Add technology is making it possible to no longer need to change oil. The engines are designed to run cleaner and cooler, meaning homeowners simply need to check and add SAE 30 small engine oil if it runs low.

Briggs & Stratton introduces new and improved engine

Briggs & Stratton has come up with a new-and-improved engine technology -- this time not only with a Mow N' Stow engine, but with new Just Check & Add technology.

Mow N' Stow allows the mower to be stored upright, taking up less space in the garage (70% reduced storage, to be exact).

With Just Check & Add, it also eliminates the need for oil changes -- oil can be easily added when necessary.
Stanley Black & Decker enters drone security market

Stanley Black & Decker, the world’s largest tool manufacturer, has formed a strategic partnership with Sunflower Labs, a San Francisco-based startup focused on home security products. The move provides Stanley Black & Decker an entry into the surveillance drone market.

Under terms of the partnership, Stanley Black & Decker and Sunflower Labs will work together on new and innovative security solutions, the companies said in a press release.
LP SmartSide Trim & Siding celebrates its 20th birthday

LP Building Products is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its LP SmartSide Trim & Siding.

To get a sense of this legacy, LP has pointed out that it has sold 10 billion square feet of siding and trim over the past two decades -- enough to span the distance back and forth from the Earth to the moon eight times over.
Carpet One Floor & Home names new COO
Versatex adds ‘amber’ to its Canvas T&G series

Versatex Building Products, LLC, is adding a fourth realistic woodtone finish for 2018.

A shade called Amber will be added to Versatex’s Canvas Series of premium PVC surfaces for porch and veranda ceilings.

Introduced earlier this year, the Canvas Series was developed for projects that call for the classic look of hardwood overhead, without the mess of onsite finishing or the cost of old-school installation, the company said. Other tones in the series include black cherry, walnut, and tropical macore.
The HBSDealer-US LBM Q&A

After bursting onto the scene in 2010, US LBM quickly won honors as “one of the fastest-growing companies” in the building materials universe. More than five years later, it still holds that distinction.
Stanley Black & Decker is buying Newell's tool business

Newell Brands has found a buyer for its tool business, having recently announced that it would divest roughly 10% of its portfolio as part of its new strategic growth plan.

Stanley Black & Decker has agreed to buy the business for $1.95 billion, boosting its already sizable tools and storage business with brands like Irwin and Lenox.

Newell's tool business had sales of $760 million in the last 12 months, and Stanley expects to net cost synergies savings of $80 million to $90 million by the third year after close.
Briggs & Stratton celebrates 85 million small engines

Briggs & Stratton has a number of reasons to celebrate the number 85: its Kentucky plant in Murray, Kentucky, began making Briggs & Stratton engines in 1985. Additionally, the company makes 85% of its small engines in the U.S. And now, the Murray plant is celebrating its 85th million small engine.

Since 1985, the plant has grown to employ over 900 workers and produces more engines than any other Briggs & Stratton facility.