Snap-on

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Snap-on (NYSE: SNA) is a leading U.S. designer, manufacturer and marketer of tools and equipment to professional tool users. It was founded in 1920. Snap-On is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and employs approximately 11,500 people worldwide. The company is currently worth 2.4 billion dollars (US$) and is one of the companies on the S&P 500.

Snap-on also makes an appearance in the movie Swordfish as well as other key television shows, such as American Chopper.

[edit] History

Pioneering the idea of interchangeable sockets and wrench handles, Joseph Johnson and William Seidemann formed the Snap-on Wrench Company in 1920. The company manufactured and marketed ten sockets that would "snap on" to five interchangeable handles, a concept that created the modern socket wrench and revolutionized the tool industry.

To sell the products, Johnson and Seidemann worked with Stanton Palmer, who took the tools directly to customers at their places of business and demonstrated the benefits, which became the cornerstone of the company's marketing success. As a result of this successful sales strategy, Palmer enlisted Newton Tarble to share the increasing workload. These four founders — Joseph Johnson, William Seidemann, Stanton Palmer, and Newton Tarble — were responsible for putting Snap-on tools on the map.

Shortly after its founding, Snap-on entered the international arena in 1931. Also in the 1930s, Snap-on began offering credit to customers, the first in the industry to do so. In the 1950s, Snap-on expanded on the concept of bringing product to the customer by using fully stocked walk-in vans and, as a result, pioneered today's familiar dealer van channel.

Snap-on also produces the Snap-on Scanner and other electronic diagnostic tools that help technicians repair the on-board computer systems used in most modern cars and heavy-duty vehicles. Much of this work is done at the Snap-on Diagnostics facility in San Jose, California and in Cork, Ireland.