“It’s a new day at Mac Tools,” said Brett Shaw, Mac Tools’ president, enthusiastically, at the 2012 Tool Fair at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, TN. He proudly announced that, with the DeWalt brand, the company has taken market share from its competitors, citing DeWalt’s technical and engineering resources as being extremely helpful to the success of Mac Tools.

At the Tool Fair it was announced that Stanley Black & Decker, parent company of Mac Tools, has acquired CribMaster, a software company that specializes in RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) technology, and Lista, which will augment the Vidmar tool storage and cabinets offering.

Advances to tools and equipment were seen all over the Tool Fair show floor. The toolbox arena was always busy with the many options available in new and soon-to-be-released boxes displayed. One of the highlighted toolbox additions was a power tool drawer that can be purchased to retrofit a technician’s current box, and a slim laptop computer drawer.

Mac Tools distributors have had tremendous success with the DeWalt 12V line of power tools, and now the company is launching a 20V line, which runs 54% cooler. Along with the new line, DeWalt is introducing a dual battery charger, which can charge a standard battery and a 20V battery on the same unit.

At last year’s Tool Fair, Mac launched its Expert line of mid-range priced tools. Since then, they’ve enhanced the line, which currently contains 1,000 SKUs, and more will be added this summer.

During the company’s kickoff dinner, a special motivational presentation was given by four-time Superbowl Champion Rocky Bleier. More than $125,000 in prizes were given away at the show, and celebrities including John Force, his daughter Courtney Force, Chip Foose, Doug Kalitta and Brandon Bernstein could be seen on the show floor greeting attendees and signing autographs.

See TechShop’s Facebook page for more photos from the tool shows: www.facebook.com/TechShopMag.