The Makita Corporation got their start almost 100 years ago making electric motors for small appliances. In 1958 they decided to start making power tools such as a planer and drill. It seemed like a natural move for them to go from electric motors to power tools but it did not take long for them to become obsessed with creating a better drill. Makita drills soon became the focal point of the company’s research and development as they realized that if they could create technology to build a better drill then they could expand that technology out to other power tools and become a power house in the power tool industry. The thinking was correct and it did not take Makita long to conquer the power tool world.

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Within 12 years of building their first power tool Makita set up shop in the United States. In 1970 the first American Makita power tool plant was built and they settled in trying to establish Makita drills and other Makita products as the top product in the power tool industry. By 1977 the very first factory service center was set up by Makita and by this time they had enough Makita drills and other products out there to justify massive American expansion. But they were not going to expand using any products they had currently in their catalog. The people at Makita were always thinking and they had decided that it was time to cut the chord on Makita drills and introduce one of the industry’s first cordless power tools.

New Technology Takes Over

In 1978 the first of the Makita drills that required no cord were introduced using battery power. The Makita drills are often referred to as the first ever cordless drill and it was just one in many innovations that Makita would create on their way to becoming one of the top names in the power tool industry. On the heels of the success of the first cordless drill ever Makita decided now was the time for massive American expansion and in 1985 they opened their huge manufacturing facility in Buford, Georgia and now it was time for the rest of the industry to know that Makita was here to stay.

In 1987 Makita launched an entire line of cordless power tools being one of the first in the industry to do so but their days with innovations involving Makita drills were far from over. In 1997 Makita introduced the first ever nickel-metal hydride cordless drill that was lighter and could work longer than any other drill on the market. Power tool technology would never be the same.

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