Kukko Pulls on Merkel’s Audi

Industry News

PULLERS: Special developments, even for the busses in Remscheid.

Remscheid, Germany. Angela Merkel’s official car should be considered among the best-guaranteed vehicles in Germany. This fine automobile always travels with a set of tools made in Remscheid, as Kukko produces specialty tools for this ironclad Audi.

Gear pullers are this company’s trademark. As their name suggests, gear pullers extract objects such as gears, wheel sprockets, and wheel hubs from an axle evenly and with especially high power. Consequently, they prevent the twisting of certain elements and even the breaking of components when pulling objects apart lopsidedly.

Kukko has asserted itself as the international market leader in its segment. Nowadays, extraction tools from Remscheid are used to repair everything from the tiny speedometer needle on your dashboard to the massive wind turbines that power the modern world. Some of these tools can even withstand up to 100 tons of force.

“If an equivalent weight of 50 cars is to hang on only two hooks, then one must have complete faith that nothing will break or fall,” says Timo Winter, Export Manager at Kukko. Therein lies this family company’s formula for success: customers worldwide place their faith in the high quality and dependability of these German-made hand tools. Recently, Kukko has made new developments to its top-notch extraction tools for its loyal customer base. The most important development relates to the mounting of the gripping arms. On conventional pullers, a bolt holds the gripping arms to the main support, and the entire pulling force is supported by this bolt. Kukko has improved upon convention and produces its pullers in a T-Form that distributes the pulling force evenly throughout the tool.

The many facets of the automobile industry make up an enormous proportion of Kukko’s business, as mechanics worldwide prefer to work with pullers made in Remscheid. In automobiles, Kukko tools are used in a variety of different applications: to remove windshield wipers, speedometer needless and wheel sprockets; to service the connection of water and gasoline lines; to extract ball bearings, gear wheels, and bevel wheels in the engine and generator; to eject ball-and-socket joints for the maintenance of axel arms and steering columns; and many more. Even the tools used to calibrate the rearview camera in Angela Merkel’s Audi come from Remscheid.

In cooperation with the Remscheid public service department, Kukko has developed special pullers for the wheel hubs of low floor busses. Furthermore, major manufactures such as the MAN Group point to Kukko as their certified supplier of extraction tools in their handbooks.

The maintenance of machinery and other equipment is also a major market segment for Kukko products. This makes Kukko relatively self-contained from economic crises. “When the economic booms, old machines are overhauled in order to bolster output peaks,” says Winter. “And in times of crisis, these machines are repaired for as long as possible—both situations require pullers.”

In Germany and Europe as a whole, Kukko has been so successful that the production capacity of the Taubenstraße facility in Remscheid no suffices to meet the demand for the product. Over the course of the first half of 2013, Kukko’s administrative and logistics operations will move to Hilden, along with a portion of the production. For some years, the company has been strengthening its efforts to increase exports. The United States, Japan, and India have long been on Kukko’s export map. Timo Winter’s current export acquisition plan will have him traveling to Brazil, Singapore, Thailand, South Africa, and Dubai, where he will focus on much more than simply admiring the many armored limousines that curve the streets of these rapidly developing countries.

KUKKO in the USA

In the United States, Anglo American Tools acts as the sales representative and exclusive distributor of the Kukko line. Over the past forty years, Anglo American has successfully introduced multiple German hand tool lines to the American marketplace. Since the 2012 International Hardware Show in Cologne, Kukko and Anglo Americans have been working diligently to put the best extraction tools in the world into the hands of the American tradesmen. Our hard work is paying off as demand for the Kukko line continues to grow!

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