VIDEO: TOOLING UP – Designing Motorsports Favorite Glove

KENNY SAFFORD: You know, there are little bits and pieces about every product that we make that, you know, we don't we don't advertise or talk about. And those are really kind of the magic. And that's the secret sauce of Mechanix Wear so, super excited that kind of dig into our Max Cut™ line and tell you guys all about it.

Narrator: This video is brought to you by Mechanix Wear, Conquer the Task. If you're looking for real world insights, tips from leading industry experts, the latest trends in products and technology, you've come to the right place. From MSC Industrial Supply, this is Tooling Up.

TONI NEARY: Hello and welcome to Tooling Up. I'm your host, Toni Neary, and I'm so glad that you've joined us here today. If this is your first time catching Tooling Up, make sure to click that like and subscribe button so you don't miss any of our upcoming episodes.

I'm super excited today to be talking with Kenny Safford. He's the Chief of Design at Mechanix Wear. Kenny, thank you so much for joining us and welcome to Tooling Up.

KENNY SAFFORD: Yeah, thank you for having me. You know, I get so excited whenever we get the chance to kind of spread this, spread the good word about Mechanix Wear and, you know, having this opportunity to do a gospel according to Kenny, as far as products are concerned and why we do them.

And, you know, there are little bits and pieces about every product that we make that, you know, we don't, we don't advertise or talk about. And those are really kind of the magic. And that's the secret sauce of Mechanix Wear, so super excited to kind of dig into our Max Cut line and tell you guys all about it.

TONI NEARY: And I know, I mean, I'm always interested in people, how they started their career, how they ended up where they are. And yours is really interesting. So I want to hear a little bit about how you ended up at Mechanix Wear?

KENNY SAFFORD: I was born into a drag racing family. My father was a drag racer, sixties, seventies and the eighties, and he drove funny cars for the majority of his career.

And, you know, I was knee deep into the machine shop and oil and grease and working with my hands and building and fixing things. And so I've been around mechanical things my whole life. When I graduated high school, I loaded up my El Camino with my dirt bike that I rode on the weekends that we weren't drag racing.

And I came to California seeking fame and fortune and ended up going to Art Center, it's a design school. And I was taking product design classes and, you know, trying to learn as much as I could during that time. And freelancing my way through school was one way to help pay the tuition. And one of the clients that I had was a company called Axle Sport America.

They are an Italian motorcycle, motorcross, clothing brand. And that's where I met Jim Hale, the future founder of Mechanix Wear, and that was in the late eighties. And, you know, five years later, after I started working there is when the original glove was born. So, yeah, I've been around motorsports my whole life. You know, I'm a welder and an electrician and, you know, a fixer of many things. So to be an actual user myself, I think that that’s invaluable.

TONI NEARY: And I'm sorry, but you're being a little humble. Kenny, you designed the first iconic Mechanix Wear gloves. So I think that also needs to be told as part of the story. So I want to know a little bit about the evolution from designing the very first glove into moving into this new Max Cut line. And I guess we could say you’re kind of an old hand at this, but tell us a little bit about the evolution of the design process over the years there as well.

KENNY SAFFORD: Yeah, the early years were a time of development and a time for us to really kind of cut our teeth and to tell everybody, to tell the world who Mechanix Wear is and who we were going to be, which is that we were a race winning company. A lot of times NASCAR race or an Indy car race or a motorcycle race for that matter is won or lost in the pits.

And, you know, by providing these guys better gloves, more dexterity, more comfortable knee pads so that they can hit the ground and get up without any pain. You know, we were dropping the times that it took to make a pit stop. So it was a performance advantage. And, you know, Mechanix Wear was there at the very beginning.

And, yeah, you know, it did kind of start an industry. You know, there wasn't a performance glove industry before Mechanix Wear and there weren't a lot of things before Mechanix Wear, you know, we were the first to come out with a high-performance knee pad and the first to come out with an impact glove, which was a request from the NASCAR guys.

TONI NEARY: All right, Kenny, So I don't know if you've heard this about me, but I love a good pun. And it sounds like, you know protective gloves like the back of your hand. So I have to say, I received these and I'm floored at how much dexterity I have with actually using these gloves. Can you tell us a little bit about how function really comes into the design when you're looking at new products?

KENNY SAFFORD: Yeah, function is the first thing that we start with. Obviously, you know, Mechanix Wear has kind of built its reputation on, on the dexterity, on the fit, on the quality of the product inside and out. So, you know, when you put your hand inside a glove, you know, you may not notice that there isn't any extra threads, there isn't any bits and pieces, there isn't an abundance of seam allowance.

You know, you're actually putting your hand into something that, you know, takes Mechanix Wear or anybody who really wants to do it right quite a long time.

TONI NEARY: And I think one of the things is that it is super wearable. But I have to be honest with you, there's a huge cool factor because these arrived at my office and my husband, who is a first responder, was like, "Whoa, where are these from"?

And he put them on. He is feeling them. He's like, these are really good gloves. So I just also want to note that this is part of the reason that Mechanix Wear is beyond even just mechanics for use. You've made such an impact on so many industries is  because of the fact this is like superior craftsmanship. So the fact that you've got the same, you know, value built in on the credibility of the glove, the ease of use, how comfortable it is to wear, and then the craftsmanship just absolutely blows my mind.

KENNY SAFFORD: Thank you for noticing that. You know, we spend a lot of time I touched on it, but all the products that Mechanix Wear makes we have what we call we nominate the materials. So since we have four or five different factories that are making similar gloves, it's not the exact same glove in five or six different factories. You know, it's important, it's mandatory for us, to have those factories go to a single source for everything, whether it's threads or materials or, you know, anything, a knitted liner that's going on the inside of the glove. So it's, it's not something that we put up to chance. It's something that's included in our tech packs and in our manufacturing bill of materials.

You know, it's like we need to use these products and you need to get it from this guy. And this is the only way that we can really control that. Like you said, the quality of the product from Monday to Friday and from, you know, January till January the next year.

TONI NEARY: And so just so you know, I don't think there's any way you're getting these back.

My husband's been waiting for us to get on and film so he could steal these from my office. But let's talk about the type of protection. And I do love the fact that you've got them very clearly labeled. What is the difference with, you know, the 360 degree cut? Like, what is it about Max Cut that's so different than anything else in the market?

KENNY SAFFORD: Spent a lot of time perfecting that liner, it's not just a knit glove that we shoved into an existing glove that we have. You know, these gloves are built from the inside out. And the knit liner is, you know, it's an ArmorCore™. That's a family name for Mechanix Wear. We have ArmorCore cut liners and we have ArmorCore needle stick protection.

You know, this is the pinnacle of that category for us, Max Cut, and the highest degree of needle stick protection that we can offer with a single layer. So yeah, starting from the inside and working our way out, you know, nothing has been spared in the quest for comfort and dexterity and wearability, like you mentioned.

So, you know, if a guy's not wearing the glove, it's not doing him any good. So, you know, we try to make our product so the guys don't have to take them off or don't want to take them off.

TONI NEARY: It's amazing. And I just continue to be impressed by your organization, the thoughtfulness that goes into the design and innovation and use of your product.

And I just can't thank you enough for the work that you're doing to protect hands around the world. But also thank you again for joining us here today. It was so great hanging out with Kenny today, the godfather of Mechanix Wear gloves, and your creative genius and passion for the industry is second to none. If you've enjoyed this conversation as much as I have, please make sure to subscribe to our channel so you don't miss any upcoming episodes.

To find out more about Max Cut gloves, please visit www.mscdirect.com/mechanixwear. Thanks so much and we'll see you next time on Tooling Up.

Narrator: Want more insights and ideas to improve the efficiency and productivity of your operations? Check out the Tooling Up video playlist to hear tips that can take your company to the next level. And subscribe to our channel so you won't miss out.