As part of our 70th anniversary, we are sharing one PLASTON success story every month throughout the year. These stories show how our company has grown — driven by conviction, courage and perseverance. We begin with a story told by our Honorary President Roland Frei himself: how PLASTON received the contract for the now well-known Hilti tool cases.
“Traces are left by people who believe in an idea
and pursue it with persistence and success.”
and pursue it with persistence and success.”
This quote has accompanied me for many years. And hardly any story from PLASTON’s history reflects it better than that of the Hilti tool case. In 1966, PLASTON celebrated its 10th anniversary. We were still a young company yet already expanding for the fourth time.
Growth was part of our DNA
Around that time, Hilti informed us that it would be closing its own plastics laboratory. The plastics industry had reached a level of maturity where suppliers were able to deliver products that met Hilti’s demanding quality standards.
Hilti’s Head of Purchasing at the time, Mr. Küng, made my father Hans Frei aware of this step, adding: “Perhaps PLASTON could make use of some of the laboratory equipment.” At that point, we were already supplying Hilti with various technical plastic components, such as handles and motor housings made from reinforced polyamide. My father and I therefore visited the Hilti warehouse in Bendern, where Mr. Küng welcomed us.
Birth of an idea
We purchased a Heraeus drying cabinet to complement our own equipment. But during this visit, something else caught our attention: a large stack of red Hilti tool cases, which at that time were still made of sheet metal.
Spontaneously, my father said to Mr. Küng: “These cases could also be made of plastic.” His response was clear: “Forget it, Mr. Frei. We don’t want any additional problems with the cases.” On the drive home, I said just one sentence to my father: “I will sell Hilti a plastic tool case.”
Conviction requires persistence
What followed was a long journey. I was convinced that a plastic case would be clearly superior to a metal one: it wouldn’t rust, it wouldn’t rattle, it wouldn’t dent if dropped from scaffolding. It would be lighter and far more flexible in design.
Two years earlier, I had successfully completed my qualification as Industrial Master in Plastics Engineering at the RWTH Aachen University, as the only Swiss participant at the time. This gave me not only technical expertise, but also strong arguments.
I produced the first tool case prototypes using thermoforming and presented them at Hilti’s purchasing department. To demonstrate their robustness, I placed a prototype on the floor, jumped from a height of one meter and landed on it with my full weight. At the time, I was 29 years old, an artistic gymnast, and physically very fit.
The reaction was: impressed, but critical. Many questions followed: How would the case behave at –20 °C? What would happen to the tool inside if the case fell from three meters?
I couldn’t answer everything. My prototypes were either thermoformed or made from welded plastic panels. I was only able to fully convince them with a single injection-molded case sample.
At our own risk
After years of persuasion, Hilti finally awarded us a development contract — at our own risk. We were asked to develop a case that could hold a DX-100 tool including accessories.
But anyone who truly believes in an idea is not afraid to take risks. The first case was built. It was tested. And it passed even the toughest cold drop tests. The subsequent decision by Hilti’s corporate management to supply all products in a specially developed Hilti design case was both confirmation and a challenge for us.
Contract of a lifetime
After seven years of effort, the breakthrough finally came. On November 1, 1972, Hilti awarded us the contract of a lifetime: to produce 110,000 tool cases per year. Our response was clear:
we would do everything possible to deliver on time. This marked the beginning of a long-term partnership built on mutual respect. One that has shaped PLASTON to this day, and whose origins lie in a simple idea we firmly believed in.
we would do everything possible to deliver on time. This marked the beginning of a long-term partnership built on mutual respect. One that has shaped PLASTON to this day, and whose origins lie in a simple idea we firmly believed in.
Roland Frei
(Excerpt and retelling from the family chronicle and the book “Traces”)
P.S. After receiving the Hilti tool case order, PLASTON’s management team made a pact over a beer: if we won the contract, we would all grow beards. We kept our word — as the photo shows.