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August 10, 2023
APPLETON – Miller Electric – a manufacturer of Miller® brand arc welding equipment – looks to support the men and women in the military with its new Digital Infinity Series helmet.
For every Honor™ helmet sold, Miller will donate $10 to Semper Fi & America’s Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to wounded, critically ill and injured members of the U.S. armed forces and their families.
Katie Kleman, product manager of head and face welding accessories and cutting division, said the helmet – which took about two years to create/design – has already outperformed the top graphic helmets in the two months it’s been available for purchase.
Kleman said the helmet graphic was created to honor all branches of the armed forces.
“We’ve done some in the past that are targeted at different branches of the military, but felt like the need to honor everyone who serves our country was out there,” she said.
Klemen said helmet graphics are a fun way to be able to express yourself in the welding world.
“By purchasing this helmet, customers not only receive a top-of-the-line welding helmet, but they also get the satisfaction of supporting our nation’s heroes and their families,” she said.
Giving back
Kleman said in today’s world, many businesses are striving to use their platform to give back and highlight the organizations/causes they care about.
“You choose organizations to follow that are close to you,” she said. “I feel like Miller has great brand recognition. Not only within the welding-specific marketplace but as a highly accredited business in the world.”
Kleman said Miller sees drawing awareness and recognition to the armed forces as a good thing.
“I think we’d be apt to do that,” she said. “It goes to show we support and honor everything our military does for us in our country. The recognition and respect the brand has in the marketplace makes me proud to work here.”
Helmet capabilities
Kleman said the Honor helmet has a 13.4-square-inch viewing area for maximum visibility and is integrated with advanced helmet technologies, including:
ClearLight 2.0 Lens technology – Advanced, high-definition optics for the most realistic view that’s clearer and brighter, before, during and after every weld.X-Mode™ technology – Eliminates interference from sunlight and out-of-position welding angles.InfoTrack™ 2.0 technology – Tracks arc time and arc count to help operations plan, track and increase productivity.AutoSense™ technology – Automatically sets the helmet sensitivity by sensing the user’s environment.Memory function – Allows users to easily switch between two preset memory settings.
Overall, Kleman said ultimately, this means the more a welder can see, the more productive that welder is going to be.
“It’s always fun to go into the field and talk with end users who are used to a typical passive lens, non-digital style welding helmet and then you hand them one of the newest helmets from Miller, or even something from the last five or 10 years – watching the face of ‘holy cow, you can see everything’ is always cool,’” she said. “It makes work fun.”
Deciding on the design
Kleman said the design decision process for a helmet graphic is long and starts with an internal brainstorm – which could stem from someone inside Miller or an external customer’s feedback.
As part of that brainstorming session, Kleman said the Miller team makes decisions on focus and color scheme and sends it to Nick Pastura – a designer who does a lot of projects within NASCAR and the motorsports realm.
A portion of each Honor helmet purchase is donated to Semper Fi & America’s Fund, a nonprofit that helps support wounded, critically ill and injured members of the U.S. armed forces and their families through the Semper Fi & America’s Fund. Photo Courtesy of Miller Electric
“He has a lot of the creative genius of helmet graphics,” she said. “I send him a mood board of sorts, and he comes back with a fully assembled design.”
Past initiatives
Kleman said Miller has created other charitable helmet designs in the past.
“We’ve run a POW graphic before and have donated to an organization similar to (Semper Fi and America Fund),” she said. “It was important we found a foundation that was highly rated and the dollars are used to aid those veterans.”
As the helmet focuses on all branches of the military, so too, Kleman said, does Semper Fi & America’s Fund – making it a great partner organization in the promotion.
Kleman said so far, the campaign is getting great feedback and interest.
“We have tons of great feedback from end users and our distributor partners that the graphic itself is cool,” she said. “It’s a slick-looking helmet.”
Though, Kleman said the donation aspect of the helmet is getting the most attention – “in a positive way.”
She said as long as the sales are there, the helmet will be available for purchase.
“We don’t put end dates on graphics,” she said. “We’ll reevaluate sales every so often and then determine if a graphic’s performance slows down – it might be time to rotate it out and get something new in but from the initial launch.”
Kleman said there’s a lot of support for the military within the welding community, and their helmets are certainly a sign of that.
However, she said if the opportunity presents itself, Miller is always willing to support or look into other worthy causes.
“If there’s a nonprofit or foundation that needs support and fits along with our values, our company values, nothing is ever off the table,” she said.
