I'm barely old enough to remember when Toyota was junk and Cadillac was one of the best mass-produced car brands out there exceeding BMW, Porsche and Benz in the 1960s.
I can tell you right now very confidently that it's about the brand. Toyota and Cadillac are the same companies they were in 1963. They weren't re-made or resurrected. There is a continuous design and production time-line from 1963 to the present. The only real difference between Toyota and Cadillac is that Toyota always tries to make and sell maximum numbers of cars that people will want while Cadillac is, well, it's Cadillac. You'd be hard pressed to find someone under the age of 25 who is going to be interested in buying a Sedan DeVille during their lifetime.
Basic mechanic's tools are not high-tech and they do not require much innovation or technology to manufacture them. Basic hand tools are not patentable and are therefore easily reverse-engineered and cloned. With the exception of certain features such as the quick-release ratchet, there is nothing mysterious about manufacturing very high quality tools. It is a very mature industry and there is really no barrier for any company to enter into the tool business.
That said, there is nothing stopping HF or Sears from going to a competent Chinese manufacturer (including Danaher) and asking for samples of Snap-On quality hand tools. I'm am pretty sure Danaher has the know-how to make tools of this quality and I am also pretty sure that there are Chinese companies out there also capable of doing this.
They don't need to make these claims, either. Serendipitous discovery of the quality will spread the word soon enough. I believe HF is slowly moving towards this brand model already. Sears is at a huge disadvantage because of the gap created currently between US and Chinese manufacturing quality, perceived or real or otherwise.
HF can pull this off. But, changing a brand image takes years and I think they are taking the right approach. Hand tools are very simple implements. They are tangible and they either work or they don't. Mark my words but you will see a silky-smooth 72T-80T HF ratchet being introduced sooner rather than later. You will also see things like very high quality wrenches and screwdrivers. We already see very highly polished wrenches which are very good knock-offs of the real thing now. It's only a matter of time before they tell the manufacturer to step-up the raw material quality, the post-manufacturing quality control and they will let the rest take care of itself. Oh yes, and you will probably see a new "brand" created within the HF brand.
I've studied Starbucks carefully. The cost of the coffee is literally pennies while the price of a cup of some crapacino latte whip can be $5. I make the same expresso at home (10 shots) for exactly $0.26 using french roast from Costco and a stove-top expresso maker from Ikea. I weighed out the ingredients and figured it out that 5 shots costs about $0.13. I'm guessing Starbucks gets it for much cheaper than I can at Costco.
My point is, the cost for HF to step up the raw material quality of a wrench or ratchet is a very minuscule percentage of the cost of the goods. The principal cost is in the distribution and labor.
There are plenty of people who say they will only by US or European tools. That's probably a safe thing to do today at this instance in time. But, it probably will be impractical in the future. It may even be impossible. TVs are no longer made here and neither are Levis Jeans. I don't think there are many shoes still made in the US with the exception of Allen-Edmonds and maybe some New Balance. I think it is just a matter of time before most, if not all tool manufacturing is moved offshore.
Lastly, if you want a glimpse at the offshore (Chinese) wholesale distribution infrastructure, check out alibaba. The link I provided does a generic search for "ratchet" in tools. Have fun traversing this site. It's the largest wholesale distributor site in China. Also, notice that it's all composed in perfect English. You can find almost anything made offshore (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India, etc.) there.
I can tell you right now very confidently that it's about the brand. Toyota and Cadillac are the same companies they were in 1963. They weren't re-made or resurrected. There is a continuous design and production time-line from 1963 to the present. The only real difference between Toyota and Cadillac is that Toyota always tries to make and sell maximum numbers of cars that people will want while Cadillac is, well, it's Cadillac. You'd be hard pressed to find someone under the age of 25 who is going to be interested in buying a Sedan DeVille during their lifetime.
Basic mechanic's tools are not high-tech and they do not require much innovation or technology to manufacture them. Basic hand tools are not patentable and are therefore easily reverse-engineered and cloned. With the exception of certain features such as the quick-release ratchet, there is nothing mysterious about manufacturing very high quality tools. It is a very mature industry and there is really no barrier for any company to enter into the tool business.
That said, there is nothing stopping HF or Sears from going to a competent Chinese manufacturer (including Danaher) and asking for samples of Snap-On quality hand tools. I'm am pretty sure Danaher has the know-how to make tools of this quality and I am also pretty sure that there are Chinese companies out there also capable of doing this.
They don't need to make these claims, either. Serendipitous discovery of the quality will spread the word soon enough. I believe HF is slowly moving towards this brand model already. Sears is at a huge disadvantage because of the gap created currently between US and Chinese manufacturing quality, perceived or real or otherwise.
HF can pull this off. But, changing a brand image takes years and I think they are taking the right approach. Hand tools are very simple implements. They are tangible and they either work or they don't. Mark my words but you will see a silky-smooth 72T-80T HF ratchet being introduced sooner rather than later. You will also see things like very high quality wrenches and screwdrivers. We already see very highly polished wrenches which are very good knock-offs of the real thing now. It's only a matter of time before they tell the manufacturer to step-up the raw material quality, the post-manufacturing quality control and they will let the rest take care of itself. Oh yes, and you will probably see a new "brand" created within the HF brand.
I've studied Starbucks carefully. The cost of the coffee is literally pennies while the price of a cup of some crapacino latte whip can be $5. I make the same expresso at home (10 shots) for exactly $0.26 using french roast from Costco and a stove-top expresso maker from Ikea. I weighed out the ingredients and figured it out that 5 shots costs about $0.13. I'm guessing Starbucks gets it for much cheaper than I can at Costco.
My point is, the cost for HF to step up the raw material quality of a wrench or ratchet is a very minuscule percentage of the cost of the goods. The principal cost is in the distribution and labor.
There are plenty of people who say they will only by US or European tools. That's probably a safe thing to do today at this instance in time. But, it probably will be impractical in the future. It may even be impossible. TVs are no longer made here and neither are Levis Jeans. I don't think there are many shoes still made in the US with the exception of Allen-Edmonds and maybe some New Balance. I think it is just a matter of time before most, if not all tool manufacturing is moved offshore.
Lastly, if you want a glimpse at the offshore (Chinese) wholesale distribution infrastructure, check out alibaba. The link I provided does a generic search for "ratchet" in tools. Have fun traversing this site. It's the largest wholesale distributor site in China. Also, notice that it's all composed in perfect English. You can find almost anything made offshore (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India, etc.) there.
) and have mastered stealth technology. They can and do make Snap on quality tools. They would be stupid however to try and sell them in the United States in an already crowded market (snappy, mac, matco, craftsman etc...). Their advantage lies in the fact that have little to no environmental restrictions, a huge population of people who are dirt poor (cant read, cant write, have never seen a school etc...). This gives them the power of a cheep and stupid workforce. They will work in unsafe conditions, for little pay and they will be happy to do it! Just like Americans around the industrial revolution when we undercut the Euros!!! They can come to market with a cheap product of marginal quality for the most part, have little to no competition and reap the rewards. The **** did it first...and it worked until their quality creeped up and their workforce smartened up and the next thing you knew...they were the same price and quality as American goods. The same will happen to the Chinese eventually. We Americans may even be able to see it...if our country doesn't collapse first.
). Not low-profit things that land on consumer shelves. And U.S. manufacturing is actually really healthy - it outproduces China by 40% and accounts for almost 20% of global manufacturing. Jobs have decreased, but productivity has increased. That is because U.S. manufacturers use better automation technology to decrease labor costs. AND most manufacturing (like 60% or so) in China is owned by foreign capital (again, mostly U.S. firms). So a lot of the money flows back to the U.S. anyways. 
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