The Rider
Well-known member
I snapped a photo of this sign on the back of a truck heading north on I-355 this morning on my way to the office:
Future Home of SK Tools...
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SMKS
Well-known member
If that's true, than I guess Ideal is building a new factory for SK, not integrating the brand into their other facilities.
Also, it seems to point towards the brand remaining made in the USA.
Also, it seems to point towards the brand remaining made in the USA.
tonydanzah
Well-known member
sycamore is going to be a long drive for some of those workers.
This is good news... soetimes when you want to upgrade manufacturing its cheaper to build a fresh location than to try and retro an old outdated location.
12 weeks... wow.
Very good news. Big place to be built in 3 months!
From the ideal site I quote:
"Loyal customers can count on the SK brand being re-energized under IDEAL ownership as the premier 'Made in USA' line of professional tools."
"IDEAL intends to sell SK Hand Tools' portfolio of nearly 4000 tools under the SK® brand throughout the automotive and industrial channels of distribution."
I'm glad that they're full of good intentions. It is a start in the right direction, as opposed to a chop shop or bleed the name dry strategy. I'm very curious how they intend on selling the SK 4000 tool catalog. It was my understanding that they were getting the SK name only, not any tooling. So they either get to make tooling to make replica's or design new tools to do the same jobs. Either way as an SK enthusiast I'm happy that they are at least going to make a stab at getting them back on track.
From the ideal site I quote:
"Loyal customers can count on the SK brand being re-energized under IDEAL ownership as the premier 'Made in USA' line of professional tools."
"IDEAL intends to sell SK Hand Tools' portfolio of nearly 4000 tools under the SK® brand throughout the automotive and industrial channels of distribution."
I'm glad that they're full of good intentions. It is a start in the right direction, as opposed to a chop shop or bleed the name dry strategy. I'm very curious how they intend on selling the SK 4000 tool catalog. It was my understanding that they were getting the SK name only, not any tooling. So they either get to make tooling to make replica's or design new tools to do the same jobs. Either way as an SK enthusiast I'm happy that they are at least going to make a stab at getting them back on track.
TheGrooveking
Well-known member
I thought I saw that this morning going Northbound on 355, I was Southbound so it went by in a flash. Great to see.
TheGrooveking
TheGrooveking
dr_clyde
Well-known member
My faith in SK has been slightly rekindled. I might be more inclined to buy some more SK stuff now. We'll see how it all comes out.
mooman
Well-known member
I think that was the idea......no union!
blue dog
Banned
128,000 sq ft in 3 months, i would hate to be that project manager and i hope the contractor does not have a completion penalty clause. I will watch this one closely.
mrholeshot
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Thats really great news for me. I love SK tools. Much better option for me than Snap-On. That is if the quality stays like it was but I have a feeling it may be better and more expansive. I'm so glad they didn't go out of the country
SK Hand Tools
1600 S. Prairie Drive - Sycamore, IL
Begin Date: October 2010
Estimated Completion Date: January 2011
Architect: Kwasek Architects
Square Footage: 128,000
New manufacturing facility for the makers of hand tools. This is a fast tracked project to be completed in 12 short weeks using an integrated project delivery solution
highland512
Well-known member
krusinski will most likely build a cold dark shell or maybee get it ready for production lines either way 12 weeks would be no big deal.
Just what I was thinking!!!
djb2
Well-known member
12 weeks isn't unreasonable for a building shell.
They likely don't require anything special. Just a big, open box. The architects were likely picked because they have done many similar buildings, know the suppliers and have the construction order finely tuned in their project management software.
And it's not like there is a shortage of labor or a run on building supplies. Everyone delivering materials will have it there as soon as allowed, so that they can issue the invoice.
Hopefully it will be manufacturing, rather than just a warehouse for imported tools.
They likely don't require anything special. Just a big, open box. The architects were likely picked because they have done many similar buildings, know the suppliers and have the construction order finely tuned in their project management software.
And it's not like there is a shortage of labor or a run on building supplies. Everyone delivering materials will have it there as soon as allowed, so that they can issue the invoice.
Hopefully it will be manufacturing, rather than just a warehouse for imported tools.
TheGrooveking
Well-known member
I am very happy just on the fact that it is more manufacturing, especially of quality tools in the United States! Eat that China!
TheGrooveking
TheGrooveking
toolnut
Well-known member
Excellent news!!
mrholeshot
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We have about 10 Super Wal-Marts in my area. They cleared ground and had one open doing business in 22 days. Mind blowing
comedyman809
Well-known member
im sure after all the years of building buildings...it isnt that hard to get a big building up and running in 12 weeks!!!!
this general contractor is probably a huge company, and will employ probably hundreds of men to get it done, and im sure they can get the inspectors in and out asap.
it can be done.
i wonder if they going to use holmes on holmes to help!!!!!! jk
this general contractor is probably a huge company, and will employ probably hundreds of men to get it done, and im sure they can get the inspectors in and out asap.
it can be done.
i wonder if they going to use holmes on holmes to help!!!!!! jk
comedyman809
Well-known member
now here is my question.......
is that sign on the road a mobile advertisement or a sign being delivered to the construction site?
is that sign on the road a mobile advertisement or a sign being delivered to the construction site?
warmpancakes
Well-known member
Building might be built but theres no way they will be in production in 12 weeks, concrete wont be cured that quick
Theloniousmonk
Well-known member
Could it be that the "new" building is corp. offices and distribution/logistics only?
And I don't know about the areas around you guys, but we have plenty of 100+ sqft. warehouse boxes sitting empty in our area, ripe for retrofitting/remodeling to suit the needs of the new occupant.
And I don't know about the areas around you guys, but we have plenty of 100+ sqft. warehouse boxes sitting empty in our area, ripe for retrofitting/remodeling to suit the needs of the new occupant.
warmpancakes
Well-known member
More tax breaks when you build new and you dont have to deal with the contamination of old locations
Bigpigdave
Well-known member
I'm guessing they will use pre-cast concrete wall sections. The Cat Logistics facility that served my old work place was built that way as are, I believe, most new Walmarts. Very fast construction.
Thanks, Dave
Thanks, Dave
mrholeshot
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It' incredible how quickly things can be built now. It happens so fast sometimes I leave the house after not going down Hwy 501 going into Myrtle beach and I have to do a double take as there is a new building up that wasn't there 2 weeks earlier. They built a gas station/conv store in front of my local Wally world and it seemed like it just popped up one day. I have one of my sons who installs metal roofs in Columbia SC and he told me on many of the sites they will have the building wired before the roof ever goes on. As his crew installs the roof the people laying the floor and staying up with the roof. He said it's a very organized system that is timed out to the hour.
Not to be a stickler but if they had good intentions they would have kept the chicago facilities operating and kept the employees where they were like they have been since the 1900s.
You can say it was to escape the evil union but those guys who were working prior to the bankruptcy were making **** for pay. $14/hr and no healthcare is a joke. I really do feel for those people, they didnt deserve that.
trackwelder
Well-known member
Like someone said above, it could be that ideal did not want to buy the former plant due to containments. They did quite a bit of chrome plating and I would assume that byproducts have been spilled.
Wakefield
Well-known member
If they did not buy the old factory,could they still have bought some of the machine tool stuff inside? I thought I saw somewhere that it was the health insurance co. that pulled the plug on the workers' health insurance plan.
dankicksass
Well-known member
Ideal has been taking their sweet time outfitting their new building in my town, no idea what they plan on doing there though.
from what i understood they passed on all the machinery as well as the property. Essentially they simply purchased a brand, may as well call it Ideal professional tools.
It will be interesting seeing what they do with it but its still the end of an era.
RAYJAY
Well-known member
Seriously, can a company like Ideal set up a new automated tool manufacturing factory in the US with a minimum of manual labor?
Is the economics there to produce top shelf quality AND get the economies of scale with a modern state of the art factory?
SK went from Sherman Klove to Wayne to Dresser and Facom. I sure hope this isn't going to be simply a Chinese rebranding/distribution warehouse. (ex. Thorsen)
Is the economics there to produce top shelf quality AND get the economies of scale with a modern state of the art factory?
SK went from Sherman Klove to Wayne to Dresser and Facom. I sure hope this isn't going to be simply a Chinese rebranding/distribution warehouse. (ex. Thorsen)
There is no way a manufacturing facility can be built in 3 months. It is more like a distribution center. The fact that Ideal did not buy the SK toolings make it likely a distribution center. It take awhile to make tooling die. It would take longer than 3 months just to get OSHA approval for a manufacturing facility containing dangerous chemicals and safty issue. It is likely a distribution center for rebranded SK tools.
lwlobo
Well-known member
It appears to me (and my job is in manufacturing development) they're going to build a new tool manufacturing factory. God bless them, I say! I'd be surprised if they're shipping tools from that plant in less than 6 months, probably more like a year. They may contract with the old plant to make tools in the meantime. If it was a poorly run old school company (very possible) they may have months and months of inventory to burn first.
Building a new factory has so many advantages. It's too bad for the old workforce, but they'll probably keep some of the best employees and build a more successful and productive work culture in the new place. You can do things right from the beginning, instead of taking years and years of fighting "this is how we've always done it."
Building a new factory has so many advantages. It's too bad for the old workforce, but they'll probably keep some of the best employees and build a more successful and productive work culture in the new place. You can do things right from the beginning, instead of taking years and years of fighting "this is how we've always done it."
beelsr
Well-known member
the 3 months is for the shell. the quotes are from the construction people's websites - all they're doing is the shell.
it's not in the best place for a distro facility - those get built at intersections of interstates, not 20-40 miles away (those miles add up fast).
if they are building a new plant, moving it away from chicago was the best thing they could do. sears could have moved to texas instead of hoffman estates but kept it local so all the same people could keep their jobs - the same people who were crappy at running the company.
i did an mba class analysis on sears in the early 90s. sears has had some awesome ideas over the years, just recently: dean whitter, coldwell banker, allstate insurance, discover card and they sold them off because they focused on the retail. they could be GE but sold all the profitable stuff away and then let wal-mart out retail the hell out of them by half-hearted attempts at non-mall stores and, basically, ignoring them. then they kept all the same people because hoffman estates gave them the land. i think they've gotten a couple hundred million in tax breaks over the past 20 years to stay (which means yeah, people got to keep their jobs but EVERYONE gets to pay 200 million for those 5000 jobs). when kmart is your knight in shining armor, you know you haven't been doing a good job.
it's not in the best place for a distro facility - those get built at intersections of interstates, not 20-40 miles away (those miles add up fast).
if they are building a new plant, moving it away from chicago was the best thing they could do. sears could have moved to texas instead of hoffman estates but kept it local so all the same people could keep their jobs - the same people who were crappy at running the company.
i did an mba class analysis on sears in the early 90s. sears has had some awesome ideas over the years, just recently: dean whitter, coldwell banker, allstate insurance, discover card and they sold them off because they focused on the retail. they could be GE but sold all the profitable stuff away and then let wal-mart out retail the hell out of them by half-hearted attempts at non-mall stores and, basically, ignoring them. then they kept all the same people because hoffman estates gave them the land. i think they've gotten a couple hundred million in tax breaks over the past 20 years to stay (which means yeah, people got to keep their jobs but EVERYONE gets to pay 200 million for those 5000 jobs). when kmart is your knight in shining armor, you know you haven't been doing a good job.
plinker
Well-known member
I was under the impression that Ideal bought the Name and thetooling