Made in SROV?

[pfbz]

Bought some inexpensive Wiha pliers. Their "basic" series. They look nicely made, and say "Made in SROV"

I know some Wiha's are made in the Czech Republic, and saw mention of some now being made in Vietnam.

Anybody know what SROV stands for??

 

[tonydanzah]

Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

 

[Zrexxer]

Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

 

[Mike83]

Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Congratulations on your purchase lol.

Beat me to it!

 

[Fedwrench]

I went to Wiha's website and at the top there is a blurb at the top of the page just below their name that reads "Manufacturing Quality Tools for Over 60 Years Production in Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Vietnam"

Vietnam When did that happen? My Wiha tools all have Germany stamped on them. I guess I'll scratch them off of my Christmas list.

 

[Jononon]

Vietnam When did that happen?

2006.

My Wiha tools all have Germany stamped on them. I guess I'll scratch them off of my Christmas list.

Are they all screwdrivers? The vast majority of Wiha drive tools as sold by Wiha Germany* are made in Germany, but their pliers are forged in Vietnam with the professional line being assembled in Poland.

*Important caveat: Wihatools.com is inexplicably allowed to market other tools as Wiha

 

[Jononon]

I know some Wiha's are made in the Czech Republic

That's Wera (and Hazet.)

 

[Monte]

Do you have a pic of the pliers with the COO sticker ??

Some older pliers were made in germany, to my knowledge supplied by Orbis
I guess they then started their own production a while ago in Vietnam. The "Inomic" pliers and screwdrivers are from germany though.


old Wiha:

Orbis:

New Wiha:

more new Wiha:

 

[Jononon]

The "Inomic" pliers...are from germany

Are you sure? They don't carry 'Made in Germany' markings, I was under the impression they're assembled in Poland.

Edited to add: Is it just me or is that new logo really tacky?

 

[Monte]

mine says "made in germany"

i like the old logo better too.....

 

[pfbz]

This is the set etched "Made in SROV"...

 

[american lockpicker]

Hmm Vietnam I don't think I've ever encountered anything made their before. How well are workers treated there, are they paid well(get benefits, retirement plans, etc.) and whats the quality like?

 

[Zrexxer]

Hmm Vietnam I don't think I've ever encountered anything made their before.

Make all your own clothes, do you?

 

[american lockpicker]

Make all your own clothes, do you?

My clothes are made here, Mexico, Bagledesh, Israel and, Jordon.

 

[ourkid2000]

I was on Wiha's website a few days ago and all of the pliers I looked at looked very different from the ones in my couple year old Wiha catalog.

Quite frankly, they looked like **** in comparison to the older ones. They look cheap to me.......I knew something was up.

 

[plinker]

From what I read on a firearms board a few years ago we (the USA) would be far better off doing trade with Vietnam than the china.

 

[JayL]

I got some Mechanix Fast Fit gloves before that were Made in Vietnam.

I wonder how the pliers OP posted will hold but these look good.

 

[ourkid2000]

Top pic.....older style. Bottom pic, newer style....

The new ones just look cheap to my eye.

 

[Fedwrench]

I know this is off topic but, a lot of the tactical nylon gear sold by Blackhawk is made in Vietnam. Making pouches, vests, and packs is different than tools but, there's a lot of Blackhawk nylon in use out there.

 

[Jononon]

mine says "made in germany"

I'm pleased to see that, I sit corrected. There's no COO anywhere on my ESD safe pair, presumably some component is imported.

 

[Jononon]

Top pic.....older style. Bottom pic, newer style....

The new ones just look cheap to my eye.

The top ones are made 'for' Wiha in Italy, the bottom 'by' Wiha in Germany.

 

[rocco]

Wiha Basic i just bought

 

[Monte]

I'm pleased to see that, I sit corrected. There's no COO anywhere on my ESD safe pair, presumably some component is imported.

probably the new version of the Inomic pliers with the forged head and red/black handle could have a part from overseas
The VDE/insulated version with MIM head is made in Schonach/Germany as well as the old version of the red/black handle mechanics Inomic pliers with the MIM heads.

 

[lbgradwell]

I picked up the 4-piece set of SoftFinish Robertson screwdrivers yesterday as Wiha is currently featuring some items at 35% off... Nice deal and Made in Germany.

I also wanted these dykes, but even though the picture says Made in Germany, the pair I declined was Made in SROV.

I also grabbed a set of German-made PoziDriv insert bits; I don't encounter PoziDriv often enough to warrant real drivers, but I will use the bits in my Wera bit driver...

 

[SocketDeviler]

Digging up an old thread.

Just received these pliers that I ordered from Amazon for $13.00. I noted that the specs did not mention "Made in Germany" but I gave 'em a shot since all of my Wiha tools are German made...well there were until now.

They strike me as fine for the price but of noticeably lesser quality than the German made tools. Hence the "Basic" line I guess. Is Wiha Basic their version of Evolv?

Not that all my tools are US and German made but I would have probably purchased something else had I known about the COO. For what it's worth they were at least designed in Germany and packaged in USA.

I just noted that the stock photo does not show "Made in SROV" and unlike mine the stock photo shows a DIN rating on the handle.

 

[Monte]

Digging up an old thread.

You could buy Knipex, NWS, Hazet, Stahlwille etc. if you want "made in Germany"

 

[iroc409]

Hmm Vietnam I don't think I've ever encountered anything made their before. How well are workers treated there, are they paid well(get benefits, retirement plans, etc.) and whats the quality like?

I've read that coastal China is becoming too expensive for production (citizens want a better life, etc). So, manufacturers have actually been "outsourcing" traditional Chinese manufacturing for cheaper inland China and to Viet Nam.

Viet Nam may become the new "Made In China".

 

[SocketDeviler]

You could buy Knipex, NWS, Hazet, Stahlwille etc. if you want "made in Germany"

Oh, I know. I was just making a point that I was unaware that certain Wera tools were made in Vietnam. I'm just now going to assume, no matter what company it is, that if they don't "proudly" state the country of origin in the specs/description then it's probably made in China, Vietnam, India, etc...

 

[Monte]

Oh, I know. I was just making a point that I was unaware that certain Wiha tools were made in Vietnam. I'm just now going to assume, no matter what company it is, that if they don't "proudly" state the country of origin in the specs/description then it's probably made in China, Vietnam, India, etc...

fixed it

yeah without COO = offshore....

 

[sk farmer]

Oh, I know. I was just making a point that I was unaware that certain Wera tools were made in Vietnam. I'm just now going to assume, no matter what company it is, that if they don't "proudly" state the country of origin in the specs/description then it's probably made in China, Vietnam, India, etc...

unless it is a dual 80..............






sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[HandyManny]

I know this is off topic but, a lot of the tactical nylon gear sold by Blackhawk is made in Vietnam. Making pouches, vests, and packs is different than tools but, there's a lot of Blackhawk nylon in use out there.

FYI, you would be happy to hear that Blackhawk has recently begun a huge push to bring back all production to USA. I'm not into tactical stuff, but I am a lifelong competition shooter, reloader, and hunter,and NRA member. So being within the gun culture I get exposed to this info.

I love companies who bring back or keep production here in the USA. But that's not enough for me. It doesn't mean jack squat if the quality is ******. The quality still has to be worthy of being labled MADE IN USA.

 

[HandyManny]

The new trend in German manufacturing is outsourcing to Poland.

 

[Monte]

The new trend in German manufacturing is outsourcing to Poland.

In american manufacturing too

 

[american lockpicker]

The new trend in German manufacturing is outsourcing to Poland.

And Mexico and China...

 

[Monte]

Mexico ? Who ?

 

[american lockpicker]

Mexico ? Who ?

Braun, Rowenta, and Volkswagen.

 

[Monte]

Braun, Rowenta, and Volkswagen.

ahh i thought about something important, like tool related stuff

btw. VW produces cars in Mexico since 1967...

 

[honcho]

From my reading of Garage Journal posts, many folks want their tools of high quality and fair prices. I want that and I'd like to support fair trade with countries who treat their people, workers and the environment reasonably well. There are lots of ways to measure those things but a very cursory google search revealed the following items. Please note this just cherry picks countries that whose products are talked about here on GJ and is not all inclusive. Just a bit of information to think about

Democratic Government

Well, one listing rates Vietnam as worse than China in terms of Democratic government 140th for Vietnam, 136 for China (By the way, USA is 17th, Taiwan is 36th, Mexico is 50th, Germany is 14th, Canada is 9th, Japan is 22nd)

Worker Rights

Free (best Rating) Canada, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia

Mostly Free USA, Japan, Taiwan, India

Partly Free Mexico

Repressive China

Very Repressive Vietnam

Environmental Rankings (only from ten worst list) and for countries like USA, Australia and Japan it's more about our overall consumption of energy than the polluting nature of our industries. China and India are both prolific energy consumers and very dirty manufacturers, Mexico's industries are dirty and Brazil is consuming the Amazon basin in a destructive way.


Australia
India
Mexico
Japan
China
United States
Brazil

 

[american lockpicker]

btw. VW produces cars in Mexico since 1967...

Interesting. I assumed it was some recent(past decade or so) NAFTA thing.

 

[WHT]

Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Congratulations on your purchase lol.

Beat me to it!

Yes, use them with pride.