More Craftsman Offshoring

[pipsters]

and lets face it...hand tools are probaly not the hardest thing in the world to manufacture or design for that matter.

Even if they were, China and Taiwan have been making advanced electronics for decades.

 

[HandyManny]

SK .... USED to make some craftsman stuff...
damn good stuff it was to

Very true. In fact they still made a few things up until recently, not sure about the new S-K though. I even recall in the past seeing a limited number of S-K branded hand tools at some Sears stores from time to time.

There are, or were as of a couple years ago, about 30 different USA manufacturers of domestic hand tools for the Craftsman line. For some odd reason most people think only Danaher makes their tools.

 

[GoBlue]

Even if they were, China and Taiwan have been making advanced electronics for decades.

Correct, my point was not to say...hey look...even the chinese can make em...just to say that a lot of people on this board seem to think there are only one or two companys capable of making a decent hand tool. Snap on and Mac quality tools are available in china. They for the most just choose not to sell them here and compete in an already crowded market. They instead choose to sell a lower price point unit where they have an advantage due to their environmental laws and cheaper labor force. At least thats my take. My brother is an engineer for a domestic auto maker and has spent considerable time in china setting up tooling and assembly lines. According to him there are several lines of quality hand tools that we dont see in America made over there and provided to their skilled trades guys. If im not mistaken Snap-on has a presence in the far east markets. Not sure about Mac and Matco however but it wouldnt suprise me. I would like to know who the chinese consider to be their best tool makers...just out of curiosity.

 

[Notwerk]

Not sure about Mac and Matco however but it wouldnt suprise me. I would like to know who the chinese consider to be their best tool makers...just out of curiosity.

Being as Mac has outsourced plenty of tool production, I would think it would not be surprising at all to find lots of Mac-quality tools in the East. Of course, Mac quality tools are...Mac quality.

Taiwan certainly makes good quality tools. The Taiwan stuff that replaced the USA Kobalt tools is heads and shoulders better than what Lowes had previously stocked.

As far as quality goes, I think it comes to this: Brands don't generally outsource to increase quality. They outsource to cut costs and fatten margins. As such, they're looking for the lowest-priced product and not necessarily the highest quality. So, it comes as no surprise to me that much of what gets imported is garbage. It's being imported because it's cheap, not because it's good.

There may be very high-quality tools in other parts of the world, but if it costs as much to import as it would to produce domestically, what's the point? It's market forces (that's us, the buyers) and margins (that's our euphemism for greed) that ensure that we get flooded with crappy tools (and products in general). By and large, we get the cheapest stuff that China has to offer...and it's bad. Real bad. The domestic market probably keeps the good stuff (you see this with wine in other parts of the world, too).

My reasons for buying American have more to do with supporting our economy. I'm not above buying foreign-made tools, but I think there's value in supporting companies that keep jobs here. When I can afford it, I do. And I think there are some American brands that still build good tools at reasonable prices. Snap-on is out of this weekend warrior's budget, but Williams and Channellock (pliers) serve me very well, and -truthfully - are sometimes cheaper than their foreign-made counterparts.

Those new Kobalt ratchets are nice, but a Williams B-52 costs the same. It's USA-made, and it's a better ratchet. Husky (China) pliers are $2 cheaper than their Channellock counterparts. There's no comparison there. The Channellocks are much, much better.Easily worth the two measly bucks.

Yeah, Craftsman is outsourcing. But it's not like we don't have options. Be choosy and they'll get the message eventually. I hope.