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Tool Tolerances and Fitment

Ohio Andy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 31, 2024
Messages
2,272
Location
Columbus, Ohio
No
Didn't mean to offend you. You mentioned you didn't think much of the Snap On manufacturing video but couldn't really say why and I was just trying to help.

GJ often talks about factories but when the subject comes up, I'm always left with the impression that few here have ever really stepped foot in one, let alone spent the last 34yrs in one as I have.

Sorry the video I found didn't fit your narrative.

Adam
No, I liked your video
 
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2ndGearRubber

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 24, 2014
Messages
14,185
Location
Pittsburgh
Yes sir. Spot on.

Correct. This is their livelihood. So they maintain their equipment. As machines wear, quality falls off and revenue suffers. So there's a point at which, the cost to maintain or replace equipment is justified.

I think the part of this conversation that's going unsaid is, in the US when your quality fades, your name is tarnished, and that could begin your company's death spiral (SK?). In China, or Taiwan, they produce tools to get a contract with a western distributor. First articles are tested and inspected. Either intentionally or unintentionally, quality starts to slip, returns increase eventually. Could be wear, could be worker fatigue, could be intentional process/material substitution. The distributor, annoyed with their supplier, simply finds a new supplier and creates a new brand. The original supplier, anonymous to the end user, can re-tool and try again, no harm no foul. And the cycle continues. There's always another greedy distributor looking to cash in on asian made goods.

Thanks, that's what I sort of assumed. If a standard is required, it's what's required. None of this "use a MIG to weld dissimilar steels but we ran out of gas" type antics.

With sockets as an example, how many factories do we really think are tooled up right now to make sockets in bulk worldwide for distribution quantities? In the US you're talking SBD, Cornwell, Snap On, Wright..... am I forgetting anybody? Maybe in Asia you're talking a couple dozen? My gut has always been the end seller, say autozone, picks a line out of a catalog. Eventually they keep trying to shave the costs, rebrand, add new features, and jump around between suppliers. I'd find it tough to hide behind making a ****** product, or offering something objectively bad, in a biz where your corporate buyers don't have 1000 options to pick from.

My guess is just like brake parts, when you go to Infar or whoever they sell you on good/better/best option.
 
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