# Stanley Moving Production of Craftsman Wrenches Back to the US From China



## bill70j (May 16, 2019)

Stanley Black & Decker, which bought the Craftsman brand name from Sears in 2017, is investing $90million to open a plant in Fort Worth, employing 500 to make 10 million wrenches and ratchets and 50 million sockets, annually.

They also say they want to increase US-made Craftsman tools to 50% from 30% today.   Hope this will include Craftsman power tools, which IMO are terrible tools today.

Signs of a revival of what was once known as a quality tool brand.


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## markba633csi (May 16, 2019)

I wonder though if the price will go up to the point that people will buy other brands instead- we shall see


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## bill70j (May 16, 2019)

markba633csi said:


> I wonder though if the price will go up to the point that people will buy other brands instead- we shall see


Good point.  The article says "Robots and fast-forging presses will help boost output about 25% above the older machinery used to make Craftsman wrenches in China, helping keep production costs at the new plant in line with those in China....."  

So it sounds like they are at least trying to keep the prices low.    

(Don't know if this article is accessible without a subscription, but here is a link to it.)


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## cjtoombs (May 16, 2019)

I've been a bit worried about what would happen to the Craftsman brand.  The trend in recent years is for some hedge fund to buy up a well known and well regarded brand, move production to China and lower the quality of the product then sell them for big bucks while people still think the brand is good (I'm looking at you Delta and Crescent).  It's good to see that Craftsman may not go the way of the dodo.


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## woodtickgreg (May 16, 2019)

I see the lowes stores near me now carry a pretty full line of craftsman tools, and tool boxes. They reset the whole tool department to make room for all the stuff they brought in. Pretty cool to see craftsman tools still alive, I earned my living with them for many years.


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## Canus (May 16, 2019)

Even if the prices are slightly higher than they are now they will still be cheaper than Snap-on and Matco.


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## MikeInOr (May 16, 2019)

Stanley's upper end lines are Proto and Mac.

My father worked for Ingersoll Rand / Proto -> Stanley / Proto -> Stanley for 38 years.  I got to see a lot of the production of the socket division.

When I was a kid I lost so many lead weights fishing in the rocky Clackamas / Willamette that my father gave me Proto sockets to use instead of the expensive lead weights.


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## Ulma Doctor (May 16, 2019)

i, for the life of me, can't understand how you could ship  _ANYTHING_ half way around the world and NOT make it cheaper and better here


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## dulltool17 (May 16, 2019)

Ulma Doctor said:


> i, for the life of me, can't understand how you could ship  _ANYTHING_ half way around the world and NOT make it cheaper and better here


You aren't alone in that thought!


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## cjtoombs (May 16, 2019)

dulltool17 said:


> You aren't alone in that thought!



How many sockets can you get on a container ship?  Voyage probably costs a million dollars, but if you can haul 100 million sockets, that's a penny per for shipping.


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## Superburban (May 16, 2019)

cjtoombs said:


> How many sockets can you get on a container ship?  Voyage probably costs a million dollars, but if you can haul 100 million sockets, that's a penny per for shipping.


how about 20% that estimate! Costs more to ship a container across the US, then it does to get it from China. I'm sure this is from port city, to port city. Oceanic shipping is done by volume, not weight.









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I bet the steel tariffs may be a big factor. The advanced methods, along with better control of quality by keeping manufacturing in house, is another big factor. I read that most manufacturing in China, you have to share plans, methods, and technology with the Chinese government. Thats just part of the cost of doing business with a communist government.


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## ddickey (May 16, 2019)

Yeah shipping is cheap.


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## cjtoombs (May 16, 2019)

Yea, I've heard stories of Chinese companies making really good deals on parts, convincing the buyer to build more of their parts there, once they build all the parts, they assemble them and market the now marked down goods to compete with the original buyers goods.


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## WCraig (May 17, 2019)

No offense to anyone from that area, but why Fort Worth?

Craig


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## ddickey (May 17, 2019)

Just guessing but Texas is business friendly? Maybe Ft.Worth offered low property tax. Low cost of Electricity. Lots of factors I'm sure.


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## rwm (May 17, 2019)

Ulma Doctor said:


> i, for the life of me, can't understand how you could ship  _ANYTHING_ half way around the world and NOT make it cheaper and better here


OSHA
IRS
EPA
oh yeah...heath insurance.
R


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## vtcnc (May 17, 2019)

Ulma Doctor said:


> i, for the life of me, can't understand how you could ship  _ANYTHING_ half way around the world and NOT make it cheaper and better here


When you can ship a container of widgets around the world for about $1500, you would be tempted too. I'm not saying it's right, I agree with you, but the indirect costs of doing business are pretty much non-existent and bring many a manager over to the dark side.


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## vtcnc (May 17, 2019)

cjtoombs said:


> Yea, I've heard stories of Chinese companies making really good deals on parts, convincing the buyer to build more of their parts there, once they build all the parts, they assemble them and market the now marked down goods to compete with the original buyers goods.


Counterfeiting is the biggest risk and pretty much a guarantee for anyone considering outsourcing to China. It is unseen, unknown and inevitable. Beware.


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## Nogoingback (May 17, 2019)

WCraig said:


> No offense to anyone from that area, but why Fort Worth?
> 
> Craig




Because, unlike California, sockets don't cause cancer in Texas!


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## darkzero (May 17, 2019)

Funny that Sears sold the Craftsman brand to SB&D & later they tried to sue SB&D over some marketing crap.

Speaking of Sears, the "new" Sears has a new logo. I smell a lawsuit.


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## vtcnc (May 17, 2019)

darkzero said:


> Funny that Sears sold the Craftsman brand to SB&D & later they tried to sue SB&D over some marketing crap.
> 
> Speaking of Sears, the "new" Sears has a new logo. I smell a lawsuit.
> 
> ...


Huge difference Will...Sears' logo is farmhouse, airbnb's logo is an A-Frame.


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## darkzero (May 17, 2019)

vtcnc said:


> Huge difference Will...Sears' logo is farmhouse, airbnb's logo is an A-Frame.



Does that mean Sears will be renting out farm houses now?


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## kd4gij (May 17, 2019)

WCraig said:


> No offense to anyone from that area, but why Fort Worth?
> 
> Craig




Could be because there PROTO plant is near there


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## hman (May 17, 2019)

Both logos look like paper clips to me


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## vtcnc (May 18, 2019)

darkzero said:


> Does that mean Sears will be renting out farm houses now?


If they started selling houses out of a catalog again, that would be awesome.


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## markba633csi (May 18, 2019)

I hope my Lowes starts carrying Craftsman tools,  Orchard Supply just closed (owned by Lowes) and they used to carry them
M


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## darkzero (May 18, 2019)

markba633csi said:


> I hope my Lowes starts carrying Craftsman tools,  Orchard Supply just closed (owned by Lowes) and they used to carry them
> M



Oh interesting, your local Lowes doesn't have Craftsman tools? The SB&D Craftsman tools are sold only at Lowes, for now anyway. They should have started carrying them late last year. I miss Osh! Osh sold the Sears Craftsman tools since they used to be owned by Sears.


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## Bamban (May 18, 2019)

Superburban said:


> how about 20% that estimate! Costs more to ship a container across the US, then it does to get it from China. I'm sure this is from port city, to port city. Oceanic shipping is done by volume, not weight.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



May have changed by now, when I ran the PMO when we built the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing in all of China in 2000 the technology we were able to bring into the China was controlled by DoD, managed by a small group within called the Naval Research. The group were mostly all high power specialist from the academia world. For example, the product we introduced in the new facility must be 3 generations behind our mature products. We spent some time with those experts, who most of them never work in the industry, but very knowledgeable.

Any change to machine set up for the next generation product must be approved by DoD. DoC, through they control the export classifications and restrictions, they are still under the mandate from DoD on anything that could be of possible value to the Chinese military.

I lived there for 4 years.


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## markba633csi (May 18, 2019)

I guess my local Lowes does carry Craftsman now- how did I miss that? LOL asleep at the wheel
Just shows how often I buy tools


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## MikeInOr (May 19, 2019)

kd4gij said:


> Could be because there PROTO plant is near there



Stanley has (or at least used to have) quite a bit of infrastructure around the Dallas / Fortworth area, even extending up to Wichita Falls.  A lot of non-production jobs in the plants were outsourced to third parties... like maintenance, janitorial, caffeteria etc.  which would take advantage (at least used to) of very low cost local labor.

Husky tools at Home Depot were for quite a long time made by stanley... I don't know if they still are.

I had the oppertunity to see the inner workings of several Taiwan and Chinese tool plants 20 or so years ago.  Definitely no OSHA in either country.  

My father designed a hand wrench plant to be built in China many years ago.  The first thing the Chinese government threw a fit over was the workers quarters (all plants in China have workers quarters because many workers come a fair way from rural areas).  The workers rooms were basically 4' x 8' boxes... completely unacceptable!!!  The thought that workers would have private rooms was outrageous.  They were forced to change their design to large rooms of bunks stacked 2 high like military boot camp.  Individual rooms would cause an uproar with every other plant of any type in China.


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## Janderso (May 31, 2019)

Is this partially due to tariffs?
I have seen more choices lately when shopping for hardware or plumbing, tools etc.
There was a time not so long ago when USA products were not one of my choices.
Last month I needed a garden faucet.
Brass valve, made in China $12.79 , Made in USA, $17.**
I bought the USA valve.


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## Toolmaker51 (Jun 21, 2019)

ddickey said:


> Just guessing but Texas is business friendly? Maybe Ft.Worth offered low property tax. Low cost of Electricity. Lots of factors I'm sure.


Look at craigslist, TX in general seemingly has more machine and sheetmetal tools than formerly giant industrial environs. That indicates an invested skilled labor pool. Most job shop employees like doing the same stuff at home; somewhat higher percentage than those in captive shops. Part of it hinges in their personal tool collections, which typically expand. 
Then check Beverly Hills or Sausalito for a Lincoln Idealarc, a Pacemaker lathe, or anything Kearney & Trecker. . .IYKWIM


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## Toolmaker51 (Jun 21, 2019)

I read "Modern Machine Shop" avidly in the 80's and 90's. They reacted to NAFTA and offshoring in general, itemizing a list of predictions that they felt certain to occur, especially regarding China/ Asia, not Japan. Every single issue materialized; counterfeiting, inadequate/ substitute materials, poor or false QA documentation, copyright infringement, markets flooded with knock-off products, poor warranty service, poorly stocked repair parts, communication problems, how their workers would eventually unionize and that reflection in pricing. . .the list was amazing long. Including our eventual disgust with substandard products. But what a heyday for 'tool insurance' warranty protection.
So, top names see their brands diminish at the cost of profit, and insignificant stock market positions. No matter how cheaply you can produce, that is secondary to what is hard to sell. 
It really does not matter if something appears expensive, true measure is getting what you pay for.


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