Milwaukee = Ryobi?

The design may be different, but they are manufactured by the same Chinese factory.

Reluctantly, I'm taking Milwaukee off of my preferred list of tool makers. (It's getting pretty short!)

Sparky

Reply to
SparkyGuy
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Not so...see

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Suit yourself, but it's a shortsighted and uninformed choice.

Reply to
dpb

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Er:

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Quote:

Techtronic Industuries acquired the Milwaukee. brand and businesses in 2005

TTI (HQ'd in Hong Kong) _owns_ Milwaukee. And, AEG, Ryobi, Hoover and Dirt Devil.

Then from

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Milwaukee's power tool and accessories are also manufactured to its exacting standards in modern facilities in Europe and throughout the world.

I think "throughout the world" probably includes China.

As with most consumer products, there really are only a few companies making them. There's often quite a difference between the brands. Other times, none at all.

Reply to
Chris Lewis

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And that may or may not matter. Just because it is made in China does not mean it is low quality.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

...

And from the link I previously posted -quote -

"Milwaukee is headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, which is also home to research, new product development, manufacturing support, marketing, sales and information systems. It has modern production facilities in Greenwood, Jackson and Kosciusko, Mississippi; Blytheville, Arkansas and Matamoros, Mexico.

Milwaukee's power tool and accessories are also manufactured to its exacting standards in modern facilities in Europe and throughout the world. In 2001, the Milwaukee brand was launched in Australia by Milwaukee's sister company AEG, located in Winnenden, Germany and was re-launched in Europe and the rest of the world in 2002. ..."

I didn't say the were _only_ made in US, and, if you'll note the quote you posted includes the key world "also". It's pretty clear the products for SE Asia/Australia/etc. markets are produced outside the US and the European are at least partially produced there.

If you'll also look at the TTI web page you'll find a message that brand loyalty and identification is a key business strategy and that they have a very deliberate idea of marketing to the full range of customers and price ranges as an overall company and that all products are not designed for all markets.

Search for a thread only a few weeks ago where I posted a significant more detailed analysis in response to another poster's questions about Milwaukee. There's quite an interesting story in there as I learned while doing quite a bit of research a year or so ago in order to evaluate the company as investment opportunity/merit...they're not the ordinary stereotypical "Chinese startup" kind of outfit by any means despite having some production in China and Ryobi being their initial product...

Reply to
dpb

On May 9, 4:15 pm, dpb wrote: ...

Sorry, didn't say that right -- they started supplying products primarily to Sears, then started the Ryobi and generated the sweetheart deal w/HD with it and parlayed that into what they currently are rather than Ryobi first. But they knew specifically what market they were after w/ Ryobi and it wasn't/isn't Milwaukee's...

Reply to
dpb

If I may sound off on this one, Personally where the tool is manufactured weighs in little for me. As much as I would prefer to buy American or Canadian, (keep our boys working) QUALITY will be my sole decider. I know China has meant, and in some cases still means cheap crap and deeper still human rights issues, etc. But the world is headed in that direction. And better and better stuff keeps coming from that manufacturing juggernaut know as cheap labor China. Often they are our companies, exploiting the labor cost difference. Anyway that said, I have been a BOSCH fan for years. I've recently been displeased with a few of their newer tools, but the Mitre Box for example, well... IMHO ,I dont think theres a better one on earth at any price point. I love mine.

Reply to
Jack

Unfortunately for those w/ that as a primary criterion, a major fraction of purchasers apparently have PRICE as the sole decider, which allows the poor quality stuff to succeed in the market place. :(

My point to OP wasn't really about China per se, but a particular company and a false assumption.

Reply to
dpb

As a retired contractor, I have always sworn by Skil too. Got a battery drill sometime ago at Lowes that is a beauty. It was on special for about 40 bucks. Wish I had my 40 back. Used it 4 times, ie charged it 4 times and the charger won't work any more. The store manager of that department said the charger would probably be almost as much ad I paid for the whole thing and they sold a bunch of them and he said everyone is just throwing them away.

So much for Skil and so much for Lowes.

Reply to
Glenn

Skil has been mostly junk for quite a while. You only noticed this lately?

They still make the worm-drive circular saw though, and it's still good.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Friesen

Been retired for 18 years so haven't bought much lately.

I had 2 of the older battery drills and 4 batteries for them. My people used them every day, all day. Usually had one or 2 bats charging during the day, 1 hr charge. We used and Pounded them for years and they never failed. Batteries took a memory finally and I replaced the bats once. Shame a good Co goes to crap.

Reply to
Glenn

According to dpb :

You may be construing that I'm against tools made in China simply because they're made in China. Not so. They may be, or they may not, that really doesn't enter into my tool preferences.

It's by no means clear whether there is any regional affinity between manufacturing location and market. It simply doesn't say.

The reality is that companies strive for the cheapest possible manufacturing costs consistent with keeping/gaining market. "Milwaulkee" is an important name, so for long term viability they have to keep the quality that they're famous for. Which means "higher end" design (eg: more rugged tools by design), and good QA. They're going to pick the cheapest place to manufacture consistent with the QA. If they can maintain the desired QA in China, they're going to make it in China. Especially if they're Chinese. Anything else makes no business sense.

Further, manufacturing devices like this draws on all sorts of parts. Chances are that various parts are made by different companies in different countries, and assembly might be somewhere else entirely. Again, under the QA management they figure they want and can achieve.

I'd _prefer_ to buy locally manufactured stuff (which for me isn't the US), but if it doesn't meet my price-quality requirements, I won't.

I have tools that were made in China. And tools made just down the street by Lee Valley. I decide what I need/want vs price, and pick the best match. Sometimes a cheap crappy tool fits my needs better than a high priced high quality one.

I saw all of that, but, remember, manufacturing _location_ has relatively little bearing on any of it. China produces some very high quality stuff, as well as crap. Every country is like that.

Obviously. Neither is Rexon. Purchasing a company like Milwaulkee is an expensive proposition simply because of its brand. It would be stupid to buy Milwaulkee and then let its quality and reputation go down the toilet.

The fact that Milwaulkee is/is not made in China really doesn't matter to me. What matters is whether one of their tools is consistent with my needs/expectations. Unfortunately for Milwaulkee, I don't need any of those tools at the moment (and the B&D store where I bought my rebuilt Dewalts cheap is just around the corner ;-)

Reply to
Chris Lewis

I have been through several Skill, Craftsman, and Black Decker cordless tools over the past few years and been rather disappointed in all of them. Nine months ago I bought a combination set of tools from Ryobi and couldn't be happier with their performance. The overall qualitiy of the tools is good and their performance has been well above that of the previous tools.

I bought them partly because of the price but more important to me was the value. By that I mean that I compared both price and quality, not one or the other. That is what you should be looking for when making any purchase. There may be better tools on the market but if their price is too high compared to their quality they don't represent a good value. Likewise, cheaper tools may be of such low quality that they are not a good value either.

When purchasing any tool or other product the ultimate value is based on usage. I purchased a tile saw several months ago for $199 from Harbor Freight. It was far from the best saw available and was also not the cheapest saw available. I knew that I only had two or three projects that I would be using it for over the next year or two. The first thought was to buy one for $75-$100 or so but examination showed that they would probably cost more in poor cuts and wasted tiles than they would save. They were not good for more than a tile backdrop in the kitchen.

I looked at top of the line saws and found them to be great quality and would last through years of commercial use but their price to use value for me wasn't there. So, I ended up buying an inexpensive saw with more than enough value that was probably build in China but gave me exactly what I needed, the best value for the dollar spent.

Reply to
BobR

I once bought a little 1/4" no-name drill because I wanted the RPM's of a little one. Got it at the lumber yard for something like 10 bucks. We used that little thing for years and the drill head bearing is so worn out that you can wiggle the chuck around but it still runs well.

Reply to
Glenn

No, I was just responding to what seemed like a claim that what I had posted was in error and an inferred attempt to indicate that there was no US manufacturing...if that wasn't the intent/purpose, ok.

It seems fair to me to assume that since Milwaukee built a large fraction of their tools for the US market in the US before the buyout and those facilities are still in operation that they're still producing for the US market in the US. While undoubtedly they're bringing in parts from all over for assembly, doesn't seem at logical to ship from overseas to the US and then back to, say, Australia when could build for that market much closer...

Reply to
dpb

On May 11, 9:38 am, BobR wrote: ...

..

Well, w/ those as comparatives, you're in at least the same general range of target market. TTI of course, began as a manufacturer for Sears/Craftsman and then built the Ryobi brand and got the distribution deal w/ HD from that experience/basis. While I haven't looked in detail for several years now, it would be surprising to find they're not still making a fair amount of stuff for Sears. I've not investigated the Skil/B&D actual manufacturing relationships enough to know of any possible connection in production facilities although one would presume they're not contracting for them, even that wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities.

Reply to
dpb

I was talking with a plumbing company the other day who was also using Ryobi tools. Caught me by surprise that they would be using them since their load demand would far exceed mine. I ask them if they were happy with the tools and the quality. Their answer was that while the tools were not as good as say the Dewalt brand, their cost was so much lower that they could by three or four and still save money. Their experience had shown about 3/4 of the use at 1/4 of the cost. Still seems like a good value.

Reply to
BobR

According to dpb :

It may seem fair to assume, but the huge difference in labor costs often completely swamp transportation and/or retooling costs. If they can ship gluten that far, portable power tools is a no-brainer.

You have heard of outsourcing haven't you? :-(

Delta's bandsaws, for example, have been made in many different places over the years. At times by companies who produce clones to be sold as different brands on exactly the same lines.

The world tool market is a confusing place. Take a look at a Woodworking magazine tool review sometime and notice how many of the planers look identical except for minor differences in the plastic shells.

Hint: they were all made in the same place.

Good chance that TTI is selling "milwaulkee" in the far eastern market, except that the shell is a different color and the brand name is completely unpronounceable.

Reply to
Chris Lewis

On the other hand, if a manufacturer has an efficient manufacturing process, the difference in labor costs become much less significant. The best example of this (although it is not a tool company, the principle still applies) is Dell. The manufacture computers for country X in or near country X. Dells for the US market, for example, are made in the US. The cost of shipping a completed computer from Asia is more than the difference in labor costs between well paid US workers with full benefits, and prison labor in some 3rd world country.

It just doesn't matter if labor costs here are 10x labor costs there, when you only have a few minutes labor going into the product.

Reply to
Tim Smith

Not any more.

Reply to
Matt Barrow

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