Aldis Bench Drill

[Andy Hall]

On Sun, 4 Jun 2006 21:29:55 +0100, Chris Bacon wrote (in article ):

The issue is not so much about where the products are made but the designs, materials used, quality control, spares availability and service.

Tools and machinery made in Europe, the U.S. and Japan are inevitably produced in an environment of high labour rates. Clearly, production in these regions only makes sense for the better quality products that are sold at a price premium with full support.

Some Western manufacturers manufacture some or all of their low and mid range products in PRC exactly for cost reasons. However, provided that the designs, materials used and QA are to the standard of the same product being made in the West, there is no issue. Above all, the provisioning of spares and service.

Large Chinese manufacturing houses make a variety of products at different quality and price points.

For example, Techtronic Industries makes a professional range under the Milwaukee brand, a mediochre product under the Ryobi brand and some complete junk sold under private labels to DIY and other types of supermarket.

The issue is not with the branded manufacturers but with customers who expect a product for an ever decreasing price. These are generally the very same people who whinge about the export of manufacturing jobs to the far east.

[Chris Bacon]

So if a manufacturer produces a "better quality products [...] sold at a price premium with full support" they need to pay lots for labour? That makes no sense at all.

[Guy King]

The message from Chris Bacon contains these words:

I bought a compactor plate a while ago[1] and the bloke showed me a BIG drill - identical to a Bosch. He said that when he was touring the factory some of the drills from that line got Bosch badges - some didn't. Same tool, same workers, same quality, same teabreak! Different price.

[Andy Hall]

On Sun, 4 Jun 2006 22:23:35 +0100, Chris Bacon wrote (in article ):

That's not what I said. It's necessary to understand some dynamics of business to see the picture.

If the manufacturer decides that for marketing and logistics reasons that he wants to manufacture in Europe, the U.S. or Japan, he is going to incur a higher labour cost and hence finished goods cost than if he had manufactured in PRC.

Clearly it makes no sense to do that with a low or mid market product and to then sell it at a substantially higher price than the product manufactured in PRC. The market might accept a slight price uplift, but not a significant one.

Therefore manufacturing in higher cost areas is reserved for better quality products that can be sold for a price premium.

Customers buying better quality products will expect to own and maintain them at original top quality for many years and so require service and spares backup.

It is perfectly possible for a manufacturer to decide to manufacture either complete products or subassemblies in offshore locations. The latter has the advantage that if the manufacturing content is above a certain proportion in Europe, for example, it can be claimed to be made here.

Other manufacturers, (Lamello and Festool are examples), choose to manufacture their products in Switzerland and Germany respectively. They both make excellent products, but one has to pay for them.

Yet others manufacturer according to tool type and volume. For example, several DeWalt router models are made in Italy and Bosch make certain saw products at their Scintilla subsidiary in Switzerland.

The other dynamic is that the Chinese manufacturing houses are geared up to produce volume with products sold by the container. This lends itself to the low end of the market for the private label products sold in supermarkets and to the low and mid ranges for the branded manufacturers.

At the low end, the market is a disposable one which is why the supermarkets offer a warranty in lieu of proper service and spares. The expectation is that the return rate (of products that will be slung) will be low because people don't want to spend a lot of money if usage is low; and their expectation of quality is low as well.

All of these sets of parameters work in their respective markets.

[<me9]

[1] footlingnote alert!

[Guy King]

The message from contains these words:

Aha! I knew I'd dropped one somewhere but couldn't find it.

[1] Cheaper to buy one, use it, then flog it on eBay than hire one several times. More convenient, too. Plus the goodwill from lending it to the neighbours.