As you might have seen on social media, or from some of our recent posts, Craftsman, now under Stanley Black & Decker ownership, had a big media event last week.
I have been trying to sort out the next couple of posts about the new Craftsman tools that I demo’ed or checked out, but it’s been tough. We spent so little time with the tools that I don’t even have a lot of photos or videos to share, and that’s just talking about the more significant-seeming tools that I tried to have hands-on time with.
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There’s a lot to cover.
That being said, there are some key thoughts and details I wanted to share with you, while things are still fresh.
Craftsman is the Perfect Fit for Stanley Black & Decker
Stanley and Black & Decker merged 8-1/2 years ago, back in 2010.
A few months later, I attended a Dewalt media event – my first – and I remember asking someone about how the transition was going. They were working on it.
Stanley and Black & Decker brands have long-since been integrated, and we have seen many cross-brand efforts.
Craftsman, from what I saw at the media event, will be the perfect amalgamation, drawing from nearly every corner of Stanley Black & Decker’s tool brands.
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(I’m eager for a line of USA-made industrial-suited Craftsman tools, similar to many of the offerings I purchased from Sears’ Craftsman Professional line before the retailer’s decline. I would especially love to see Proto-quality offerings, or Facom-inspired designs made here, but right now, Craftsman hasn’t revealed their plans.)
Some of the new Craftsman offerings even looked to draw from Irwin and Lenox designs. As you might recall, Stanley Black & Decker acquired Irwin and Lenox in late 2016.
Craftsman is the perfect fit, for anything tool-related that Stanley Black & Decker wants to develop or manufacture. Tool storage? Yes! Hand tools? Yes! Power tools? Of course! Lawn & garden outdoor power tools? Absolutely. Manual outdoor tools, such as shovels and rakes? Definitely. Power tool accessories? Yes, that too.
The Craftsman brand will sit at the heart of Stanley Black & Decker, rooted in every aspect of their tool business, pulling everything together.
Right now, it looks like all of Stanley Black & Decker’s brands are feeding into Craftsman, but perhaps it won’t be long before we see new designs, with some inspiring later innovations and upgrades for the other brands.
Stanley Black & Decker is Increasing their Production Capacity
There are a lot of new tools coming out – a LOT.
Some of those are manufactured by OEM and licensed partners, and many are coming out of Stanley Black & Decker factors which will have to increase production capacity.
I am not surprised that we’re not seeing Stanley Black & Decker-manufactured USA screwdrivers at the moment. Or wrenches. Or ratchets. Or socket sets. Or pliers. Or hammers. It looked like there were some USA-made screwdrivers, resembling Western Forge clear-handle designs.
Related: Sears Sued Ideal Industries, USA Tool Supplier, Replaced Stock with Imported Pliers
I don’t know what the future will hold, and for that matter, I’m not perfectly clear about current specifics.
But I can tell you that Stanley Black & Decker is absolutely ramping up production in order to fully support the Craftsman brand. They have to – production capacity has to come from somewhere, unless they sacrifice some of their other brands’ offerings, which they won’t be inclined to do.
And they’re not going to want to lean on other suppliers long-term, at least not for tools that can produce in-house.
Side note – which tool brand(s) do you think Stanley Black & Decker will look to acquire next? I have some ideas. I also think that Stanley Black & Decker’s huge Craftsman launch and support efforts will prompt competitors to consider adding prominent brands or USA manufacturers to their own portfolios.
USA Manufacturing
I spoke with Lee McChesney, President of hand tools, accessories, and storage at Stanley Black & Decker. Among other things, we talked about the percentage of tools that are being made in the USA.
As of Day 1, which I assume meant presently with this Wave 1 rollout, 45% of all the new offers are made in the USA.
The percentage is based on dollar value. This can skew things a little bit. Let’s say that you have one tool box combo that retails for $250, one drill kit that retails for $150, and (20) imported screwdriver sets that retail for $20 each. So that would $400 of USA-made goods, and $400 in imported screwdriver sets, for a 50% ratio. I don’t know if this is how the 45% figure is determined, so for the moment let’s consider it without context.
In 3 years, the percentage of USA-made Craftsman products will increase to 85%.
85%.
Again, this is in dollar value, and things might be skewed if you consider that tool storage and power tools might weigh more in the measure than hand tools. But the important takeaway here is that there is a focus on USA manufacturing.
This isn’t a quick marketing stunt, this is a sustained effort and undertaking. They want to produce more tools in the USA, and they’re going to do it.
I don’t have much of a “Craftsman story,” but I bought a heck of a lot of Craftsman tools after doing a heck of a lot of research, spread out over quite a bit of time. I care about the brand, and I want Stanley Black & Decker to do it justice. Not only that, I want them to become MY tool brand of choice again. They’re going to have to work at that, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
The Product Managers and Executives Really Care About the Brand
I couldn’t spend as much time talking to as many people as I would have liked, but the ones I spoke with were really passionate about the products, as well as the Craftsman brand.
This part surprised me a little bit. With Stanley Black & Decker as integrated as it has become, there is an innovations team, but I believe that most product teams are segmented along product categories or brand lines.
For example, I would think that the same team developed Dewalt and Bostitch cordless nailers. Or that a New Britain team (where Stanley is based) developed Dewalt’s screwdrivers.
The people I spoke with were excited about their particular products, but they also seemed genuinely excited about the Craftsman brand.
This is important, because it can define the direction the new Craftsman brand grows in. I don’t think it’s just another “new color” for Stanley Black & Decker to brand their tools in, because I don’t think that’s how they see it.
My Confidence in the Warranty will Take Time
From a conversation I had, Craftsman seems very intent on maintaining a good warranty policy.
But, I have some questions and concerns.
The first night, where there was a wall-full of Craftsman tools revealed at the end of dinner, there was an imported tape measure in retail packaging.
Limited Lifetime Warranty
If a product fails to perform due to defects in the material or workmanship, we will replace it. Proof of purchase is required. Warranty is not transferable.
But in-person, I was given the impression that proof of purchase won’t be required.
I was also told that one could potentially swap a defective Sears Craftsman tool for a 2018 version.
Whatever the final policy will look like, Lowes’ associates will have to be trained to handle all sorts of customer return requests. Many Craftsman owners are used to Sears’ satisfaction guarantee, which was lenient at times, or dependent on the Sears associate.
Craftsman’s website currently says:
Craftsman (or Craftsman Industrial Hand Tool Full Warranty
If this Craftsman (or Craftsman Industrial) hand tool ever fails to provide complete satisfaction, it will be repaired or replaced free of charge.
This warranty does not cover expendable parts that can wear out from normal use within the warranty period.
But it also says:
To obtain the warranty coverage stated below, return the product to the retailer from which it was purchased. Coverage will be fulfilled according to the retailer warranty exchange procedure and may be subject to a limitation on the number of items allowed per exchange.
Has this been updated, or carried over from when Sears controlled the Craftsman.com website?
What I was told in person sounded good, but it will take joint efforts by Craftsman, Lowes, and maybe also Amazon and the other distributor partners, to create and enforce a policy that users can trust and understand.
Speaking as a customer, it will take some time before I’m confident in the warranty exchange policy.
Things are going to be confusing for everyone at first, but hopefully not for long.
Aaron
I’m trying to be excited about Craftsman, but it’s just hard to as their cordless lineup in particular was severely underwhelming, to the point where it just looked like a stand-in for Porter-Cable with 10x the hype. From what I can see there’s little to no ambition there.
Jared
I have almost the opposite impression. From Stuart’s post I understand that there is quite a bit of ambition, but it will take some time to spool up design and production for brand new offerings. Instead SBD, admittedly, retooled some existing products for the Craftsman brand so there would be a portfolio of tools ready to go at launch.
Would you really want the opposite – i.e. releasing only brand-new-from-the-ground-up designs as they became available?
I think the latter approach would be a mistake. Who would want to buy into a battery platform, for example, if there were only a couple tools available and lots of uncertainly about what was coming to the market in the future? I think this big release from the get-go shows they actually have significant plans for the brand.
satch
Agreed. Great take.
Framer joe
Totally disagree….ya , most people that want made in the USA Craftsman tools and cordless tools would Rather a ground up ,new technology new drill and impact…….then announce what’s coming and when ….then a rush hack job
Toolfreak
Part of SBD’s strategy is likely to leverage the Craftsman name on slightly modified existing products in order to generate revenue – and the more revenue they get from the Craftsman brand, the more they have to invest back into it until it’s built into something resembling what they think people expect from Craftsman.
That’s the hope, anyway. I see a fair amount of ambition and while the initial offerings are dissappointing in some ways, they stated a long time ago that they were planning to source initial offerings from existing and established suppliers, and it’d be a few years before they had the capacity for making the Craftsman tools they wanted to put on the market.
Sco Deac
You asked what tool manufacturer they purchase next. I think we will see their competition playing more catch up through acquisitions than we see SBD adding new “tool” businesses to its holdings. To the extent they add, it will be in the industrial/light power equipment space. Lawn and garden is a big opportunity for them.
They are looking to diversify into spaces that are not core tools like we think of. Just earlier this month, they closed on a deal acquiring International Equipment Solutions Attachments Group (IES Attachments) for $690 million in cash. IES makes implements for things like small tractors, track loaders, and skid steers under a variety of brand names.
Nathan
So interesting ideas. I like the 85% usa made comments but will believe it when I see it.
Does this maybe mean they will stop making the ancillary brand tools. IE like Bostitch cordless drills. Or Dewalt hand tools.
ALso is it true – or have you heard a similar rumor that soon Dewalt is going to be an ALL CORDLESS power tool brand. IE no longer make any corded tools.
Flotsam
I fear SBD may become the GM of the Tool World (read too many brands). That concept didn’t serve GM well in a down market we will see how it works for SBD.
Sco Deac
I read the GM comparison a lot, but I am not sure how analogous it is? Automobiles are very expensive by comparison and are distributed through dealer networks. Consumer products, like the tools we are talking about, are a different beast. To use another analogy, perhaps just as ill-fitting, General Mills seems to be doing just fine offering multiple brands of cereal that are very similar to each other.
Gordon
I’m really not a fan of products the require proof of purchase for a warranty claim. Either you support the product or you don’t. A piece of paper shouldn’t be required to prove anything. I’ll never buy another DieHard battery because Sears screwed me out of one. I bought a car that had 2 brand new DieHard AGM batteries. The first cold night one died. My charger confirmed it was a bad cell. Sears wouldn’t warranty, even though it was less than 6 months old because I didn’t have proof of purchase.
It’s a losing battle though. Warranties are becoming marketing terms with more exclusions every day.
CT
That’s what happens when people abuse it. Just like how people would scour thrift stores for LLBean gear so they could trade it for brand new stuff.
Tim
Sadly this is true. There are too many people with no shame.
However, since LL Bean had a lot of soft goods, it was more of a “satisfaction” guarantee than a “this will last forever because we built it to be indestructible” warranty. The thought process being, if you got 10 years out of a back pack and it tore up, most people would feel like they got their moneys worth and go buy another one of the same brand since it performed so well.
If I buy a wrench, and I don’t abuse it, it should never break. This should not matter if I bought it new or used, that wrench should be good for several lifetimes.
Abuse and improper use is a similar problem.
It boils down to basic human decency and taking responsibility for your actions. You know if the company should pay to replace it, or if you got your fair use out of it or abused it.
Lynyrd
So many questions. I would like to know what is next for the actual Made In USA Craftsman Industrial line. The core tools were made by Danaher and Western Forge.
I agree that SBD and Craftsman were a good match for marketing, available outlets, and shelf space agreements.
In regards to the tools themselves; Apex would have been a better match. Apex (Gearwrench) were making many of Craftsman products already. Secondly Apex have worked with Ideal (Western Forge) and Danaher on may tool lines.
Craftsman core tools are will be nothing like were used to. It’s simply a brand new tool line with an old name.
In regards to USA Made, assembled in USA counts as true Made In USA. The tool cannot be stamped with USA. therefore it doesn;t qualify. They can claim that as a marketing scheme, (at least until there are enough FTC complaints), it’s just not ethical to claim percentages for tools that cannot be stamped “Made In USA.”
Who knows, with the Tariffs, possibly SBD will begin procuring the raw materials stateside.
The yeti
I have a few questions. Who will make the lawn tractors now. Will it still be Poulan .
I see a lot of Craftsman lawn tractors out in the wild. SBD would be smart to keep selling lawn tractors.
What about all the other stuff. I see lots of drills. … is that what we have come to. Drills .
Pretty stoked for the new Craftsman tool boxes to come out.
When are we gonna see nice American made ratchets and hand tools.
This brand can be #1 in every single field again.
Stuart
There were 3 cordless power tools available for testing (maybe more?) – a drill, an impact driver, and a sander. I tested 2/3.
I posted separately about the drills because that can tell us a lot about Craftsman’s cordless plans and positioning.
Craftsman was #1 in tool storage, and very popular in other categories. SBD is surely striving for that again.
Everything we saw at the event will be at Lowes by Father’s Day next year, or thereabouts. So I’d say that Wave 2 begin next summer, with some new offerings launched just before Father’s Day to capitalize on seasonal promos.
USA-made ratchets and hand tools? Some hand tools *might* be USA-made right now, but I think we’ll have to wait until Wave 2 at the earliest.
Nathan
Who makes the new dewalt lawn mower? pure curiosity because I would think you’d see a version of that mower come out as a craftsman product.
OhioHead
I bet the cordless lawn mowers are DW designed w/ B & D knowledge used specific to the OPE arena. Please remember gang B & D had been in the OPE industry for 30 or 40 years, if it is a gas based OPE tool I bet they have a licensing agreement in place w/ an OEM.
Stuart
I believe it’s all done in-house. At the least, it’s not a licensed product.
Craftsman is coming out with several new mowers, as part of their V60 battery platform.
Mahler Montroey
All Gas OPE products are made by MTD under a licensing agremeent with SBD
Nathan
Thank you. That’s what I was wondering – I’d heard that all consumer and most prosumer line walk behind mowers are made by MTD along with all basic rider mowers. ANd someone else makes a number of these electric jobs. the smaller 16 and 20 inch things.
which had me wonder who made the dewalt deck. I would imagine whoever they use would make what ever new craftman branded thing would exist.
Matt
I’m excited myself. I’m with Stuart in wanting to see a USA Industrial line of hand tools. Kind of like the V20 tools, you can get the regular brushed or the premium USA brushless. I get that there’s 2 types of buyers and they need to support an entry level. However, there IS 2 types of buyers and the other types like myself want the premium USA stuff so they really need to support us too. And it should be pretty simple with their resources. It will also pay off for them big time in building back up the Craftsman name again.
I’ve also watched every launch event video on youtube and it’s refreshing to see SBD excited like this because it makes guys like myself excited too. Aside from the USA Brushless drill & driver, I’m pretty interested in the lawn care stuff and outdoor power tools now as well using the V20 system. Another thing I saw as a must have is those black tool boxes with the red drawers. Those stuck out big time and just looked awesome… I’m also hoping those classic acetate screwdrivers are USA made since there was no markings to tell. They’re still an old favorite for me.
satch
Matt, good points. Indeed, Craftsman is a bit beyond just a brand. Like I said in another thread, take Ryobi power toolsmout on a job site and listen for the sniggering. Take these new V20 brushless models in their nifty new red colour scheme and get; hey, when did those come out?
And yes, SBDC can take a huge chunk of industrial tools market by offering that option to guys like us who are more inclined to buy that level of tool even for our home use. I am all for it. As you mention, they certainly have the chops to pull it off. Fingers crossed.
Stuart
I don’t think that SBD can launch a Craftsman Industrial line right now, not without increasing capacity. Otherwise, the most they’d be able to is produce a limited supply of Proto-look-alike tools at Proto prices. Or I suppose Mac-resembling tools at Mac prices.
I anticipate that they’ll need to increased production capacity and change things up a little bit in order to produce the necessary quantity of tools at target pricing that customers expect and are willing to pay.
satch
I very much agree. We all need to be patient and see how things go after the initial rollout. The industrial stuff could follow later. Or not.
I am very glad to hear SBDC is enthusiastic about the old marquee. When poor old P-C came into the fold they immediately started re-casting their image to…what it is now. In deference to them, they needed another brand to span the gap between DeWalt and Black & Decker. They have the proper brand now. And yes, with outsorcing many of their manufacturing plants and potential sub-contractors are likely lacking.
Rick
I saw a big display of Craftman tools and tool chests at Lowe’s yesterday. Lowe’s has many different brands of tools, I was surprised they added another brand. I wonder what tools they discontinued to free up the shelf space for Craftsman?
OhioHead
Porter Cable……they will have DW, Bosch, Hitachi, Craftsman & Kobalt for power tools.
Jim Felt
I’ve never thought they’ve actually “supported” Bosch for example. But unlike Home Depot they at least have a tiny bit of it beyond bits and lasers. (Per Country Joe’s last CD “Picks and Lazer”?)… Sorry.
Mickey
I wonder if they have to cover the warranty on older Craftsman tools? I know when Monkey Wards stopped selling PowrKraft tools and were still in business (they are still in business) you brought your broken PowrKraft tools to Sears for replacement with Craftsman. JC Penney’s still honors the warranty for their tools (they give you replacement money).
Kent
I just can’t get excited about Craftsman. It’s been garbage for too many years to change my mind overnight.
Perhaps in time, if they are making good tools (especially in the US) at fair prices I’d be interested.
However, they are starting with two strikes against them
1) They have the same marketing lie as DeWalt about “20 Volt” batteries. Everybody else in the industry calls then 18v for the same product.
2) That warranty is crap, especially if they don’t have it figured out yet,
Corey
And every brand that looks down on 20v marketing, still calls their 10.3v tools 12v’s. It’s a silly thing to gripe about these days.
TonyT
Maybe the power tool companies should borrow from the weasly TV companies, and market as:
12V Class tools
20V Class tools
etc (just like a 50″ class TV – which you know isn’t going to be 50″)
Kent
I’m not griping about it. I’m calling them out, and won’t buy them.
I don’t care if the 10.3v tools are called 10v, 12v, 8v or magic bunny farts – as long as everybody eses the same term. DeWalt & Craftsman say 20v when everybody else says 18v.
Would it be OK is DeWalt said 25v?
Corey
No, because the nominal voltage isn’t 25v, it is 20v though. You seem to think they just made up the number. There’s companies that call their 10.3v, 10.3 and there’s others that call them 12. I don’t see why you’re in a wad over such a double standard. In eu, DeWalt is 18v xrp, so what you’d be satisfied to pay import? I just fail to see the point your adament to make, when it’s a more than common practice. Could just say you dislike a color like most people.
Kent
I am not “in a wad”. Thanks for being an ass.
Usually this place is pretty free of your kind of crap.
Goodbye.
JoeM
Porsche makes two entire lines of the 911 Turbo. The Turbo and the Cabriolet. Cabriolet has absolutely no linguistic, logical, or spec relation to what Porsche uses it for: Convertable Roof Version. The LINE is called Cabriolet. So there’s the Porsche 911, Porsche 911 Turbo, Porsche 911 Turbo Sport, and then there’s the exact same three models, with ALL of their same features, but they have a retractable Roof. And they add Cabriolet on the end of the name to distinguish the model from the hard-top versions.
Dodge has cars named things like Challenger, Charger, and Magnum. But those cars have NOTHING to do with what their names imply. In the North American market, companies under the SBD umbrella already had the DeWALT-oriented 18V XRP line, which introduced early generation Lithium Ion technology to the basic battery they sold. When the 20 Volt line came into being, it was a next-generation Lithium Ion technology, a new battery, and a totally new design for the tools. That they were called 20 Volt Max, and later 20 Volt XR is about as significant as the Porsche Cabriolet line. It’s only called that because it’s a different battery than the same-voltage lines they had before Lithium Ion. Make no mistake, the Max line still runs at 7.2, 10.3, and 18 Volts, and they are EXACTLY those systems using Lithium Ion batteries. But, in North America, the difference in design, plus the size of the market being flooded with XRP tools already, required a distinctive way to show they’re an upgrade.
In the UK, and around the world, battery voltage has to be 100% accurate on the label, and so the same lines go as 7.2V XR, 10.3V XR, and 18V XR. That said… If you labelled the North American tools that way, you’d be sued for their incompatibility with EXISTING lines on day 1. For the same reasons they’re labelled properly ELSEWHERE, the legal system in North America is significantly dumbed down. The difference between an 18V XRP battery and an 18V XR battery would cause lawsuits from large construction companies, claiming it wasn’t sufficient to simply leave the P off the end to distinguish them. Some of these North American companies went with the Nominal Voltage as an additional name change, and the rest, quite frankly, added a catch phrase on the end. M18 FUEL/M12 FUEL. M18 FUEL RED, Etc.
Are we going to call every company on their choice NOT to include a twenty page disclaimer on every doorstep, warning people that they’ve changed their system, and what that means? Or are we going to be grown ups, and simply accept that the different name means a different system, that is intended to subconsciously tell you “Don’t use this with the older system, it wasn’t designed for that.”
It’s the Cabriolet line of DeWALT and family’s other tool lines. It’s got a special feature: Significantly better batteries, and the motors optimized for them.
Redcastle
In the UK DeWalt and most other manufacturers sell 10.8v not 10.3 however Bosch relabelled it’s 10.8 volt system 12v about a year ago. There are several manufacturers who have “20v” tools using the same basis as DeWalt uses to recharacterise tools which would have historically been called 18v however these tend to be less well known or second tier companies and there is no issue with them doing so.
Rcward
Show me a tool rep that isn’t “ amped up” and” excited” about his brand and it will be the first one so that’s not really a talking point that I care about
Stuart
It’s subtle, but it’s usually obvious to me when someone is just doing their job, and when they truly care.
Framer joe
I see Diy guys buying the first wave of craftsman tools, Pros ,who buy the majority of the tools , will not until the.power is compatible with Milwaukee and DeWalt,with.a better warranty..
I’ll say it again,the craftsman brand will not survive if it’s not made in the USA , has a great warranty and the tools are high quality….
I would have not released a wave a China tools to launch a brand again….it’s just pushing your base further away..
Dewalt already has problems,right now , with very slow releases of 20v,60v,120v tools…it’s sending pros to team red…no tool show, and no announcement of what’s going on with the brand……
Spending all their resources on building up Craftsman, is costing them customers in the Dewalt line….
JoeM
I prefer DeWALT, and I’m a DIYer/Inventor type. The slow release is fine for me, as things, that shouldn’t be discussed on this site, stand between myself and the money required to purchase said upgraded items.
As I’ve said many times… The “Made in the USA” types are a little TOO Fanatical about that one subject. It doesn’t help us Canadians, and the only ones to blame are the Politicians who allowed Globalization to happen in the 1980’s, and who allowed these giant entities to be more beholden to shareholders than to customers. THAT is when all the jobs went away, and THAT was essentially 2 generations ago now. Even if those jobs opened up again TODAY, there wouldn’t be anyone qualified to do them to the old quality standards left alive, and fit enough to train a new generation to do the jobs.
Like it or not, “Made in the USA” is not an automatic “Quality!” statement. Veritas tools are made with EXTREME precision, and they’re designed and manufactured here in CANADA. Some Tech brands, and innovative startups, are from up here in CANADA. We’re not the USA, but we certainly put out some high quality products. At some point you HAVE to accept the reality of the modern world… The USA has NOT been #1 in manufacturing since before 1980. This, I might add, is before I was BORN, and yet I am no less skilled in the use of tools than many of you. The difference is, I’ve accepted that no country can stand alone in the world the way it is. We need Lithium from various countries, Iron, Carbon, and Electronic Mass Manufacturing from various places around the world, and we need to accept that those places do not exist solely to provide for OUR needs alone. The whole world is involved in these decisions now, not any one country or another.
Don’t get me wrong, if you and I are standing on either side of a border, and you pull a gun on me for no reason, I’m patriotic enough to fire back. But just because you’re not here, doesn’t automatically mean you’re the enemy. There is no “Them” anymore. Time to stand down the paranoia and arrogance. That’s not Patriotism, that’s Fear. You can’t stand your ground, when it’s only held up by fear.
Redcastle
To claim that “globalisation in the 80s” is responsible for the demise of manufacturing in the USA is inaccurate. For instance the Romans effectively outsourced the feeding of the mass of their population to Egypt (and in doing so created the first futures market) and eventually their armed forces to the natives of their conquered territories which led to their downfall. The current circumstances where transport and communications have improved to make global sourcing a reality combined with an almost wholly price driven group of consumers means for a USA based company to survive it has to compete on price. If all consumers in the USA were Toolguyd readers the story might be different, in Germany and to a lesser extent France and other European countries a substamtial proportion of the population without shouting about it pays a premium for home produced goods. The exception is the UK which is a collection of foreign owned screwdriver plants and a huge and very successful finance industry based in no small part on the foreign investments made in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by companies based in the UK who led the way in understanding that where something is produced is less important than owning it, East India Tea Company, The Hudson Bay Company, railroads principally in the USA, etc.
John fal
(I agree with you.)
They still need to come up with a craftsman USA PRO in hand tools and in power tools.
I’d like to see their power tools done like Mac tools! SBD did Mac right!! I’d like to see something like CRAFTSMAN PRO USA power tools & have them powered by dewalt!
I don’t agree with slapping the dewalt name on the battery like they did with Mac, but I would won’t them compatible. Then I would be sold and with that said USA tools are still important to me and I do see why they need a cheap version after Sears hurt the brand.
I also the the warranty should be transferable with receipt. Craftsman has a reputation that needs to be upheld! and most people don’t even know SBD bought the brand, I still have friends informing me about seeing craftsman tools at lowes. lol
Bill
Would you actually need the physical receipt? Lowes has the MyLowes that stores purchases electronically as well as be accessible from however you sign in. And then I would ask if you can take it to Lowes or have to deal with HQ for Craftsman?
Jared Richael
Hole lotta people smarter than all of us tryin to figure out how to profit off there latest investment. Sbd hasn’t done to bad a job in the past figuring it out. What ever happened to buying a brand and Killin it? One less brand to worry about competing with.
Redcastle
I understand that people prefer to purchase tools made in the USA and sometimes it seems to be the only criteria however and Stanley Black and Decker is a good example it is also important as to where profits are held, dividends paid, etc ,etc. Purchasing a tool because it is notionally manufactured in a particular country without fully considering the whole picture can ultimately lead to whole industries which superficially are in a country but the true economic value is elsewhere. The UK car industry is now with the exception of a couple of hobby car makers foreign owned including Rolls Royce (BMW) and Bentley (Volkswagen) with ever increasing use of parent company sourced parts. Such companies are also automatically more open to the idea of moving production elsewhere as they have no allegiance to one foreign source of production over another and will move where subsidies and taxes work best for them. On this basis forced to choose between a foreign sourced SBD tool and a USA manufactured tool from a foreign owned manufacturer with everything else being equal I would go with SBD companies producing real world goods (things you can hold) are very hard to replace once they are gone.
Eric
So do you have any idea when all the new tools they’ve been talking about will be put on lowes shelfs
Stuart
It will be a rolling process that will be completed around Q2 or June next year.
ToolOfTheTrade
I agree that it was a very poor decision for sbd to release made in China craftsman tools. Especially being that it’s the first wave under their name. Why couldn’t they just wait for the release when they had full scale production here? They definitely started off on the wrong foot. Sbd can talk about how they care about restoring craftsmans reputation and the “we pledge” bs until they’re blue in the face. I’m calling bullshit on them. The proof is in the pudding. And you know whats just really wrong and insulting about the whole thing is why is sbd pledging to bring only craftsman back here for full production? What about the pledge to bring Irwin back to Nebraska? What about black & decker back to Baltimore? Stanley tools? Dewalt? Porter cable? Or any of the brands that sbd owns that had manufacturing plants here that were shut down & American workers were laid off? Where’s the pledge to bring full scale production back here for them? Sbd has had the means to make it happen for years and yet not a single brand they own is made in the USA. Assembled here with global materials means nothing. Now all of a sudden they want to act like they have an obligation to American pride by pledging to attempt to make a well known brand great again. That’s nice, but Craftsman is just one brand. Whoopty doo. What about the rest of them and the pledge to restore their reputation? Insult to injury is the takeaway that I get from this.
Redcastle
Until a USA based workforce is prepared to accept wages low enough to enable direct competition with countries such as China (not very likely) or the mass of consumers in the USA are prepared to pay massively higher prices for generic products then a USA based company has three choices it sources products in a manner in which it can make money, it settles for being a premium product premium pricing cottage industry business e.g. Woodpecker or it goes out of business. A company like SBD in practice which is quoted can only use route one, if it tried anything else then it would be castigated and quickly fall victim to restructuring “specialists” so while it may have the intention to maximise the amount of product produced in the USA to do so at the risk of going out of business would be foolish in the extreme. I struggle sometimes reading on here the support which at times resembles that of soccer “supporters” for their team by individuals saying made in USA while failing to recognise that the profit component which is the part that ensures there will be jobs in the long term is being repatriated elsewhere. TTI Industries is a classic example.
Neighbor Joe
It took Sears about 8 years to outsource most of Craftsman tool production to China, lets give SBD their three years to try and restore the Craftman brand as Made in USA.
John
“Made in Thailand” is a fairly rubbery term! Unless the manufacturer is SBD themselves, a 3rd party manufacturer could be importing the pieces from China, or the whole tape and packaging it with the “Made in Thailand” card on the blister pack.
Dewalt have a factory set-up for electrical power tools in Chonburi, Thailand. Maybe there making other products as well???
For any USA company there are many advantages to setting up in Thailand re:Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations Between the Kingdom of Thailand and the United States of America
wolfblood
There is one thing I can sure about New Craftsman tools. They are Made In China.
Well,most of them!
Because I am Chinese! I already see some of the new tools.
Frank
This might be a dumb question but here goes. Will SBD support the older C3 line along with the new line of tools? Such as batteries, I’m deeply vested in the previous line and have no complaint with the tools. They have performed flawlessly and have never let me down. I am excited to see SBD breath new life in to an old and trusted name,I just hope they don’t forget the folks who bought into the brand when others were jumping ship.
Stuart
Probably not.
I can’t see how they can, aside from offering some kind of upgrade promo offer.
The older C3 tools were made by Craftsman competitors. Even when Stanley Black & Decker made Craftsman’s Bolt-On tools they went with their own battery platform rather than C3.
Toolfreak
Sadly, I don’t think there will be a Craftsman Professional/Craftsman Industrial line of higher-tier tools like the previous offerings at Sears.
I’m not sure if SBD owns everything Craftsman, which includes the Craftsman Pro Series/Craftsman Professional/Craftsman Industrial names, or if they can only make and market stuff under the basic “Craftsman” brand name.
They would also likely not want the higher-end tools to even get close to the Proto/Mac part of their business. I think there’s plenty of room for a Craftsman Professional line, but SBD has so many tiers and brands already they may not want to get into it.
Which is really too bad, I can think of quite a few core tools they could offer at a premium price once they have USA manufacturing capacity to do so, and also the designs they could use to improve upon what Apex/Armstrong/SK did previously.
The Craftsman Pro/Craftsman Professional brand could be the next-generation futuristic-looking tools for the 21st century, to avoid wild design changes in their higher-end brands, and appeal to customers who don’t really favor the classic Craftsman tool designs.
Les
This article makes it seem even more confusing with separate Craftsman lines at Sears vs Lowe’s –
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-stanley-craftsman-tools-rollout-0820-story,amp.html