It saddened me to read that B&D is closing the Dewalt plant in Easton, MD. The rational; cheaper labor costs in Mexico. That may be so, but is it better? I think not! I think it’s a way for the corporations to reap even higher profits than ever all under the guise of “keeping down costs and being competitive”. I want to buy products made by American workers! I want to support those people because I genuinely feel that they are more conscientious and take pride in their work.
It’s a shame when some company moves to a place that hires “slave” labor and pays their employees $1 or $2 dollars a day with no health benefits. That is immoral. Besides a lot of these countries are unethical. Look at how the Chinese are ripping off our product designs and creating cheap knock-offs to undercut our that company’s product (even using the same plant too!). Wake up America! You may all be out of a job soon!
Replies
On the one hand, it's a global economy and we will be seeing more products/parts made wherever. The DeWalt situation has been happening for 10 years - it's the uninformed buyers who have been bamboozed. DeWalt never made portable tools - B&D owned the name and decided to use it when they devalued their old professional line (the holegun, the macho hammers, the sawcat, etc.). B&D needed quick cash flow and everybody who bought a DeWalt just fueled their fire.
Lots of folks will say DeWalt is a good machine - and it is for a meduim grade product. But you're paying a premium price for that medium grade tool - a tool that meets many folks needs but why spend extra money when you don't have to? No one jumped up and down when B&D closed the largest power tool plant in the world in Hampstead Maryland. No one jumped up and down when B&D discontinued the industrial tool line - they just went on buying over priced DeWalts. Pull apart a DeWalt and compare it to the old B&D industrial line - you will see a world of difference.
You're not going to avoid-off shore manufacturing - even high end product like Milwaukee use it. But you can avoid getting ripped off with over priced tools! As they say in the shadows of B&D's Corporate offices in Towson, friends don't let friends buy DeWalt!
I really dont give a flying f--k where Black & Decker/Dewalt goes to mfg there junk tools cause I wont and havent been buying them cause the tools and there service suxs.... they had great tools with the B&D proffesional line but no they werent happy til they screwed with them then started peddling Dewalt..
just my 2 cents worth... ToolDoc
It's funny. Everyone cries when a plant closes and moves offshore or whereever, but everyone also wants low priced stuff, and high returns on their investments. You want big returns on your stock portfolio or IRA account, and you want to buy everything for the lowest possible price, but you want it all made locally.
Remember that the "big corporation" that is making big profits is owned by shareholders who are demanding those profits. And that shareholder might be you, your IRA, or your mutual fund.
Yeah, talk is cheap.... I'm tired of hearing "Buy American" and "support the little guy" and "Ain't it a shame... blah, blah, blah" and no-one (very few) put their money where their mouth is. Go over to the Knots forum, it's constantly stuff like "Why's the Delta Unisaw so much more expensive than Grizzly, how can they justify the price?" (Never mind Delta started making them in the 1930's and every import is just a copy of that same design) The American consumer has spoken loud and clear- Don't give us increasing quality and innovation, just low priced look-alike tools.
GC
The US is among the most efficient economies in the world, if not the most. There is a cost to efficiency, and that is, constant changes in the industrial structure. A closing of a manufacturing plant means resources can be reallocated to more efficient sectors, which translates into high paying jobs and better choices and lower prices for consumers.
The real problem is the lag between the time the plant closes and the new jobs are created, and those who lost their jobs probably will not have the qualifications for those new jobs. Capital is much more fluid than labor.
As for moving plants to foreign countries, critics in these countries, complain that the return made by the plant is not reinvested in their countries but brought back to the US as profits to the "Rich American" shareholders.
The fact that the overall living standards of both countries gain with this movement gets somehow lost with national sentimentality.
paul
Paul,
Well said.
NAFTA and Mexico...this country was once the Mexico of the world. Immigrant labor broke sweat in the steel mills and coal mines and lumber mills and pottery factories and cotton mills. Then our standard of living increased to the point where "Americans" labor became too expensive and it was exported.
Nothings changed. Now I know that someone is going to counter with: "Well if we keep exporting labor......
Ditch
Ya doc I bet all the contractors will run right out and by a $1600.00 commercial grade 12" power miter box. the saw made out magnesium frame with the 6" to 10" joints tritium arbors and 4 sets of needles bearing with a real 1 1/2 motor.
Edited 1/30/2003 10:44:37 PM ET by fredsmart
Edited 1/30/2003 10:45:07 PM ET by fredsmart
Here's the issue: While a lot of people SAY that we need to keep every job here in the US, their pocketbooks speak differently.
If and when the American consumer determines that he is willing to pay the extra premium for US labor (yes, there is indeed a cost difference, and it is substantial) and, in some cases, manufacturing inefficiency, companies will move overseas.
So before you get all indignant about B&D moving their production operations overseas, here are 3 quick questions to answer:
1. What brand of stereo/receiver do you have in your family room? Is it American made? Can you even name an American stereo manufacturer? I'll be honest - I can't either, because they don't make products in the price range of the average consumer!
2. Do you go to HD/Lowe's/etc or the Internet looking for the lowest price before making a purchase, or do you go to the local store where the service is good but the prices are higher?
3. How many products do you own that were made by an American Owned company? Remember - it isn't where the product is made that affects jobs and economies, it is where the profits of that sale go!
This isn't meant as a personal attack, just an observation that we all have to look at our buying practices before condemning companies for moving their manufacturing operations overseas to achieve operating efficiencies.
D-
We just had a lengthy discussion on this:
http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=26954.1
I once dated a girl on the track team. It didn't work out.
She kept giving me the runaround.
NAFTA. No one is talking about it , I find that strange.