Changes at Delta?

[ed vitanovec]

I just saw an advertisement from Woodworkers supply on Delta's new scroll saw, a re-badged Dewalt.

[John Coloccia]

I just looked it up. This is exactly what I mean. All the product lines have become confusing. It's cheaper than the Dewalt when you consider that most sell the Dewalt for $550 and the stand and light are extra. Of course, Grizzly's been selling the Dewalt combo for less than $500 shipped for a while now. Anyhow, I wonder who will be the first to actually take two of these saws apart and look for the cheap parts, or maybe yellow paint is worth an extra $50 - $100?

[Will Overton]

Since I can't find the source right now, you'll have to take this as internet gossip. I also can't recall whether it was announced before or after Stanley Tool Works came into the mix.

There was an announcement awhile back concerning the tool line up for the various brands. It went something like this.

Delta = commercial grade stationary tools
DeWalt = commercial grade hand held power tools
Porter Cable = high end homeowner/hobbyist stationary and hand helds. [think Ryobi]
Black and Decker = value priced homeowner tools.

This was said to be put in motion as a gradual transition, unlike when Black and Decker put yellow housings on their entire "Black and Decker Commercial Line" and changed the name to DeWalt. This was a good move at the time because many/most people didn't recognize that B&D had to distinct lines of tools.


Currently on the Delta website it says that the Porter Cable tools are available at Lowes, and independent hardware and tool stores. That's close to the deal Home Depot has with Ryobi. Another announcement awhile back was that Home Depot was to be the only national "Home Center" selling Milwaukee.

It seems like the big box stores continue to want tool brands associated with the store name. The tool manufactures are hedging their bets by not giving in to total exclusivity. I love competition.

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At the link below, Stanley Black and Decker, refer to DeWalt products as Industrial and Porter Cable as Professional.

http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com...iy/power-tools

[james gerus]

Delta, Porter Cable, Dewalt plus many more are part of StanleyBlack&Decker.
Jim Gerus

[Paul Johnstone]

Phil, sentimentality aside, losing Delta wouldn't bother me, just another North American company driven off shore by customers who didn't care where their products were built.

I don't see it as a management issue, I see it as a customer issue. When Delta first when off shore, if we had stopped buying their products and stayed with NA manufacturers, they would either have come back to the US or closed.

Instead we rewarded them by purchasing their off shore products, motivating other companies to adopt this approach.

Regards, Rod.

Yep, I remember when the imports started coming in. I remember a specific thread about joiners.. The guy said that the import machine probably wasn't as good as the USA made Delta, but he'd rather save $50, since the import was probably good enough.

That line of thinking by consumers pretty much doomed US manufacturers.
His perception was that the US made Delta was better (whether it is true or not, I'm not here to argue), yet he still made his decision based on a relatively small price difference.

Delta moved to China to compete, and then everyone started saying that Delta was the same machine as Brand X, just had a different paint color (Again, it doesn't matter whether this is true or not, that's the perception of many consumers).

[Paul Johnstone]

Think about this for a minute. A company DOES NOT want to put skilled workers out of work..

They want to put skilled workers out of work.
Most of the growth in profitablity by companies in the last 10 years is a direct result of reducing labor costs.
They replace skilled workers with unskilled workers, cheaper offshore labor, or machines.. Or they get rid of one skilled worker and make his colleague do two jobs for the same pay.

Companies no longer look at the big picture. That's why we have such high unemployment now, and probably will for the forseeable future. In the past, the assumption was that a recession would eventually end and companies would start hiring again. That's no longer the case. In good times and bad times, companies are focusing on reducing labor costs. Those jobs that have vanished from coorporations during this recession aren't likely to come back.

[Ron Kellison]

Jerome,

Suppose I start a "rumor" on the internet about you personally and it effects your life or livelyhood, would you change your attitude?

It's gossip ......drivel.....unproven rumors and nobody or a company should have to pay a price for that kind garbage.

Has it dawned on you that maybe it's a Delta competitor that started this whole RUMOR to effect their ability to compete with Delta?

Think about it.......the internet is the biggest source of misinformation in the world today because anybody can post anything without any validity to their post.

Beyond that....question when you see someone make a strong statement for or against a company or product. In some cases, people have reason to be strongly for or against something, some company etc. and can back up their statement with evidence. Sometimes, however, that person is a little off "kilter" .....has a skewed sense of right/wrong.....isn't being objective.

An example.....we have a lot of folks post here that have "0" experience using a particular type of woodworking tool. In one recent case, the guy buys a new tool....it didn't work as he thought it should.....he's here bad mouthing the tool...the company......and he's making major modifications to the tool....and the modifications made were STUPID. So....should the company suffer because of this consumers arrogance and stupidity? It was a brand new tool and the company is KNOWN for good customer service. After reading that post, if I was the company I would have refused to honor the guys warrantee because of the modifications....and the guy had not even called the company's tech support yet.........think about it.......

These type of threads are destructive and have very little value.

I'm sorry I brought it up. From now on I'll judiciously try to verify my facts before I post any gossip. I will try to believe only those things I see in company press releases.