Tim Smith wrote:
On 2007-05-11, Chris Lewis wrote:
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.
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.

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.


Dell computers for the US market are made offshore.


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.