On 2007-07-01 10:32:42 +0100, ":Jerry:" said:



Even a straw man argument can be clearly explained, it doesn't change
the basic merit of the argument used!

Possibly not. I think that there is plenty of merit or I wouldn't
have made the point.




snip
When I look at Kress, the alarm bells begin to ring for all of the
reasons mentioned above. I am not commenting on whether or not
the make a good product. Clearly they aren't in Festool's
league
or they would be competing with innovative rather than me-too
products.

Well having worked with certain tools within the Festool range I'm
not
overly impressed, not good when each (basic range) unit cost circa
1k
ukp *each* - one should not have bearings failing each year,
plastic
clips breaking off in use, hoses connections failing, or indeed
hoses
failing in use - true the machines are extensively used but what do
Festool expect when selling to the commercial sector?

The basic range models do not cost circa £1k each. Drills and
sanders are in the £200-300 range. All of mine perform
excellently.

Little do you know about what Festool make then! The sanders I'm
talking about do cost from circa 1k each.

That's fine. The context was about woodworking tools that are
comparable to those of the major professional tool manufacturers.






OTOH, they don't appear to have the resources of the major
players.
Despite comments that spares will be available for ten years, that
is only true as long as the company remains in business. Given
the
market
snip

Well your latter point is true for all companies, if DeWalt or
Festool
went bust spares would become a problem too.

Of course. The big difference is that they have a sustainable
business model, so that is highly unlikely.


More snobbery, any business in a competitive market can go bust, more
so if they indulge in 'own brand snobbery' and miss up and coming
competition (as has happened)...

It isn't an issue of snobbery, but of making correct business decisions
by manufacturer and customer.

Creating and maintaining a brand purely on form without substance
obviously goes nowhere and it should be obvious from my comments about
functionality, accuracy, ergonomics and servicability that I am very
much talking about substance.

Unfortunately, these are not enough. It's possible to build perfectly
good products. However, without the ability to manufacture at the
right cost point and to have the routes to market, it goes nowhere and
will ultimately fail.
Good market communications, product marketing and channel marketing are
essential to achieve the routes to market but unfortunately cost a lot
of money.

This is why I make the point about small manufacturers in western
Europe with high cost base, inadequate marketing and little or no
product differentiation trying to compete with the big boys. It isn't
a winning proposition, no matter how good the product might be.