On 23 Dec 2007 15:45:42 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:

On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 00:15:20 -0600, Ignoramus9551 wrote:
I have a question about cost of wrenches. I thought that making
wrenches is automated. There is not much labor cost in wrenches. They
are stamped, forged, polished etc, and that all seems to be a fully
automatable process with no need for much human input. Hence labor
cost is not a big consideration. Am I mistaken?

I toured the snap-on plant in Kenosha about 10-15 years ago, and was
amazed at the amount of hand-work being done for what seemed to me could
easily be done by machines. Maybe that's changed now but it was
impressive.

For what its worth:
We had a project some 15 years ago where the client specified
"snap-on, or equal" so we ordered snap On - some $150,000 worth. As I
result I got to meet the Asian Rep who when asked about the high cost
of their tools blamed Product Liability Insurance for a substantial
part of the cost of a Snap On wrench.

I suspect the "I got it and you want it" syndrome also has some effect
on the price.

Bruce-in-Bangkok
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