Milwaukee Sells out

[Rich]

Milwaukee was just purchased by TTI. :shock:

Fresh on the heels of Black & Decker's announced purchased of Pentair's power tool group (Delta, Porter-Cable, DeVilbiss Air Power, and Oldham Saw), Techtronic Industries (TTI) has announced it will purchase Milwaukee Electric Tools from Atlas Copco. The $626.6 million deal also includes the AEG line of power tools that are distributed largely in Europe. TTI is a diversified company that owns a number of brands including Ryobi power tools, Homelite outdoor power equipment, and Dirt Devil vacuums.

[dnm]

is that good or bad?

[Rich]

It's somewhat bad IMO - they've been self-controlled for quite sometime and their tools are great. Worries me to think that some big corporation is going to come in and make the calls now - where the only thing that matters is the bottom line.

[dnm]

good point, but you never know, some good might come out of it

[Rich]

As long as they develop a Milwaukee powered tablesaw I'll be happy :)

[grumpydasmurf]

Who knows, they already have the ryobi line of tools which is the econo tool (Ove never had a problem with my ryobi set). Maybe they will use the milwaukee set as their cadillac of tools and not their honda. Only time will tell.

[doyle]

Slightly off topic here, but it seems every other person using the name Ryobi pronounces it different. Is it ree-obee or rye-obee?

[Rich]

I say rye-obe-eee

[Vector]

Well, this does worry me. I think that DeWalt quality decreased (somewhat, not dramatically) after Black & Decker got their hands on them (they were independant years ago, weren't they?).

Hadn't realized that P-C had been snapped up by B&D too. That doesn't thrill me either.

Ryobi was my favorite bang-for-the buck power tool company for a long time, and I still think they're great for the weekend DIY'er, but for any kind of professional or even heavy DIY, they just aren't up to the task.

When I had my Ryobi and DeWalt 4-pc sets stolen about a month and a half ago, I got a Ridgid 4-pc set to replace them, and I am impressed. The torque and power of these tools puts the DeWalts to shame, and the batteries last as long or longer, with the 30-min dual charger I'm never waiting for a fresh charge either. The only drawback is that the tools are heavy.

Ridgid is making a convert out of me fast. I replaced my 14 yr old Skil circular saw (that thing was a tank! But eventually the plate wore so thin that it started bending and wouldn't cut at 90 to the board anymore) with a Ridgid, and I'm also very happy with my Ridgid 12" compound miter (enough to replace the first one which was stolen along with the other tools).

[kauphymug]

Don't recon' they's gonna cross breed do ya ? Like a B&D-Delta-Cable saw ? A Ry-Walkee

[rocklander]

FYI - Milwaukee has been owned by Atlas-Copco, a Swedish company for years. As far as selling out? TTI and Milwaukee combined will have over 3000 employed workers here in the US. DeWalt, Porter-Cable and the rest are closing US plants as fast as they can and moving ALL of their manufacturing overseas. Look at your tools! They are all marked with where they are made. Milwaukee makes more of their tools here in the US than anybody. The TTI deal gives them access to Milwaukee engineering and quality and the commercial markets Milwaukee represents. I've heard that certain components for power tools are not even available here in the US even if a manufacture wanted to buy those parts in the US. TTI's in the business to make money and that's exactly what Milwaukee gives them. It's a new world for sure.

[Rich]

I love Milwaukee tools - would have one of everything if I had the money. I just hope it doesn't dilute what they currently have.. it shouldn't but.. well I don't want to talk about it :)

[MikeD]

Kinda late to reply. Hope that most tools will not be "Made in China". :x I hate buying Chinese made stuff so I avoid anything made there like a plague whenever I can. Sometimes I get tools "made in china" as gift which I lump with other cheap tools (non-powered) for my kids to use.

[Tom R]

You gotta watch though. There's one city in China named USA. Anything they make says MADE IN USA. No lie.

[ctdecks]

everything is now made in china.
we are all to blame

http://www.deckspecialists.com/

[concretemasonry]

The USA is not a "bullet proof" as most people think, because of advances in the rest of the world and communications. We are now about 15th in education rankings.

Many industries are controlled by progressive international companies that spend money on advances and research, that leave the U.S. as an "empty" market with a lot of short term sales potential and the possible future control of some companies that are not labor-intensive, since U.S. labor is very costly. Freight on many products (electronics, clothing, etc) is cheap and technology importing is free and immediate. even fruit and flowers are/were imported.

Mexico is losing work to China, which forces people to immigrate illegally from Mexico ot the U.S. for benefits and education. India and SE Asia are taking health care away because of the 5 star luxury hospitals/hotels that are manned by U.S. trained physicians with U.S. equipment and the travel can be tax deductable because if the rates if not covered by insurance. Many Americans go to Mexico for good dental care annually.

It is a small world and getting smaller. Isolation will increase the rate of differences. Toyota pays their U.S. employees more per hour with benefits than GM does because they do not have the overhead (retirement, retired medical, cars, etc.). Ford has been more forward thinking and did not have to ask for hand-outs like GM & Chrysler - they sold Rover and Jaguar to a huge, huge Indian firm (Tata) for cash more than a year ago.

Dick