The business section of my local newspaper reports that Milwaukee
Electric Tool has been sold to a Hong Kong company, Techtronic
Industries Co. According to the article, that company is the maker of
Ryobi and Homelite products.


Editorializing:

I hope Milwaukee doesn't turn into another of brand that trades on
it's old reputation but is cheapened to the point of uselessness.
Where are we to buy tools if all the good ones become memories?

I found a quick link which describes it a little mo

http://www.manufacturing.net/ind/art...stry id=21940

And here's one on Techtronic's site confirming their acquisition:

http://www.ttigroup.com/general/home.php


"Lazarus Long" wrote in message
...
The business section of my local newspaper reports that Milwaukee
Electric Tool has been sold to a Hong Kong company, Techtronic
Industries Co. According to the article, that company is the maker of
Ryobi and Homelite products.


Editorializing:

I hope Milwaukee doesn't turn into another of brand that trades on
it's old reputation but is cheapened to the point of uselessness.
Where are we to buy tools if all the good ones become memories?

Where in China can one collect an unemployment check???????

--

Rumpty

Radial Arm Saw Forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/woodbutcher/start

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


"Mike Pio" wrote in message
news:Bk%Yc.63133$yh.46912@fed1read05...
I found a quick link which describes it a little mo


http://www.manufacturing.net/ind/art...y=Electrical+E
quip.+&industryid=21940

And here's one on Techtronic's site confirming their acquisition:

http://www.ttigroup.com/general/home.php


"Lazarus Long" wrote in message
...
The business section of my local newspaper reports that Milwaukee
Electric Tool has been sold to a Hong Kong company, Techtronic
Industries Co. According to the article, that company is the maker of
Ryobi and Homelite products.


Editorializing:

I hope Milwaukee doesn't turn into another of brand that trades on
it's old reputation but is cheapened to the point of uselessness.
Where are we to buy tools if all the good ones become memories?

Mike Pio writes:

I found a quick link which describes it a little mo


http://www.manufacturing.net/ind/art...stry=Electrica
l+Equip.+&industryid=21940

And here's one on Techtronic's site confirming their acquisition:

http://www.ttigroup.com/general/home.php

IIRC, the price was to be around 666 million bucks. I was at a Ryobi tool
introduction yesterday when they announced some details. Somewhere, I've got a
press release, but it's almost certainly on the above site.

Atlas Copco bought Milwaukee less than a decade ago, and appears to have done
little or nothing to expand its market share, yet the brass at AC stated, "The
business is, however, still far from the Group's desired position of globally
being number one or two in the markets we serve."

One has to wonder what people like that use for thinking equipment. Neither
Milwaukee nor AEG had the kind of market penetration, though both made, and
make, marvelous tools, that would lead to a fulfillment of that kind of
expectation without one helluva lot of tool research and development at several
levels. Neither company produces what can be called consumer level tools,
meaning their numbers are never going to go over the top and sweep everyone
else away. That should have been obvious to even to even the most solidly
MBA-ed dolt in management, but it seems not. Then again...when a company thinks
annual plans are the same as long term plans....

It should be in interesting run. Ryobi R&D has always come up with of the more
interesting tool concepts, and some damned good tools in particular price
ranges (and some that are not all that good...I'm not a fan of their routers).
There is a step up in quality with the Ridgid tools...and I noticed the Dirt
Devil vacuum (another TTI brand) was cheaper than the one I bought 5-6 years
ago, but seems identical in power, etc. (not a durability problem: it was
stored at the top of basement stairs when we had a basement fire).

I have no idea how it will all shake out yet, nor am I enamored of one tool
company for all the world, which sometimes seems to be the way things are
headed with all these mergers, but I am curious as to where things will stand
next year at this time.




Charlie Self
"A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers." H. L. Mencken

"Charlie Self" writes:

Atlas Copco bought Milwaukee less than a decade ago, and appears to have
done
little or nothing to expand its market share, yet the brass at AC stated,
"The
business is, however, still far from the Group's desired position of
globally
being number one or two in the markets we serve."

They have taken a page directly out of Jack Welch's approach of how to run a
company. (Retired CEO of GE)

Having said that, Atlas-Copco is no General Electric.

The rest of Welch's approach goes like this:

You will be #1 or #2 in market share.
You will have at least 25% market share.
You will contribute at least 20% net after to the profits of the General
Electric Company.

If a business didn't meet those goals, GE either sold the business or shut
it down.

One has to wonder what people like that use for thinking equipment.

Sounds like the just tried to copy GE, but without all the other stuff that
is required to make it happen.

Neither
Milwaukee nor AEG had the kind of market penetration, though both made,
and
make, marvelous tools, that would lead to a fulfillment of that kind of
expectation without one helluva lot of tool research and development at
several
levels. Neither company produces what can be called consumer level tools,
meaning their numbers are never going to go over the top and sweep
everyone
else away.

What you say is absolutely correct; however, you can define a market segment
as other than the Homer Homeowner market, in which case the GE approach
would work quite well.

That should have been obvious to even to even the most solidly
MBA-ed dolt in management, but it seems not. Then again...when a company
thinks
annual plans are the same as long term plans....

Long term planning:

What's for lunch?

It should be in interesting run. Ryobi R&D has always come up with of the
more
interesting tool concepts, and some damned good tools in particular price
ranges (and some that are not all that good...I'm not a fan of their
routers).

There is a step up in quality with the Ridgid tools...and I noticed the
Dirt
Devil vacuum (another TTI brand) was cheaper than the one I bought 5-6
years
ago, but seems identical in power, etc. (not a durability problem: it was
stored at the top of basement stairs when we had a basement fire).

IMHO, Emerson has totally destroyed Ridgid, but then again, I'm prejudiced.

I was at Ridgid in Elyria, Oh the day is was announced that Emerson had
purchased the company. It was not a happy place.

I have no idea how it will all shake out yet, nor am I enamored of one
tool
company for all the world, which sometimes seems to be the way things are
headed with all these mergers, but I am curious as to where things will
stand
next year at this time.

That makes two of us.

Lew

Lew Hodgett responods:


IMHO, Emerson has totally destroyed Ridgid, but then again, I'm prejudiced.

I was at Ridgid in Elyria, Oh the day is was announced that Emerson had
purchased the company. It was not a happy place.

Yes, but Emerson hasn't had anything to do with Ridgid for some time now. HD
pushed them out and brought TTI in, expanded the line of tools and got
redesigns on many of the remainder. The TS3650 table saw is a case in point.
Similar to the Emerson TS2424, but with some extra features and refinements
that add to utility. There is now a line of cordless power tools, and the job
site table saw, whose number escapes me at this hour of the morning, is
currently the best on the market.

Whether or not Emerson would have made similar changes I don't know, but I'd
guess they would have. It often isn't the producing company that creates the
quality range, the features gained or lost, the durability, but it is the
company doing the specifications--with the major spec being the profit margin.
Set a price for the final product and then decide what your profit margin is
going to be. Design to fit and to hell with the customer. Not a good process.

Look at the new Craftsman table saw (2124) to see what happens when a company
gets away from that process. It costs more than the saw it replaces, though
sales have kept the prices fairly similar since it was introduced. But that new
saw may well be the best non-industrial table saw that Sears has ever sold. Is
it the best table saw in the world? Of course not. It is a third addition to
the hybrid saw tradition, and seems to me to be better than the other two,
though by how much I don't know...and I could be wrong. I've done very, very
little with the DeWalt and Jet.

One thing with the new Craftsman saw line: it was designed and implemented for
Craftsman by a bunch of old Delta hands. Let's replace 'old' with 'former'. And
it shows the signs.

Charlie Self
"A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers." H. L. Mencken

No offense to your opinion but Emerson is known as a very well managed
company. I would expect Ridgid to do well under its stewardship.

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
ink.net...
"Charlie Self" writes:

Atlas Copco bought Milwaukee less than a decade ago, and appears to have
done
little or nothing to expand its market share, yet the brass at AC stated,
"The
business is, however, still far from the Group's desired position of
globally
being number one or two in the markets we serve."

They have taken a page directly out of Jack Welch's approach of how to run
a
company. (Retired CEO of GE)

Having said that, Atlas-Copco is no General Electric.

The rest of Welch's approach goes like this:

You will be #1 or #2 in market share.
You will have at least 25% market share.
You will contribute at least 20% net after to the profits of the General
Electric Company.

If a business didn't meet those goals, GE either sold the business or shut
it down.

One has to wonder what people like that use for thinking equipment.

Sounds like the just tried to copy GE, but without all the other stuff
that
is required to make it happen.

Neither
Milwaukee nor AEG had the kind of market penetration, though both made,
and
make, marvelous tools, that would lead to a fulfillment of that kind of
expectation without one helluva lot of tool research and development at
several
levels. Neither company produces what can be called consumer level tools,
meaning their numbers are never going to go over the top and sweep
everyone
else away.

What you say is absolutely correct; however, you can define a market
segment
as other than the Homer Homeowner market, in which case the GE approach
would work quite well.

That should have been obvious to even to even the most solidly
MBA-ed dolt in management, but it seems not. Then again...when a company
thinks
annual plans are the same as long term plans....

Long term planning:

What's for lunch?

It should be in interesting run. Ryobi R&D has always come up with of the
more
interesting tool concepts, and some damned good tools in particular price
ranges (and some that are not all that good...I'm not a fan of their
routers).

There is a step up in quality with the Ridgid tools...and I noticed the
Dirt
Devil vacuum (another TTI brand) was cheaper than the one I bought 5-6
years
ago, but seems identical in power, etc. (not a durability problem: it was
stored at the top of basement stairs when we had a basement fire).

IMHO, Emerson has totally destroyed Ridgid, but then again, I'm
prejudiced.

I was at Ridgid in Elyria, Oh the day is was announced that Emerson had
purchased the company. It was not a happy place.

I have no idea how it will all shake out yet, nor am I enamored of one
tool
company for all the world, which sometimes seems to be the way things are
headed with all these mergers, but I am curious as to where things will
stand
next year at this time.

That makes two of us.

Lew

Bob Peterson responds:

No offense to your opinion but Emerson is known as a very well managed
company. I would expect Ridgid to do well under its stewardship.

Yeah, except that Ridgid is under the tutelage of TTI, not Emerson, though if I
got most of the complexities right, the Ridgid brand name, and the plumbing
tools, are still Emerson's.

Charlie Self
"A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers." H. L. Mencken

otforme (Charlie Self) wrote in message ...

snip

I have no idea how it will all shake out yet, nor am I enamored of one tool
company for all the world, which sometimes seems to be the way things are
headed with all these mergers, but I am curious as to where things will stand
next year at this time.

I have had some great experiences with Milwaukee, both the tools and
the company, so I was enamored. Now I'm depressed.

H

I can remember the "ka-ching" of my Datsun minitruck door closing, versus
the solid "thunk" of my wife's Pinto door. US made was demonstrably
different in other ways as well in those days.

US firms invested more in their people than the Japanese, and were working
in older factories to begin with.

"WD" wrote in message
...
On 1 Sep 2004 09:12:00 -0700, (Hylourgos) wrote:

Why are you depressed? Many once great companies died along the wayside
cuz,
they were like the dinosaurs, were unwilling to change clinging to their
old
ways of doing business and many are just simply greedy.

In the 60's GM had about 60% (pls don't hold me to the figure) of the
market
shares. Datsun's (Nissan today) Blue Bird in the same period look like a
toy,
you will laugh till all your teeth's falls off. All the Japanese vehicles
were
really cheap ****. Japanese's cars take to and from the places you wanna
go.
They reinvest their profit and improve....blah, blah, blah. You won't
laugh at
them today, Toyota out sell GM and admire all over the world.

"Charlie Self" writes:

Set a price for the final product and then decide what your profit margin
is
going to be. Design to fit and to hell with the customer. Not a good
process.

Product design specification written by an accountant.


Lew

"Bob Peterson" writes:

No offense to your opinion but Emerson is known as a very well managed
company. I would expect Ridgid to do well under its stewardship.

Ridgid is a shell of it's former self.

IMHO, Emerson has other fish to fry and as a result, Ridgid has paid the
price.

But then again, I'm prejudiced.

Lew

On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 13:44:39 -0400, George george@least wrote:
I can remember the "ka-ching" of my Datsun minitruck door closing, versus
the solid "thunk" of my wife's Pinto door. US made was demonstrably
different in other ways as well in those days.

Yup, it sure was. I drove a Pinto back in "the day", 2.3 liter engine
that couldn't get the POS out of it's own way. Today I'm driving a
Saab with a 2.3 Litre engine and 3 times as much horsepower. And better
mileage. And astonishingly better safety and reliability.

US firms invested more in their people than the Japanese, and were working
in older factories to begin with.

There was also a culture in the US carmakers in the 70's and 80's that
they could get by with substandard crap, and they got passed up. As much
as I hate to see Milwaukee Tools being sold to a company not in the US,
well, if it's a case of being done elsewhere or being done poorly, I'll
take elsewhere. Not saying Milwaukee Tools are made poorly, I've been
buying 'em for years, but lately I'm buying more Makita than Milwaukee
anyway.

Where it's made only goes so far in selection of a product. When the
quality and feature differences overcome that, then I'll buy the right
product regardless of where it's built. I worked for GE for about a
dozen years, and I figured the GE meatball on an appliance would make it
worth about 50 bucks more; more difference than that, and I'd buy another
brand. Only counted for so much.

Dave Hinz

You might want to check on the comparative wages of the Japanese and US auto
workers at the time indicated. Not to mention the pensions. Take the CEO
back to a dollar a week, and it wouldn't add a dollar a week to everyone
else.

Sheesh!

"WD" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 13:44:39 -0400, "George" george@least wrote:

US firms invested more in their people than the Japanese, and were
working
in older factories to begin with.

Yeap, invest more on their CEO and CEO, how much do you think an associate
in
Walmart make compare with their CEO and CFO?

George responds:

You might want to check on the comparative wages of the Japanese and US auto
workers at the time indicated. Not to mention the pensions. Take the CEO
back to a dollar a week, and it wouldn't add a dollar a week to everyone
else.

Sheesh!

On the basis of today's CEO salaries, it sure as hell would. Drop a 100 million
buck a year man back to a buck a week, and even a company with 50,000 employees
would get a little back (about two grand a year)...but you can bet it wouldn't
go into lower echelon salaries anyway. Stockholders might see some of it, but
most would just lose visibility.

Charlie Self
"A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers." H. L. Mencken

Look it up, Charlie, most of that "wage" is not a wage, but stock options
and deferred compensation, and there are performance conditions set on that.
Know many folks on the line who would go for a performance-oriented wage?

Regular retirement plans are deferred compensation, but the rank-and-file
never see them as such, nor do they know the cost of any other benefits.
GM, for instance, passed one retiree for every two active workers a few
years back, and the health plan for retirees is the same PPO the regulars
get. Makes for a tremendous competitive advantage for the foreign makers,
wouldn't you think?

Oh yes, I doubt that companies of 50K employees are paying 100 million CEO
salaries. That kind of money just isn't there, unless you're in something
besides manufacturing, or your employees are Chinese.

Besides, isn't paying people what they're worth a liberal shibboleth?

"Charlie Self" wrote in message
...
George responds:

You might want to check on the comparative wages of the Japanese and US
auto
workers at the time indicated. Not to mention the pensions. Take the
CEO
back to a dollar a week, and it wouldn't add a dollar a week to everyone
else.

Sheesh!

On the basis of today's CEO salaries, it sure as hell would. Drop a 100
million
buck a year man back to a buck a week, and even a company with 50,000
employees
would get a little back (about two grand a year)...but you can bet it
wouldn't
go into lower echelon salaries anyway. Stockholders might see some of it,
but
most would just lose visibility.

Charlie Self
"A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers." H. L.
Mencken

George states:

ook it up, Charlie, most of that "wage" is not a wage, but stock options
and deferred compensation, and there are performance conditions set on that.
Know many folks on the line who would go for a performance-oriented wage

Many people do, and possibly your average CEO does, but for the most part,
those over-compensated types do not have performance factors built into their
contracts. I don't basically care what the payment is called. It is still a
wage of sorts. I'd never make an accountant, because to me, if it goes out,
it's an expense, and if it comes in, it's income.

Regular retirement plans are deferred compensation, but the rank-and-file
never see them as such, nor do they know the cost of any other benefits.

A lot like the regular retirement plans around here, and elsewhere (think US
Airways), that are now permanently deferred.


Oh yes, I doubt that companies of 50K employees are paying 100 million CEO
salaries. That kind of money just isn't there, unless you're in something
besides manufacturing, or your employees are Chinese.


Used as a simple math example, but WTF. Take it further. Build your straw man.

Besides, isn't paying people what they're worth a liberal shibboleth?

Damifino. Nor do I care. No one is worth 100 million bucks, singer, ballplayer
or Chainsaw Al.

Charlie Self
"A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers." H. L. Mencken

On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 17:30:12 -0500, WD wrote:
On 1 Sep 2004 18:31:28 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:

(I didn't write this next paragraph)

By the way Atlas Copco and AEG both are foreign companies, Atlas Copco make the
finest screw compressor and AEG is like GE, they are licensed manufacture of
GE's Industrial gas turbines.

OK, ?

I too worked for GE during Reginald Jones watch in
Apparatus Services Shop we services heavy power generation equipment and I love
it.

GE was a good place to work most of the time. The politics gets a bit
heavy and progress was slow at times but generally was a good time.
Jack Welch was and is someone who continues to be hard to replace.
The stock price sure hasn't done well since Immelt was announced as
the new top dog; the fact that he took the reigns on September 7th,
2001 didn't help those matters much either.

Dave Hinz

I received this in my email.



To all Milwaukee Heavy Duty Club Members:

We have great news to share!

Milwaukee Electric Tool is being acquired by Techtronic Industries Co.
Ltd.
(TTI), the world's fastest growing power tool manufacturer. Although
you
may not have heard about TTI, you're probably familiar with some of the
brand name products owned by TTI, like Ryobi power tools, Homelite
outdoor
power equipment and Royal and Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners and floor care
appliances.

Joining forces with TTI will allow us to share TTI's research and
development facilities. That means we'll have even more engineering and
manufacturing expertise to draw on in order to produce the innovative
products that you've come to expect from Milwaukee.

We currently employ more than 2,000 people and have four manufacturing
plants in Wisconsin, Mississippi and Arkansas, making Milwaukee the only
power tool manufacturer with the majority of its tool production in the
U.S. Our team will now join forces with TTI North America, which employs
1,
800 people in Ohio and South Carolina.

Our products will continue to carry the familiar Milwaukee brand and
you'll
be able to buy the tools and accessories you need from your favorite
retailer or distributor.

At Milwaukee, we're proud of our 80 years of dedicated service to
professional power tool users. The product and service levels that you've
come to expect from Milwaukee will be the same - if not better - in the
years ahead. As we begin this next chapter, we thank you for your
continued
support and invite you to keep sending us ideas on how to make Milwaukee
power tools and accessories even better.

We fully expect to become a stronger company as a result of this
acquisition. This should translate into even more high-quality,
innovative
power tool and accessory systems from Milwaukee.

Thank you for owning and using Milwaukee Electric power tools.

Sincerely,

Dan Perry, President
Milwaukee Electric Tool




--
BigDog
To E-mail me, you know what to do.

"BigDog" wrote in message

To all Milwaukee Heavy Duty Club Members:

We have great news to share!

Milwaukee Electric Tool is being acquired by Techtronic Industries Co.
Ltd.

Sincerely,

Dan Perry, President
Milwaukee Electric Tool

I guess it is good news for Danny boy. He is probably in the process of
negotiating a huge severance package for himself while 90% of the Milwaukee
employees will be getting dumped.

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 23:01:16 GMT, BigDog
wrote:

I received this in my email.



To all Milwaukee Heavy Duty Club Members:

We have great news to share!

Milwaukee Electric Tool is being acquired by Techtronic Industries Co.
Ltd.
(TTI), the world's fastest growing power tool manufacturer. Although
you
may not have heard about TTI, you're probably familiar with some of the
brand name products owned by TTI, like Ryobi power tools, Homelite
outdoor
power equipment and Royal and Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners and floor care
appliances.


Oh yeah, knowing that the company that made my heavy duty 3/8" portable
drill and well-designed, well-manufactured jig saw is now owned by the
manufacturer of Ryobi Homer Weekender tools and Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners
fills me with such inner joy I can hardly contain myself. I wonder if the
next generation of Milwaukee tools will perform like the vacuum cleaners
and suck?


.... snip

Sincerely,

Dan Perry, President
Milwaukee Electric Tool

Great - another good tool manufacturer down the toilet.

Brian


"BigDog" wrote in message
...
I received this in my email.



To all Milwaukee Heavy Duty Club Members:

We have great news to share!

Milwaukee Electric Tool is being acquired by Techtronic Industries Co.
Ltd.
(TTI), the world's fastest growing power tool manufacturer. Although
you
may not have heard about TTI, you're probably familiar with some of the
brand name products owned by TTI, like Ryobi power tools, Homelite
outdoor
power equipment and Royal and Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners and floor care
appliances.

Joining forces with TTI will allow us to share TTI's research and
development facilities. That means we'll have even more engineering and
manufacturing expertise to draw on in order to produce the innovative
products that you've come to expect from Milwaukee.

We currently employ more than 2,000 people and have four manufacturing
plants in Wisconsin, Mississippi and Arkansas, making Milwaukee the only
power tool manufacturer with the majority of its tool production in the
U.S. Our team will now join forces with TTI North America, which employs
1,
800 people in Ohio and South Carolina.

Our products will continue to carry the familiar Milwaukee brand and
you'll
be able to buy the tools and accessories you need from your favorite
retailer or distributor.

At Milwaukee, we're proud of our 80 years of dedicated service to
professional power tool users. The product and service levels that you've
come to expect from Milwaukee will be the same - if not better - in the
years ahead. As we begin this next chapter, we thank you for your
continued
support and invite you to keep sending us ideas on how to make Milwaukee
power tools and accessories even better.

We fully expect to become a stronger company as a result of this
acquisition. This should translate into even more high-quality,
innovative
power tool and accessory systems from Milwaukee.

Thank you for owning and using Milwaukee Electric power tools.

Sincerely,

Dan Perry, President
Milwaukee Electric Tool




--
BigDog
To E-mail me, you know what to do.

"B Man" wrote in message
...
Great - another good tool manufacturer down the toilet.

Brian

True to some extent, but at least I'm able to slowly order all my parts &
accessories from one source..LOL.


--
© Jon Down ®
NEED BLADES?
http://www.stores.ebay.com/jdpowertoolcanada
"You cannot make someone love you.
All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in."