And the winner is...! Drum roll, please. The winner of last issue’s survey giveaway of a Bosch JS5 Jigsaw kit is Ken Patterson of Conestoga Wood Specialties, East Earl, PA. Congratulations, Ken!

Power tool buying

Here are the brands of power tools and accessories you buy most often and why

Few things stir such loyalties or spark such debates as the relative merits of power tools among their respective owners. Makita owners steadfastly declare their tools are the best, most durable things on the planet. Panasonic owners claim their tools are smarter than everyone else’s put together. Milwaukee owners like to scoff at everyone. And so on.

One measure of this numbers on the plant floor. In last month’s survey we asked you just that, plus other questions about the brands you buy and who you buy them from. Here are your answers.

When purchasing power tools, which factor most influences your buying decision?

In the next 12 months, do you expect your power tool and accessory purchases to:

What makes you buy?
Your answers to this question were so overwhelmingly consistent that we initially felt we had asked the question wrong. When asked which factors most influence your purchase decisions, a resounding 79 percent said “best value for the money” was the number one factor. This was followed by “Brand,” (there’s that preference thing) with roughly 15 percent. Buyers who said lowest price was the main factor came in at just 1.2 percent.

This trend also held for accessory purchases. A solid 75 percent of you cited “best value” as your main consideration when buying bits, blades and discs. Nine percent cited “Brand” as the number two reason.

Consumption trends: steady — or better!
Although the nation continues to shake its collective head when talking about construction, manufacturing will hold its own in 2008 and accelerate in 2009. This is validated by your own estimates of future power tool and accessory needs.

In the next 12 months, nearly 50 percent of you expect tool and accessory consumption volumes to remain unchanged. However, an additional 29 percent of you expect your consumption to increase between five and nine percent. And a further 13.6 percent expect usage to increase between 10 and 19 percent. Finally, nearly 5 percent of you expect to increase consumption by 20 percent or more in the next 12 months.

Distributor trust
All this leads to the question of trust in your suppliers. Your answers are good news for distributors; 70 percent of you say you have “some faith” in your suppliers. Another 20 percent say you trust them completely, which is a ringing endorsement by any measure.

Brand preferences
Finally, we get to the question of brand preference. These results reflect the sentiments of the respondents to this survey only. The top brands in your plants, listed alphabetically, are:
    • Bosch
    • Chicago Pneumatic
    • Craftsman
    • DeWalt/Black & Decker
    • Dynabrade
    • Ingersoll Rand
    • Makita
    • Metabo
    • Milwaukee
    • Panasonic
    • Ridgid

Thank you, and don’t forget to take our hand tool survey on page 9 in the printed copy of this issue or click here for the online version for another chance to win great tools!

This article appeared in the April/May 2008 issue of MRO Today magazine. Copyright 2008.

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