A SAD DAY IN AMERICA - ANOTHER AMERICAN COMPANY BITES THE DUST!

[oldbrownhat]

I just read about this recently on the Toolguyd website. (Corporate buyouts and who-owns-what are a hot topic there.) Time will tell but the comments there are not all that positive. Many feel that Starrett has been going downhill for some time, and many, like folks here, treasure their "old" Starrett gear.

Toolguyd has another interesting change-of-ownership article, but probaby not bad news as it's acquired these brands from their previous Chinese owners.

Canadian Company Acquired USA Drill Bit Brands

...Walter Surface Technologies, a Canadian-based company that "provides innovative solutions for the global metalworking industry," has acquired Greenfield Industries, a group of USA-based tooling manufacturers, from TDC, which is based in China.

Greenfield Industries includes brands such as Cleveland, Chicago-Latrobe, Cle-Line, and Greenfield Threading, which have maintained "robust manufacturing capabilities and infrastructure" in the USA.

These brands produce drill bits, thread-cutting taps, and other such tooling.

Walter is acquiring Greenfield Industries from the Top-Eastern Group (TDC), a Chinese-based company that specializes in drill bits and similar cutting tools...​

I had no idea that Walter Surface Technologies was Canadian. Based in Quénec. They make good stuff. I usually buy Cle-line or Triumph drill bits.

 

[Bald1]

In my college days, working for an MBA, it was accepted that a corporation was out for X% profit margin. Today, an ROI greater than a year is unacceptable. The whole bizness world has changed.

Today, the stock market controls everything. If a company does not meet the stockholder's expectation, they are done for.

Today, the CEO and high level dodos make HUGE salaries.

While almost in bankruptcy, the company I worked for eliminated all the Vice Presidents..........they made them all SENIOR VPs and increased their salaries. They also eliminated 90% of the sales force and eliminated 100% of the technical sales to make up the pay difference.

I was forced to take classes in TQM and Six Sigma. One of the premises was that ALL problems are due to BAD MANAGEMENT. Our book for the salaried employees was custom printed, but they left that chapter out.

Hand tools are in some places being replaced by optical digital equipment, which may be part of Starretts issue.

Nevertheless, my vote is for bad management.

Ah yes. Six Sigma…….. vintage Chris Collins. I miss that guy. He had Erie Co on tract for a while.

 

[rwsmith]

The only thing constant...

...is change. It's a shame having a company that you've known and trusted your entire life close its doors and come under 'new management' but that's life. And we do much better when we adapt rather than mourn the past.

 

[Rule3]

That's what they said about all the other American manufacturers too. I HOPE you are right - but I'd not bet 1 cent on that.

Have your review the companies I linked to? What is terrible about them??
Read the post by burneyr #6

 

[armorer951]

Finally got around to "re-clocking" my old Starrett 120A caliper's dial indicator yesterday.

A great company with a legacy for producing quality products.

 

[oldbrownhat]

I'm not a precision-anything (except perhaps procrastinator) but several years ago I picked up this old #436F in a second-hand store for about $30 "just because". I like nice old tools and enjoy using them. Don't know when it was made but it's obviously fairly old. Last time I checked this model was still available for around $135

 

[cmj8591]

Maybe they'll move to Tennessee with S&W. Another Mass business that got sick of getting nickled and dimed at every turn.

 

[Model 15-4ever]

I dont understand why many folks equate private equity buyouts to offshoring and corporate raiding.
....

Cerberus Capital Management

Remington, Marlin and Bushmaster... call your former offices

 

[DWalt]

I have spoken previously about Whataburger, the large Texas fast food burger chain. Founded in 1950, until about six or seven years ago, it was essentially a privately owned family corporation and very proud of it. But the ultimately reached the point where capital requirements for expansion and the level of internal management skills were holding back further growth. So they negotiated a takeover deal with a large private equity group out of Chicago. So far, it has apparently worked out very well for the chain, and the have been rapidly expanding. Of course, there is little similarity between a fast food chain and a manufacturer of precision measurement instruments.

The only Starrett tools I own is a set of spindle micrometers from 1" to 6" that I bought at an estate sale many years ago at a giveaway price. I have never needed to use any size larger than 1". My workhorse measuring instrument is a no-name 5" dial caliper I bought at a flea market back in the late 1970s. Really - nothing on it indicates its maker or country of origin. Yet it is as sturdy and reliable as any dial caliper I have ever used. I greatly prefer a dial caliper. Don't need no stinkin' digital readouts. I also have an 8" Mitutoyo dial caliper, but seldom need anything that long. I also have a 24" vernier caliper which will measure to a precision of 1/256" (0.004"). I have needed to use it a few times but not recently.

 

[Narragansett]

How long has Browne and Sharp been gone? There used to be some excellent Austrian and German made precision measuring tools. Sold off all my dial indicators and large mics, no need for them now.

Brown and Sharpe went out in the early 80's I believe. The 1 million SF building in " Precision Park" North Kingstown, RI is mostly warehousing foe many companies. I am not sure that they are completely gone. I think some manufacturing moved to England, at least for a while.

I believe that was the longest labor strike in US history. Lot of people lived there. The plant was 2 miles from my house. Striking labor was out there 24/7 for over 3 years. Striking labor killed a lot of manufacturing in RI

 

[DWalt]

Brown and Sharpe went out in the early 80's I believe. The 1 million SF building in " Precision Park" North Kingstown, RI is mostly warehousing foe many companies. I am not sure that they are completely gone. I think some manufacturing moved to England, at least for a while.

I believe that was the longest labor strike in US history. Lot of people lived there. The plant was 2 miles from my house. Striking labor was out there 24/7 for over 3 years. Striking labor killed a lot of manufacturing in RI

Since 2001 B&S has been a division of a Swedish corporation and the B&S measurement devices are made in Sweden.

 

[oldbrownhat]

Since 2001 B&S has been a division of a Swedish corporation and the B&S measurement devices are made in Sweden.

Thanks for the update According to Wikipedia.

Brown & Sharpe is a division of Hexagon AB, a Swedish multinational corporation focused mainly on metrological tools and technology. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Brown & Sharpe was one of the best-known and most influential machine tool builders and was a leading manufacturer of instruments for machinists (such as micrometers and indicators). Its reputation and influence were such that its name is often considered to be inseparably paired with certain industrial standards that it helped establish, including:

• The American wire gauge (AWG) standards for wire;
• The Brown & Sharpe taper in machine tool spindle tapers; and
• The Brown & Sharpe worm threadform for worm gears.

Since being acquired by Hexagon Metrology in 2001, Brown and Sharpe has concentrated exclusively on metrology equipment...​

 

[Protocall_Design]

The 2 that I always go to are Brown & Sharpe and Mitutoyo. Starrett was once a premium brand, one of the best, but has been in decline in terms of quality for 40 years or so. The older Starrett tools are still some of the best you can get. Now they are cheap on eBay.

 

[DWalt]

At one time, I frequently drove through a small West Texas town called Knippa, which was not very far east of Uvalde. One of the few businesses there was the Knippa Tool Trader. I don't know where the owner (an elderly gentleman) got his merchandise, but he had about every type of used tool imaginable. I occasionally stopped in just to see what he had. He always had lots of measuring instruments, many were known brands. I have bought some tools from him, but the only measuring device I bought there was a hole depth micrometer. It came in a case with a set of rods up to about 4" long, so the depths of blind holes up to that depth could be measured precisely. I might have used it once, but I don't remember why. But it's easier to just use the hole depth rod on a dial caliper. He shut down about ten years ago. It was a very interesting place in an unlikely location. I was sorry to see it go.

 

[chief38]

Well.... all I can say is I HOPE you more optimistic fellas here are correct and I am wrong!