Dewalt was showing off their hard hats and helmets on social media, and so I took a look.
I started browsing around and was surprised at what I learned.
According to the product listing at Acme Tools, the Dewalt safety helmets are made in China. Maybe it was just that one model? I checked others. “Made in China.”
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While disappointed, I decided not to post about it.
However, at a media event last week, one of Dewalt’s top competitors was talking about how their expanding line of safety helmets that are made in the USA.
The competing brand wasn’t making helmets a few years ago, let alone in the USA.
So why isn’t Dewalt making their safety helmets in the USA? Couldn’t they?
Is Stanley Black & Decker unable to make this type of safety gear in the USA? Or are they unwilling to?
Companies and brands make deliberate choices when it comes to sourcing, at least much of the time. Other times, circumstances can make or block certain decisions for them.
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Looking around, there are other construction brands that also make safety helmets in the USA.
And so I repeat my question – why isn’t Dewalt doing the same? Surely this is something Stanley Black & Decker could do if they wanted to, so why aren’t they?
I asked Dewalt: Why are Dewalt safety helmets, such as DPG22-R002, made in China?
Here’s what they said:
The DPG22-R002 you referenced is manufactured through a licensee partnership with a leading provider of high-performance PPE. We select licensing partners in the U.S. and around the world and consider a number of factors, including their commitment to quality, their ability to meet rigorous safety standards, and their expertise in the category. Our priority is to ensure that every DEWALT product we offer meets the needs and expectations of end-users.
Milwaukee Tool has been growing their selection of USA-made safety helmets, which surely indicates there’s demand for USA manufacturing. But perhaps there’s not enough demand since Stanley Black & Decker has not done the same with Dewalt.
I spoke to Milwaukee Tool decision makers and product managers last week, and they’re unmistakably proud of every new tool and product SKU that they can say is made in the USA.
Can anyone at Dewalt or Stanley Black & Decker say they’re proud to put their brand name on imported helmets?
Why is USA manufacturing evidently a priority for Milwaukee Tool but not Stanley Black & Decker or Dewalt? And that’s not just about safety helmets, but broadly speaking. That’s what I can’t wrap my head around.
Some of Dewalt’s licensing partners used to make more safety gear in the USA before moving production to Asia. Couldn’t they move production back here?
Maybe USA sourcing matters to some end users, but not enough to be worth the investment to Stanley Black & Decker or their manufacturing partners.
I guess that’s what it comes down to – if customers are buying Dewalt safety helmets that are made in China, why would the company change anything?
John
Extra ‘are’ in title: Why are Dewalt Helmets are Made in China?
Stuart
Thanks! *fixed* I toned down the title, and parts of the post, and thought I caught all of the rework type errors.
will
I love how they forget to mention cost as a factor. I wish they had a website where failures were collected. That way we as consumers can tell if it even makes a difference. maybe the Chinese hardhats actually are the better product, though I highly doubt it , and it like always comes down to cost in the end. If a hardhat fails it’s not like they willl be. sued especially since the way I’ve seen people treat them. Get thrown in a truck for the winter, gets dropped from a height, kicked around etc. doesn’t matter because they unless the hardhat is brand-new I doubt the producer would be held liable. So why move the manufacturing to the USA when in the end its the end user who is at fault for hard hats failing, I mean the same poly is used I’m sure as well as the way its made. the only difference is cost of the labor. though I bet end users don’t save money , in fact it being Dewalt branded I’m sure the HH costs more than most of the competing brands. Hell nobody I worked with even checked or cared, we just used them, and replaced them every 3 or5 years , can’t recall.
Stuart
My understanding is that hard hats and helmets need to be tested to very specific standards to ensure they can protect users against common jobsite hazards. As long as they meet such standards, many other aspects such as country of origin should not factor into safety performance.
CMF
What you say is true but but consumers want MINTUSA.
Over the last 10 years or so, Milwaukee has been making a lot of great decisions, the kind that seem to appeal to the buyer.
TomD
The answer is right there – SBD is “making” their helmets in China because they don’t make their helmets.
They buy them from a contract manufacturer, and while USA manufacturing exists (the unnamed company is likely Milwaukee) you have to build it yourself for things like this. Contract manufacturing exists for some things in the USA (blow-molded trash cans, for example), but not others.
And it’s somewhat understandable why DeWalt didn’t want to hire Milwaukee to manufacture helmets for them (though I daresay for the right money, they’d do it).
TomD
And a contract manufacturer isn’t going to setup a USA factory for one customer without that customer basically paying for it all; in which case they’d just onshore themselves, which they’ve had problems with in the past apparently.
I don’t know who the “big names” in PPE are but I doubt they’re Milwaukee OR DeWalt.
Stuart
Milwaukee built production lines in the USA. I assume SBD could do the same.
Radians – Dewalt’s presumed partner for this – has some production in the USA. Couldn’t they expand to produce safety helmets here?
It seems to me it’d be easier for Dewalt and Radians than it was for Milwaukee. That makes this even more confusing.
Dave
I think if SBD wanted to to make DeWalt helmets, they could certainly do it in the US.
This sounds more like they’ve decided they’re not interested in making helmets at all, but if someone else is willing to pay them to slap a DeWalt logo on a helmet, and SBD has decided the product is of sufficient quality not to embarrass them, they get to add a product line they weren’t interested in pursuing themselves anyway. In that case they’re probably agnostic as to where the third party partner is sourcing from.
Bonnie
Could they? Sure. Anyone could with enough money and a willingness to lose it could.
But the actual question is: Why would they want to? Are they making noticeably less money buying these from China? Would the investment in USA manufacturing for hard hats make them more money than it would return if invested elsewhere?
You seem to be considering it a given that USA-made is better, but from a corporate perspective it generally isn’t, outside a few specific situations like marketing, tariffs, and availability.
I remember when DeWalt went more heavily into “Made in the USA” but when they dropped it again it doesn’t seem to have hurt their financials.
CMF
If I remember correctly, Dewalt started the MINTUSA with global parts, and the flag, before Milwaukee. Milwaukee saw the marketing possibilities and ran with it.
Dewalt, I think didn’t take advantage of it. or didn’t do the right things.
Sometimes I wonder if Milwaukee has gone so far ahead, that what ever decisions they make, consumer embrace. Making what they do the way to go.
Or in simple terms what they touch turns to gold
fred
The OEM is indeed Radians – giveaway are the UPC’s like: 674326380094
mark w
Honestly in my opinion. I’m from Milwaukee, several of my friends from engineering school have or do work for Milwaukee. A close friend works in their rapid pro typing center. In my opinion these things come down to management motivations and messaging. Milwaukee has for many years been seen as an illustrious company to work for in the region. They reinvest in the business like no one else. They have engineers lined up to work for them and give their last breath like the automotive engineers do.
When this approach of intense reinvestment in the business is performed for many years you develop an extremely motivated worker base because everything about working there is about growth success and the illustrious nature of the Milwaukee tool name.
Culture matters so much in these organizations. Simple things like a single maintenance manager having a job for ten years and being allowed to let machine conditions slide into disrepair is not something tolerated at a company that culturally demands greatness. While a scarcity motivated biz might actually celebrate the lack of maintenance, it ends up making it impossible for them to compete with competitors who didn’t let maintenance lapse.
SBD has much less of that and in my opinion has a culture of a business resting on it laurels – hunting around for where to squeeze some more margin out of a product by manipulating market forces (like buying cheap Chinese helmets and selling them at similar prices to USA made one, or lower as to compete on price and not design) rather than out designing and out competing their competition. The mentality is way different and it causes a scarcity mindset in decision makers vs. A mindset of market domination and abundance.
The scarcity mindset says “we can’t risk reshoring that product and raising the prices!! And we certainly aren’t going to decrease our margin” boom – innovations dead at the firm, now none of the genius engineers want to lay down their free time with you and leave for next illustrious company, can only attract the “do the bare minimum to not get fired” class of people who also operate with a scarcity mindset, and then slowly over time all your products appear outdated and you are no longer seen at the same level. And your facilities are in such a state it makes more sense to find a contract manufacturing to do the actually manufacturing for you so you can just lazily collect margin off your brand name.
Kinda like how a few years ago I think more ppl would have agreed DeWalt and Milwaukee were neck and neck in the power tool space. But since then Milwaukee doubles down on innovation (abundance mentality of investments paying off) while SBD gave up on making a US plant in Texas because a main supplier fell through? Really no other suppliers? Come on…..Milwaukee would’ve started a new department to supply itself. That’s the difference is an executive would’ve greenlit that work at Milwaukee where at SBD they may tell you to pound sand when trying to disrupt the status quo. Meanwhile Milwaukee is always the first to market with new innovations and they hit their rollouts hard every time. What’s DeWalt doing? Putting out new batteries? Or discontinuing them now?
It’s the few people at the(one step below) top commiting their lives to upholding standard that keep things the way they are, imo.
mark w
Klein tools is doing this right now pretty bad too, quietly offshoring many products while loudly shouting about gimmicky American flag pliers every holiday season. Meanwhile their pivots feel like garbage, their ecoats have come off with ballistol for me, and they get surface rust faster than any other brand of pliers I own from USA to Germany to Japanese.
Stuart
I want to disagree with you, but everything you said seems spot-on to me.
Jim
Thanks Stuart! These are exactly the kind of posts I want to see.
Stuart
I try to avoid it, because brands get mad and readers can get political in the comments, but such questions need to be asked.
Jeff
I love seeing these kind of reviews about products/manufacturers. It’s very telling. I love how they answered your question by not answering what you asked, instead, just sidestepping it altogether. DeWalt has a history of being misleading.
Stuart
Any answer is better than no answer. I gave them the opportunity to provide a comment, they did, and I very much appreciate it.
I was hoping for more, but there are insights to be gleaned from what they did say.
WB
I stopped touching Klein when they started the transition over to China years back. If it’s a Klein I own, it’s old. Go German or Japanese now for the most part. Even Fluke has fallen. FLUKE. The one with the US Military as a customer (last I checked anyway).
There are two currents that flow to make this sort of thing happen: Consolidation in the chase for infinite rates of return and the Chinese desire to corner the market on pretty much anything. It’s not enough for a Publicly traded or Private VC owned company to wildly profit, they must always show a wildly increasing rate of profit increase. Infinite growth on a limited planet is not possible and most of the big conglomerates forgot how to innovate, so they just buy up any other company they can so they can make the books look good for the quarterly reports.
China meanwhile, subsidizes the heck out of all their manufacturing both domestic and foreign (Hisense TVs being made in Mexico, Milwaukee being made in the USA, etc…) and has found the thing most in the Western world thought was impossible: the upside of both a capitalist and a command economy. Everything from security cameras to drones to 3d Printers to ship building to EVs/batteries to nuclear plants to semiconductors (Taiwan has the edge for now and all at the bleeding edge are dependent on the Dutch, again, for now): they want to be and now are what the USA was in the 1940s-1970s.
We on the other hand are in the grip of a tiny few who’s sole goal is the ever increasing rate of profit from all they own. BlackRock (owned by itself with Vanguard and State Street as investors its weird), Vanguard and State Street are the largest shareholders in some combination between the 3 of 40% of all Publicly traded US companies and pretty much all companies on the S&P, and even in private equity groups like KKR. Stanley Black and Decker, Fortive (fluke parent), TTI Group (milwaukee), SMIC (China’s booming semiconductor manufacturer), BYD (Chinese carmaker, the largest EV manufacturer in the world), Tesla, Intel, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Bank of America, they have a large or totally controlling block in them all…yes, you did read that TTI Group /SMIC/BYD part right, they have invested untold sums in every facet of China’s manufacturing, though, unlike in the USA, they cannot be the owners/majority shareholders in Chinese companies. They must have a larger and for all intents and purposes, imaginary number in their bank accounts at all costs. And I do mean all costs, even if it is the USA that is the cost. There is no reason to innovate and every reason to cut every possible cent, even if it means the next quarter goes south because you ripped off and alienated customers with a product this quarter. But I mean, if you have a big share of Dewalt and Milwaukee, does it really matter if the customers flip between the two? Only real way to win is own both sides, and from that position, it doesn’t matter to you if one country goes down as long as one of them goes up. I’ll leave it to you to decide why their Chinese owned investments tend to have all the actual factories (Tesla and Intel are doing great aren’t they? Shame if their manufacturing facilities crashed out. Oh, right…). Just an interesting oddity I’m sure.
Robert
Would not the reason be profit? That SBD can get the hard hats made at much lower cost in China? They seem a product that doesn’t need much skilled labor.
Rick
“Would not the reason be profit?”
This is by far the most obvious reason, yet nobody else seems to have considered it. And the logic of asking “If some large company is doing something, then why isn’t one of their major competitors doing exactly the same thing?” seems pretty dubious and superficial to me.
Perhaps Milwaukee will win the PR battle over making safety helmets in the USA, and gain some market share even if they lose money by doing it. Good luck to them for that, but I struggle understand how they will make more money on their helmets by manufacturing them in the USA than DeWalt will make by manufacturing theirs in China.
Some companies manufacture in the USA and thrive on it, but typically they thrive because they make a product that is sold at a premium price, but superior to most of the competition. I was about to cite Eley Hoses as a golden example of that approach, but I’ve just read that they now outsource the manufacture of their hose reels to China!
Anyway, I don’t see Milwaukee safety helmets fitting into that business model unless they have some interesting patents associated with the helmets that they are planning to manufacture in the USA.
Stuart
Regarding Eley – can you send me a link or source? Their website (https://www.eleyhosereels.com/pages/history-and-overview-of-eley-manufacturing ) says:
United States – Garden Hose (Reno, NV)
China – Hose Reels & Watering Tools
Looking online, it seems this has been the case for a number of years now. I bought one a few years ago and so far it’s worked out very well.
Rick
Your link was also the source for my comment. I was unaware of them moving anything to China until I learned that just before posting here. (I certainly don’t follow the business plans of companies as closely as you, and had incorrectly assumed that their products were still 100% American made.)
But from that link, Eley states:
“ELEY Corporation has developed a business model that combines both domestic and overseas operations which enable us to…Sell these premium products at fair and reasonable prices”.
I suspect DeWalt could give you the same explanation for why they sell Chinese safety helmets rather than American safety helmets. In fact, to flip the framing of your editorial, I’d be interested to know how Milwaukee think they can manufacture helmets here more cheaply than in China. As I said before, good for them if they can, but I’m skeptical.
All that said, I find Eley’s (American) hoses and (Chinese) reels to be excellent – better than all of the competition in both cases. And to give them further credit, they are upfront about manufacturing some products in China.
Even better, their marketing does not focus on them being an American company at all. Instead, they just push the (accurate) notion that they sell premium products which are way better than the competition. Perhaps Milwaukee will take a similar approach with their helmet hats.
Stuart
Dewalt, Milwaukee, and other safety helmets are in direct competition.
Eley’s reels are distinct and thus it’s hard to compare. Eley’s hoses, however – those have direct parallels to hoses by other brands.
And no one has said that Milwaukee is producing safety helmets at a lower cost than they could in China. They chose to create American jobs and domestic manufacturing.
I asked Channellock a long time ago why they were launching screwdrivers that were made in China. They told me they couldn’t find domestic sourcing. Do you know what happened once that changed? They launched USA-made screwdrivers.
Did USA-sourcing exist for safety helmets? Yes. At volume? Maybe, maybe not. Milwaukee created their own sourcing. Why hasn’t Dewalt?
It could be that customers don’t care enough. Maybe Dewalt’s retail partners don’t care enough. Are those the reasons?
None of this is rhetorical – I really hope someone can provide a definitive answer as to how these decisions are made. What would it take for Stanley Black & Decker and Dewalt to launch more USA-made products?
Bonnie
“What would it take for Stanley Black & Decker and Dewalt to launch more USA-made products?”
The definitive answer is that they’d have to make significantly more money doing so than any alternative.
Mopar
So, I looked at a few of the current Milwaukee hard hats, and they seem to be “made in USA with global components”. We all know by now that might mean the entire hard hat is made in China or elsewhere, but assembled here. So are these newest ones you mention entirely manufactured in the USA, or just assembled here?
I also very quickly compared a few Dewalt/Milwaukee, the the Milwaukee ones appeared to be more expansive. Is there really a difference between Made in China vs Made in USA with parts from China? I mean besides retail price vs marketing?
I know with critical gear like PPE I personally first pick name brands over random letter companies, and made in USA over made elsewhere.
Stuart
That’s not what it means – it means they haven’t yet sourced all of the materials here. I assume it’s a matter of where the padding and straps come from.
Someone at Milwaukee said they’re working on bringing their entire hard hat and helmet sourcing here, but I didn’t have a chance to ask for details. I spent more time asking about Milwaukee’s USA-made hand tools.
Mopar
The Dewalt DPG11 hard hat seems to be made in the USA by Radians.
https://www.radians.com/products/dewalt-dpg11-cap-style-hard-hat
Stuart
But not helmets. Seems to me that if they can make hard hats here they could also make helmets here.
Mopar
But yet again, “made in USA from global materials” really is not the same as “made in USA”. Acme’s website doesn’t make that distinction, while Milwaukee’s does. But they don’t say what parts are made where. And yes, I understand the difference, as well as the difficulties in sourcing every single component and material from the USA. My wife used to be an exec at one of those USA manufacturers, and though they hated it, they still needed to source some stuff from other countries.
Mopar
Looking at Acme’s website, I see basically 2 different model hardhats listed, not counting different colors. One is made in China, one is made in USA.
https://www.acmetools.com/all/?q=dewalt+hard+hat
Stuart
Hard hats are not the same as safety helmets.
Mopar
I’ll give you that. But it seems like Dewalt offers one hardhat and one safety helmet, both of which are clearly sourced from Radians. It’s like an afterthought. Like Dewalt says “We’re in the business of making tools, but if you REALLY bleed yellow so badly you need Dewalt everything, we’ll source it and sell it to you, but we’re not gonna bother reinventing the wheel, helmet, bluetooth speaker, socks, coffee mugs, belts, etc.”
Milwaukee Definity has a different corporate culture. They seem to be willing to expand into all sorts of niche and related markets, but also less willing to just outsource an existing product and slap their brand on it. On paper that seems like a bold and risky strategy, but so far it is working well for them.
Stuart
Hence the desire for understanding.
I have asked many brands why they make different tools overseas, and received different explanations.
Much of the time, the circumstances are similar across the industry. But in this case, one brand is sourcing from USA production, and another from China.
Milwaukee has answered why they are choosing to expand their USA footprint. I hoped looking at a very specific example would help me understand why Dewalt is seemingly disinterested in doing the same.
TL
No one mentioning the 800 lbs Gorilla? Milwaukee is a Chinese Company. So in the end they get rich and support working poor here?
Mopar
Wow, is it that time of the month for this one again already?
Stuart
Milwaukee is a USA-based company that is owned by a publicly-traded company headquartered in HK.
But yeah, that’s what astounds me. Milwaukee has been creating jobs and expanding their USA manufacturing. What has Stanley Black & Decker been doing with Dewalt and Craftsman? Why are they not doing the same??
It’s not like Milwaukee has been making safety helmets here for decades, it’s just been a couple of years.
TL
Milwaukee is a USA-based company
This is just not correct.
AKJ
As a Made in USA zealot, I prioritize my purchases approximately in this order, giving preference to the working poor:
USA company, Made in USA item
Foreign company, Made in USA
USA company, Made in USA w/ global materials
Foreign company, Made in USA w/ global materials
USA company, Assembled in USA
Foreign company, Assembled in USA
USA company, Foreign made item (China is least favorable, only if I am desperate)
Foreign company, Foreign made item (China is least favorable, only if I am super duper desperate)
John Howells
Cheap labor
Rick
Yes, cheap labor is a surely a factor, but that may be partially/completely offset by Milwaukee avoiding tariffs by manufacturing their helmets in the USA.
Regardless of the politics, one clearly stated intention of the recent tariffs is to encourage manufacturing in the USA.
Perhaps Milwaukee crunched the numbers and decided that they could manufacture helmets here and make money. A brave move and good luck to them if so, because there is nothing permanent about tariffs.
Stuart
Milwaukee’s helmet production preceded the current tariffs by quite a few years. Here are the first: https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-tool-safety-helmets/ .
Outsourcing production of tools and equipment is cheaper than setting up domestic production, and so far that looks to remain true even with the new tariffs.
So far I haven’t seen a single tool brand or company announce that they’re reshoring production in response to the tariffs.
Rog
Dewalt operates like a PE-owned company and Milwaukee operates like a tool manufacturing company.
Nathan
I will say I am more and more disheartened with sbd over the years. Us made Mac tools ok why they hell aren’t there USA made tools as ….. Without the tool truck price. No not craftsman. But could be.
Stuart
https://toolguyd.com/usa-made-dewalt-screwdrivers/
https://toolguyd.com/dewalt-industrial-usa-screwdrivers-discontinued/
Those are the last USA-made Dewalt tools I recall seeing.
Reflector
They probably have the specific production line and tooling at the China factory and SBD didn’t want to buy a large enough contract/pay to have a US (or North American) production line. When you have a supplier with an established production line at a site there’s actual material costs to replicate or relocate it elsewhere. They probably ran the numbers for their bean counters and they concluded that given the volume they sell (and thus the profit they expect) that eating the tariffs was the better option for them for whatever metrics they defined in terms of expected sales/lifetime of that iteration of their helmets.
I’ll say this personally: Good on TTI for investing in the US, not a Milwaukee or TTI guy myself and I don’t particularly care for their tools. The diversification of production outside of just one country or region isn’t a bad thing given the lessons learned from COVID in regards to supply chain shock. I’ll avoid anything “political” beyond saying the obvious in regards to having all production in one geographic location.
S
I really think it comes down to the overall business management style.
In the Milwaukee article, Stuart referenced how Milwaukee proceeded to make and sell the fluorescent light tester, despite them knowing full well that it would be a small seller.
I have one of those testers. It works great.
From my outside perspective looking in, it appears Milwaukee as a brand is seeking to be THE source for everything, and looks to make money on average from their entire product lineup. While they’re still a business, and every business needs to turn a profit, they’re looking into creating solutions first, and allowing the profit to follow.
Whereas DeWalt appears to be set up more corporate/business-minded, where every product needs to turn a specific profit to justify the production. Every tool they release tends to be a safe bet. They’re not really the leader at any innovations, but they don’t sit back and let everyone keep all the good stuff either.
Aram
I quite like your characterization!
Christopher
“I guess that’s what it comes down to – if customers are buying Dewalt safety helmets that are made in China, why would the company change anything?”
Sadly this says it all. They will react to what the customers show they want, not what they say they want. If they watched their sales crater while Milwaukee’s skyrocketed, they would surely look to make the switch to US manufacturing. But as long as people keep buying their products, they don’t care what people are saying at home.
I find myself having to repeat to some people that Amazon doesn’t care if you tweet that they need broken up and taxed more. All they care about is if you keep your Prime account and keep buying from them. It always falls on deaf ears.
Rzorrok
Milwaukee can sell their products for a premium because.. Milwaukee. This allows them to absorb the higher manufacturing costs and still make money. Dewalt can’t do this because they aren’t a premium brand. Oh wait, they are? Hmmmmm
Dallin Sorensen
On paper, I don’t mind all that much when companies manufacture in other countries. But it just gets slimy with “technically assembled in USA” and barely lying about which products are made in USA.
ElectroAtletico
Are they UL-tested, third-party audited, ASTM/ANSI certified? Yes? Then it’s good enough for me – even though I don’t use them. As long as they’re certified, I don’t care where they came from.
p.s. I have the WaveCel T2+ PRO Full Brim, Type II, Class E safety helmet which is designed, assembled, and manufactured in that cesspool called Oregon.