How Dewalt Takes a Modular Approach to Cordless Tools

Stanley Black & Decker, parent company to Dewalt, Craftsman, and other tool brands, has emphasized their “platforming” approach to product design and development in their investor materials. Here, we’ll touch upon an example of this.

Platforming is when you have shared components and technologies, and it’s typically done for speedier and more efficient product development.

Other tool brands are quick to point out the same about Dewalt and Craftsman products, and how the company reuses shared components.

Is it better to design each product on its own? Most of the time, sure, although that’s a matter of context, opinion, and sometimes an abundance of other factors.

Consider a cheeseburger, with bread, meat patty, a slice of cheese, lettuce, pickles, and ketchup. Swap out the beef with a ground turkey patty, and it’s a turkey burger. A veggie patty makes it a veggie burger. Or maybe go with a portobello mushroom, grilled chicken, or any other main patty-like ingredient

Does it make sense to come up with a unique configuration for every type of burger? If you’re going the artisanal route, maybe. But for a diner or family restaurant, swapping out the patty works just fine and is more economical.

And that’s what Stanley Black & Decker seems to have done with the new cordless grinders. Sometimes their modular approach isn’t obvious, such as when they only use the same motor across different tools.

Some brands will emphasize how they develop bespoke motors for their flagship tools, and objectively speaking that really is the ideal approach. But, it’s certainly not the quickest, easiest, or more economical.

What does the RETAILER want to buy? In my opinion, this is more of a driving force for Dewalt and other Stanley Black & Decker brands, but it’s something that I think all brands consider.

Speed and shared costs are not without benefits.

These are 3 of Dewalt’s 4 new brushless grinders.

It’s pretty obvious that the brand took a modular approach here. They all have the same – or perceptively indistinguishable – engineering aside from the grinder head.

It’s the same with the other new grinder.

This is an excellent example of “platforming,” and how Dewalt and SBD’s other brands have “modular yet customizable” tool designs.

This likely lowers the manufacturing costs, assuming the internals are all the same except for the action end of the tools. But is that bad? I think we can agree that retailers and end users like lower prices as much as corporate number crunchers.

Is it ideal that the 4-1/2″ angle grinder has the same handle and ergonomics as the right angle die grinder? Probably not. If you don’t like this, there are other options in the 20V Max platform.

If you don’t like the size of the inline or right angle die grinder, well that’s too bad, as we can no longer expect to see Dewalt launch a 12V Max version. (See No Good News for Dewalt Xtreme Cordless Power Tool Fans).

Speaking of which, here is another example:

Have you ever taken a close look at the Dewalt Atomic 20V Max and Xtreme 12V Max cordless one-handed reciprocating saws?

Here’s a cropped closeup of both tools. Can you tell them apart?

If you didn’t direct your attention to the front shoe, and how the Atomic version has a slight hook shape and can pivot, would you be able to tell that I swapped their positions?

Could they do the same with the new grinders? How little additional engineering would it take to launch 12V Max versions of the new Atomic 20V Max cordless angle grinders?

Depending on retail demand and end user interest, I think that Dewalt could very easily launch 12V Max versions of at least the die grinders. There are benefits to “platforming.”

There are times when Dewalt steps far away from taking a modular approach. Earlier this year I posted about how Dewalt had 4 different 20V Max cordless drill kits all at the same $99 price point. I’m confident they do this because of the enticing profits they get from separate exclusive arrangements with different retailers.

I would guess that all of these entry priced drills, except for the brushed motor model, share the same motor and electronics – at the least.

And of course there are times when a modular approach just doesn’t make sense. For example, there are few major components shared between a 7-1/4″ sliding miter saw and a 12″ miter saw.

The company also does a lot of “lick and stick rebranding,” where they sell the same or very similar tools under different labels, but that’s something different. Or they might give a slightly better-featured tool to Dewalt, and lesser-featured to Craftsman or Porter Cable.

Dewalt isn’t the first or only brand to take a modular approach to tools, but in my experience they do this more than other cordless power tool brands.

It’s not good or bad, broadly speaking. I find it interesting to observe over time how different tool brands seem to operate. Dewalt’s latest group of product launches seems to perfectly illustrate the platforming story Stanley Black & Decker tells investors.