Klein Tools has quietly launched another new tool that’s made in Asia.
Shown here are the Klein K12075 slim forged wire stripping and cutting pliers. At this time, this new model of Klein pliers looks to be a Lowe’s exclusive, and it’s priced at $31.98.
I recently saw a post on Reddit, with the headline “junk,” where someone says the tool “felt super cheap” and was damaged within the first hour of use.
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I wasn’t familiar with this model, and a quick search turned up the Lowe’s product page. According to the photos in an early review, the pliers are made in Taiwan.
Taiwan toolmakers produce some of the best and highest quality tools I have ever used.
But what does this – a seemingly increased penchant for outsourcing – say about the direction Klein Tools is headed?
Klein Tools loves to promote their USA manufacturing.
They’ve also celebrated this with limited edition tools featuring American flag decorations. Their wire strippers from earlier this year had the wrong number of stars.
Another, mini wire cutters, had the wrong number of stars and stripes.
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So why is Klein manufacturing more and more tools in Asia rather than right here in the USA?
It almost always comes down to money.
Could it be that the hand tools company found it too difficult to manufacture their slightly different new style of pliers in the USA?
After all, Stanley Black & Decker, which describes itself as the “#1 world leader in the tool industry,” failed spectacularly when they tried to open a new hand tools factory in the USA. Although, that was about money too.
Outsourcing and launching more imported tools enabled Klein to enter new tool industries. Apparently there was a hole in the plumbing tools industry, and it was large enough that an electrical hand tool brand stepped in to fill it with pipe wrenches, tubing cutters, and other similar plumbing basics.
But is that really what happened?
Klein Tools and Lowe’s seem to have deepened their relationship. You can now find Klein products in the electrical, plumbing, and general construction tool departments at Lowe’s stores.
Some of their electrical hand tools are still made in the USA, but Klein has been launching many more tools that are made in Asia from the start.
We have also seen examples where Klein has also been moving production from the USA to Asia.
I suppose imported production lets Klein get more promotional floor space during the major holiday shopping seasons, and maybe also in between.
Perhaps Klein Tools is motivated by the desire for more profit and faster growth. Or maybe such moves are necessary to keep up with the competition, or maybe even for long-term survival.
Regardless of the intentions, motivations, or explanations, it’s the precedents that worry me.
Not too long ago, Craftsman predominantly manufactured tools in the USA.
Here’s a page for Sears’ 2008 holiday tool catalog.
On that page it said this: All Craftsman sockets and wrenches are proudly made in the USA.
A few years later, Sears launched new styles of wrenches that were made overseas. Then they launched sockets. Then they started replacing USA-made tools.
Fast forward a few years, and Stanley Black & Decker bought the Craftsman brand from Sears.
SBD pledged, promised, and sold the idea that they would build upon legacy. They would “expand US manufacturing footprint.”
Did they? Nope.
And yes, Stanley Black & Decker used MY PHOTO of the Craftsman catalog without permission.
I came across a Craftsman 3-drawer tool box in Lowe’s deal center last week. Stanley Black & Decker bought Waterloo, a steel tool box manufacturer – around the time they acquired the Craftsman brand.
Stanley Black & Decker said they were “committed to bringing Craftsman’s manufacturing back to the United States.”
Where is the tool box made? Cambodia.
How many of Apex Tool Group’s Crescent tools are made in the USA today? Wiss? HK Porter?
Many companies have moved tool production outside the USA, and few have come back from that.
Milwaukee Tool never produced hand tools here, and yet they built a factory from the ground up to be able to make electrical pliers and screwdrivers in the USA.
Meanwhile, the world’s largest tool company couldn’t figure out how to make Craftsman sockets and wrenches in the USA, something that other companies were doing without difficulty 2 decades ago.
We don’t know why Klein is doing what they’re doing, but we can see the trend they’ve established. They’re launching new tools that are made overseas, and we have seen several examples where they presumably discontinued USA production in favor of less expensive imports.
Maybe all of this is so that they can leverage existing USA production capacity for pliers with limited edition decorations or “blackout” colors.
It’s also possible that Klein Tools is milking their lucrative relationship with Lowe’s to fund an expansion of their USA factories, and that it’s all part of a future exit plan.
Exit plan? Brands like ToughBuilt, Ideal, Southwire, and Bostitch can fill you in. Oh – and from what I hear, Flex and Skil too.
I’m not upset that Klein Tools is leveraging their relationship with Lowe’s, which they certainly are doing – and it’s smart of them.
Thus far, I have NOT heard about Klein closing any factories, or about any job cuts, which suggests that the company is NOT replacing USA manufacturing.
How long before Klein Tools follows the lead of Stanley Black & Decker and Craftsman, or Apex Tool Group?
Back when Craftsman, under Sears, launched their first imported tools, I gave them the benefit of the doubt, and was wrong to do so.
Tool brands like Channellock, Tekton, and Milwaukee have proved my optimism to be well-placed, but those were examples where promises were kept and values closely adhered to.
So far Klein Tools has said nothing.
Even so, actions are louder than words. What they have done is launch more imported tools in new (e.g. plumbing) and existing (e.g. pliers and wiring tools) categories, and we have also seen examples where they replaced USA-made tools with imported ones.
This is the history of the future, and what will it tell us when we look back in a decade’s time? That Klein Tools followed the same pattern as other American hand tool brands and abandoned domestic production over time, or is a different future possible?
Jim Felt
I’ve got nothin’ to add to the overseas vs. Texas built issue. Primarily because I’ve many many German and Japanese made hand tools that IMO have no NA made equivalents.
However… I really detest Klein’s un-lockable square edged latest brand extension hand tools. They just have a lousy “hand” as I never wear gloves (that might abrogate that issue).
Regardless of point of origin.
Hon Cho
As you wrote Stuart, it’s about the money. After all, it’s business and that’s what businesses do. American consumers like lower prices, American business like higher profits. Foreign manufacturing, even with recent hikes in tariffs, is still the fastest route to reasonable quality, lower prices and acceptable profits. Nobody has to like it but I can’t imagine it changing anytime soon. If you like USA made tools, then seek them out and buy them while some are still manufactured here.
fred
Klein (a family-owned company) is a bit of a rarity in that it has survived beyond the 3rd generation. I’m not sure if their CEO (Thomas R. Klein) is 6th or greater generations down from founder (168 years ago) Mathias Klein- but I guess he’s feeling the pressures of modern retail business and globalization. I’m betting that Lowe’s corporate tool buyers contribute to that pressure – wanting low prices for their end-user customers and greater profits for their company.
Will this help Klein survive – or will the family end up selling the company off like so others have done? As you note – a decade from now we might see how the current strategy has worked out.
Stuart
That’s the tough part.
Let’s say Klein built new state of the art tool factories to meet capacity needs. What happens if Lowe’s dumps them in 5 years or whenever the contract ends?
In that regard, it could be smart not to invest in expansion just yet.
Consider Malco. They put a lot of money into redesigning Eagle Grip locking pliers and manufacturing them in the USA. They shut down the new brand and soon after were acquired by an investment company.
Klein Tools is steering their direction, but external factors are also moving the car. Companies cannot always go in the direction they want.
As spectators, we cannot see where they are steering towards, just where things appear to be heading.
CMF
The question to expand or stick to what got us here is probably something all companies, big and small, discuss often. Then for MITUSA companies, the question is do we stay or go offshore.
For Klein, they were for years the leading MITUSA tools aimed at electricians. Milwaukee, Dewalt and others getting into hand tools, and then for sure Milwaukee with their MITUSA, which have more floor space in HD than Klein, made or forced Klein to find ways to get back marketspace.
Time will tell if it is working or a failure.
CMF
Interesting that Taiwan and Japan are mentioned. I remember when in the late 60’s or early 70’s, first Japanese products, then later Taiwanese products, were introduced as Cheaper (less expensive alternatives). As time went on, MFR’s found other places to make less expensive, like China, and both Japan and Taiwan introduced more of there own brands and not aimed at cheap products. As both Stuart and Jim mentioned, they are now both top quality tool makers.
MattT
“…which suggests that the company is NOT replacing USA manufacturing…”
…yet.
Stuart
That’s the biggest concern.
John
The boiling frog metaphor comes to mind after reading Stewart’s post. I hope Klein’s decision to move production to Asia wasn’t taken lightly and they are aware of the brand perception risks that offshoring poses. For me, the top-3 things I associate with Klein are linesman pliers, family-owned business and made in USA. It feels like moving their wire stripper production to Taiwan is another step down a slippery slope.
Stuart
To be clear, this appears to be a *new product.*
We have seen examples where Klein moved production overseas, but this tool looks to have involved new production.