Vise Grips No More

[W1RKW]

 Neb. Vise-Grips plant shutting down this week
Associated Press - October 29, 2008 6:25 AM ET

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - The Vise-Grips plant in DeWitt will officially close this week, ending about 70 years of operations.

The last day assembly workers will show up at the plant in the town of 570 people is Friday, but actual production will cease either Wednesday or Thursday. About 330 people work at the plant.

Irwin Industrial Tools, which operates the plant, is moving operations to China.

A spokesman for the company has said the move is necessary to lower the cost of the locking pliers so they remain competitive with other brands.

William Petersen, a Danish immigrant and blacksmith, invented the tool nearly 90 years ago in DeWitt when trying to find a way to clamp down pieces of metal while he worked on them.

[Bill, KD0HG]

Geez. Half the town's population out of work.

I suppose they considered making a *better* tool than the imported crap pliers, but Wal-Mart, etc., wouldn't pay a dime more.

[KF1Z]

Geez....

I'd rather pay $40-50 for a pair if vise-grips that'll last basically forever.....

( I have some that are older than I am.. 43+yrs)


Than to pay $19.97 for something that won't last 5 years....
or break the first time you clamp down on something....

I had one pair of Taiwanian "grips"   that I actually bent the darn handles clamping 2 pieces of stock to weld...  Just with my hands!


Oh well......at least there's yard-sales to get new ones!

[W8EJO]

This is a huge opportunity for someone to buy the plant & machinery & start making a U.S. version that should be a huge seller.

[W1UJR]

Geez. Half the town's population out of work.

I suppose they considered making a *better* tool than the imported crap pliers, but Wal-Mart, etc., wouldn't pay a dime more.

Not Wal-Mart, but the Wal-Mart customer.
People shop for the cheapest, not the best value, don't care one whit about the country of origin.
Just give them more cheap plastic disposable crap to put into their disposable car to drive to their disposable house.

Now just down the road from me on the coast of Maine is a company that makes wood working tools, like they used to be made. High quality, last a lifetime, etc. The type you hand down to your kids. They seem to be doing quite well. http://www.lie-nielsen.com/

But sad fact is that most people are focused one criterion, price, for selection, and miss the value equation.
Which is one of the reasons the US auto industry is in the dire state that it is in, heck, its why most of the US is in the state that it is in, craftsmanship is exception rather than the rule.

Old Volvo commercial, "There are those who know the price of everything, and the value of nothing."

[N0WVA]

Vise Grip and Channel Lock are about the only US made tool in Wal-Mart.

I bought one pair of those lead Chinese made vise grips, and never again......But now I guess I will have no choice.

[WB3LEQ]

The import stuff turned us into a disposable society starting in the early 60's.
How many re upholstery shops, saw sharpening shops, shoe repair shops, or tv repair shops are left in your neighborhood?  In 1962 I could walk to the first two and pedal my bike to the second two.  

[WA1GFZ]

That sucks!
When will we wake up.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Did you guys actually read the story. It's NOT Walmart's fault (as if Walmart is a big seller of tools - sheesh). Irwin Industrial Tools is choosing to its production to China.

Irwin Industrial Tools, which operates the plant, is moving operations to China.

The Vise-Grip brand will still be available.

[KF1Z]

That sucks!
When will we wake up.

我們將叫醒，當我們全部讲中文，并且郵寄我們的税钱到香港。

[k4kyv]

Just like the Hunter fan company.  They were the last manufacturer to make genuine cast iron ceiling fans with a real motor, in which you could peer up through the vent holes in the cover and see the field windings and watch the flywheel armature rotate, pretty much identical to the ones they first started making in the late 1800's.  In the early 2000's after the last one of the old guys died, they auctioned off the contents of their manufacturing plant in Memphis, and moved their factory to Taiwan.  Their product is now a piece of crap, a mere shadow of the  version made in USA.

About 35 years ago I bought a pair of Craftsman diagonal cutters from Sears-Roebuck. It was made in USA.  They have a lifetime guarantee on hand tools, so when I broke them about 20 years ago, they gave me a free replacement; it was made in Japan.  When I broke that pair a couple of years ago, they gave me another replacement, made in China.

[W1UJR]

Did you guys actually read the story. It's NOT Walmart's fault (as if Walmart is a big seller of tools - sheesh). Irwin Industrial Tools is choosing to its production to China.
The Vise-Grip brand will still be available.

'Das is true, but they are moving there because the product is cheaper to produce, brought about by the proliferation of big box stores catering to those focused on price. People want "cheap" goods, so it is consumer demand driving them overseas. They didn't just move to China because it was easy, they moved for money, perhaps even for company survival. No problem with that, such is the way of a free market.

However, for every manufacturing job we move out of the US, we weaken our country's strategic position in the world, certainly we are not going to be the arsenal of democracy, cranking out planes and boats like we did in WW2, most of the those skills, and the infrastructure to build them, have been lost to overseas competition. Somehow I don't see this as good for America.

We've also become somewhat numb to these plant closings, seems like they've been a fact of life since the 1980s. I know that we are moving toward a high tech society of "knowledge workers", but the simple fact is that someone has to push the wheelbarrow, not everyone can, or wants to be a computer geek. Perhaps most ironically, the very folks who buy these "off shore" goods are the ones who used to work in the factories to make such goods here.

American company's really don't "own" their facilities in China, all it takes is an order from the powers that be, and they can easily be seized from the "Yankee Imperialists", think of that happened in Cuba. In fact, aside from cheap tools, shoes, and Apple computers, all we are doing is helping build the infrastructure and economy of a country which may very well be our military adversary soon, and I'm not sure that one can easily dismiss such losses as inconsequential.

Those "cheap" pair of pliers may have a cost far higher than any really realized...

[W1ATR]

That sucks!
When will we wake up.

我們將叫醒，當我們全部讲中文，并且郵寄我們的税钱到香港。

True...

我想订购5号芝麻鸡按摩和大团圆结局。

[W8EJO]

However, for every manufacturing job we move out of the US, we weaken our country's strategic position in the world, certainly we are not going to be the arsenal of democracy, cranking out planes and boats like we did in WW2, most of the those skills, and the infrastructure to build them, have been lost to overseas competition. Somehow I don't see this as good for America.

Most manufacturing jobs will dissappear/are disappearing not only from the U.S. but worldwide as mechanization/robots take over jobs previously done by humans. This is happening world-wide.

I agree that the U.S. must retain a strong manufacturing sector but to think that it will, or should, be a labor intensive assembly line industry is not realistic.

If you or I owned a plant, the last thing we'd want is a traditional style, unionized, workforce whose mission statement is at odds with ours - that would be a formula for bankruptcy (just ask Ford, GM, Chrysler). If we were smart & wanted to retain control over our investment & business model, we'd go to robots to the extent possible.

[W3SLK]

Frank said:

That sucks!
When will we wake up

When people learn to vote with their feet! I've always went out of my way to purchase US made stuff, (when I could find it!) especially here in town. I am willing to spend a few extra dollars at Cole's Hardware store before going to the Lowe-Homedepot store. But people have to DEMAND USA made and turn away if it isn't. At least that is my philosophy I try to practice.

[Tom W2ILA]

The bright side of the story is that WHEN the Chinese Military Capitalist society decides they need to invade the US and other countries for needed resources.....we will all have good manual labor jobs again.  Of course we will be called war refugees but there will be good, backbreaking work, everyone will be in shape and slackers will be readily dispatched in the parking lot. There will no longer be any bickering about spreading the wealth, gun control, gas prices, the stock market, republicans, democrats, liberals, religion or any of those other daily nusences.  We won't even complain about the slopbucketeers. Lots of problems will be solved.

If you are lucky they will only use vice grips on the tips of your fingers and teeth to get the information they need.  I doubt you will continue to complain about the quality of the cheap tools.

Cheers


 

[KL7OF]

I saw a short documentary film about the vise grip factory.   Just about everything in that plant was held together with vise grip pliers.....

[W9GT]

We've also become somewhat numb to these plant closings, seems like they've been a fact of life since the 1980s. I know that we are moving toward a high tech society of "knowledge workers", but the simple fact is that someone has to push the wheelbarrow, not everyone can, or wants to be a computer geek. Perhaps most ironically, the very folks who buy these "off shore" goods are the ones who used to work in the factories to make such goods here.

[/quote]

Yes...and we keep hearing that we are changing to an "information society" and many new jobs will be high tech relating to computers and telecommunications.  You might, however, be shocked to know that a very high number of those jobs are being outsourced to India and other off-shore locations.  Many jobs, not just manufacturing, are being outsourced.  The bottom line is that companies have no loyalty to U.S. workers.  They are going to go for the best margin and greatest return to their stockholders.  If that means shipping jobs out of the country, that is what they will do.  You might also be shocked to know that much of our telecommunications administrative/provisioning structure is being outsourced.  Seems like a real security risk to me to have off-shore folks doing jobs that involve provisioning circuits and controlling functions that involve the very core of our wireline (fiber) and wireless networks.  If you didn't know....wireless (cellular) networks are highly dependant on wireline networks to tie everything together.  Welcome to the real world and a "global" economy.

73, Jack, W9GT

[flintstone mop]

I'll have to echo Terry's response. I did not want to stir up deep feelings about Unions. They had their purpose in the early 1900's. My attention was drawn to the problem during the many Union strikes in the auto industry in the 60's and 70's. And the questions arose about the very high wages the workers made and what we had for a durable product that hit the streets. Everyone ran to the Japanese cars and their long lasting almost trouble free performance. We weren't interested in MPG yet.
The US auto industry has changed quite a bit and I would buy American, if the need arose. But we came around too late. Chrysler and GM want to merge??

Fred

[w8khk]

Yes...and we keep hearing that we are changing to an "information society" and many new jobs will be high tech relating to computers and telecommunications.  You might, however, be shocked to know that a very high number of those jobs are being outsourced to India and other off-shore locations.  Many jobs, not just manufacturing, are being outsourced.  The bottom line is that companies have no loyalty to U.S. workers.  

73, Jack, W9GT

You are absolutely correct, Jack.  I was a loyal employee of the same company for 25 years.  At the end, they outsourced ALL the high-tech computer jobs to India.  For the six months prior to the layoff of 3000 individuals, our responsibility was to train our replacements on all aspects of our jobs.  Very demoralizing, to say the least.  They did not call it a layoff, rather they used the term workforce reduction, somewhat more politically correct, in their opinion.  In the end, many customers suffered, the quality and commitment was not there, and the language barrier was a major contributing factor.

As for the vice grips, I believe the imported junk should be taxed at 100 percent, the revenues should be applied to the national debt, rather than increasing the taxes on those whose jobs have been sent overseas.  That would give the stateside manufacturers a bit more incentive to continue making a quality domestic product at a fair price.  Ya gets what ya pays for.

[Ed W1XAW]

w9gt wrote:    The bottom line is that companies have no loyalty to U.S. workers.

This statement should be abundantly clear to everyone that wants to see it.  That and its usually a matter of survival.   Once all your competitors are sourcing product off-shore you don't really have much choice.   It takes a lot of efficiency to make up for $15 or more an hour in labor differences.   

[W8EJO]

As for the vice grips, I believe the imported junk should be taxed at 100 percent, the revenues should be applied to the national debt, rather than increasing the taxes on those whose jobs have been sent overseas. 

This would be the surest course to Great Depression 2.0. Just as Herbert Hoover discovered (much to his chagrin) when he pushed for & got passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in 1930, effectively taking a stock market crash & turning it into The Great Depression 1.0.

[W8EJO]

w9gt wrote:    The bottom line is that companies have no loyalty to U.S. workers.

This statement should be abundantly clear to everyone that wants to see it.  That and its usually a matter of survival.   Once all your competitors are sourcing product off-shore you don't really have much choice.   It takes a lot of efficiency to make up for $15 or more an hour in labor differences.   

Don't forget about the U.S. corporate income tax rate - one of the world's highest -  as well as stifling enviromental regulations/costs. These costs, in combination with high U.S. labor rates make U.S. competitiveness in world markets very, very difficult.

One immediate energizer would be to eliminate the corporate income tax.

[k4kyv]

In a sense, we should be thankful that the technology of warfare has changed since WW2.  If we got into another major one requiring the massive production of war materials such as planes, trucks, tanks and low-tech weaponry, we would be in a world of hurt because our manufacturing infrastructure has almost entirely relocated to the very same countries we would likely be fighting.

[KB2WIG]

   행복한 결말은 행복한 가족을 막는다


klc