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Robert Bosch Tool Corporation Bosch Power Tools announced “Always Essential,” a new program that will recognize and acknowledge trade workers for their tireless efforts and give them the thanks they deserve. Roger Amrol, president of Bosch Power Tools North America, noted that while “essential workers” has become a buzzword in 2020, Bosch understands and wants to celebrate the fact that these trade professionals have always been essential to our way of life. Amrol said that without trade professionals, society as we know it today could not exist. Over the coming months, teams from Bosch will meet trade workers at their jobsites around the country with giveaways and other gear to thank these indispensable individuals for all they do. The Bosch Power Tools Global IT team is focusing on creating more useful information tools analyzing and utilizing data from many sources. The IT team is combining registration information from people who have bought and registered Bosch power tools, sensor data from the tools themselves and data from repair shops and production lines in order to create better and more useful apps and other information tools. Bosch believes that in the future many more devices will connect to the cloud which will allow more powerful and useful analytics. Stanley Black & Decker Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference: This conference is held for Morgan Stanley clients and employees, not for analysts or the media. Their number two priority (behind ensuring the health and safety of employees and supply chain partners) is maintaining business continuity. There were days in April when revenues were down 40% for four weeks in a row, but they went from negative 40% in revenue to positive 40% for several consecutive weeks in mid-summer. Now revenue has stabilized in the positive 20% to 30% range. Ecommerce is booming in general and is growing about 60% for SB&D, accounting for a larger share of total revenue each day. Their sales through home centers are up between 23% and 34%, thanks to the new focus people have on their homes. Their billion dollar cost-saving program is largely still in place, so that is good for margins and cash flow. Pros coming back into the market will have a positive impact over time; much of the current boom has been driven by DIY. They will be exercising their option to purchase the remainder of outdoor power equipment company MTD, with brands including Troy-Bilt and Cub Cadet, which CEO Jim Loree described as good brands, but not of the caliber of DeWalt or Stanley. Part of their strategy will be to come up with a DeWalt line of Pro products related to MTD that will go into the dealer channel, which Loree described as “decent.” They are working on restaging the Black & Decker brand, and some of that may make it into the marketplace in 2021, with much more impact in 2022 and 2023. They believe they can manufacture product in the Carolinas using Industry 4.0 at a similar all-in cost compared to manufacturing in China. This will offer other advantages, including the ability for their retailer partners to carry less inventory. Other News: DeWalt is partnering with 360training to provide online and mobile-optimized OSHA training to jobsites and workplaces. The partnership will bring OSHA-authorized Outreach instruction for both 10 hour and 30 hour formats. They offered a 25% off promotion in honor of National Safety Week in mid-September. OSHA standards apply to all industries, but Construction Health and Safety has more specific training requirements. SB&D invested $40 million in a new plant in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon in Mexico. The manufacturing plant will include 25 power tool assembly lines for drills, circular saws, drill saws and more from DeWalt and Craftsman. The plant currently employs 250 people, and will have more than 2,500 employees when it reaches full capacity next year. TTI/Techtronic Industries Milwaukee Electric Tool will get up to $4.5 million in conditional tax credits and up to $500,000 in training grants from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation for the 150,000-square-foot warehouse and repair service building scheduled to open in Greenwood, Indiana in March 2021. The tax incentives and grants are performance-based, so Milwaukee only gets them if they do bring 450 new jobs to Greenwood as well as training opportunities through partnerships with the Central Nine Career Center and Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, Indiana. Milwaukee is expected to invest $6.75 million in the Greenwood facility and the training program. © Robert Bosch Tool Corporation. All rights reserved, no copying or reproducing is permitted without prior written approval.
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