The biggest star at the 2015 DeWalt Tools media event wasn’t Matt Kenseth and the rest of the number 20 NASCAR crew, the cordless welder, the brushless impact, or any of the other tools.
Don’t get me wrong, watching a NASCAR pit crew change tires with DeWalt Cordless tools, and seeing all the unreleased tools DeWalt has coming is certainly an experience. The standout feature of visiting DeWalt in Charlotte and touring their facilities was seeing the 300+ workers currently assembling tools right here in the USA.
“Built in the USA with Global Materials” is the language the lawyers remind DeWalt president Frank Mannarino to use when describing the aptly named “Project Eagle,” which focused on bringing parts of their manufacturing process back to the US. Along with the plant in Charlotte, DeWalt has facilities in Connecticut, Maryland, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The factory in Charlotte did not appear to manufacturing printed circuit boards or forging metal components for armatures, but DeWalt cordless drills, as well as other tools, are certainly being assembled, packed, and shipped from facilities right here in the USA.
While this is something of a novel idea for a major player in the tool industry here in America, it is not necessarily an unexpected one. Often times, a consumer will choose a product based on the fact that it is built in the USA, especially when compared to an identical product that is not. At the same time, manufacturing tools in the USA gives DeWalt flexibility in their distribution in the US. Building the tools where they are being sold makes it easier to meet diverse consumer demand.
Another surprise about the facility in Charlotte was a distinct lack of automation the production process. Aside from testing and a machine that wound copper wire around armatures, nearly all of the observable manufacturing processes were being performed by a human worker.
The facility in Charlotte was focused primarily on their cordless tools, assembling both brushed and brushless tools at the 75,000 square foot facility, which also served a distribution role. While Dewalt does have manufacturing facilities in the US, it maintains other facilities abroad. Products built in the USA have a logo indicating they were not assembled overseas. More information about DeWalt’s built in the USA initiative can be found at americanpride.dewalt.com.
Stay tuned in the coming week for updates on the great new tools DeWalt has not released yet!