uh oh. good bye oregon?
- Thread starter danimal
- Start date
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I am not a 'business guy', but interesting things in the 2014 Blount corporate report:
"Strategy – “Transition to one integrated, international business”
"Blount manufactures and sells saw chain, guide bars, sprockets, and other accessories
− Sales are approximately 75% replacement (primarily traditional dealer channel) and 25% OEM
− OREGON® is largest brand; also market under Carlton®, KOX and Tiger® brands
− Largest competitor is a chain saw OEM; many small competitors offer low-end products
− Estimated market share of approximately 60% in saw chain
• Global sales and distribution network is key success factor
− Long-term relationships with 35+ OEMs and 300+ distributors
− KOX acquisition (2011) expanded distribution channel to end-user direct
− Capacity for nearly 220 million feet of chain / more than 15 million guide bars
− United States, Canada, Brazil, China"
That's capacity for about 41,000 miles of chain, per year, or 114 miles of chain per day (if I read that right)!? At 60% of the market - some of you guys are hard on your chains!
Philbert
"Strategy – “Transition to one integrated, international business”
"Blount manufactures and sells saw chain, guide bars, sprockets, and other accessories
− Sales are approximately 75% replacement (primarily traditional dealer channel) and 25% OEM
− OREGON® is largest brand; also market under Carlton®, KOX and Tiger® brands
− Largest competitor is a chain saw OEM; many small competitors offer low-end products
− Estimated market share of approximately 60% in saw chain
• Global sales and distribution network is key success factor
− Long-term relationships with 35+ OEMs and 300+ distributors
− KOX acquisition (2011) expanded distribution channel to end-user direct
− Capacity for nearly 220 million feet of chain / more than 15 million guide bars
− United States, Canada, Brazil, China"
That's capacity for about 41,000 miles of chain, per year, or 114 miles of chain per day (if I read that right)!? At 60% of the market - some of you guys are hard on your chains!
Interesting. Thanks. It says that Blount acquired KOX in 2011 to expand distribution channels, but does not say where they are made, and the KOX website is only in non-English, European languages - must be their market focus.
Philbert
bringing these two old venerable back from the dust to pick up where they left off before the cheaper foreigner made junk will be a god send! homi and Mc,s were the colt's of the time for quality that could not be beat! home made with all the old style qualities will be a win in my book! now I want to see the safety features as well as comfort control for the user!! buy American , own American and use American made products!!
Carlton was an unknown brand in Europe, or more correctly Croatia, till somewhat recently.
They appeared suddenly a few years ago sporting more competitive prices than Oregon and Stihl whilst advertising pro quality.
Nowadays one can easily get Carlton sprockets, chain loops and bars.
I haven't seen KOX chains being sold in Croatia, but they seem popular in Germany.
I have seen one KOX chain loop thus far, a coworker and friend of mine has one on his small Stihl.
It is either 3/8" Picco or .325" loop as it looks fairly smallish.
It looks like it's been through hell, but still has some life left in it.
It is all a matter of marketing...
It's too bad Husky doesn't make a yellow version of their pro saws for sale through McC.
Homelite is owned by a company out of Hong Kong. Perhaps AS members could structure a private equity deal and we could take her private and start building real saws again!
GeoffM
ArboristSite Operative
They are very popular and are used by many people. I have used them myself,but not anymore,because of the inconsistency in the quality. I found that they would stretch more than other chains and the the quality varied a lot,which for me is a reason to stop using them. Just my experience.
Geoff.
As I understand it, Ray Carlton worked for Oregon, then split off around 1963 to do a few things differently, or at least, his own way. The company was the second largest manufacturer of saw chain in the State of Oregon for a while!
Blount, the parent company of Oregon, acquired Windsor chain from Snap-On Tools in 2000, Carlton in 2008, and KOX in 2011. Some of this was likely for manufacturing capacity; some was likely to absorb competition; some was likely for marketing reasons.
http://carltonproducts.com/carlton_company_history.asp
https://www.oregonproducts.com/pro/company/history.htm
Philbert
windthrown
361 Junkie
FYI, Blount still owns both Oregon and Carlton, as well as Windsor. Carlton is still (mostly) made in the USA, here in Oregon in Milwaukie, but the minimum wage here is set to go up to $15 an hour (under the new socialist Governor) so I expect Carlton to close down locally and be shipped out to Canada or some other cheaper production state soon. Some Carlton loops are being made in Canada already, and there are some really cheap Carlton loops being made in China as well (many of the Carlton loops sold overseas are made in China). After Blount bought out Oregon (the company, not the state), Oregon moved chain production from here in Portland, OR to the US Midwest and Canada. Now that Blount has been bought up and will be privatized, who knows what will happen. As a private company, they will not have to disclose anything. I expect Carlton quality to drop like a rock. I use only Stihl and US made Carlton (rebranded as Woodland PRO) myself. Oregon is too soft a chain for my likes.
Agreed. As you imply, bumping the minimum wage causes a lot more trouble than just price increases. Case in point: I recently needed to repair a log splitter cylinder for a vintage custom-made unit that was leaking. I called a hydraulic repair shop first and asked if the older cylinder could be repaired with new seals. The manager said it would cost upwards of $200 because his labor costs had gone through the roof in the past seven or eight years. He recommended buying a new one even if it cost $300. Calls to two other shops revealed the same advice. I gave up and found one for $215 shipped and ordered it. It's not exactly the same, but I figure I can make it work with some shop-made brackets and connectors. Unfortunately, the old cylinder will probably wind up in a landfill.
I'm not sure the min wage will affect much. When I stopped living down there over a decade ago, even Wendys paid $10/hr.
Those chains are produced in automated machinery so I doubt overhead costs will actually go up. The companies will squeal and say costs will spiral out of control, but the person(s) that manage the automation make more than $15/hr and have for many years. If Blount claims otherwise. I call BS and want to see pay stubs because I don't believe it.
The overseas factories pay their workers less than $15 there - folks are free to buy that chain if they are concerned.
Philbert
Philbert
danimal
ArboristSite Operative
What concerns me is chain inventory shortages while restructuring and possible relocation. Which will drive up prices, which will most likely never come back down..
Little Al
Addicted to ArboristSite
Windsor, Sabre,some Red Mountain( in the past also springs to mind)
Little Al
Addicted to ArboristSite
I far as I was aware Kox marketed 2 grades of chain in Europe #1 grade Oregon produced,#2grade Only God & he's not sure who produces it.Oregon markets a lot of chain with translated Product of Belgium on the box ( If that is just the Box or Box & chain I know not) of late the 91VXL has suffered "Chatter" when new it is I understand known to the company
Conquistador3
Le Comte de Frou Frou
Yes, I've seen Kox markets a lot of forestry products, from chains to protective clothing. Apart from some rebranded Oregon/Carlton chains I have no idea where the rest of their products are made: a lot of stuff is very cheaply looking but not exactly cheap.
Oregon manufactures some stuff; has some stuff made for them; and re-brands other items. You guys in Europe get some stuff that we don't, including different PPE, etc I am not sure if that is due to different standards, tariffs on clothing, or just makes good business / marketing sense.
There have also been some accessories (saw bucks, felling levers, etc.), through the years, that I have seedn in their catalog, that do not seem to be sold over here. Different markets.
Philbert
There have also been some accessories (saw bucks, felling levers, etc.), through the years, that I have seedn in their catalog, that do not seem to be sold over here. Different markets.
Philbert
Conquistador3
Le Comte de Frou Frou
Different regulations: in the EU anticut chaps have to be EN381 compliant. I have no idea how different this is from US standards, but usually it makes more economic sense to have clothing/protective equipment manufactured to different standards for different markets than to make a single product compliant to two or more mandatory standards.
I heard that the offices were staying put but the manufacturing was moving offshore to china.
From whom?
>>From whom?<<
Distributor
Distributor
