- HAND TOOLS usually are comprised of the followings: adjustable wrenches, socket wrenches, other wrenches, spanners, pliers, cutting pliers, screw drivers, vises, clamps, hammers, etc.
- Originally, used mainly as construction/production tools in factories the increasing wages of factory workers, which generated many weekend carpenters, and the do-it-yourself trend , (DIY) trend caused the demand for hand tools to increase greatly.
- Following the U.S.A. and Europe, more and more manufacturers procuced hand tools, with their quality being improved gradually. The Japan Industrial Standard (JIS), was established and Japanese makers began to manufacture, at reasonable prices, goods as high quality as the ones of the U.S.A. or Europe. Thus, the opportunity arose to export tools to the U.S.A. and Europe. As a result, the quantity and, of course, the volume of imports grew steadily; especially to the U.S.A.
- After the rapid strengthening of the yen and the increasing of domestic wages, Japanese hand tools lost their competitiveness, and the amount of imports decreased after the sales peak of 30.1 billion yen in 1990.
- The annual total production in 1995 was 59.7 billion yen, a decrease of 0.02% compared to the previous year, which almost holds same level. Exports reached totals of 22.5 billion yen, a 2% decrease from the previous years level, whereas imports reached 13.5 billion yen, an increase of 24.1%. Domestic demand, the total production minus the exports plus imports, was at 50.7 billion yen, an increase of 6.1%. These figures indicate an escape from the long term recession evidenced after the collapse of the bubble economy, they, however, did not bring in the increase of domestic production because imports showed too much increase.
- The exported countries/districts from Japan and shares are as follows:
| U.S.A. |
17.1% |
| Korea |
13.0% |
| Taiwan |
10.1% |
| Thailand |
7.8% |
As for the rate of growth, increase by 31.7% to China and by 26.4% to Indonesia can be seen. This is thought to be the result of the growing advancement of Japanese manufacturers into Southeast Asia, where they purchase hand tools made in Japan.
- The ratio of imports to the domestic demand was 20% in 1990, and 26% in 1995, more than a quarter of the latter. The amount of imports became 4.9 times as much as one of ten years ago.
Japanese hand tool imports, by region:
Southeast Asian Nations (incl. China)
|
41.9% |
| North America |
36.0% |
| Others (Europe, etc) |
22.1% |
By country:
| U.S.A. |
35.8% |
| Taiwan |
29.8% |
| Europe |
22.1% |
| China |
7.9% |
| Others |
4.4% |
Imported products from European countries, such as Germany, France, and Sweden, and the U.S.A. are high-quality articles used by Japanese manufacturers at their own factories, while imports from Spain, the U.S.A., and Southeast Asian countries (including China), which are generally sold at volume sales shops, do-it-yourself centers and supermarkets, are targeted for the weekend carpenters. Reportedly, some Asian hand tools have not reached a high level of quality yet, and they need to improve. The quality of Taiwanese goods has remarkably improved; to the extent that Japan exports products to Taiwanese or Chinese manufacturers to make 50 to 100 tool piece sets for export to Western countries.
- Different from the manufacturers of other industries, Japanese tool manufacturers have rarely advanced into other countries. This is because overseas investment does not pay and the price of Japanese-made hand tool is too expensive for foreign factories to buy. As we stated above, Japanese-made tools are mainly used by Japanese companies such as automakers and manufacturers of home electric appliances, which have already advanced into other countries.
- Most Japanese tools are produced based upon Japan Industrial Standard (JIS). It is indispensable for factory workers to have many years of experience so as to make goods of sufficient quality to pass the JIS, which seems almost impossible since employees do not stay for long.
- As Asian countries export more and more procucts to Japan, Japanese makers have begun to feel uneasy not only because of the price competition, but also because products have steadily improved in quality. The trend of decreasing exports and increasing imports will continue, which is likely to cause competition.
- Under these circumstances, Japanese makers must begin to earnestly develop new products such as light-weight aluminum-cast adjustable wrenches, sets of hexangular adjustable wrenches, or seek out new fields like air tools field. Whether this industry can survive or not will depend on their efforts in the future.
*We express our gratitude to the Nihon Kikou Shinbun for the information and data quoted in this issue.
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