Handtools, convincing mangement to buy high quality tools

[jaja]

In a large aviation maintenance organization, I have got the task to find arguments for the management, why we should buy high quality (expensive) hand tools.

If the decision had solely to be taken by the management responsible for the maintenance organization, we would have no problem continuing to buy high quality tools, but now the "bean counters" further up in the organization have the final word, and they say : a wrench is a wrench, a screwdriver is a screwdriver etc. So they want the maintenance organization to buy cheap low quality hand tools in the future, if we can not come up with solid arguments why it should be Stahlwille, Snap-on etc.
Arguments like : High quality tools are used worldwide in the aviation industry, or we have always used Stahlwille, Snap-on etc are not valid arguments in their view.
Of course special tools for special tasks are still needed, but we are talking the general toolsets in the hangar.

The arguments have to be solid and serious, like sockets need to conform to Aerospace Standard xxxx etc, or references to civil aviation/Air Force documents recommending a certain standard.

Thank you !

[Sixfoot Toan]

For hand tools, there are no standards set by the regulatory authorities. If a tool breaks or isn't suitable (eg a spanner head is too thick to fit in a gap) then a replacement has to be bought. That's up to the bean counters!

Maybe get Snap-On etc to provide the required data? If they can't or won't, you're screwed.

[mad_jock]

Pilot speaking with a mech eng background.

The only way your going to be able to stop it is by proving that the use of low quality tools is going to cost more than using high quality ones.

You a bit stuffed as they write the capital cost off over 3 years I think for hand tools in relation to tax. So to you they are still worth xxx amount to the accountant they are worth zero.

You will hit the problem though that if you state it will cost xxxxx amount if the tool breaks they will say you can keep x amount in stock.

The high quality tools for individuals buy themselves is an investment but in accountancy terms its not as the say that they will never see that investment returned in their 3 year capital plan.

The best I succeeded in doing was to get medium quality tools provided and an option for an allowance to self purchase and recover the VAT back to the technician through the company which worked quite well although I suspect it was technically illegal for the VAT recovery. After 3 years the tool was thier's to remove. Specialist tools were company bought.

[om15]

A few years ago the choices were pretty crap British tools like Snail Brand, King Dick, or eye watering expensive Snap On, however these days there are pretty good mid cost high quality tools such as Craftsman, facom, Stahwillie.


I've built my kit up over the years by selective purchasing, for the commonly used everyday kit I have Snap on and Blue Point, for general need to have but not used all the time items I have the mid range stuff.


With ebay it is possible to buy liquidation stock and good second hand kits, I haven't come across any required specifications by Regulatory Bodies, however you may consider discussing the possible damage that can be caused to aircraft and components by using inferior tooling.


Suggest you draw up a list of items that will be in constant use for whatever repeat routine tasks that you undertake, ie filter changes, QEC kits etc, and go for the high quality kit that won't let you down, and perhaps go for less quality kit for the rest.


I managed to build up a pretty good kit from Sears on trips to the States, crows feet and cranked spanners are pretty cheap, your Company might look over there for good deals.


good luck with the bean counters

[cockney steve]

High V low quality

Fit:- a good spanner will have precision gap between the jaws, which,in turn, will have optimum thickness to move the fastener without bending / snapping / springing (opening up ) slipping or chewing-up the fastener, necessitating a new one.

Screwdrivers: Precision profile , hardness and finish, means more successful removals / replacements of fasteners and less slippages causing damage to ajacent components.

Grips/pliers.....properly hardened / machined and jointed last longer grip better serrations do not burr over, cutters stay effective ,jaws remain aligned when twisting.

The 3-year argument is specious. the Company still has the tools, they save the outlay again in yr. 4 again in yr.8 again,probably in yr. 12.


There will always be "shrinkage" aka thieving. there will also be genuine losses due to carelessness or forgetfulness.
Applies to cheap tools as well,which,in my experience, get abused to hasten their replacement as soon as any precision they may, initially, have had, wears off.

There will be less accidents due to slippage and breakage causing injuries
how much will be saved by not having staff off work, HSE enquiries, staff taking legal action for damages.

Treat engineering staff with contempt supplying 5h1tty tools, whilst you sit in your pneumatically-suspended, leather-covered,fully adjustable office-chair, poking the buttons on your top-of range photocopier and sipping your latte from the office machine...and ask yourself why the greasy oiks are such a bunch of obtuse,uncooperative 5h1t-stirrers.

OTOH, make the initial investment , let the staff know you chose to allow quality, because you respect them as quality staff and they deserve decent treatment.........morale UP....productivity UP peripheral costs DOWN....downtime DOWN.

YES, there's a real set of compelling reasons why Surgeons, Instrument-makers, Formula 1 race-mechanics, Nuclear engineers and the like, buy the best tools and equipment....and it's not for vanity.

If , Mr beancounter, you don't appreciate the damage that scrimping at this level can do, you're incompetent and need sacking!

[27/09]

Simple, give them a parallel example.

Ask the bean counters "If we use cheap tools will they use Excel spreadsheets to run their accounts instead of expensive purpose built programmes?"

They both do the same thing...... don't they? As an engineer you don't see the problem with using Excel just like they don't see a problem with cheap tools.

[27/09]

I didn't think of these points when I posted earlier.

You only have to look at the handyman tools your average office worker at home has to realise they don't know the difference between good and bad quality tools. No wonder they expect others to be happy with the crap stuff they have at home.

One thing to ponder as well. A tradesman will pay good money to buy high quality tools with his/her own money as he/she knows the tools will give long lasting service. Some of these penny pinching types who want to deny these tradesman good gear would never spend up on good quality "work tools" with their own money but will happily spend the companies money to ensure they have the best of everything.

[Capetonian]

Poor quality tools are dangerous to the user and potentially harmful to whatever they are being used on, when they slip, break, or simply don't do the job properly. It's short sighted and false economy to use cheap tools.

[boeing_eng]

Are you talking about kitting out everyone who is hands on with a personal toolkit or simply providing tooling at a central tool store location?

What tooling are you using at present?

[Capetonian]

It sounds to me as if the tools are the people in your head office!

[TURIN]

Typical of accountants.
They know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

[onetrack]

jaja - Find examples of broken cheap tools (in the metal or in photos) and explain why they broke (poor fit, as cockney steve explains very well - or inferior metal, such as carbon steel, instead of CR-V-Mo tool steel).

Request suppliers to provide specific details of their fit tolerances, their steels used, and their company QC methods (how often are their tools inspected during the manufacturing process?).

Explain to beancounters with detailed drawings/photos, how cheap tools have poor design in the amount of offset (for offset tools) - have inadequate thickness of material in crucial points of stress in the tools - how they have poor final finish by way of forging flaws and poor-quality chrome - and how they have poor design of the grip area.

However - there are many moderate-cost tools of Taiwanese origin, that are more than adequate for the job, where they are not placed under extreme stress continually.

Having said that - where tools are regularly working at their stress limit - such as crowfoot bars, hex keys and hex sockets, and cobalt drills, then it pays to purchase the highest quality tool you can buy, without question.

Unfortunately, Snap-On have fallen by the wayside, along with many American tool manufacturers - and they now get tools manufactured on subcontract by the likes of Taiwanese companies - and dare I say it - even Chinese manufacturers.

I have purchased items such as American Vermont cobalt drills, with the packet wearing a highly-visible Stars & Stripes - only to find in tiny print, "Drills made in China - (plastic) box Made in America"!!

[cockney steve]

@ onetrack I can empathise with your last example.
To replace a lost item, I bought a "Bahco" adjustable-wrench( "Crescent-wrench"....B. A. Hjorth &Co. Sweden)

Bitterly disappointed....sloppy sliding jaw is able to twist slightly sideways and excessive slack in the adjuster means you set to a nut and then the jaw moves so it's a slack fit or won't go on at all!
Yep! this once-proud Swedish name has been prostituted my last (and final)
Bahco product was "made in China"
It is relegated to the "plumbing and use as a last resort" bag!

[SawMan]

When the management asks why the work isn't getting done, and the engineer replies "All the cheap supplied tools recommended by the accountants are U/S so until more are procured...." then Management will see the light. Ditto on injuries and damage from broken or unfit tools- make sure the reported reason is unfit company tools. And leave your high-quality personal set at home so you can't be asked to use them to 'fill in'.

To fight an accountant you have to think like one, but backwards

[om15]

jaja, If you look at 145.A.40 the Regulation states that ;-


"The organisation shall have available and use the necessary equipment, tools and material to perform the approved scope of work."


If you genuinely feel that a tool supplied by the Organisation does not meet the requirements to carry out the work safely or properly then you are entitles to submit a MEMS report to your quality department, this should eventually be reviewed by the Accountable Manager.


If you are continually breaking tools such as drills, bits etc because they are of inferior quality then you have grounds for a MEMS report.


Hope this is of help

[Rigga]

Of all the responses here I believe OM15 has the nub of the issue.

If the tools are not "suitable" for the tasks and keep wearing or bending, then a better quality should be sought.

Nobody, even bean counters, likes to keep replacing bad goods, so the case for better quality but more expensive items should be made clearer to the management - this doesn't mean the most expensive or the most desirable tools.

...Another comparison is that office staff would not like to go back to pens and paper as those are much cheaper than computers and associated network gear.

[boeing_eng]

If you are continually breaking tools such as drills, bits etc because they are of inferior quality then you have grounds for a MEMS report.

It shouldn't take the need for a report....Any supervisor should be able convince a manager that the time wasted by using poor quality drills and bits is more expensive in real terms. I've seen it all before...outfits which tried sharpening poor quality drills instead of purchasing decent ones in the first place!

[unstable load]

The shift these days is away from personally owned tools to company owned, mainly due to quality and safety controls with regards to individual standards and inventory controls.

There are many arguments about what make/quality to buy, and my opinion is that the company should get the senior engineers (the ones with actual spannering experience) on site to sit down and thrash out what is best for the applications.
For example, I have spanners made by Snap-On for general work, but also a set of Blue Point (A budget line of Snap-On) and some Stahlwille for their specific qualities that make certain tasks easier. The Stahlwille are nice, slim profiled spanners that make tight corners more accessible than S-On. I also have Craftsman and Kennedy tools for the less frequently used Metric applications.

While there are a multitude of makes out there, there are actually few independant manufacturers of tools these days, and most of them to a greater or lesser degree will be made in China, including Snap-On, so get over it.

Then, there is the tricky world of "home made/modified" tools for specific type-related tasks, like the Allison 250 FCU and Governor replacement, or the CT-58 FCU replacement and adjustment. Those tools aren't available in any catalogue, but anyone who has had any decent time on ANY type will know what I mean because chances are good they have a tool for THAT PARTICULAR bitch of a job.

I currently work for a French outfit and all our tools are Facom, and while they are good quality, you will find a few of them have been ground and filed to allow their bulk to be reduced to make them useable, which reinforces the argument of "What is the right tool to buy?"

If you want to do this properly, you need to convince the guys that will be using the tools to get out of the "Free tools, therefore they must be Snap-On" mindset and get them to practically consider and justify their recommendations to you, then, you need to sit the beancounters down and convince them that this is the most satisfactory solution based on the 20, 50, 100 years collective experience on the floor and within reason, they need to buy those tools because that is the considered opinion of the people who will actually be using them to keep Productivity and Quality at optimum levels.

That's my tuppence worth..... Good luck in your quest!

[Capot]

I agree; shouting at "bean-counters" because they say "justify buying the more expensive; you're an engineer, you tell me why it's the best thing to do" is silly. They are doing their job, it's yours to know why the expensive ones are better and tell them.

If they don't listen, or the accountable manager (it's his/her decision, not the accountant's) doesn't listen, then that's wrong. But that's not often the case in well-run organisations.

But there's a lot of expensive rubbish requested and bought just because "if it costs a lot it must be better". I have often wondered if Snap-on doesn't fall into that category. Is there any tangible evidence (comparative failure rates, comparative manufacturing defects and so on) that supports the case for them? Or is it just received wisdom, that hasn't caught up with newer and better manufacturers?

I'm with Unstable Load here, I think.

Those are genuine questions; I have no ready answers!

By the way, wasn't I once told that an adjustable wrench should be thrown out of the hangar, no matter how little slack it has?

[cockney steve]

Over a period of time, as a hands-on mechanic, running my own business, I had to make my own purchasing decisions.
a set of torn and bruised knuckles saw the purchase of a basic set of Snap-On screwdrivers -flat, pozi and Philips.
Pipe flare-nut spanners from the same source....why? because their jaws were much thicker,thus the full flat of the nut was engaged...more applied torque with less rounding-off or crushing. basic set of single-hex sockets....as with the spanners, very slim, so could get into tight places, good fit, strong. universal-joint....again, far smaller than rival makes, strong , good articulation.
All my general spanners and bi-hex sockets were Britool or secondhand ,brands as om 15 has said.....generally good quality, not as beautifully finished and polished as Snap-on, but far cheaper.

Facom has attempted to establish as a premium brand in UK IMHO, grossly overpriced, but can be a good e-bay purchase as liquidation stock.
@ Capot agree, re- ajustable spanners, but sometimes, a man's gotta do..... like using a screwdriver as a chisel/drift/prybar