- #1
cave_cat
- 41
- 0
is there "cheap" / high productivity way to measure quality of hand tools?
I see online a common complaint that widely available tools have become low quality due to offshore outsourcing, cost cutting, corrupt/lying mislabeling of alloys used etc. Conversely, tools of "proven" brands that have not compromised quality have high price tags since people are afraid of buying cheap "lemon" and so are willing to overpay because they don't have access to any proof of quality other than brand.
Anyway, so could the question "how good is particular tool" be answered using a standard, inexpensive laboratory measurement process? E.g. suppose I come out with a new brands of saw blades that (allegedly) are comparable to existing brands but I sell them 20% cheaper. Up front, the customers would have no good reason to believe that this "cave_cat" brand is not a shoddy good. So, it would be nice if an independent laboratory (probably ran by the distributor, let's say Home Depot or a dedicated online retailer) could routinely measure some percentage of items of this brand and publicize the quality certification for various batches that they buy from OEM and resell to the customer.
What procedures now exist for quality verification of finished tool products (as opposed to quality controls in the factory)? How complex/expensive are they?
I see online a common complaint that widely available tools have become low quality due to offshore outsourcing, cost cutting, corrupt/lying mislabeling of alloys used etc. Conversely, tools of "proven" brands that have not compromised quality have high price tags since people are afraid of buying cheap "lemon" and so are willing to overpay because they don't have access to any proof of quality other than brand.
Anyway, so could the question "how good is particular tool" be answered using a standard, inexpensive laboratory measurement process? E.g. suppose I come out with a new brands of saw blades that (allegedly) are comparable to existing brands but I sell them 20% cheaper. Up front, the customers would have no good reason to believe that this "cave_cat" brand is not a shoddy good. So, it would be nice if an independent laboratory (probably ran by the distributor, let's say Home Depot or a dedicated online retailer) could routinely measure some percentage of items of this brand and publicize the quality certification for various batches that they buy from OEM and resell to the customer.
What procedures now exist for quality verification of finished tool products (as opposed to quality controls in the factory)? How complex/expensive are they?