pdc 18/4 drill

DanielOB

Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2014
Messages
148
just got one, and it says
made in chez republic
are they all made out of Germany, or i should return this one.
i got it in Toronto, canada
 
Festool owns manufacturing facilities in Germany and the Czech Republic.

The PDC was previously a Protool. Most of the Protools were made in there.

No compromise in quality. You've got a genuine Festool power tool.  [wink]

Shane
 
[member=36769]DanielOB[/member]
These were originally made by ProTool a Festool subsidiary with factories in the Czech Republic and Poland.  Approx. two years ago all ProTools became Festools.

Currently this drill has been heavily discounted by Festool in Aust. through its latest Promotion. This could be due to low sales given the significant developent of battery technologies in recent  years.

It was once on my wish list. Enjoy it. 
 
That way is even better. Made in Germany does not means made (manufactured) by Germans 100% any more. Chinese are all over now but not that much in Czech Republic.

Does Festool also make the drill in Germany too?
 
Currently this drill has been heavily discounted by Festool in Aust. through its latest Promotion. This could be due to low sales given the significant developent of battery technologies in recent  years

I do not get what the battery development is doing with the drill price... Do you think about the set where the battery is included?
 
McNally Family said:
Overall labor costs are less in the  Czech Republic, than they are in Germany.

It may be only a perception which  may be false in many respects, but I think that "designed and made in Germany" has been a significant selling point which carried along with it expectations for high grade materials and excellent quality.

I am not sure that I assign the same value to goods made in Czech Republic - not that I had bad experience with them, but simply because I have no experience with quality of merchandise made there.

If someone asks you, how much a sophisticated drill made in Germany may cost, if it is a top of the line brand? You may say from what you know that it is $600. Now, ask yourself what would be a fair market price for a similar tool made in Czech Republic where labor costs are lower? And what is a fair price for a tool proudly made in China?

It is also true that different countries have different rules regarding which fraction of components has to be produced domestically in order to write "made in ....". It is conceivable that even tools "Made in Germany" have 40% Chinese components. I am not sure what the rule in Germany is.

I can understand why a person is disappointed when he sees "made in Czech Republic" on a sticker of a tool which he bought for $600. He had a justification in his head that he pays a high price because it is made in Germany. It may not be the only reason, but it is one of the reasons.  When this reason is gone, buyer remorse kicks in.
 
If it makes the op feel better, Festool's parent company purchased a pre-existing and established manufacturer, Narex.
The plant was responsible for the Protool line, and some random Festool products.      Now it's responsible for random Festool products (obviously including Protool products that were transferred over).  The Narex I'm speaking of is not to be confused with the Narex chisels and whatnot that you are familiar with here. There was a period of those companies becoming state owned under one banner, and then re-privatised but with the same name.  A similar situation to the Honeywell owned UVEX of the USA having absolutely nothing to currently do with the UVEX of the rest of the globe. 

Sidenote - is TTS officially Festool Group, now?  It's lot easier to explain to people that Festool owns a company (say Tanos) than "Tool Technic Systems". 

Here's your PDC handle with a different name written on it. 
http://www.narex.cz/en-gb/65404720-ah-43_185_av

And for a better understanding of "what's the deal with this?", the PDC in it's original colour:


I love this drill. 
 
[attachimg=1]

Found the answer.  [big grin]

Still officially TTS.
 

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AIPDX said:
I am not sure that I assign the same value to goods made in Czech Republic - not that I had bad experience with them, but simply because I have no experience with quality of merchandise made there.

How would you propose that anyone acquire said experience if not by selling products manufactured there?
 
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DanielOB said:
Currently this drill has been heavily discounted by Festool in Aust. through its latest Promotion. This could be due to low sales given the significant developent of battery technologies in recent  years

I do not get what the battery development is doing with the drill price... Do you think about the set where the battery is included?
[size=14pt] [member=36769]DanielOB[/member]
With apologies, I had confused the PDC18/14 with the corded DR18 and its impact brother, both of which are ex Protool as well. The Impact version is no longer readily available here and as stated the DR18 is currently heavily discounted.

Consequently due to this error, I went on to state the obvious that new battery technologies were making corded drills redundant for an increasing number of uses.

I must say though with regard to the PDC18/4 there is plenty of competition, in the Australian market at least, in this segment from Makita, Metabo, Milwaukee, AEG and Blue Bosch - in features, quality and batteries of greater amperage than that of 5.2 amps offered here for the moment by Festool.

 
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