Stanley B&D Sells Delta to Taiwanese Company
Operations to Relocate to South Carolina
“Like many long-established companies, DELTA Machinery represents the American dream that came true for Herbert Tautz, the company’s founder, in 1919. Working out of his one-car garage in Milwaukee, Tautz set out to design and build new tools to alleviate the challenges of woodworking. He named his business The Delta Specialty Company.” (SOURCE: www.deltaportercable.com)
Over the next 90 years, the Delta brand name became synonymous with innovation in shop tools and woodworking. Through a couple of previous acquisitions – by Rockwell in 1945 and by Pentair in 1981 – the company forged ahead with a steady stream of memorable product innovations. Through the 1990s, Pentair began pairing Delta’s products ever more closely with those of Pentair sister brand Porter-Cable. During this time, the two brands became a formidable one/two punch in the world of woodworking and other shop trades.
When Stanley Black & Decker purchased Porter-Cable and Delta from Pentair in 2005 and brought the brands in alongside their existing pro brand DeWalt, many observers were curious about where the brands would end up fitting within the family. Many people, myself included, felt the Delta brand was a bit of a mismatch within the Stanley Black & Decker portfolio and would be immediately spun off. To our surprise, Delta stayed put. With high-profile product launches such as the American-made Unisaw, it looked as though Stanley Black & Decker was committed to continuing to grow the brand under its own umbrella. That all changed late last week.
As first reported by Popular Woodworking, and later by Tool-Rank, Stanley Black & Decker has sold Delta to a Taiwanese firm called TOTY. There is no word on how the acquisition will affect Delta’s product lineup, but the new owner is already investing significant resources into relocating Delta’s operations to a new facility in South Carolina. Of particular interest among Delta watchers, of course, is the future of the long-awaited and critically acclaimed Unisaw.
Tool Box Buzz will keep you posted as the story develops. Given that TOTY already has a reputation for manufacturing nice tools for other brands and that they are bringing in some big talent to lead the new initiative, I think we can expect the Delta name to remain worth watching for a while.
About the author
Todd Fratzel
Todd Fratzel is the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Tool Box Buzz, and the President of Front Steps Media, LLC, a web based media company focused on the Home Improvement and Construction Industry.He is also the Principal Engineer for United Construction Corp., located in Newport, NH. In his capacity at United he oversees the Residential and Commercial Building Division along with all Design-Build projects.He is also the editor of Home Construction & Improvement.
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Personally I think that the sale of Delta to a foreign company is disgusting. I also think that Delta has got a long ways to go to get customer loyalty back. It has been next to impossoible for some customers to find parts, and our local Delta dealership nolonger carries much Delta machinery any longer.
Charlie – Couple thoughts on my end. I think much of the disappointment in Delta comes from what happened when they were previously owned by Stanley/Black & Decker. I think that ownership stripped the brand down and took what it wanted for it’s corporate initiatives. While Delta is now owned by a Taiwanese company, it is run almost exclusively by an American Team down in South Carolina. I visited the new facility last fall and it’s quite impressive. All of the management team for the most part has roots with Delta that go back many many years. The management team are all very enthusiastic about woodworking. They also seem to know what it is that you’re feeling about Delta as you’re one of many that feel that way. They are working very hard to get back that trust and get back to making top quality products.
I spent a day watching them build my Unisaw and the folks that work on that assembly line are extremely proud to be building that piece of equipment with almost all US made parts. The motor is US made, the castings are all US made, and all the sheet metal/assembly is done right there in S.C.
I think in the not too distant future you’ll see them back to their former glory. Obviously just my humble opinion but they certainly seem to understand the current perception and they are working very hard to fix it.
Yeah, they have alot of missing machinery in their lineup, In the Table Aw category they only list the Unisaws, while I will agree that it is a very nice saw that is made in the USA which I like alot, I do however feel that not every woodworker needs an Industrial Cabinet Saw in their shop, and I do have some mixed feelings on what othewr type of table saw that they should offer. Now if you go to the Jointer category, the only 6″ Jointer that they offer now is a Benchtop, and in the Lathe category, all that is offered are Mini Lathes. Dust collection they seem to have covered real well, maybe even too well. I’m also a little puzzled as to why they droped the Unifence.
I agree on table saws. When I visited with them last Fall they did say they were trying to look at bringing back a “contractor” saw similar to the one I used for years. I think they need a couple different price/sizes in addition to the Unisaw. They just added another bandsaw, and it’s very likely they will add more machinery back to the lineup over the next 24 months.
Having the Biesemeyer brand being build here in the US down in S.C. I think that will be the only “fence” lineup (just my guess).
We had a similar situation here in town where they use to make Bobcat skidstear loaders, and a small backhoe. Melroe sold it out to Ingersol-Rand, then after just a couple years Ingersol-Rand sold it out to a company in South Korea and they pretty much shut the plant down here intown. Now some of those manufacturing jobs are comeing back, but those jobs are nolonger decent paying Union jobs.
I heard something about a Contractor’s saw also, and I’m guessing that it will be like the Grizzly where the motor is enclosed. I dunno Todd, it just seems to me that in this economy it would be wiser to keep costs down and improve an existing product instead of haveing to redesign and retool for a different machine, like what I’ve done with the Delta Contractor’s saw and Dust Collector that I own. Woodworking is geting to be a dieing art, less people are going to be able to retire, and retired people are a good percentage of the woodworkers out there. Makeing it more expensive for a person to get into the hobby right now doesn’t seem to me like the smart thing to do. The home DIY guy maybe a stronger market, but those guys are looking for small stuff like the light weight portable jobsite saws, which in my opinion are way over priced glorified vibrating scream machine circular saws in a table.
Can’t argue those thoughts. I certainly do hope that the economy picks up sooner than later and that more guys my age find a way to make woodworking their rewarding hobby. Time will tell I suppose. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. By all means keep on coming back, I really appreciate having a veteran share his thoughts here! 🙂