Hand Tools

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Hand Tools

INDUSTRIAL CODES

NAICS: 33-2212 Hand and Edge Tools, 33-2213 Saw Blade and Hand Saw Manufacturing, 33-3991 Power-driven Hand Tool Manufacturing

SIC: 3423 Hand and Edge Tools, 3425 Hand Saw and Saw Blades, and 3546 Power Driven Hand Tools

NAICS-Based Product Codes: 33-399111, 33-39913, 33-39919, 33-339919, 33-22122, 33-222123, 33-22125, 33-22128, 33-22129, 33-22131, 33-2221302, 33-221303, and 33-222130Y

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

As the term itself implies, hand tools are operated by individuals. In the modern context, the activity itself may be power-assisted, as in the case of an electric saw or drill. In using this term, however, neither in common parlance nor in the industrial sphere does anyone mean to imply that a person operating a large machine tool (like a drill press, forging hammer, or a large stationary saw) is using a hand tool. The definition implicitly includes the relative size of the tool and thus the operator's ability to control it by hand. Thus a jackhammer used to break up the pavement is not really a hand tool but a device—a tool used in construction. The jackhammer requires the participation and application of the operator's entire musculature. By contrast a carpenter affixing plywood to a roof using an air-driven hammer, the hammer fed its power from a compressor on a truck located nearby, is considered to be using a power-driven hand tool.

The first major differentiation in this product category is between hand powered and power-assisted tools. Many other distinctions characterize the category as well in various combinations. Tools are classified by the situation in which they are used, thus in domestic or craft activity. There are tools for the casual user and the professional—the differences usually defined by the tool's durability and power; the homeowner presumed to need tools for smaller jobs requiring less skill. Tools are also classified by the many different human goals that they support: lifting, holding, cutting, drilling, affixing, detaching, opening, closing, turning, roughing, smoothing, loosening, heating, measuring, and so on. Tools are associated with functions and are then differentiated within them. Thus, for instance, saws are part of the broader category of cutting tools and are further divided into what they cut: wood or metal. Saws are also designed for different types of cuts ranging from rough to high precision.

The category of work in which the tools are intended to be used also lends its name to the tools. There are agricultural, gardening, automotive, home repair, construction, woodworking, plumbing, electrical, and many other categories. The number of classifications is limited only by what human beings do. There are special tools assisting the philatelist (pincers) and the surgeon (scalpels). Covered in this essay, however, will only be those categories included by the U.S. Census Bureau under its definition of hand tools and power-driven tools—while remaining alert to the fact that the concept of tooling goes well beyond that definition. Neither pincers nor scalpels are included under hand tools by the government but these products are included under other industries. The Census definition used here is tooling used in industrial production activities, but keeping in mind that such tools are also sold to the public at large. At the low end, hand tools sold to consumers are typically much less rugged and have less power than their counterparts used in machine shops and factories. However, in recent decades the differentiation at the upper end of consumer tools is less and less obvious. In the twenty-first century the do-it-yourself person can and does use tools his or her counterpart could only dream about fifty years earlier.

The Census Bureau divides its reporting into two major categories: human-powered and power-assisted hand tools. Distinct classifications are provided for hand and edge tools and saw blades and hands saws, both non-powered. For historical reasons, saws receive special treatment. Power-driven hand tools also receive a classification of their own; within that category there are electrically, pneumatically, and internal combustion engine-driven subcategories. The power-driven category also includes power saws.

Since the Economic Census is the only genuinely reliable microscope that gives us a view into the details of the U.S. economy, these classifications permit us to gauge the overall magnitude of hand tools as manufactured products—the supply side of the equation. The classifications, however, provide less of a view of final use of these products—the demand side. The Census provides much less product-level detail when reporting on wholesale and retail activities. At those levels, down-stream from production, a category like hand tools disappears in the more inclusive category of hardware and farm and garden equipment. It is therefore almost impossible, using Census data alone, to distinguish between that portion of supply which ends up in the hands of factories or commercial companies and that which finds its way into the hands of the consumer. Hand tools are also too small a category to receive prominent tracking by the government's Current Industrial Reports which provide data on import-export trends.

For all of these reasons, data on the domestic production of hand tools in the major categories will be drawn from Census sources. These will include the industrial categories previously listed under the Industrial Codes section. Please note that these categories explicitly leave out significant clusters of tooling such as cutlery and cooking utensils and many categories specific to service and professional activities, including medical and laboratory tools and devices and instruments employed as hand tools in electronics and other industries. The Census data used, however, will be augmented from other sources that illuminate demand and thus trace Census data forward to the point of sale and also account for imports.

MARKET

Using 2002 Economic Census data as a benchmark, domestic hand tools represented a $10.39 billion industry in which non-powered hand tools and saw blades represented 66.8 percent of shipments and power-driven hand tools 33.2 percent, thus roughly two-thirds of production went into human-powered and one-third into power-assisted products. These data were built by the Census Bureau from a full survey of all producers. Some three years later, as measured by the Annual Survey of Manufactures, the production had dropped somewhat since 2002 and stood at $10.07 billion, but the respective shares of human-powered and power-assisted tools had changed significantly, representing 74.4 and 25.6 percent of total shipments in 2005—three quarters of the production was hand tools and saws and one-quarter power-driven handtools.

In sharp contrast to these data, which represent domestic supply, the Freedonia Group, an independent research organization, reported quite different numbers about the actual demand for hand tools in a 2005 study widely referred to in this industry. For the 2002 benchmark year, Freedonia estimated total demand to have been $12.1 billion in the United States, nearly $2 billion more than production. Freedonia reported for non-powered tooling demand as $4.86 billion versus the Census Bureau's shipments (supply) of $6.9 billion. The research firm's estimate for the power-driven tools segment was more than double the Census result, $7.24 billion demand versus $3.45 billion supply, the shipments reported by the Census. The research firm estimated that power-driven handtools were 59.8 percent of total demand, non-powered hand tools 40.2 percent. It is well to note that the Census conducted a survey and Freedonia, focusing on demand, carried out an investigation by interviewing associations and companies. Freedonia's definitions of the sectors to be included may have been different from those of the Census Bureau. What is clearly evident from these two sets of data, however, and substantiated by Freedonia's own research, is that substantial portions of domestic demand for power-driven tools were satisfied with imports. In the human-powered hand tool segment, the Census surveys may have included categories not counted by Freedonia. A tentative conclusion is that substantial portions of power-driven tool demand is satisfied with imports. In contrast, substantial portions of domestic production of human-powered hand tools were either exported by their producers or were excluded by Freedonia or its sources.

Freedonia's study, which covered power-driven hand tools globally and in some detail provided estimates of the breakdown between commercial/industrial and consumer demand for power tools. Freedonia's author of the study, Michael A. Deneen, reporting in Business Economics, estimated that 70 percent of demand is represented by the commercial/industrial sector and 30 percent by the private consumer or household. Deneen expected this ratio, applicable worldwide, to remain constant into the future. Other than by analogy with power-drive hand tools, no fine breakdown of the ultimate demand for human-powered hand tools is available. A higher portion of that market may well be represented by commercial/industrial demand, at least as hand and edge tools are defined by the Census Bureau. The Census Bureau includes under that category dies and cutting tools that may be used both in hand tools and in machine tools; the Census also includes precision measuring tools. These two categories are likely to be consumed much more in industrial settings; in 2002 they represented nearly $1.5 billion in production. As a rough guess or as a rule of thumb, however, it seems reasonable to assume that all hand tools are distributed between commercial/industrial and consumer markets as are power-driven tools, thus 70/30.

The major distinct end use-markets are industrial production viewed as a whole, the construction industry and consumer do-it-yourself work, motor vehicle repair, and agriculture-forestry-gardening activities. Use-markets, however, are far more extensive than the major activities may indicate. Within the industrial production category are many industrial subdivisions that have their amateur practitioners and hobbyists. Such people also use the industrial or equivalent hand tools. Examples are furniture and cabinet making by hobbyists, boat building and antique automobile restoring, aircraft restoration, home repair and remodeling. Many of these activities take place outside the industrial setting. They are carried out by amateurs who are amateurs in name only as they use the same tools as their professional counterparts. The markets for drills are wherever anyone needs to sink a hole, for saws wherever someone needs to cut metal, plastic, or wood. The individuals engaging in these activities may do so as employees or as independents working on projects of their own.

As a consequence of the pervasiveness of tool use by people, Freedonia found a correlation worldwide between tool use and gross fixed investment. Growing investment correlates with growth in hand tool demand, flat rates with flat or no growth. Other indicators are trends in personal income, level of urbanization, availability of electric power, and the population of automobiles. Using these factors, Freedonia saw the major industrial regions of the world as having mature demand whereas growth was indicated in Asia, particularly China, in Latin America, and in the Africa/Mid-East region.

The U.S. market is mature and, based on long-term trends, is also a declining market for hand tools. The United States has been losing manufacturing employment. Between 1982 and 2004, manufacturing employment has dropped from 17.8 million to 13.4 million according to Manufacturing and Distribution USA. Production worker numbers declined in the same period from 12.4 to 9.4 million, suggesting that in 2004, three million fewer production workers needed hand tools than in 1982. Most of these losses (93 percent) were experienced in the 1999 to 2004 period. Other trends have been mixed. The services sector has grown; low interest rates have stimulated remodeling of homes; but personal income in real (inflation-adjusted) dollars has been flat in a consumer market for tools that are saturated in most categories: most people own a drill and the usual kit of hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, and tape measures. The problem is not in ownership, but in finding that tool when needed.

KEY PRODUCERS/MANUFACTURERS

Hand tools manufacturing in the modern context is a relatively easy-to-enter sector. Virtually every country has its own hand-tool making industry. An estimated 50 countries also participate in the power-driven tool industry. For this reason industrial concentration is low and market leaders have relatively small portions of total market. Companies tend to be concentrated in either the non-powered or the power-driven portions of the hand tool industry; however, the leaders typically offer both kinds of tools but dominate in one of the categories.

A selection of key producers is presented under two headings below. U.S. market share leaders in 2005 are presented first based on data collected by Credit Suisse and reported in Market Share Reporter. Next, leaders in power-driven hand tools are shown by 2004 market share as presented by Freedonia Group.

Non-Powered Hand Tool Market Leaders

The Stanley Works began in Connecticut in 1843 as a door-bolt company and later developed into the United States' leading producer of non-powered handtools. Stanley had a market share of 21 percent in 2005. Stanley had revenues of $4 billion in 2006, its operations divided into three sectors: Industrial, Consumer, and Security Products. The Industrial sector is a provider of non-powered and power-driven tools in every category. The Consumer sector of the company produces carpentry, electronic, masonry, and mechanics tools as well as measuring instruments. The Security Products sector at Stanley was the direct outgrowth of the company's original involvement with doors. Today Stanley's security systems extend from locks and components up to very sophisticated systems solutions, including sensors and automatic notification protocols.

Danaher held the second largest share of the non-powered tool market in 2004 with 19 percent. The company's sales in 2005 were $7.9 billion, but only a portion of these sales were in the hand tool product lines. Danaher began in the early 1980s as a grouping of companies—named after the Danaher River in Montana where its founders were fishing together and talking of joining their efforts. The company's principal focus is on the support of manufacturing activities by others with products and services in the categories of measurement, motion, water management and related environmental services, product identification, and tooling. Danaher also has activities related to medical technologies.

Snap-On Incorporated was the third place market shareholder in non-powered tools with 11 percent market share. Snap-On had sales of $2.4 billion in 2006. It is a Kenosha, Wisconsin, company operating four divisions: Snap-On Dealer Group sells tools directly to mechanics and repair shops; Commercial and Industrial Group sells tooling and systems to corporations; Diagnostics and Information Group sells diagnostic equipment and services, including management and information services; the Financial Services operates in support of its dealer networks and is jointly owned with CIT Financial Corporation. Founded as the Snap-On Wrench Company in 1920, the company started to sell interchangeable socket and wrench handles invented by its two founders, Joseph Johnson and William Seideman. Direct demonstration at mechanics' shops of the benefits of such tooling turned out to be the best way to sell this innovative product and has remained at the core of Snap-On's strategy.

Cooper Industries had sales of $4.7 billion in 2005. Approximately 85 percent of Cooper's sales are from electrical products, but the company is a leader in non-powered hand tools, with a 7 percent market share. Cooper began in 1833 as a small iron foundry operated by the brothers Charles and Elias Cooper in Mount Vernon, Ohio. It made power and compression equipment for natural gas transmission until the 1960s. After that time, in efforts to diversify, the company entered petroleum and industrial equipment, electrical devices, and also began making electrical and other tools.

Power-Driven Hand Tool Market Leaders

Black & Decker is the global market share leader in power-driven equipment, with 12 percent of the world market in 2004. The company had its start in 1917 when its two founders, S. Duncan Black and Alonzo G. Decker, expanded a small machine shop into a manufacturing plant in Towson, then a small suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. The driving innovation was the invention of a pistol grip and trigger switch on a drill the company was making. Since that time the company has expanded by a combination of innovation and geographical expansion, first to Canada then to England, Australia, and beyond. The company had sales in 2005 of $6.3 billion, of which power tools and accessories accounted for $4.7 billion.

Robert Bosch GMBH, with a 9 percent global market share in power tools in 2004, was founded by Robert Bosch in 1886 as the Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering, based in Stuttgart, Germany. The company's entry into power tools began in the mid-1930s by deploying its smallest electric motors as power sources for hand-held tools. Among the company's well-known brands are Skil (saws), Dremel (precision tooling), Vermont-American (a producer of bits for tools), and RotoZip (a drill bit, saw, and sawing tool producer). Bosch offers more than 1,000 specific products, including components. In the United States Bosch operates as Robert Bosch Tool Corporation through its division, Bosch Power Tools, located in Mount Prospect, Illinois.

Techtronic Industries was founded in 1985 by Horst J. Pudwill and Roy C.P. Chung to manufacture rechargeable battery packs and appliances. The first production facility began operations in Hong-Kong. The company grew by acquisition and features such brands as Milwaukee (industrial power tools) and the German company AEG (diversified power tools), both acquired in 2005. The Ryobi brand of saws and clean-up devices was acquired from its Australian owners in 2002. Homelite, a producer of chain saws and outdoor clipping equipment was acquired in 2001. Techtronic had a 7 percent global market share in 2004 which apparently increased a year later with the integration of Milwaukee and AEG brands.

Makita Corporation, a Japanese company, had a global market share of 5 percent in the power-driven tool market. It manufactures 320 different types of power-driven hand tools for industrial, consumer, and garden and outdoor applications. Makita began in 1915 by selling and repairing electric motors. Its first power tool was an electric planer.

Hitachi began operations in 1910 as an electrical repair shop and then progressed by making transformers, fans, electric locomotives, elevators, refrigerators, power shovels, transistor radios, and computers. The company thereafter developed into one of the world's electronics giants. The company classifies its power tool activities under the label of DIY (do-it-yourself), which it subdivides into power tools and garden supplies. Hitachi has 54 U.S. subsidiaries. The company's U.S.-based power tool operations are managed by Hitachi Koki U.S.A. headquartered in Atlanta. Power tools are a very small element within this giant's portfolio but represented 4 percent of the global market in 2004.

MATERIALS & SUPPLY CHAIN LOGISTICS

Hand tools cover a spectrum from very simple tools, such as hand-held files made of single pieces of steel, on up to complex machines that require assembly, such as power drills. Human-powered hand tools typically require the joining of a steel tool with a handle made of wood, hard plastic, or a composite of nonmetallic materials. A simple example is a screwdriver made of metal tightly held by a plastic handle. Both components may be fabricated entirely on site from raw materials or, more typically, components may arrive semi-fabricated and are further processed at the final manufacturing stage. Non-powered hand tool producers typically manufacture multiple lines of such tools and will therefore have complex fabrication and assembly arrangements supported by extensive inventories of componentry and work in progress. Materials will be drawn from multiple vendors and arrive in various stages of completion. Since the most valuable and proprietary component of hand tools is the work piece itself, operations tend to be predominantly metal working factories or associated with such.

In the case of power-driven tools, the power source is the most important component of the tool in terms of complexity and cost. The core may be an electric motor, a pneumatic device, or an internal combustion engine. If the device is electric, it may be cordless and feature chargeable battery packs which the company either specializes in manufacturing, has a license to produce, or purchases from others. These power devices may be purchased or may be the very heart of the production operation. Small makers of power tools may purchase the motor or engine and engage in assembly only or in fabrication and assembly, joining parts to a purchased power-pack. Large producers may make the power-pack and purchase drill bits, blades, saws, chain saws, and other components from others. All manner of combinations are prevalent depending on the history, size, and technological alignments of the producers.

A distinct third category of producer in the hand tools industry is the manufacturer of bits only, including cutting dies, blades, edges, drills, saws, shaped tools for insertion into power equipment, and the like. These companies make the working end of the tool, not the entire tool, and will therefore often be metalworking specialists purchasing steel or exotic metal stocks as raw materials and shaping them in their operations.

The output of this industry ends up in large metropolitan areas, not least outdoors and gardening tooling. Relatively small portions of the industry output are shipped to rural areas or distribution centers in small towns. The hand tools industry's operations tend to be located in or on the edges of large urban areas with access to raw materials, semi-finished goods, and transportation hubs.

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

Consumer Products

Virtually all hand tools reaching the consumer markets, whether non-powered or power-driven, move through a three-tier distribution system. The ultimate customer buys from a retailer who makes purchases from a wholesaler who obtains goods from the producer. The retailer may be a Big Box store such as Home Depot or Lowe's, a department store such as Sears/Kmart or Wal-Mart, a hardware store, a lumber yard, a gardening outlet, or a specialized equipment dealer.

Outdoor tools such a chain saws and other gasoline-powered devices such as trimmers, tend to be sold by so-called servicing dealers—for the simple reason that such tools often require servicing; chain saws, for instance, require sharpening. Dealers are typically supplied by independent distributors specializing in power equipment in certain categories, such as green goods, intended for the outdoor trade. Since the appearance of large discounters, a tension has existed between producers who sell both to discounters and to dealers and the dealer chains that distribute their products. Dealers require the higher margins realizable from selling original equipment to subsidize their servicing operations. They resent producers who sell their equipment at a discount. The same equipment will show up at the dealership for servicing. Some companies sell exclusively through dealers and thus cultivate a loyal sales channel at the retail level. Dealer-oriented producers rely on high quality products sold at a healthy margin but effectively supported by excellent services. Other producers use a strategy of offering products at various quality and price points and aiming to achieve their aims through volume.

A three-tier distribution is virtually dictated in this industry by the sheer variety of tools available. The matching of demand at the retail level, particularly with many different types of retailers involved, calls for the additional administrative and sales-outreach provided by the wholesaler in the middle. The exception, however, proves the rule. Large retailers offer store brands made for them directly by the manufacturer based on a product mix specified by the seller. In these cases a two-tier distribution is in effect.

Catalog sales represent another two-tier distribution system, but such sales are limited to categories such as specialized gardening tools and categories of hobbyists tools that are included in the catalog along with many other items not produced by this industry.

Industrial/Commercial Products

Industrial/Commercial hand tool distribution may be three-tier or two-tier depending on the size of the commercial buyer. If the buyer is a self-employed craftsperson, his or her purchases are by definition for commercial use but the buyer will typically purchase the tooling from a retailer. Many retailers provide a commercial discount, however, and the buyer realizes a small benefit over the ordinary homeowner. In large commercial operations and in industrial purchasing, tooling will be bought from a specialized distributor directly. These distributors are organized to meet the requirements of contractors or automotive repair shops or specific industries, carrying very diverse lines of tooling but highly targeted to the mix of businesses that they serve. Online access by the buyer to the distributor's inventory is a common and still growing aspect of this type of distribution as the twenty-first century gets under way. Such access permits an industrial buyer to order items directly as needed with minimal human interaction between buyer and seller.

KEY USERS

The use of hand tools in industrial and commercial contexts is an inherent aspect of all such activity. Tool users and categories of tools emerge into view by simply naming the activity itself. Construction has its tooling as does railroad maintenance, each category often using the same standard tools and some that are unique to the industry. In the consumer category, distinct classes of key users emerge: the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) practitioner, the home gardener and lawn worker, and the person pursuing a hobby or a craft activity that calls for industrial-style tooling. In all of these categories, tooling represents a relatively small proportion of total expenditures on the activity; supplies represent the majority of dollars spent.

This is well illustrated by looking at the DIY market. According to the Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI), as cited by Credit Suisse, tools are a part of the consumer home improvement market, estimated at approximately $311.1 billion in 2006. Tools were 6 percent of total expenditures; the largest category was lumber and building materials (27%). Another earlier estimate, provided by Darrin M. Brogan, put the 2005 DIY market, a subset of HIRI's home improvement market, at $21.3 billion and estimated total expenditures on hardware and tools at $5.1 billion, just under 24 percent of total.

Among key users at the consumer level are gardening enthusiasts who buy special gardening tools and homeowners who take care of their lawns. This was a market of between $24 to $35 billion dollars depending on the source, the high figure provided by the National Gardening Association. The category is largely dominated by purchasers of fertilizers, seeds, plants, and lawn care services. Equipment may be as high as 25 percent of total, but that includes professional lawn care equipment and riding mowers which do not fit the hand tools category.

The last key user group is represented by the person engaged in a craft as a hobby, purchasing industrial grade equipment, including hand tools, to carry on such activities at home. This user group divides into those engaged in automotive work and those in various kinds of precision carpentry and similar woodwork.

ADJACENT MARKETS

Markets adjacent to hand tools are other tooling markets typically more closely associated with specific activities. As viewed from the perspective of the consumer market, adjacent markets would include cooking, textile, and office tools—thus, kitchen utensils of all kinds, sewing kits and scissors, handheld seamers, irons, textile cleaning tools, computers, rulers, pens, and pencils. Two other adjacent categories are tools used in bodily care, such as razors and devices for shaping or trimming hair, and household cleaning tools including brooms, mops, hand-held vacuums, stain removers, wax appliers, and brushes of all kinds. In part these markets are adjacent because they provide products of similar function, as well as compete with DIY work, outdoors pursuits, or hobbies that use industrial tooling.

Viewed from the industrial perspective, the tools used in laboratories, medicine (including dentistry), precision tools used in making jewelry, and many other categories excluded from the Census definitions being used but included with specific industries, are adjacent in providing functional equivalents.

Within the narrower category under consideration here, adjacent markets are represented by specialty chemicals that in one way or another do the work of hand tools. An example is adhesives that will cause surfaces to adhere in cases where the alternative is nailing. Throughout industry, as well as in the home, advances in materials sciences are impacting tooling, either by eliminating specific activities (e.g., sanding or smoothing) or by providing finished products that do not need dressing or cutting.

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

In this very mature industry, R&D efforts are aimed at product improvements to induce industrial and commercial buyers to upgrade to products that are more efficient and safe and to attract the more conservative and generally inattentive do-it-yourselfer by innovation. Attention is directed at improving the performance of tools at lower power levels; upgrading the performance of 12-volt tools to those of 18-volt tools, for example. Cordless products worked a significant revolution in power tools by making them easier to use without the hassle of managing cords. Efforts to extend the time over which battery packs stay charged and perform at peak is a goal of research.

Ergonomic design is a focus of research as well. Handles and grips developed on the basis of ergonomic studies can not only result in novel forms that draw the customer's interest by looking different, but can also take effort out of using the tool and can introduce higher levels of safety in tool use, a perennial concern to the industry. Multi-purpose tooling has always been popular. Research aimed at speeding up the process whereby one working bit is exchanged for another is an ongoing effort.

CURRENT TRENDS

At the production level, a major but continuing trend is globalization of production whereby particularly power-tool producers are moving their manufacturing operations to low-labor cost markets. In this industry particularly, where barriers to entry are relatively low, a complementary movement is represented by low-labor cost regions also entering the business as exporters and—an example is China—producing for their growing domestic demand as well. This trend is beginning to manifest in the non-powered hand tool industry as well. According to data from Freedonia, the North American market in 2006 accounted for 40 percent of global demand but only produced 30 percent of the product consumed worldwide.

At the retail level in the consumer segment, independent retailers are feeling the competitive pressures of the big box discount houses. The evidence for this is anecdotal—indirectly shown by the high growth rates in these categories achieved by retailers like Home Depot and Lowe's in comparison with total growth rates in the industry. Another trend in the retail sector is the increasing participation of women not only in initiating home improvement projects but also as buyers of hand tools, in part a consequence of growth in numbers of households headed by women.

In part arising from the growth in the DIY market, but a perennial concern of the industry, is emphasis on the safe use of power tools, strongly promoted by the industry associations.

TARGET MARKETS & SEGMENTATION

In the hand tools industry, virtually all markets are not only well defined but are served by specialized tools developed specifically for them. One area where targeting is discernible is the introduction of more and more professional-level tools to the consumer market. This is resulting in a blurring of the distinction between tools in the home and tools in the factory—at least at the higher end of tools sold to the consumer and the do-it-yourselfer. This targeting is almost always accomplished by marketing efforts rather than by product redesign.

A strongly emergent trend is the emergence of women as DIY tool users. This has caused targeting approaches aimed at taking gender bias out of tool promotion and, in some instances, introducing color changes specifically aimed at attracting female buyers.