Thread: Direction of Triton under GMC

Steve,

Enjoyed your post. I use my Triton gear and GMC tools do do specific jobs mostly handyman stuff and have no complaints about what i buy. Plus being a tool junkie, GMC certainly feeds my addiction.

Cheers for the future of your distributorship

Adam

can we just buy some Triton badges so i can now spray my collection of GMC tools orange :confused:

Redwood,

This is a very common comment and perspective.

Also wrong.

It implies that the whole GMC range will be launched under the Triton badge. This is not the case.

The example you will probably be most familiar with is Dewalt and Black and Decker. 2 very different product ranges, same company.

Steve

Thank you again Steve for a very insightful post. If I actually had any talent I would buy the Triton gear we have here and learn how to use it.
There is only 1 WC2000 left for $400.
Steve, are these going to be worthwhile buying or is it another untruth/rumour going around that Triton are getting out of workcentre equipment? Sorry if it's a silly question, I've been reading so many posts the last few weeks I can't remember what was what.
Thank you,
Graham.

As has been the case since George first sat his circular saw in between a couple of lengths of angle iron, Triton have been looking for ways to make the products better.

Now, "Better" is a funny word. It seems simple but is not, as it means different things to different people.

From my perspective, "Better" in the Triton dictionary has the following meaning.

Better - increasing any one or more of the following attributes without reducing any of the others, or resulting in a total net gain; safer, more accurate, more versatile, more compact, wider usage base, easier to use, faster, cheaper to produce, easier to package, more reliable.

There has been ongoing work on the "Next Generation" of workcenter, from day one. Has been some brilliant designs and concepts however to date the Workcenter 2000 has remained.

Globalisation has introduced new variables to the equation that will affect future planning decisions.

First, contractor saws are getting cheaper, so too are most other tools. If the buying public shift to buying specialised, stand alone equipment, I would imagine that the workcenter would lose some of its lusture.

Competition and price are not the only variables though.

In Japan and in smaller workshops around the world, one of Triton's distinct advantages is that it can be packed up and put away more easily than most, because it is designed for this.

What is more expensive, a table saw, or the floor space you need to keep the tablesaw when you are not using it?

To use a tablesaw safely, you need enough room around it for timber to be fed without knocking it. Ripping requires at least double the length of the timber. These space requirements are unavoidable in use however if your tablesaw is bolted to the floor, weighs a ton, or is on rollers, but cannot be folded up, you need to allocate some permanent floorspace to it.

Cost of land, Slab, Shed space, opportunity cost of what else you could be using that space for.

In the Japanese market where space is very expensive, Triton has the ability of opening the door to woodwork that is otherwise not possible simply because of a perceived lack of space.

Will try and simplify this into the form of a father son conversation.

Dad, will the workcenter go? Yes Son, when a better product comes along.
When will that be? I don't know.
Are there concrete plans and timelines to discontinue the workcenter? Not that I am aware of. Nothing CONCRETE, especially timelines.
Are there designs of possible replacement products? Of course there is. Triton's name is Triton Manufacture and Design. That is what they do.
Is the factory for sale? Yes
Why is the factory for sale? The owner who is not GMC wants to sell it.
Is GMC buying the property? Probably not.
Why not? They are a world leading company in the development, and distribution of power tools. Holding real estate is not a part of their core business.
Should I buy a workcenter now or should I wait? Depends, do you want to spend yout time doing woodwork or spend your life waiting for something better to come along? Note, there will always be something new just around the corner! Looking at the growing product range, I would suspect that instead of replacing the workcenter, a different product would be introduced.
When will the workcenter dissapear from production? When its sales and profitability fall to a point that it is no longer economically viable or wise to continue to manufacture it.

When will this be? Go ask you mother!!!

Steve

The problem, TJ, is that you are beating around the bush and being, sorry to say, essentially disingenuous.

Triton is the workcentre. There are dozens of brands of power tools out there. If Triton was a power tool company selling a good saw and router and (more recently) drill, this forum would not exist. Triton clubs and newsletters would not exist. The whole Triton scheme of building a woodworking shop out of a compatible and synergistic system of benches and tools would not exist.

Don't kid yourself: if the workcentre goes, then Triton in the current sense will be gone.

There will be just a brand of powertool with a certain reputation for quality and innovation whose products are orange and whose name starts with T.

One thing that I am having trouble coming to tems with in this interminable discussion about the Triton/GMC marriage is why people who simply own a Triton product think that they have bought the right to complain about the unsubstantiated rumours that are flying around about how GMC will market the new Triton products.

When you buy a piece of equipment you get the right to expect service and quality not the right to run the company.

The snide remarks about this company acquisition are irritating and boring...........
I have tools of both colours and others as well, I buy what suits me as does GMC. I am also a member of a great Triton club and have respect for the triton tools.
GMC have bought a company from a clothes line company that was treading water with the brand so the fact that Triton was purchased by an Australian company with a strong record in tool production should be enough.
In conclusion, tell me.. Does anyone really think that these people are so stupid as to squander a respected line of tools and equipment.......... Personally I don't think so.............

Originally Posted by princhester

The problem, TJ, is that you are beating around the bush and being, sorry to say, essentially disingenuous.

Hmmm. Beating around the bush and being "disingenuous". i.e. not sincere or pretending to know less than I really do.

You flatter me in your assumption of the amount you think I know.

I offer the basis of the decision that is inevitable for every product man has made. When do we stop making it?

Do I know when the Workcenter will be discontinued? NO
Do I know what will replace it? NO
Do I know what will be the catalist for its redundancy? YES. As outlined above, its profitability.
Do I know if the workcenter will be replaced? YES IT WILL WHEN IT IS NO LONGER VIABLE TO KEEP PRODUCING IT.

Can't be much more direct than that.

As to Triton being just the workcenter, I disagree. I believe that what George created that appeals more than his bench is a concept and philosophy that can be applied to and is being applied to more than just circular saws.

Steve

Originally Posted by Corunetes

In conclusion, tell me.. Does anyone really think that these people are so stupid as to squander a respected line of tools and equipment.......... Personally I don't think so.............

Peter, I dont think they are stupid, but whatever their motivation, they have enough money that they dont have to give a damn about what they spent to acquire Triton. If it folds they wont starve to death, but its important to me that i can still get parts for the triton gear ive got, as it is important to all Triton users. How many GMC circular saws are on the market? if yours breaks down and the outlet you bought it from doesnt have another one identical what will they do? Do we want Triton to go that way? Its a trickyissue and i hope time will show that GMC does a good job of safeguarding our aussie icon i will believe it

I was mainly a hand tool man with just a drill from B&D then along came B&Q (our bunnies) with a cheap & cheerful range called Performance Pro( mainly made by GMC). It got me into a belt sander, sheet sander,jigsaw and finally a router. They had short comings but each time I went back to B&Q the new version was improved so when their broke I bought another and their was also a 12 month warrenty, which usually ment I got my money back on the broken kit. I then bought a cheap (£129) table like saw.Its fence was bad and I had to use clamps with the fence to make it work but it was portable so I took it to the work. Just before it died on me I was give a Dewalt drill/drive for installing a bathroom for a friend ( I would not have bought it for myself) - it changed my thinking - I was determined to get a better replacement for my portage table saw. The Dewalt was still too expensive and then in B&Q a TV was playing extolling the virtues of this Australia saw (WC). It was more than double the price of my old table saw without a saw mounted. The fence was great and the WC was portable but I was not prepared to pay the price. Looked on Ebay and put in a bid not expecting to get it but I did. I was bitten by the Triton bug and found this workgroup. A triton saw followed then the maxi extension table and bevel ripping guide and then on to the router ,table and jigsaw option. My new rule was then to buy Triton or if they did not have the equipment to buy Dewalt power tools even if I had to save up . No more Performance Pro(GMC) at any cost - it was not worth it in the long run.
Shock horror GMC bought Triton - likely to be no more development on the WC( I wanted a alloy top & induction motor for mine)
The way forward was either to wait for the changes to occur, which are very slow on coming out from GMC and appear to be along the GMC lines rather than Triton lines, or to move away.
I decided to start to move - did not wait for the new router - bought Dewalt. Looking to make my own router table along the lines of the Delux one from NORM on TV and finally buy a proper table saw or should I look at the Festool option???
What I will miss most is all the help I get from this workgroup.
Should I give GMC a few more months ?? -I don't think so.

Originally Posted by redwood

can we just buy some Triton badges so i can now spray my collection of GMC tools orange :confused:

Why since we never saw any Triton branded orange clothes lines under Hills ownership is everyone so worried about a powertool company buyig a powertool/workshop product. GMC have had the company for just 6mths. have already produced 7 or 8 news professional quality powertools, have dropped their margins across the entire range of original workcentre products and related accessories. besides a few teething issues (still undergoing), GMC have not actually done anything thus far to hurt the brand.

If the so called 'Tritonites' out there who choose only to use misinformation and twist the facts to give themselves their 15min of fame on the forum would take a breather and stop panicing and give GMC time to prove them wrong, maybe the rest of us could make up our own minds based on facts. Afterall, don't you want to see the brand progress forward? We all know it wasn't under Hills.

The only ones who have made any mention of the workcentre not continuing are those NOT IN THE KNOW!

Originally Posted by BarryBurgess

I was mainly a hand tool man with just a drill from B&D then along came B&Q (our bunnies) with a cheap & cheerful range called Performance Pro( mainly made by GMC). It got me into a belt sander, sheet sander,jigsaw and finally a router. They had short comings but each time I went back to B&Q the new version was improved so when their broke I bought another and their was also a 12 month warrenty, which usually ment I got my money back on the broken kit. I then bought a cheap (£129) table like saw.Its fence was bad and I had to use clamps with the fence to make it work but it was portable so I took it to the work. Just before it died on me I was give a Dewalt drill/drive for installing a bathroom for a friend ( I would not have bought it for myself) - it changed my thinking - I was determined to get a better replacement for my portage table saw. The Dewalt was still too expensive and then in B&Q a TV was playing extolling the virtues of this Australia saw (WC). It was more than double the price of my old table saw without a saw mounted. The fence was great and the WC was portable but I was not prepared to pay the price. Looked on Ebay and put in a bid not expecting to get it but I did. I was bitten by the Triton bug and found this workgroup. A triton saw followed then the maxi extension table and bevel ripping guide and then on to the router ,table and jigsaw option. My new rule was then to buy Triton or if they did not have the equipment to buy Dewalt power tools even if I had to save up . No more Performance Pro(GMC) at any cost - it was not worth it in the long run.
Shock horror GMC bought Triton - likely to be no more development on the WC( I wanted a alloy top & induction motor for mine)
The way forward was either to wait for the changes to occur, which are very slow on coming out from GMC and appear to be along the GMC lines rather than Triton lines, or to move away.
I decided to start to move - did not wait for the new router - bought Dewalt. Looking to make my own router table along the lines of the Delux one from NORM on TV and finally buy a proper table saw or should I look at the Festool option???
What I will miss most is all the help I get from this workgroup.
Should I give GMC a few more months ?? -I don't think so.

You compare B&Q Pro/GMC with DeWalt. Would you compare a Hyundai 4cyl car with a BMW 4cyl car and expect the same results/quality?

Try apples for apples and oranges for oranges and maybe you wont be to dissapointed in the future?

It seems to me that the ongoing raging debate about GMC/Triton has hit a raw nerve with many people. I put it down to two things - the very strong affection held by some people towards the Triton range - and a general feeling of discomfort with 'change'.

There is no doubt that Triton has helped many people get into wood working and home renovation in a way that would not have been possible had they not had access to such a brilliant multipurpose entry level tool as the work centre. It was not designed to compete with the Dewalts and the Festools - it was designed to fill a marketing niche and it did that superbly. It followed this up with some (not all) well thought through machines - the circular saw and the router to name only two. And it was Australian.

It is not surprising that this affection developed.

But things change and we shouldn't feel threatened, angry or defensive about this. I'm not saying the changes will always be positive, but they won't all be negative either.

I, for one, and prepared to wait and see. I'll make up my mind about the success or otherwiase of these changes when I have some evidence. At the moment all I see is speculation and (yes I agree) scaremongering.

I'm looking forward to seeing the new range. I'm not sure why they couldn't get them out before Christmas and think this was a marketing mistake, but presumably, it was unavoidable.

I've got an order in for the spin saw. I'm not sure what it will be like (nor when it will arrive), but I have a need for a small trim router and the fact that it also doubles as a few other useful tools adds to its value. I'm still attracted to the fact that it is orange and not worried that it might have tinges of blue. But I just don't know. And I'm not worried by the fact that I 'don't know'. I'll make a decision on its merits when it arrives.

I rarely get into these types of debates but did these issues go on when George Lewin sold out to Hills. Why do you think Hills bought the company in the first place.

Do you think they bought it because they thought it was a good idea or because they wanted to keep it Australian.

No - They bought because then reckoned they could make a good Quid out of it for their shareholders.

Why do you think they divested themselves of it. Because they had run out of steam.

Why did GMC buy it. Who really knows but perhaps they are more visionary than than the poor old people at Hills and reckon they can make a better quid out of it.

But you can bet your life on the fact that is about making a quid no matter what happens.