What this floor can run.
One line of work: garden and field hand tools, forged and formed metal first. Below is every process, material and packaging option this factory runs for that line — nothing padded, nothing hidden. Each option is rated from the same data that drives the Factory encyclopedia, so this page cannot say more than the floor can do.
Every option, rated. Nothing more.
●●●●● how common in European & North American DIY retail · ●●●●● relative cost within its own group. Rated 1–5 — ordinal judgements about the channel, not measured market data. The two-sided buyer and production notes behind every row are in the Factory encyclopedia.
Material intake 7 options
- Blade & spring steel●●●●●●●●○○Core material for every cutting edge; mid-range cost
- Stainless steel●●●○○●●●●○Premium rust-resistant blades and trowels; pricier than carbon steel
- Aluminium●●●○○●●●○○Lightweight shafts and heads on premium lines; moderate cost
- Rigid plastics●●●●●●○○○○Dominant for handles and housings; cheapest structural material
- Grip compounds●●●●●●●○○○Soft overmould grip now a standard ergonomic selling point
- Timber●●○○○●●●○○Heritage handle material for spades and forks; pricier than plastic
- Fabric●●○○○●○○○○Gloves and straps only; low cost, limited to few SKUs
Forming 11 options
- Stamping●●●●●●○○○○The default for volume blades and brackets
- Hot forging●●○○○●●●●○Heavier tool heads; costlier and less common in mass DIY
- Cold forging●●○○○●●●○○Higher-strength small parts like pivot pins; moderate extra cost
- Laser cutting●●○○○●●●●○Short runs or premium blade profiles; costly per part
- Tube drawing●●●○○●●●○○Shafts for forks, spades, loppers; moderate cost, fairly common
- Tube bending●●●○○●●○○○Bends stock tube into handles and frames; cheaper than drawing
- Swaging●●○○○●●○○○Tapers or joins tube ends; niche, low-cost forming step
- Wood turning●●○○○●●●○○Turned wooden handles for heritage lines; pricier than moulding
- Injection moulding●●●●●●●○○○Dominant process for plastic handles and housings; low unit cost
- Two-shot over-moulding●●●●○●●●●○Common for soft-grip handles; pricier tooling than single-shot moulding
- Dip moulding●●●○○●●○○○Dips tool ends for handle coatings; simple, fairly cheap process
Heat treatment 6 options
- Through hardening●●●○○●●○○○Hardens solid steel parts like trowel blades; simple, low cost
- Quench & temper●●●●○●●○○○Standard treatment for spring steel blades and springs; low cost
- Induction (local) hardening●●●○○●●●○○Hardens only the cutting edge; needs dedicated equipment, moderate cost
- Solution annealing●○○○○●●●○○Stainless-specific heat treatment; rare outside premium stainless tool lines
- Stress relief●●○○○●○○○○Reduces warping after forming; cheap, occasional extra process step
- Hardness banding by grade●●○○○●○○○○Sorts output into hardness grades; cheap QC step, not universal
Tooling 7 options
- Progressive dies●●●●○●●●●○High-volume stamping tooling; expensive investment, common for big brands
- Single-station dies●●●○○●●○○○Simple tooling for low-volume stampings; cheaper than progressive dies
- Trim & pierce tools●●●○○●●○○○Secondary stamping operations; moderate tooling cost, fairly common
- Injection moulds●●●●●●●●●●Needed for every plastic part; the most expensive tooling category
- Welding jigs●●○○○●○○○○Simple fixtures for welded assemblies; cheap, used only occasionally
- Assembly fixtures●●●○○●○○○○Keeps assembly consistent across lines; low individual tooling cost
- Gauges●●●○○●○○○○Inspection tooling for dimensions; cheap, moderately common across lines
Joining & assembly 9 options
- Riveting●●●●●●○○○○Standard pivot joint for shears and secateurs; cheap and common
- Bolted joints●●●○○●●○○○Adjustable pivots or handle attachment; costs more than riveting
- Snap-fit●●●●○●○○○○Plastic housings clip together; cheap, very common on mass tools
- Press-fit●●●○○●○○○○Ferrule onto handle or blade tang; cheap, common assembly method
- Spot welding●●○○○●●○○○Joins metal frame assemblies; moderate cost, less used on hand tools
- MIG welding●●○○○●●●○○Welds heavier long-handled tool assemblies; costlier than spot welding
- Brazing●○○○○●●●●○Premium blade-to-tang joints; rare and costly in mass-market channel
- Over-moulded joints●●●●○●●●○○Bonds soft grip onto handle body; common on ergonomic mid-tier lines
- Adhesive bonding●●●○○●●○○○Glues ferrules and labels; moderate cost, fairly common assembly step
Finishing & marking 12 options
- Zinc plating●●●●●●○○○○Default cheap rust protection for small steel parts and blades
- Nickel-chrome plating●●○○○●●●●○Decorative premium finish; pricier, used mainly on higher-end lines
- Dacromet●○○○○●●●●○Specialist corrosion coating; rare in consumer garden tools, costly
- Powder coating●●●●○●●○○○Durable colour finish on metal heads; moderate cost, fairly common
- Wet paint●●●○○●○○○○Cheap colour coat on lower-cost ranges; less durable than powder
- E-coat●○○○○●●●○○Electro-deposited priming; rare for hand tools, more of an automotive process
- Anodising●●○○○●●●○○Colours and protects aluminium parts; pricier than plain paint
- Polishing●●●○○●●○○○Bright blade finish for shelf appeal; moderate labour cost
- Sand-blasting●●○○○●○○○○Surface prep before coating; cheap step, not used on every SKU
- Lacquer or oil on wood●●○○○●○○○○Finish for timber handles only; cheap, relevant to wood SKUs
- Heat transfer print●●●○○●○○○○Cheap branding and graphics onto plastic handles; fairly common
- Laser marking●●●○○●●○○○Permanent blade branding; moderate cost, common on premium tool lines
Inspection & testing 8 options
- Hardness sampling●●●○○●○○○○Batch check of blade hardness; low-cost routine sampling step
- Open/close cycle life●●○○○●●○○○Durability test for shears and loppers pivots; moderate extra cost
- Salt-spray hours●●○○○●●○○○Corrosion test for plated parts; moderate cost, not every SKU
- Dimensional AQL●●●●○●○○○○Standard incoming and outgoing dimension check; cheap and common
- Edge & function check●●●●●●○○○○Near-universal sharpness and function check before packing; low cost
- Joint pull test●●○○○●●○○○Destructive test on riveted or bolted joints; occasional, moderate cost
- Pack drop test●●●○○●○○○○Standard transit test for retail packaging; cheap and common
- Barcode & label check●●●●●●○○○○Mandatory retailer compliance scan; cheap, done on every unit
Material families 9 options
- Blade and spring steel●●●●●●●●○○Core material for every cutting edge; mid-range cost
- Stainless steel●●●○○●●●●○Premium rust-resistant blades and trowels; pricier than carbon steel
- Plating and coating●●●●●●●○○○Near-universal rust protection on steel parts; low added cost
- Aluminium●●●○○●●●○○Lightweight shafts and heads on premium lines; moderate cost
- Rigid plastics●●●●●●○○○○Dominant for handles and housings; cheapest structural material
- Grips and soft compounds●●●●●●●○○○Soft overmould grip now a standard ergonomic selling point
- Timber●●○○○●●●○○Heritage handle material for spades and forks; pricier than plastic
- Fabric and textile●●○○○●○○○○Gloves and straps only; low cost, limited to few SKUs
- Packaging board●●●●●●○○○○Universal for cartons and header cards; cheapest packaging material
Packaging formats 11 options
- Corrugated export carton●●●●●●●○○○Standard bulk shipping carton used for nearly every export run
- Colour box●●●●○●●●●○Printed retail box for premium SKUs; pricier than plain carton
- Hang tag / header card●●●●●●○○○○Cheap card for blister and peg-hook display; near-universal
- Blister pack●●●●○●●●○○Plastic-and-card display pack for small tools; under regulatory pressure
- Skin pack●●○○○●●●○○Film-wrapped display for irregular shapes; less common than blister
- Paper-and-plastic composite●●●○○●●○○○Hybrid format cutting plastic content; growing under packaging regulation
- Shrink film●●●○○●○○○○Cheap overwrap for bundling multipacks; fairly common, low cost
- Label set●●●●●●○○○○Barcode and care labels; cheap, applied to almost every unit
- Void fill●●●○○●○○○○Paper or foam fill for protection; cheap, used selectively
- Strapping●●○○○●○○○○Secures bundled units or pallets; cheap, used only occasionally
- Pallet●●●●●●●●●●Base unit for bulk transport; highest per-unit cost in group
How long a programme actually takes.
- 01Specification & quotetypical 5–10 working days
Your drawings or a reference sample, reviewed against the matrix above. You get a route, a tooling answer and a quote — and if specification OEM on existing tooling reaches what you want, we say so before quoting a tool you did not need.
- 02Sampling / first articletypical 15–30 days
On existing tooling, sampling runs in weeks. The first article closes the engineering gate: the specification stops moving here.
- 03Tooling — only if newtypical 45–70 days
New dies or moulds are cut only on a design-OEM programme; a specification-OEM programme on our amortised tooling skips this stage entirely. Cutting and proving the tool closes the tooling gate.
- 04Pilot runtypical 7–20 days
An approval quantity through the full line and the real pack — the run that proves the fifty-thousandth piece will match the first.
- 05Mass productiontypical 30–60 days per order
Order-size dependent. Outgoing inspection closes the third gate before anything is containerised.
Ranges are typical, not contractual — each stage is confirmed in writing at quotation for your programme, volume and season.
The knowledge behind the matrix.
The Factory encyclopedia
Every row above carries two working notes on the Factory page: what the buyer is actually deciding, and what fifty-two years on this floor says about running it. Materials, processes, packaging, compliance — documented in one place, no account needed.
Open the encyclopedia →