For many years I was a staunch defender of USA quality over Chinese or other origin countries tools and industrial products. But things have changed. Why?

Because of the influence of ISO Certification, tools and various industrial parts emanating from outside the US are now meeting or even exceeding quality standards.

What is ISO 9000,9001,9002,9003? It is simply a voluntary international standard for quality management and production systems. Without getting into a full discussion of ISO certification, here is what it means to you and I the consumer......

The ability of manufacturers to be audited by an independent, third party organization is the foundation of ISO acceptance worldwide. Companies may now objectively determine a potential supplier's capacity to supply goods and services that meet or even exceed the standards laid out by the customer. This insignia (ISO) on the label can attract more business for the manufacturer because customers both new and old can have confidence that the certified company is able to meet expectations.

Often, just having an ISO certification will automatically qualify a company as a potential supplier to other companies looking for specified products produced with strict compliance to quality standards. These standards are now being accepted and enforced around the world as the benchmark of quality.

So if you are a manufacturer of tools or nuts and bolts in China for example, and you want to sell your wrenches or screws to companies in the United States (most of which now require ISO certification) you must go through the screening and application process of ISO certification to even get consideration as a potential vendor.

The net result for us consumers is that you can now be confident that the wrench or bolts you purchase from a certified manufacturer are meeting the worldwide standards of quality. Whereas before ISO there were no such standards of performance documented or enforced.

Yes you can buy Chinese and get a quality product.