WHY I’D ALWAYS CHOOSE A PREMIUM POWER TOOL ACCESSORY

Despite being up to 100% more expensive to purchase, premium power tool accessories usually have overall costs that are 30-50% lower than standard accessories. For example, the diagram below shows the comparison between two Hilti tools with standard and premium accessories:

So, why is there such a difference in overall cost? Well, this becomes clear when we look at the purchase price plus the other ‘hidden’ costs:

• Cost of the material: This is the price you pay for the accessory from your supplier. Typically, this will be higher for premium accessories. But as those last much longer, the cost per hole is often similar or even lower
• Cost of purchasing: This is the time you need to select and buy the accessory. On average I think it’s reasonable to assume that it takes 5 minutes per accessory. It's definitely less if you buy multi packs, but significantly higher if you need to drive to a retailer to get one
• Cost of labour: A premium accessory will do the job much faster, meaning you can save on labour costs. For example, on the SDS bits, Hilti 4-cutter (TE-CX) will drill 80% faster than the 2-cutter (TE-C) when drilling into reinforced concrete. What’s more if the bit hits rebar, the TE-CX 4-cutter will get through it, while the 2-cutter (TE-C) might struggle or break
• Cost of the power tool: Because a premium drill bit will do the job faster, your power tool will last longer. In fact, the main factor for the lifetime of a power tool is its working time (so called trigger time). So if an accessory allows to do the job 80% faster, the power tool will last 80% longer

As you can see, the purchase price of the item itself is only a small part of the total cost of an accessory and the savings of the premium lines are significant. How much money would your company save if you would only buy premium accessories?

Who likes to spend 20 minutes drilling a hole through a rebar when it could be done in 5 minutes? Or spend ages cutting a cast iron pipe because they’re using a standard metal blade instead of a dedicated cast iron blade? Nobody! So using the right accessory improves the satisfaction of your workers. But most importantly, it improves their safety for three reasons:

• Vibration: the faster the insert works, the less the worker is exposed to vibration. And if you chose a system supplier like Hilti, the tools and accessories are designed in unison, contributing to lower vibration levels
• Dust: the faster the insert works, the lower the exposure time to dust. What’s more, 4-cutter bits (TE-CX) remove the dust more efficiently as the hole is drilled, so there’s less risk of exposure when the anchor hole is brushed or blown clean
• Risk of injury: working in the same position for a long time is physically exhaustive, which increases the risk of work-related injuries. So, the faster the insert works, the lower the risk of injury

Personally, I care about handing over a healthy planet to my children, so reducing the impact on the environment is important to me. Fortunately, using premium power tool accessories is also more environmentally friendly for three reasons:

• Premium accessories last longer, so they require less steel, hard metal, carbide heads, diamonds and other resources than standard accessories to get the job done. I estimate that in 2016 Hilti saved around 10 tonnes of steel in GB by selling TE-CX bits instead of TE-C bits (that’s our premium inserts instead of standard inserts). Our diamond core bits with their self re-tipping X-CM modules have saved another 14 tonnes of steel. That equates to the same weight as all the mobile phones in use in the UK put together!
• As you need to buy accessories less often, the time spent driving to a nearby distributor and buying them (or having them delivered) is reduced as well, saving CO2.
• With premium accessories, the job gets done quicker, saving on the electricity needed to power the tools.