One of the great Australian inventions/products that I have been a strong supporter of (and still remain so) has left our shores, at least as far as the company is concerned. Before even stating the name, let me be clear that the product itself remains (and will continue to remain) available in Australia.
MagSwitch Australia, once the sole, then parent company of what has become an international organisation is no more, and the head office is now located in the USA, with the downsized Australian arm finally being shut down for good as of 1 March 2010.
The product will still be readily available in Australia, with the woodworking line being sold through Carbatec (and those they on-sell to), and the industrial range being sold through JB Tooltech. So this has apparently (according to the official notification I received today) no impact on pricing or availability. Manufacturing has been done in China for a while now (if not always), so that doesn’t change either.
All it seems to mean is we, in Australia, are now buying a product from overseas that was once home-grown.
Should I care? Nothing has changed for availability, price, quality. But it is no longer Australian (manufacture has been overseas for ages).
I think what is in the back of my mind is when I first came across MagSwitch at a Melbourne Wood Show, it was a tiny company, with a tiny stand, trying to see if their products would interest anyone. When I contacted them (once Stu’s Shed existed), they were incredibly enthusiastic for what I was doing, and what it could do for them. I even had the company’s (Australian) manager come to Melbourne to personally meet with me, and we spent a few hours chewing the fat about the product, and the industry in general. If it was an equivalent product with an overseas company, I can be quite certain that sort of situation would never have occurred. I guess this means I won’t be asked to help MagSwitch at future Oz Wood Shows either. Not sure if I helped sales, but for those shows I was there representing, sales were right up, and the sales figures per head of population blew the US Wood Shows right out of the water.
As you’d see from reading this website, I am a very big fan of the local talent – the engineers, inventors, and companies that are local to the Australian and New Zealand market. I love a great home-grown product, and I enjoy supporting their endeavours as best I can.
Sadly for me, MagSwitch the company is no longer Australian, it is now just another overseas company, with a great product that Australia imports. I’ll still be a strong supporter of the product, as I am with other overseas companies with top-shelf products such as Incra and Woodpeckers.
But in my heart of hearts, I wish MagSwitch was still Australian.
Filed under: Manufactures and Suppliers, Tools | Tagged: MagSwitch |
Stu's Shed 
yes Stu , One more has Gone!!
Do you realise one day we will be a Country that imports EVERY THING WE USE AND EAT
THEN we will get slugged and we will not be able to exist !!
You did increase their sales. I spent a couple of hundred dollars based on your excitement about the product.
The big question is: now you have bought a range of them, was my excitement about the product warranted?
Yes.
I only wish I could afford to buy a bag of magjigs because there are jigs in my workshop that would work brilliantly with switchable magnets. I ended up buying a extra cast iron wing for my table saw so I could take advantage of the feather board on larger stock.
An excellent post! I, too, concur with Stu re: being able to buy local. Although I am from the USA (almost the same size as Australia) I, too, like buying “local”. In my case I like to buy from vendors who are growing/manufacturing in my own region of Iowa. It is sad when “one more vendor/manufacturer” leaves your/our shores!
DCPenman