Talk:Techtronic Industries

Suggesting updates to infobox

Hi, I'd like to suggest a couple changes to this article, but first a quick disclosure: as part of my work with Beutler Ink, I'm working on behalf of Techtronic Industries via Burson-Marsteller Hong Kong as a paid consultant. I'm looking to bring this stub up to a better standard by expanding it and adding WP:RS citations.

With the help of any editors who are interested, I'd like to begin by offering some updates to the article's infobox:

1. Industry: The infobox currently lists TTI industry as Manufacturing company (power tools and electronic equipment) as most sources do not describe TTI as a manufacturing company and most of their manufacturing is outsourced or carried out by subsidiary brands. Neither Yahoo! Finance nor Bloomberg describe TTI as a manufacturing company. A more accurate list of industries, in line with other similar companies on Wikipedia is: Power tools, home improvement, construction, and floor care
2. Stock ticker: The infobox does not currently list TTI's stock representation, which is SEHK:0669
3. Key people: The current list of "Key people" includes only the North American executives. A more representative list of TTI's key people is: Horst Julius Pudwill, Founder and chairman; Joseph Galli, CEO; Frank Chi Chung Chan, CFO and executive director; Patrick Kin Wah Chan, operations director and group executive director; and Stephan Horst Pudwill, president of strategic planning, whose introduction to the company received press. This list better mirrors the list of key executives highlighted in the company's Bloomberg Business profile
4. Revenue: The company's revenue is publicly reported and available in several sources, so seems like a straightforward addition. In 2014, this was $4.8 billion
5. Products: Adding details of products would be a great way to introduce the specifics of the company. I'm hoping to suggest a section on Products to expand the article, later, but to begin, the most well-sourced examples of TTI's products are: Lithium cordless and corded power tools, accessories, hand tools, layout and measuring products, outdoor power equipment, floor care and appliances
6. Employees: Number of employees is not currently listed, however Google Finance lists TTI's full employee count as 20,964 for 2015
7. Headquarters: The infobox also lists the company headquarters as "Hong Kong", however TTI is now a multinational company, and per its annual report its leadership and operations are spread around the world rather than based in its registered office in Hong Kong. In fact, the company's own materials and website do not specify a headquarters or central office. I wonder if it is accurate to still list Hong Kong as the headquarters? I've removed this in the proposed version below

To help making these changes, I've prepped an updated version of the infobox below incorporating all of these suggested updates:

Proposed infobox content

Techtronic Industries Company Limited
創科實業有限公司

Image:Techtronic Industries logo.png
Company type	Public
Traded as	SEHK: 669
Industry	Power tools, home improvement, construction, and floor care
Founded	1985 (1985)
Founder	Horst Julius Pudwill
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Horst Julius Pudwill, Founder and chairman Joseph Galli, CEO Frank Chi Chung Chan, CFO and executive director Patrick Kin Wah Chan, operations director and group executive director Stephan Horst Pudwill, president of strategic planning
Products	Lithium cordless and corded power tools, accessories, hand tools, layout and measuring products, outdoor power equipment, floor care and appliances.
Revenue	US$4.752 billion (2014) US$4.299 billion (2013)
Number of employees	20,964 (2015)
Website	www.ttigroup.com

References

(Please note that I've added a : to stop the logo image appearing here on the Talk page, so if this markup is used, this will need to be adjusted so the logo will appear.)

As I do have a financial conflict of interest, I won't make any changes to the article myself. If anyone else is able to review this request and make the edits, I'd be very grateful. Of course, I'm happy to discuss any of these changes. Thanks, 16912 Rhiannon (Talk · COI) 21:47, 4 December 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for your excellent work and your transparency. Looks reasonable at a quick glance. I can implement this. Questions though:

*is it WP policy to have so many refs in the infobox? I feel like it looks a little cluttered / hard to read. I do know that for the introductory section of an article it is assumed that it is a summary of the main [referenced] content in the body of the article. I wonder if the same goes for infoboxes. Or maybe the infobox is meant to be fully ref'd like you've done so well.

*is it WP usage to have links to the stock market ticker at the top of the article?

*The article says "products include Milwaukee, AEG, Ryobi,Homelite, Hoover US, Dirt Devil, and Vax" ... "subsidiaries include AC (Macao Commercial Offshore) Limited, Baja, Inc., Homelite Consumer Products, Inc., Hoover Inc., One World Technologies, Inc. and Sang Tech Industries Limited." First, shouldn't it say "brands" instead of "products"? Second, what's the difference between an "product" and a "subsidiary"? Obviously there's a legal diff. but from the point of view of the WP intro to this article what's the diff.?

--Cornellier (talk) 03:44, 5 December 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply, Cornellier! To answer the first two questions:

• Use of refs in infoboxes varies: some editors are less in favor, especially where the information is already covered in the article. However, others prefer references. In this case, since much of this is new information and not cited elsewhere in the article, it seemed appropriate to include references.
• It is indeed standard to have links to the stock market ticker. I followed the relevant instructions for the infobox parameters and used the standard stock ticker template.

For your final question, I want to check back with the folks at TTI to make sure that I have the full details of their brands vs. subsidiaries. I do think that you're correct though, that the introduction should say "brands" rather than "products" as it currently does. I'll get back to you as soon as I can on that, hopefully with a suggestion on how to make this clearest and most accurate. Meantime, I hope the above answers clarify enough to be able to go ahead with the infobox updates. Thanks, 16912 Rhiannon (Talk · COI) 22:04, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

Hi again, Cornellier. I hope my answers above helped and that you would be ok with making the infobox updates. With regards to the query about the current text in the article re: products and subsidiaries, I've heard back from TTI and can confirm that those listed as "products" should in fact be called brands, however there are a few brands missing. The distinction between brands and subsidiaries is that the brands are the names under which TTI's products are sold. Some brands are operated as individual subsidiary companies, while there are other brands that are grouped together and operated under a subsidiary of a different name.

Essentially, the subsidiaries are the legal entities that handle the logistics and operations for a brand or group of brands. And of course, all of the subsidiaries are part of TTI. As with the brands, the list of subsidiaries is incomplete. However, having a complete list of subsidiaries wouldn't add any understanding for readers. Do you think it makes sense to keep the existing partial list of subsidiaries?

For the brands, here's the full list, written up as a replacement for the existing sentence:

Its brands include Milwaukee, AEG, Ryobi, Empire, Stiletto, Hart, Homelite, Hoover US, Dirt Devil, Vax,and Oreck.

Does this help answer your query? Thanks, 16912 Rhiannon (Talk · COI) 20:22, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

Looks good Rhiannon thanks, I'll try to get on it tomorrow (10 Dec.). I agree about the subsidiaries and brands. Brands are more interesting to the the WP readers. FYI I got into updating the Techtronic page via List of tool manufacturers which might also need an update. --Cornellier (talk) 23:51, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

Thanks Cornellier. Sorry to throw a wrench (or spanner, depending on your country of origin) into the works, but I'd actually like to hold on this request for the moment. It looks like there might be some additional edits from TTI that would affect the infobox, so I think it might make most sense for me to re-open this request and ping you once it's all sorted. Apologies for the turnabout here. 16912 Rhiannon (Talk · COI) 04:02, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• TTI Logo.svg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 03:50, 6 October 2020 (UTC)

Updated entry

Resolved

Hello! On behalf of Techtronic Industries, and as part of my work at Beutler Ink, I am submitting an updated and slightly expanded draft replacement of this article for community review. You can view my proposed draft here, which Techtronic Industries has reviewed for accuracy.

The aim of my draft is to expand and improve the current stub article, which offers only a brief overview of the company and relies on five sources, of which two are primary. I've worked to create an accurate, neutral, and well sourced overview, including the company's early history, milestones, and notable acquisitions.

Because of my conflict of interest, I don't edit articles directly in the mainspace. I'm looking for a volunteer editor who is willing to review the draft and copy over content appropriately to the live article. I hope reviewing editors will agree that my proposed draft is a significant improvement over the present article. I'm interested in hearing feedback or suggestions. Thank you. Inkian Jason (talk) 18:37, 16 April 2021 (UTC)

@Cornellier: Hello! I've proposed an improved version of this Wikipedia article for editor review. Since you helped my former colleague here a few years ago and remain an active editor, I'm hoping you might be willing to review my suggested changes. I've disclosed my conflict of interest at the top of the page and avoid editing articles directly. Thanks for your consideration! I'm happy to address concerns or questions, Inkian Jason (talk) 17:13, 21 April 2021 (UTC)

@Inkian Jason: done! --Cornellier (talk) 02:14, 28 April 2021 (UTC)

Thank you for reviewing and updating! Inkian Jason (talk) 14:40, 28 April 2021 (UTC)

No probs, keep up the good work. One minor suggestion, I noticed some of the refs used are behind a paywall. You might checking into WP policy about that. I think there might be a tag that is used in the ref to mark that. Maybe optional though, I'm not sure. I guess ideally one would just use free content. --Cornellier (talk) 17:09, 28 April 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• TTI Logo.svg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 10:18, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

File replacement

Resolved

@Cornellier: Since this file was deleted, do you mind adding File:Techtronic Industries logo.png to the infobox? This seems like a noncontroversial edit but I'd still prefer to avoid editing the main space directly given my conflict of interest. Thanks! Inkian Jason (talk) 13:12, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

done --Cornellier (talk) 13:17, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

Thank you! Inkian Jason (talk) 13:17, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

Updated entry

Hello! I am back on behalf of Techtronic Industries, and as part of my work at Beutler Ink, to submit updates and additions to this article for community review. I've posted another draft article with additions and changes here, which Techtronic Industries has reviewed for accuracy.

Here is a summary of the changes and additions you'll see in my updated draft:

• Updated subsidiaries in the Infobox
• Changed "TTI developed a global brand portfolio by buying labels including Hoover, Dirt Devil, Ryobi and Milwaukee, expanding product categories and adding distribution channels to grow its geographical footprint." to "TTI developed a global brand portfolio by acquiring labels such as Milwaukee Tools, Hoover, Dirt Devil and buying brand licenses of Ryobi Power Tools and Ryobi Outdoor Power Equipment and AEG Power Tools, expanding product categories and adding distribution channels to grow its geographical footprint." to clarify brands owned and licensed by TTI.
• Moved "In 2014, the company was focused on the advancement of cordless technology as well as lithium-ion technology." to the new Technology development section and rephrased to "TTI has a history of working to advance cordless power tool technology. The company was one of the first to use lithium-ion batteries for cordless power tools." Because the company has worked in this sector for a long time, it made more sense to have it in a more general context.
• Renamed Brands and acquisitions as Brands and products and reformatted the section for clarity.
• Added a Technology development section giving an overview and some examples of TTI's notable work on cordless and lithium-ion tech.
• Added a Recognition section with some examples of industry awards and other recognition the company has received.

Because of my conflict of interest, I don't edit articles directly in the mainspace. Instead, I look for volunteer editors to review my work and copy over appropriate information. @Cornellier: Since you reviewed my recent draft for this article, I was hoping you might take a look at the changes and implement on my behalf if you agree with them. Here you'll notice I've also rescued the citations using a management tool.

As always, I'm interested in hearing feedback or suggestions. Thank you. Inkian Jason (talk) 14:20, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

done, but would you investigate a fix for the problem with reference 4, " Cite error: The named reference "Bloomberg July2006" was defined multiple times with different content". --Cornellier (talk) 16:16, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

@Cornellier: Thanks. Sorry for the confusion, I think you can just remove the reference names for both "Bloomberg July2006" sources (meaning change "<ref name="Bloomberg July2006">" to simply "<ref>". This removes the error, at least when I preview the page. Do you mind removing the ref names on my behalf since I'm avoiding direct edits? Inkian Jason (talk) 16:40, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

done and done --Cornellier (talk) 18:17, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

Thanks again for your assistance, Inkian Jason (talk) 18:36, 27 July 2021 (UTC)