COVID-19 Impact on Hand Tools in the Semiconductors and Electronics Industry

COVID-19 made a major impact on the hand tools market as almost every country has opted for the shutdown for every production facility except the ones dealing in producing the essential goods. To prevent the spread of coronavirus disease, the government has taken some strict actions such as the shutdown of production and sale of non-essential goods, blocked international trade, and many more. The only business which is dealing in this pandemic situation is the essential services that are allowed to open and run the processes. The companies such as pharmaceuticals and chemicals, among others, are allowed to continue operation but with certain safety rules.
A hand tool is any tool that is not a power tool – that is, one powered by hand (manual labour) rather than by electricity or fuel. Some examples of hand tools are garden forks, secateurs, rakes, hammers, spanners, pliers, screwdrivers, chisels, and others. Hand tools are generally less dangerous than power tools. The global hand tools market size is estimated to be USD 8.4 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 10.3 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 4.0%. The growth of the market is attributed to the increasing commercial as well as residential construction and infrastructure projects, adoption of hand tools in households for residential/DIY purposes as well as growing manufacturing setups and increasing repair and maintenance operations across the world. However, factors such as an increase in safety risks and concerns due to improper use of hand tools are restraining the market growth. The shutdown of production facilities during the pandemic situation has had a significant impact on the market.
The future of the hand tools market looks promising, with opportunities in increasing commercial as well as residential construction and infrastructure projects. The global hand tools market is expected to decline in 2020 due to the global economic recession caused by COVID-19. However, the market will witness recovery in the year 2021. The major drivers for this market are the increasing commercial as well as residential construction and infrastructure products.
Emerging trends, which have a direct impact on the dynamics of the hand tools industry, include the introduction of more efficient power tools and the increase in hand tool automation to reduce physical work that might boost hand tool usage.

IMPACT ON PRICE
Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform the growth and prices of various industry-related products, the price of the products with respect to the hand tools market maintain a steady line throughout the pandemic. This denotes that there are no major changes in the price of the hand tools due to the effect of the pandemic.

IMPACT ON SUPPLY CHAIN
Supply chains are complex systems where the risks and costs associated with mismanagement and communication failures in globally connected organizational networks are relatively high.
For instance,
• In May 2019, Stanley Black & Decker announced the opening of a new plant for the production of its brand CRAFTSMAN in Fort Worth, Texas. The new facility has an area of 425,000-square-foot and is expected to employ approximately 500 full-time employees
Some of the most influential factors that affect the supply chain in regards to the hand tools manufacturing companies are companies seeking strategies to protect their position in the value chain, looking for new markets, finding new possibilities to leverage skills and offering more value to customers.

AFTERMATH OF COVID-19 AND GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE TO BOOST THE MARKET
Government efforts to encourage the adoption of hand tools in household alternatives have developed at a rapid pace in recent years. Governments in the European Union, China, Japan, Canada, India, and South Korea are among the major geographies where governments are taking aggressive measures to increase the adoption of hand tools in residential/DIY purposes as well as growing manufacturing setups and increasing repair and maintenance operations.
For instance,
• There have been some major policy developments in the European Union. Improvements in hand tool requirements and the digitalization of hand tool based industries, which focuses on government procurement of increased usage of hand tool based systems which form a greater initiative
• Another guideline, the 'Performance Buildings Directive,' has been established, which establishes minimum requirements for hand tool infrastructure installation in buildings
Such favourable initiatives are anticipated to boost the adoption of hand tools in commercial and residential based projects and thus drive the adoption of the repair and maintenance operations market during the forecast period of 2021 to 2028.

STRATEGIC DECISIONS OF MANUFACTURERS AFTER COVID-19 TO GAIN COMPETITIVE MARKET SHARE
Revenue growth for the hand tools market has experienced a decline in 2020 due to constricted economic activity expected as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. So, the hand tools manufacturing companies have adopted various strategies to overcome the decline in revenue. Some of the most common strategies adopted by industries are as follows,
• The reduction of experimentation costs due to the speeding up of the testing phase
• The reduction of the number of costly physical prototypes and redesign linked to their fast obsolescence
• The improvement of design quality via the availability of information very early on in the development process

CONCLUSION
Pandemic has taken a toll on every aspect of life, including the global economy. With the significant downfalls in many sectors, a collaborative effort of government, industry players, and consumers could win the fight against COVID-19. Also, COVID-19 has likely influenced the development of the hand tools market because of the closing down of processing plants, impediment in-store network, and decline in the world economy.
With COVID-19 affecting countries at different times and rates, access to global demand through open markets, the pandemic situation created by COVID-19 has a major impact on the hand tools market as it has lowered its demand owing to the shutdown of most of the manufacturers all across the globe. Along with industrial disruptions, the commercial, construction, and infrastructure projects across the world were either cancelled or put on hold owing to the lockdown impositions. On the other hand, as the homeowners spent most of their time at homes during the pandemic, there was a noticeable shift in focus towards home improvements, interiors and home decoration activities at the residential/DIY level, which in turn called for a slight demand for hand tools. Thus, the hand tools and woodworking tools market is getting affected by COVID-19. This has resulted in a lower estimated year-on-year growth rate as compared with 2019. On the other hand, improvisation of technologies has led to gain strong industrial growth. However, the growth has been high after the market has opened after COVID-19, and it is expected that there would be considerable growth in the sector owing to high technology and interfaces that are expected to drive the overall demand of the market.