A crazy number of styles on demand, including top visor embroideries and the world’s largest selection of mesh back color combinations. We’ve lowered minimums to 24 blank and 48 embroidered and now stock blank caps for next day shipping of 12 units or more.
Everything from our new value-priced union made event giveaway bags to high end duffel and messenger bags. Keep us in mind for small batch custom jobs like 300 backpacks, and styles you need to reshore for USA manufacturing.
The last union shop in America sewing knit ski caps and beanies. Our in house sewing and embroidery enables us to embroider the hats before folding and sewing, leaving a clean finish on the inside.
The only union shop in America making high end, stitched-edge binders and padfolios now in four finishes and dozens of fashion colors. Our in house embroidery enables us to embroider faux leather covers before the products are completed.
Unionwear embroiders its own hats, bags, and binders before production for cost savings, larger imprint areas, no registration problems, and sharper details. This process allows Unionwear to embroider products generally considered unembroiderable: The top of a plastic baseball cap visor. The pocket of a tote bag. The front of a leather padfolios folder.
Unionwear now offers contract embroidery services on 80 or more garments (or fewer with a minimum run charge of $615 (s)). Embroidery prices depend on the actual number of stitches it takes to duplicate your design, not on the number of colors. All baseball caps listed at unionwear.com are priced to include up to 4,000 stitches. For an estimate email artwork to sales@unionwear.com.
Unionwear president Mitch Cahn recently appeared on The Lean Effect podcast.
On this episode, Mitch explains how lean methodologies has aided Unionwear, describing how they have been so successful, despite producing in one of the most expensive locations in the world.
Without lean principles, it would be difficult for Unionwear to stay competitive with over 150 unionized employees in the shadow of New York City. However, he’s managed to do it.
Have a listen to the podcast here to learn how.
According to Forbes, America’s supply chains are facing many challenges. One bright spot in the report, however, is fiber optic manufacturing.
The Departments of Commerce (DOC) and Homeland Security (DHS just released the report “Assessment of the Critical Supply Chains Supporting the U.S. Information and Communications Technology Industry,” part of a larger Biden Administration effort on critical supply chains.
The report describes many sobering challenges for the US in the production and manufacture of information communications technologies (ICT). High end ICT products are less likely to be made in USA, a key problem for strategic technologies like semiconductors for which domestic manufacture has declined from 37 percent of the world’s total to just 12 percent in the last 30 years. Moreover, the US share of global electronics manufacturing has decreased from 30 percent to 5 percent in the last 25 years, creating critical cyber-risk.
However, US-made fiber optic production remains a bright spot, mainly because US manufacturing of broadband is subsidized and assisted by the government. There remain risks, mainly from China, who could flood the market with their fiber optic equipment, causing prices to drop quickly.
Still, this means the US government can, and should, step up helping domestic companies boost their manufacturing in every sector, not just fiber optics.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing reports that President Biden is working to shore up the domestic supply chain. To that end, the Biden Administration announced a $35 million investment in a California-based rare earth facility, with the aim of creating a fully domestic supply chain for the magnets that power vehicle motors, wind turbines and more.
Just about everyone knows that the US is facing serious supply chain disruptions. But that doesn’t just mean items stocked at the store. It also involves rare earth materials which we use to manufacture a wide range of items. Indeed, the bulk of America’s supply of these critical minerals is imported. China produces around 90% of the world’s supply of rare earth elements.
That’s not all the administration is doing. The Department of Interior also announced a new interagency working group that will focus on reforming mining laws, regulations and permitting policies “to promote the sustainable and responsible production of critical minerals.”
Venture Beat reports a little disconcerting: 90% of U.S. semiconductor-grade neon comes from Ukraine which, as of this writing, is being invaded by Russia. Naturally, this is putting additional pressure on the supply chain that is already strained.
According to the article, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said “the semiconductor industry has a diverse set of key materials and gases, so we do not believe there are immediate supply disruption risks related to Russia and Ukraine.” Nevertheless, the long-term impact of the conflict remains unclear.
Demand for chips that specialize in artificial intelligence for machine learning training and inference is predicted to grow at over 50% annually across all computing categories, while the U.S. government has warned that the global chip supply chain remains weak. Among many other things, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is likely to make it more difficult to acquire raw materials to make these chips.
To reduce risks in the future, the House of Representatives put forward its version of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) with $52 billion in domestic semiconductor funding. Let’s hope it’s enough.
The Biden-Harris administration recently announced new actions across agencies to support American leadership on clean manufacturing—including low-carbon production of the steel and aluminum we need for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels, and the clean concrete we need to upgrade our transportation infrastructure.
Among other items, the administration announced the following:
We applaud the administration’s stance on bringing sustainable manufacturing back to the US. There’s a lot more. Have a look here.
According to an analysis by Reuters, the global supply chain crisis could finally start to unwind towards the end of 2022.
But trade channels have become so clogged up it could be well into next year before the worst-hit industries see business remotely as usual, even assuming that a new turn in the pandemic doesn’t create fresh havoc.
Kellogg CEO Steve Cahillane told Reuters, “I wouldn’t think that until 2024, there’ll be any kind of return to a normal environment because it has been so dramatically dislocated.”
Time to accelerate reshoring manufacturing.
News station 11Alive sheds light on how Team USA’s uniforms were made.
In a statement, the company said the uniforms are a “modern and fresh take on sportswear,” created with sustainability in mind. With the help of a company called Skyscrape, the outfitter added intelligent insulation.
According to the company, the outfits are comprised of a mid-layer jacket, pant, gloves and boot. All of the garment pieces are made in the United States and include recycled polyester fiber made with post-consumer plastic bottles.
Furthermore, Ralph Lauren said the apparel to has the ability to transition through three-seasons, and from indoor to outdoor environments.
Great news for Made in USA and Made in New Jersey: some of America’s Olympic apparel will be made right in our own back yard in nearby Clifton.
Team USA’s opening ceremony uniforms in Beijing for the 2022 Olympics will be assembled and manufactured by Better Team USA, designed by Ralph Lauren.
NJ Governor Phil Murphy said, “I am proud that when fans of the Games across the world tune into the Opening Ceremonies of the 2022 Games, they will be seeing Team USA athletes outfitted in Ralph Lauren parkas manufactured right here in New Jersey by Better Team USA.”
However, there is a great deal of controversy regarding China’s use of forced labor in the Xinjian province. In fact, the Biden Administration will not be sending an official U.S. delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki cited “the PRC’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses.”
Everyone knows that America’s supply chains are in crisis. Nearly every business that has relied on imports has been impacted since the pandemic snarled everything to a halt. We have been speaking about it for a while as well.
One company notably got it right, and they are benefitting from their supply chain resiliency.
Because of this, Apple is now valued at some $3 trillion, a number unheard of just a few years ago.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And when it comes to the current state of supply chains, “weakness is evident everywhere,” says Per Hong, partner with Kearney.
Prior to Omicron, there had been signs that some supply chain bottlenecks were beginning to clear up. But the new variant has presented global supply chains with yet another test of resilience.
The problems with ocean shipping, including soaring freight rates and tight capacity, are likely to persist into 2023. Much depends on the Chinese government, which as of the new year had placed thousands of citizens under quarantine due to the Omicron outbreak. Further, they are discouraging travel during the lunar new year break in February, when millions of Chinese travel home to celebrate with family.
Hong believes the pandemic will trigger some permanent changes in the design and execution of global supply chains, including a greater reliance on buffer stock and a shift in sourcing patterns away from China. We would add that reshoring manufacturing to the US will become a new, more permanent feature of our supply chain.
According to Ohio’s Statehouse News Bureau, Intel will be building a $1 billion semiconductor chip near the town of New Albany, OH.
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D) notes that he and fellow Ohio Sen. Rob Portman (R) have urged passage of bipartisan legislation on reshoring jobs back from overseas, investing in manufacturing and cracking down on unfair trade practices.
The Intel project has been described as at least the biggest economic development deal for Ohio since Honda built its 4 million square foot manufacturing plant near Marysville in the early 1980s.
Read more at the article here.
This was unexpected.
Yahoo! News is reporting that thousands of boxes are littering Union Pacific’s train tracks in downtown Los Angeles. These boxes, largely due to a wave of recent thefts, are creating endless delays for consumers and merchants that likely cost millions, if not more.
Thieves have been raiding cargo containers, taking packages that belong to people from all over the country from retailers like Amazon, Target, Macy’s, Skechers, and others, leading to viral images on social media.
Data from the National Retail Federation found that the average loss from organized crime topped $700,000 per $1 billion in sales in 2020.
Making matters worse, reporters witnessed people picking through the boxes left behind by the thieves in the hopes of finding something left behind.
The robberies appear to be a byproduct of a widespread breakdown in pandemic-era public safety, which has bedeviled officials across major cities.
Read the wild article here. The Guardian also has reporting on this issue.
Fast Company has a terrific article on how Made in America is not only feasible, but really not that tough.
Bayard Winthrop, American Giant’s CEO, says it’s not as hard as you might think to manufacture in America.
Since he launched the brand a decade ago, he’s been building out a local supply chain, using American factories and sourcing locally materials whenever possible.
In the midst of the pandemic, when most brands were scrambling to stay afloat, American Giant launched a new product category—high-performance outerwear—which required finding new factories and suppliers who could make them from start to finish.
While many fashion executives anxiously waited to see if their collections would arrive in time for the holidays, American Giant shipped products from factories to customers quickly. This domestic supply chain is part of the reason the brand grew revenue upwards of 30% each year of the past two years, while many fashion brands struggled. Some, like Ann Taylor, Brooks Brothers, and J.Crew, went bankrupt.
Really great stuff worth reading. Click here for more.
C-NET has been running a regular series on what it means to be Made in USA. In this article, they take a trip to a massive Clean Room, run by government contracting powerhouse Lockheed Martin, where Lockheed is building a new kind of satellite.
It’s called the GOES-T, a massive weather satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. The satellite will enter geostationary orbit, about 22,000 miles above Earth’s surface. It will collect huge amounts of data about weather here on Earth and in space.
Set to launch in February 2022, the satellite will track meteorological events in precise detail, mapping lightning strikes, following fire lines and tracking extreme weather in real time. All this data beamed down from space could potentially be life-saving, helping scientists and meteorologists better predict natural disasters and protect all of us here on the ground.
GOES-T also can track solar flares, changes in the magnetosphere and radiation hazards, all of which can affect not only the planet’s weather, but also electronics and communications equipment on Earth and in the International Space Station. In fact, one of the tasks of the GOES satellites is to provide warnings to astronauts on the ISS about incoming solar activity that could affect their operations or interfere with their instruments.
Have a look at the article HERE
Five years ago, The Purple Aardvark opened on Main Street in Chatham, NJ. From day one, their goal was simple: sell only made in America items. At first, they were focused on selling locally-made items, but later they expanded to other states as well.
According to the Chatham Patch, owners Carolyn Cherry and Sandy Casey said, “We went out and found local artisans for that first year… eventually we branched out a little more finding talent from other states as well.”
The pandemic created challenges for them, but also opportunities. “Our amazing customers continued to shop with us virtually and then we did work to get our webstore up and running as well.”
Also, their orders aren’t stuck on a cargo ship due to the ongoing supply chain crisis.
So, if you are in the area (or even if you aren’t) and are looking for locally-made gifts, check out their website
The Sourcing Journal reports that Lucky Brand recently tapped two U.S. suppliers to develop a limited-edition line of men’s jeans that will launch in Summer 2022.
The Made in USA jeans feature selvedge denim produced by Louisiana-based Vidalia Mills that is then sewn and laundered in California at Artistic Milliners-owned Star Fades International (SFI).
SFI, which launched at the end of 2020, aims to establish a new model for both Los Angeles-based denim production and U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities.
SFI provides turnkey and custom wash and finishing services to a customer roster that ranges from large international retailers to specialty premium labels, and its in-house design studio already has two capsule collections under its belt.
Tamara Reynolds, vice president of design, denim, said Lucky Brand’s last Made in America jean debuted in 2018, and it’s looking forward to continuing that part of its history.
Lucky Brand’s Made in American collection will include the men’s 410 athletic straight, 223 straight and 363 vintage straight fits. The 401 and 363 jeans will be available in sizes 28-42; sizes 29-40 will be available for the 223 style. Jeans will retail for $199.
Read more HERE
There is a common misconception that made in USA is dead. As we have seen, especially since the beginning of Covid and our supply chain broke down, that is far from the case.
Indeed, made in America manufacturing is going to become a strategic and tactical advantage for companies who learn to embrace it.
One of the biggest obstacles to reshoring manufacturing is cost. But, when you factor in all the hidden costs of offshoring manufacturing to China and other countries and add in the marketing power of made in America, domestic manufacturing makes a lot of sense. Some items, especially those produced in small quantities, are actually more affordable when made in America.
In addition to labor unions and politicians, there are three major buyers of made in America manufacturing:
An organization that cares about fair trade, sweatshop-free, a living wage, buy local, union and American-made
Anyone who is promoting themselves as made in USA is buying US-made promotional goods themselves
Anyone who is looking for a small number of goods delivered quickly
Additionally, if you are looking to get Federal business, you need to have domestic manufacturers.
Manufacturing in America is not out-of-touch. It’s a tactical advantage in this changing landscape. It’s time we start embracing made in USA manufacturing, not as a novelty, but as a necessity.
#madeinusa #americanmade #supplychain #manufacturing
A great Made in America story: KRTV in Great Falls, MT reports that a teenaged farmer in Montana launched a handbag that is Made in USA from locally-sourced farming materials.
“My handbag is made out of American cowhide leather which also starts on a farm,” 17-year old Kate Stephens said. “This handbag is made from the highest quality materials I could possibly find and constructed very well. I find it’s very important to have the highest quality product at a great price point.”
In addition to making handbags, she also has a successful YouTube channel which educates consumers about where their food and clothing come from.
“I first started driving combine when I was 15 years old and I had such an awesome experience that I wanted to share with everyone I met and let them know about how their food gets to their table,” said Stephens. “I realized that not many people know where their food comes from.”
Find her website HERE
Find the article HERE
An article in Offshorewind.biz says that the US Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15th, will spur the creation of a US offshore wind industry, said David Hardy, CEO of Ørsted Offshore North America.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal represents the most significant long-term investments in American infrastructure and global competitiveness in nearly a century, according to the White House.
The law also prioritizes increasing the competitiveness of the US economy, including through implementing the Act’s Made-in-America requirements and bolstering domestic manufacturing and manufacturing supply chains.
Read more HERE
In a statement from Unionwear’s union, Workers’ United, praised the recent $1T infrastructure package signed into law by President Biden.
“Congress joined a bipartisan level of support in the Senate which had passed this act twice earlier this year. Now, all federally procured PPE will have strong domestic content and production standards, which creates a stable market for responsible companies to serve, creating good jobs making safe products for frontline workers,” said Workers United International President Lynne Fox.
Among other things, the bill shores up domestic infrastructure to make more PPE in the USA. It provides at least 2 years to incentivize investment in the production of PPE and the materials and component manufacturing
Workers United leadership worked with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) and Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) throughout this process and is grateful for their leadership in this effort
Read the press release HERE
Business of Fashion Magazine writes a long and comprehensive article on how China’s power shortages are going to impact fashion manufacturing through at least mid-2022.
Whether it’s sourcing raw materials or manufacturing and selling products, by some estimates, about 60% of the world’s fashion industry passes through China in some form. So when they China starts facing scheduled and extended power outages, the fashion industry will feel the pinch.
These power shortages are impacting more than half the country. Not only have raw material prices (both in China and globally) soared since the onset of the pandemic, but sourcing materials such as cotton from China’s western Xinjiang region have become increasingly fraught for global brands, as countries such as the US have banned them due to allegations of forced labour.
The blackouts are largely due to a nationwide push to diversify China’s economy away from coal. Combined with flooding in major mining regions, and to a lesser extent a trade conflict with Australia, China’s thermal coal prices have risen to record highs, over 200 percent this year. And, a government mandate prevented power companies from passing increased cost on to customers, leading to the rolling blackouts.
Compounding everything else that’s happening in the world, the fashion industry needs to learn to adapt, quickly, to keep their industry afloat for the time being.
Read the article HERE
A bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers proposed legislation that would overhaul the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), expand domestic manufacturing of medical supplies and improve America’s preparedness for public health emergencies.
U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) unveiled the bipartisan Strengthening America’s Strategic National Stockpile Act of 2021, S. 1974, which would amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the SNS. U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) on May 28 introduced the companion bill, H.R. 3635, in her chamber with 15 original cosponsors.
“COVID-19 showed the danger of our nation’s dependence on China and other foreign countries for life-saving supplies,” Sen. Cassidy said. “We need to strengthen the Strategic National Stockpile by producing these supplies at home which creates jobs and bolsters our independence.”
“We can never again let our country be dependent on foreign suppliers for the equipment we need when crises like this pandemic strike,” said Rep. Slotkin.
The measure would call for improved maintenance of the SNS to ensure stockpiled items are in good working order; provide more federal resources to states to expand or maintain their own strategic stockpiles of medical supplies; and bring transparency to stockpile allocations by requiring a report to Congress on all requests for stockpile supplies during the pandemic and the response to each request, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.
As part of providing states with more resources, the bill would require the HHS Secretary to establish a pilot grant program for states to expand or maintain a strategic stockpile of commercially available drugs, devices, PPE, and other products that a state deems “essential in the event of a public health emergency,” according to the bill’s text.
Increasing or contracting emergency stock of critical medical supplies;
Geographically diversifying domestic production of such medical supplies;
Entering into cooperative agreements or partnerships regarding manufacturing lines, facilities and equipment to domestically produce such medical supplies; and
Managing — either directly or through cooperative agreements with manufacturers and distributors — domestic reserves by refreshing and replenishing the stockpile of such medical supplies, according to the text of the bill.
The bill also would establish and maintain the domestic reserves of critical medical supplies, including PPE, ancillary medical supplies and other supplies required to administer drugs, vaccines and biological products, as well as diagnostic tests, according to the bill’s text.
Read more HERE
Business Insider found yet another, unexpected problem with the global supply chain bottlenecks: a lack of packing materials.
Low containerboard and corrugated cardboard inventory has been a mounting issue since earlier this year, according to the article, thanks to growth in e-commerce during the lockdown.
Retailers like Amazon began stockpiling cardboard in January 2021 to meet demand, leaving smaller businesses empty-handed.
By February, cardboard prices reached a record high, according to the Producer Price Index and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Additionally, International Paper, one of the largest providers of containerboard and corrugated cardboard in the US, told investors in July 2021 that supply of cardboard boxes was “severely low,” and warned of continued supply chain bottlenecks leading into the rest of the year.
Read the full article HERE
According to Forbes, the key to a healthy economic resurgence is not paying people sweatshop wages. In fact, good wages and strong labor laws, like California’s Senate Bill 62, the Garment Worker Protection Act, which is currently on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk, awaiting his signature, will signal the return of Made in America.
As of right now, California garment workers paid through a piece rate system, where they’re paid pennies per garment sewn. In practice, this means factory workers are frequently paid well-below the minimum wage. SB62 will require factories to meet the minimum wage, and can use the piece rate as a productivity bonus if they wish.
Trade groups for large manufacturers say that the only way to keep labor in the USA is by saying factory workers below the poverty level. Rick Helfenbein, retired chairman of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, a trade association that includes brands like Gap, Under Armour, and Levi’s, says raising California’s garment workers wages to the state minimum would put California’s “46,000 entry level garment jobs at risk.”
In fact, cheap prices are not driving reshoring. “It’s their increased focus on speed to market, innovation, and sustainability,” according to Christian Birky, founder of Because Capital, a new firm set up to buy American manufacturing facilities and improve their social and environmental impact.
Unionwear has been paying union-wages in one of the most expensive labor markets in the US and has survived for some 30 years. If we can do it, anyone can, especially given the move toward made in USA in recent years.
Read the article HERE
Yahoo News reports that supply chain issues are impacting all sized businesses and it will certainly disrupt the holiday shopping season. We recommend you start your holiday shopping now to make sure your gifts get here in time, otherwise your Christmas tree might look empty this year.
According to Adam Compain, senior vice president at project44, a supply chain technology provider, there are three main factors driving the supply chain disruption.
“First and foremost is customer expectations have risen only in one direction — and that’s up,” explained Compain. “Second to that is a capacity constraint. There are limitations to the supply chain network in terms of the quantity of drivers that are available to ship things within the United States and abroad.” Third, the process of turning raw materials into a finished good and bringing it to a consumer’s home across the globe relies on “a whole bunch of interdependencies,” and “logistics has reached a point that the existing software data and tools to make that job a reality are really strained.”
In other words, We are in for a rough ride for the foreseeable future. Hopefully this will further drive manufacturing back to the USA.
Read the article HERE
The Reshoring Initiative recently published a report predicting that reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI) job announcements for 2021 are projected to be 38% above an excellent 2020. This will be, by far, the highest yearly number recorded to date.
The projection of jobs chips, EV batteries, PPE, pharmaceuticals, and rare earths – the essential products that the Biden administration has focused on – represent 62,500 jobs. Without these products, there would be 157,500 jobs.
While some of the essential products would have come back without the Biden push, it is reasonable to state that the administration’s initiatives have driven some of the increase.
The report concludes that the underlying problem — domestic manufacturing costs are about 15% higher than Germany’s and 40% higher than China’s – needs to be dealt with. If we do not address this underlying problem, we cannot manufacture enough electronic products and EVs to absorb our subsidized chips and batteries.
The entire report is HERE
Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on the promotional products industry and the problem won’t automatically resolve itself. The New York Times reports that factories in Vietnam, a major apparel and footwear supplier to the US, have closed or operate at reduced capacity, complicating the all-important holiday season due to the pandemic.
In recent years, Vietnam has grown to become the second-biggest supplier of apparel and footwear to the United States after China. Retailers relocated their manufacturing to the country from China due to rising costs and new tariffs on China instituted under former President Donald J. Trump. While Vietnam made it through the early part of the pandemic relatively unscathed, the Delta variant taking its toll, showing the perils that new outbreaks pose to the world’s economy.
Many American retailers are anticipating delays and shortages of goods as we approach the holiday season. Nike cut its sales forecast, citing the loss of 10 weeks of production in Vietnam since mid-July and reopenings set to start in phases in October.
Read more HERE
#supplychain #pandemic #shortage #madeinusa #covid19
Reuters highlights a story where a farmer in California started growing 20,000 coffee trees. Only two other US states grow coffee — southern Florida and Hawaii, due to their tropical climate. However, thanks to climate change, a city 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles is also starting to grow coffee.
Typically countries like Kenya, Colombia and Vietnam have grown coffee due to their need for constant heat. But climate change is having a negative impact on some coffee-growing areas. Brazil is going through the worst drought in over 90 years. That, compounded by unexpected frosts, damaged about 10% of their trees, hurting coffee production this year and next.
Coffee uses 20% less water than most fruit and nut trees, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, so many farmers are switching crops to deal with limits on water use. And that includes coffee.
Read more about it HERE
In February 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to “create more resilient and secure supply chains for critical and essential goods,” addressing weaknesses exposed by the pandemic, including a lack of personal protective equipment manufacturing. This left hospitals unprepared for the spike in COVID-19 cases.
According to the article, a broader, one-year assessment is scheduled for U.S. defense and public health industrial bases, information technology, transportation, and supply chains for food and agriculture.
This aims to create a domestic industrial sector less subject to future trade conflicts, thus lessening multinational corporations’ dependence on China’s capabilities, innovation, and labor.
Have a look at the ThomasNet article HERE
When Unionwear thinks “made in America,” we usually think about larger-scale manufacturing. Since Halloween is just a couple of months away, we figured it would be good to highlight another, sweet side to made in America products: candy.
As you can see at this link, there are lots of candies that are made in the USA. New Jersey boasts of at least four places, one of which is Smarties, those tangy little Halloween favorites, which are made in Union, NJ, not too far from Unionwear’s factory.
Also made in the Garden State: Go Naturally organic hard candy line, which is also organic, dairy-free, gluten-free, made by hand, and available in multiple flavors.
What American-made candy manufacturer is located near you? Have a look at the LINK to see.
The New York Times has a fantastic piece on the pandemic-related supply shortages that are rippling throughout the economy.
Americans are largely used to getting whatever they want, when they want it, and quickly. The rise of Amazon has only increased people’s demand for near-instantaneous gratification. Not anymore. And it might be a while until things return to normal.
In fact, Adam S. Posen, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee and now the president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said normalcy might be “another year or two” away.
The turmoil in international commerce has gone on longer than many expected because shortages and delays in some products have made it impossible to make others. The ripple effect of these shortages are impacting a wide variety of businesses, including Toyota, who will be reducing global production of cars by 40 percent.
The Times highlights the ripple effects in this anecdote.
Tony Hague’s company, PP Control & Automation, designs and builds systems for companies that make machinery used in a range of industries, from food processing to power generation. Demand for his products is expanding, and his roughly 240 employees have been working at full capacity. Still, he is contending with shortages.
One customer in England that makes machines to seal packaged food has been hobbled by its inability to secure needed parts. Its supplier in Japan used to take four to six weeks to deliver key devices; now it takes half a year. The Japanese factory has struggled to secure its own electrical components, most of them produced in Asia and using computer chips. Auto manufacturers’ desperation to secure chips has made those components harder to obtain.
“It’s definitely getting worse,” Mr. Hague said. “It hasn’t bottomed out yet.”
In other words, brace yourselves for more supply shortages. Read the entire article HERE.
We have been champions of made in USA for some time. While policymakers and others have been discussing reshoring manufacturing for years, enthusiasm has increased since global supply chains froze during the pandemic and we couldn’t get PPE. It didn’t help when a giant boat got caught in the Suez, grinding global trade to a near-halt. So reshoring is not just a patriotic symbol, but a financial one and national security concern.
Having said that, C-NET has a great piece on why reshoring manufacturing is not as easy as you might think. In fact, they have been covering this story as part of a larger initiative called Road Trip 2021.
In this piece, they highlight the many challenges surrounding President Biden’s order to increase the threshold for parts made in America, increasing the percentage to 75% from 55%.
Celeste Drake, who was appointed by President Biden as the first-ever director of the Made in America office, said “The idea is not to go back to the 1950s. The idea is to capture the industries of the future. This is not about bringing every far-flung supply chain to the United States. But it really does take a lot of work to identify the critical components and to figure out how we can incentivize making those critical components here.”
We will see how it works out. But we are happy with the President’s proclamation and look forward to more Made in USA manufacturing.
Girish Rishi, CEO of Blue Yonder, writes in Chief Executive Magazine that made in America is required for the United States to recover post-pandemic.
In the article, Rishi says the US has faced crises in the past and managed to come out on top, but it is not guaranteed to happen. He correctly notes that a serious return to domestic manufacturing requires investments in technology and people. Not only do we need to rebuild a world-class workforce, we also must invest in manufacturing technology which enables a more efficient and profitable manufacturing system.
Returning manufacturing to the US will also require significant investments in green technology. To quote the article: “Though the sustainability challenge grows more complex every day, technology can help businesses operate both responsibly and profitably via reduced waste, more efficient production, smarter transportation strategies, reduced resource consumption and other stewardship practices.”
There’s a lot more in the post. It’s a great read and worth your time. Read more HERE.
WashingtonExec, a leading publication for Washington, DC-area executives, got feedback from GovCon executives.
“Booz Allen Hamilton supports the Administration’s focus on Buy American and looks forward to how we can continue to lean forward and help implement the new rules once finalized,” said Julia Donley, vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton. “Given Booz Allen’s long history of successful relationships with small businesses, we will be in an excellent position to support these efforts.”
She noted, however, the timing associated with implementation will be critical for success.
“For instance, how quickly we increase the percentage of products purchased with taxpayer dollars that are ‘substantially all’ made in the U.S. will need to be carefully considered, in order for the demand to be met,” she said, noting contractors don’t want to create undue pressure on an already taxed supply chain.
Others say, in order to build resiliency into the supply chain, this initiative should unfold as part of a broader effort to strengthen the defense industrial base (DIB).
“The Buy American guidance is directly linked to the challenges faced by the DIB and the federal supply chain overall. All of these challenges need to be addressed in parallel,” said Pat Tamburrino Jr., vice president of LMI’s logistics practice.
The challenges of the pandemic highlight a critical need to bolster the DIB and related supplies chain in the U.S. and among the nation’s allies, he said, starting with microelectronics.
Read the entire story HERE
According to a press release from US Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), fellow Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.) introduced the Industrial Finance Corporation Act, new legislation which would establish the Industrial Finance Corporation of the United States (IFCUS). The corporation would use a one-time appropriation from Congress to finance investments in high-tech manufacturing – helping to promote innovation and create good jobs through domestic production.
The supply chain weaknesses exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic are just one symptom of these investment gaps, which also result in the offshoring of good manufacturing jobs and expose our overreliance on production in rival nations. The uncertainty that accompanies investments at the technological frontier—combined with their large upfront investment costs—makes them too risky for many private investors. IFCUS would provide strategic, patient investments to U.S. manufacturing projects with a positive return-on-investment for workers, local economies, and our national security.
The legislation has been endorsed by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the Niskanen Center, the Berggruen Institute, MForesight, The Engine, and the National Defense Industrial Association.
A summary of the bill can be found here. Bill text is available here.
The Montana Standard writes that a renewed, made-in-America beef labeling push is drawing support from Montana’s congressmen.
The latest version of the USA Beef Act was introduced last week, authored by Senator Mike Rounds. (R-SD). This bill requires that any beef sporting a “Product of the USA” label originate from a United States ranch. Currently, the labels are applied to beef processed at United States meatpacking plants, regardless of whether the cattle are from another country. The bill was first introduced in 2019.
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines has signed on as an original co-sponsor in the Senate. Rep. Matt Rosendale is the bill’s primary sponsor in the House.
Ranching groups struggled to get the Trump administration’s attention on the labeling issue and, without it, the issue went nowhere in Congress. Last month, President Joe Biden announced that beef labeling was part of his executive order on restoring competition in U.S. markets. Interest in Congress is again increasing.
The history of labeling beef is complex, according to the article.
An earlier effort known as Country of Origin Labeling, or COOL, was panned by the World Trade Organization. The WTO ruled in favor of Canada and Mexico in 2015, giving the two nations the right to impose tariffs on imported US products, a move that was expected to raise the price on imports from the United States by $1.01 billion.
Congress repealed COOL in 2015 with the support of ranch groups who wanted to avoid tariffs but also called on lawmakers to come up with an alternative for COOL which had been in place starting in 2011.
Read more about it HERE
The pandemic forced many manufacturers, including Unionwear, to pivot, adapt, and overcome their challenges quickly.
In Georgia, a sixth-generation manufacturer called Goldens’ Cast Iron started making exercise equipment because they noticed their competitors were sourcing cast iron overseas and fell behind.
“Our cookers were available …. where our competitors’ grills weren’t,” George Golden Boyd Jr., the company’s fifth-generation chairman and CEO, told ABC News. “So, they got the idea to start making other hard-to-find products, like dumbbells and kettlebells.
“Kettle bells were coming from China,” he added. “Now, the product wasn’t here. America couldn’t get kettlebells. All the team here was scrambling here to figure out how to make these things, and we did. We got tooling made, got them made, and that’s how Goldens’, [a] 138-year-old company at that point, became a startup during a pandemic.”
#pandemic #covid19 #madeinusa #americanmade #manufacturing
ABC News reports that the Ford auto plant in Dearborn, Michigan, is donating more than $100,000 worth of leather scraps discarded from car seats and giving them to local small businesses in Detroit.
Detroit non-profit Mend On The Move, which employs women survivors of abuse, is the recipient of some recycled leather and founder Joanne Ewald said it makes all the difference.
“Having this leather donated to us … it’s so huge,” Ewald said. “It is opening opportunities for us to create pieces that we have never done before.”
Mend On The Move empowers survivors of abuse to create and sell things like earrings, ornaments and more, all made from the used auto parts and salvaged car seat leather.
Read more about it HERE
#madeinusa #americanmade #manufacturing #sustainable
According to Assembly Magazine, the volatility and uncertainty resulting from trade wars and the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with increased consumer demand for faster delivery, customization and responsiveness, is helping to promote reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States. Reshoring and FDI are both motivated by the same logic: the agility and financial advantages that companies achieve by producing near their customers.
Three industries that are reshoring, and probably should not have left in the first place, are transportation equipment, computers and electronics, and electrical equipment and appliances.
In January, GE Appliances announced that it would add up to 150 jobs at its oven assembly plant in LaFayette, GA, due to surging demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’ve definitely seen significant volumes,” says Lois Crandall, plant manager. “We have double-digit increases in sales right now.”
Read more HERE
GE Appliances is continuing its U.S. manufacturing expansion with a $5 million investment in its Selmer, Tennessee Monogram Refrigeration subsidiary to begin production of new Zoneline vertical terminal air conditioners, or VTACs, commonly used in hotels and private residential facilities. The new product line was formerly produced in Mexico, and the decision was made to reshore production closer to U.S. customers. The new investment will create the fifth assembly line at the plant and add 33 new jobs, bringing total employment to 465.
“At GE Appliances, investing in U.S. manufacturing brings us closer to our customers, making it easier to innovate to better suit their needs,” said Kristi Saathoff, senior director of product management for GE Appliances. “In moving manufacturing of this product line from Mexico to Tennessee, we shortened lead times and collaborated with customers to improve ease of installation and add WiFi-connected and diagnostic capabilities. The engineering and manufacturing teams in Tennessee and our Louisville, Ky. headquarters continue to find better ways to solve today’s most pressing challenges.”
Read the press release HERE
Industry Week shows that Made in USA is considered a premium product, not just for Americans, but Chinese as well.
In fact, more than 80% of U.S. consumers — and more than 60% of Chinese consumers — say they are willing to pay more for products labeled “Made in USA” according to Boston Consulting Group.
“These findings suggest that there’s a big opportunity for manufacturers and retailers to command a price premium by promoting the Made in USA brand—not only in the U.S. but also in China,” said Harold L. Sirkin, a BCG senior partner and co-author of the research. “Retailers may want to adjust their strategies to capitalize on the strong consumer interest.”
“The higher brand value of U.S.-made goods is a further reason why companies should rethink their global manufacturing footprint and consider the U.S. as a manufacturing location,” said Michael Zinser, a BCG partner who leads the firm’s manufacturing work in the Americas and is a co-author of the survey.
Read more HERE
China is viewed, at least from a business perspective, as the place American companies have outsourced manufacturing to.
In the power line business, the opposite is happening.
With a growing middle class, China’s electricity demand continues to rise, as more people are using modern appliances such as refrigerators, cell phones, and air conditioners.
Terex Utilities, a materials lifting and handling company, is one company that is seizing this opportunity. They are manufacturing their products in the USA and exporting to China. Terex’s materials will be used by Chinese electrical lineman workers at the State Grid Corporation of China, which provides power to 80 percent of the country, making it the largest electric power transmission and distribution company in the world.
Michael Tilden, International Sales Manager at Terex Utilities, says that there is great market potential for Terex in China. “As State Grid improves its live line work practices, it will drive demand for equipment such as aerial booms, [and] other made in the USA safety equipment such as hot sticks and rubber gloves.”
Read more HERE
According to The Hill, the Biden administration issued guidance to federal agencies two weeks ago that aims to streamline the implementation of the president’s “Made in America” executive order.
“It requires agencies to examine current Made in America practices and develop plans to improve them. These efforts will work together to promote economic security, national security, and good-paying union jobs here at home,” Celeste Drake, director of the Made in America Office within OMB, said in a release outlining the guidance.
The memo requires agencies to designate a senior official by June 30 who will coordinate with Drake and the Made in America Office and strategize how to increase its use of American manufacturing. The designated official will also submit regular reports to Drake on their use of Made in America statutes, rules, regulations and orders.
The memo also includes guidance for agencies that wish to submit waivers to work around the Made in America order in an effort to cut down on the need for exemptions.
Read more at The Hill HERE
According to Bisnow, the White House allocated $600B in funds to support the creation of U.S.-based manufacturing jobs. The Biden administration intends to support the initiative by establishing stronger product sourcing requirements to compel companies to build and source their materials in the U.S.
The plan includes funding for the Made in America office, created by executive order in January, which will work with other federal agencies to ensure allocated funds are spent in the U.S. While it’s unknown how much more demand this provision will create for industrial space, commercial real estate experts say any focus on reshoring manufacturing has the potential to heighten demand for industrial space.
CBRE Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Capital Markets Jack Fraker said, “Federal spending to spur manufacturing job growth will be an additional boost to the industrial real estate market. Made in America, new manufacturing jobs, domestic sourcing of raw materials and all the supply chain ramifications will likely mean more buildings, both factories and distribution. Most speculative industrial properties can easily be adapted to both manufacturing and certainly distribution.”
Read more about it HERE (free sub req.)
CNBC reports that Peloton will invest $400 million to build its first factory in the United States to speed up production and delivery of its popular cycles and high-end treadmill machines. The facility should be up and running by 2023.
“We had planned to do this for years, but I think the pandemic put an exclamation point on why it’s going to be awesome,” Peloton co-founder and CEO John Foley said in an interview. “Having more flexibility in running a global supply chain is also going to allow us to sleep better, as you can imagine.”
“We believe that working out at home is the future,” the CEO said. “That is why we’re investing in this facility.”
The move is strategically smart. There will likely be more reshoring in the months and years ahead.
Read more details HERE
This article in Wired Magazine highlights Lloyd Ambrust, a software entrepreneur who pivoted to making masks at the start of the pandemic.
The experience opened his eyes, as he realized what we at Unionwear have known for some time: when the US outsourced its manufacturing advantage to China and other countries, we lost our competitive advantage.
And, as we now learned, we also put our national security at risk. It will be difficult to recover from the loss of our manufacturing base, although it can be done.
“We literally learned everything in the hardest way possible,” Armbrust said. “This opened my eyes—I thought, ‘Wow, the US really is behind”’… [China has] such a tremendous infrastructure advantage.”
How can domestic manufacturers compete in this shifting world?
When it comes to re-learning manufacturing in the US, Chris Netram, a vice president at the National Association of Manufacturers said, “the word that comes to mind is resilience.”
Good policies help as well. NAM’s efforts have made it easier to get federal lawmakers to discuss policies such as tax breaks and incentives for equipment, R&D, and training. As a result, President Biden ordered reviews and policy proposals for several supply chains deemed crucial to national security.
So there are steps being taken to bring manufacturing home. The task won’t be easy. Just ask Lloyd Ambrust.
Read more HERE
Albéa, a fashion packaging company, has pledged to increase manufacturing in the USA while increasing their sustainable production commitments.
The group’s business in America accounts for 20% of the overall workforce. It is mostly focused on tube production (5 plants), but they also manufacture beauty packaging in Mexico and provide a turnkey offering in Canada.
Their objective in expanding the domestic workforce was to gain competitiveness, quality, and capacity to sustainability. These developments helped reduce energy consumption by 30%, produce tubes based on PCR plastic, and install equipment for laminated tubes compatible with the Greenleaf technology, which makes them recyclable.
“Over the past six months, 85% of our projects were sustainable products,” says Jennifer Raphaël, President of Orchard Custom Beauty. “We aim to reach 95% this year”
Read more HERE
This article in WWD highlights an interesting trend: fashion consumers are starting to blur the lines between politics and corporate responsibility, and brands are following their lead.
H&M, Adidas, Nike and Burberry are among the companies acutely aware of the dynamic, stuck between their desire to avoid forced labor and cotton produced in Xinjiang, China, and Beijing-backed boycotts and reprisals — setting up a direct conflict between promises to consumers and hopes of expanding in China.
But that is just the latest — and very on-point — example of a growing trend that has fashion testing out its political power and trying to find its place. Companies across the industry now see themselves on the front lines of climate change with their sustainability programs. They are also redoubling diversity efforts while supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, wading into issues surrounding voter rights, gun control, and more.
“The role of the CEO today is probably a lot different than it was five, 10 years ago,” Chip Bergh, CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., told WWD when asked about the political playing field. “We’ve got employees and suppliers and customers and they are important stakeholders. It does make the job more difficult, you’ve got to weigh and balance all these critical issues.”
As the fashion industry becomes more responsive to, and accountable for, their behavior, they will likely look to reshoring their manufacturing to the USA, even if it drives up prices. Because that is one of the best ways to show their commitment to sourcing products ethically and sustainably.
Read more HERE
Rocky Brands Inc., a leading designer and manufacturer of premium-quality footwear, is expanding its Made in USA footprint. They are expanding their offering of made in America products with the 45,000 square-foot Rock Island factory that produces Servus footwear it acquired as part of the purchase of Honeywell’s lifestyle and performance footwear business in March 2021. Their Rock Island facility, located in northwest Illinois, manufactures approximately 1.6 million pairs of Servus boots per year.
“A focused attention to quality and detail, while supporting our country’s workers, has always been at the heart of our brands,” said Paul Matonich, senior principal project engineer/advanced R&D, Rocky Brands, Inc.
“We are proud to say that the Rock Island facility has been manufacturing Servus footwear for decades, and we feel lucky to be joining the larger Rocky Brands family. The scope of protective product the factory manufactures is exceptional, especially in times like today when peace of mind and keeping everyone safe is more important than ever.”
Read more at the press release HERE.
This article in the University of Washington newsletter highlights a very important point: being made in America just isn’t enough.
Domestic manufacturers, and people looking to reshore their production from overseas, should do more that just create American jobs. They need to create living wages for the people who do the actual work.
Unionwear has had 100% union staff since its inception over 25 years ago and continues to this day. Although not easy, we have managed to survive, and even thrive, even though we pay our employees a living wage.
Reshoring doesn’t have to result in exploitation. You can make a profit and pay people well. We are proof.
Read the University of Washington newsletter HERE
#madeinusa #madeinamerica #reshoring #manufacturing #unionmade
Business of Fashion Magazine writes that the pandemic laid bare something we’ve known for a long time: much of the fashion industry is designed to exploit workers. “The business model, whether luxury or mass market, is set to exploit people,” said Ayesha Barenblat, founder and chief executive of Remake. She also noted that it is mostly women of colour “who make our clothes and bring our fashion to life.”
While the global fashion industry benefits from widespread deregulation, mounting consumer engagement is proving a powerful force for increased accountability. “Consumerism is changing, and I think for the first time we actually have the right period where we can change the discourse from the consumer’s point of view,” said Ritu Sethi, founder-trustee, Craft Revival Trust and editor, Global InCH.
This renewed focus on worker exploitation, driven by consumers who care about how people are treated, will almost certainly drive up wages in foreign countries, making it more attractive to make more clothing domestically.
Read more HERE
Ralph Lauren invested heavily in sustainable manufacturing and it has paid off. They unveiled the Team USA Closing Ceremony Parade Uniforms and apparel collection for the 2020 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams which feature a wide variety of made in USA products, all of which were produced using revolutionary, sustainable manufacturing processes.
For these Games, Ralph Lauren worked to use more sustainable materials and manufacturing practices across the Team USA collection. The Company has developed and invested in ground-breaking innovations in sustainable materials and manufacturing technologies that will debut with this collection and will have global, industry-changing implications.
Ralph Lauren partnered with Dow to optimize the use of ECOFAST Pure Sustainable Textile Treatment, an advanced pre-treatment solution for more sustainable cotton dyeing that significantly reduces the amount of water, chemicals and energy used compared to traditional dye processes and will be utilized within cotton products in the Team USA apparel collection.
The MIRUM Olympic Patch was developed in partnership with Natural Fiber Welding, Inc, a leading sustainable material science company that Ralph Lauren recently invested in, that has revolutionized the use and reuse of plant fibers and materials into patented, high-performance materials. MIRUM is a revolutionary leather alternative material made from renewable resources that include plant-based materials and agricultural by-products and is a solution that is free of synthetic plastics.
Each item is made in America.
Read more about it HERE
A new Reuters-Ipsos poll found 63% of Americans want U.S. agencies to buy American-made products in general, even if they cost significantly more, and 62% think the government should strictly buy U.S.-made vaccines.
That enthusiasm dims a bit when it comes to other types of safety equipment, such as face masks: a majority, 53%, agree it is fine to buy personal protective equipment – or PPE – from foreign sources, while 41% disagreed.
The poll shows a longstanding contradiction: Americans like the idea of buying American goods, but not if it means paying more personally for it.
It also underscores a challenge facing the Biden administration, which has vowed to bolster manufacturers of crucial safety goods and pharmaceuticals as part of its larger push to revive the U.S. factory sector.
Read more at Reuters HERE
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen provided further details into the Biden administration’s ambitious corporate tax plans, which are expected to increase government revenue, and help pay for the administration’s proposed $2.25 infrastructure package.
Yellen provided additional insight into “The Made in America Tax Plan,” which is supposed to remove incentives for companies to move profits overseas, increase government tax revenue to help fund critical social problems, as well as increase fairness to all Americans. If the plan materializes, it would reportedly generate upwards of $2.5 trillion in revenue over a span of 15 years.
However, the tax plan also means that American companies would no longer be able to benefit from the numerous quirks embedded in the tax code, which allowed for reduced tax liabilities by shifting profits overseas. The tax plan would also address climate change, by substituting fossil fuel subsidies with clean energy production tax incentives.
Read more HERE
Here is a fascinating story from Atlas Obscura on how Made in USA during WWII has a lingering impact on a small town in Italy.
When American convoys passed through the Italian town of Ercolano en route to northern Italy, in 1944, locals in Ercolano and elsewhere intercepted the troops and stole clothes to resell. Then, when the war ended, American troops left some clothes and supplies behind in warehouses outside of Naples because it was cheaper than carting them home. “Wars usually bring famine and destruction, but it also brought something we could build survival from,” says Ciro De Gaetano, one shop owner in Pugliano Market.
As part of the Marshall Plan, a U.S. effort to provide economic aid to devastated Europe, truckloads of bales of used clothing arrived in Ercolano, sent from American warehouses, tailors, and laundries. Locally known as the “river of gold,” the market on Pugliano provided jobs to around 4,000 people. “Some would get temporarily rich, because they would find valuables and money forgotten in the pockets” of clothes, says Rosario Losa, an Ercolano resident whose grandfather recounted the tale.
For decades, the market has attracted shoppers from Naples and neighboring cities. Years ago, young people took the regional train to get to this little town, one of the first places in Europe where jeans were sold. “You’d go early in the morning at dawn, [when] there were unopened bales of used clothes ready to rummage in,” says Francesco De Lorenzo. He found a pair of roller skates there in the 1970s, when the market was a place to find objects that weren’t yet widely available elsewhere in Italy.
Now, visitors arrive in different ways, flocking by scooter, car, or bus. But the most-wanted items remain original military uniforms, especially khaki or camouflage button-up jackets. The name of the soldier who owned the garment appears on embroidered tags sewn above the right pocket, creating a link with an unknown person on the other side of the world.
Read the whole story at Atlas Obscura HERE.
#madeinusa #americanmade #fashion
According to WOSU, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is urging the Biden administration to stick to American companies for contracts and projects funded under the new $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
During a press call Wednesday, Brown argued that money from the “American Rescue Plan” should directly benefit U.S. companies and workers. Existing law gives preference to American companies when it comes to government contracting, but foreign companies can potentially get around those provisions, and bid on an equal footing with domestic companies if their country has a trade agreement with the United States.
“We’re asking him to temporarily suspend trade waivers that could allow foreign companies that do not have American workers or do not pay American taxes to bid on projects funded by the rescue plan,” Brown explained. “We need to make sure those supplies are made in America and support jobs in Ohio and around the country.”
Read more HERE
#madeinusa #americanmade #business #economy #pandemic
CNBC reports on a trend we have seen during the pandemic: imports have ground to a halt at our nation’s ports, highlighting an advantage for made in America items.
For example, a ship with 197 containers of Peloton bikes and merchandise circled at anchor just outside the Port of Los Angeles right before Christmas, entering a holding pattern on Dec. 22 until it was allowed to dock Jan. 2, according to global shipping data company MarineTraffic.
“The ship, and Peloton’s expected supply time, lost 12 days due to this while their product was nearly within swimming distance of shore,” Import Genius trade data analyst William George said. “This is a crazy illustration of the problem Peloton and other U.S. importers are struggling with.”
In fact, thirty container vessels were at anchor outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as of Monday, according to MarineTraffic data. More than 30 container ships are expected to arrive in Los Angeles by the end of March, and at least 27 ships are slated to dock in Long Beach in that time.
This highlights the need to reshore manufacturing as soon as possible. These disruptions will only continue to get worse as more novel viruses and climate change disrupt import and export patterns.
Read more HERE.
#logistics #supplychain #manufacturing #reshore #madeinusa
According to a CNBC article, Walmart is intending to bolster the economy and support American products by spending $350 billion on “products made, assembled or grown in the U.S.” over the course of the next 10 years.
On the surface, this may appear as a decision influenced by political and popular sentiment, as opposed to a business one.
The two are not mutually exclusive.
While it is true that buying Made in USA is a trend driven by emotion, there are very good economic reasons as well, including:
– The pandemic caused shortages in certain goods, both raw and finished, because of the reliance on foreign sourcing. Without these goods, supply could not meet demand, thus driving the prices up until inventory ran out.
– Cheaper is not necessarily better. Several consumer surveys have shown that US consumers are willing to pay more for products of higher quality. US manufactured products are typically of higher quality.
– By creating more jobs in the US, you’re helping the local, state, and national economies. A healthy economy drives consumer spending. So although you may pay a little more directly, there are indirect economic benefits that make up for it.
– U.S. companies and manufacturers are held to higher federal and state environmental regulations. When you Buy American, you know that you’re helping to keep the world a little cleaner for future generations.
Time will tell if Walmart can stick to its goal of supporting American products and materials. Should Walmart find a way to source reliably the items they need to keep this promise, the US economy and the American people will be the beneficiaries.
#madeinusa #americanmade #walmart #manufacturing #reshoring
There are many reasons to set up, or reshore, your manufacturing in the USA. While patriotism is a great reason to set up shop here, business leaders know you need to make the business case to make it work..
It turns out there are some good reasons to do so. Here are just a few.
Control Over Products and Quality
By reshoring, businesses have more control over product quality. Offshoring means little to no oversight over manufacturing By offshoring you are losing quality control opportunities and faster communication..
Skilled Workforce
The United States has millions of highly skilled workers. Certainly non-Americans are smart as well, but the United States has long been a hotbed of ingenuity. We built the biggest economy the world has ever seen for a reason.
Streamlined logistics
When you offshore manufacturing, your products are regularly in transit. If you discover a problem with a batch upon arrival, you are stuck with a multi-week supply of products that have left the source and not yet arrived at your facility.If there is an undiscovered issue that was not found in manufacturing, you now have a minimum of six weeks of problems – including storing and reworking defective products, lost revenue due to the disruption and managing an influx of customer complaints. By manufacturing domestically these problems disappear overnight.
Available and Affordable Resources
With the up and rising practice of reshoring, resources have become available and affordable. Another factor that has led to this is the fact that the U.S. is a leader in oil production; thus, many costs of the manufacturing process have significantly decreased.
Avoiding complicated taxes and tariffs
When offshoring became fashionable about 25 years ago, most businesses were willing to simply absorb the tariff costs. Now with ongoing trade wars, taxes and tariffs, we are seeing the financial advantages of offshoring manufacturing evaporate before our eyes.
Intellectual property protection
Intellectual property protections in the United States are far superior to those found in many other parts of the world. By keeping your manufacturing at home, you are keeping close control over your valuable IP and are significantly reducing your risk of having it stolen. And if it is stolen, the US has a robust mechanism to protect your intellectual property.
There are more listed HERE.
Buying American is a symbol of personal identity and has been a focus over the years for US policymakers, including both the Obama and Trump administrations. This emphasis will continue with the Biden administration.
The common belief is that domestically manufactured products carry a hefty price tag. But what is the bottom line?
According to a study by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the price premium ranges from 1.9% to 28%. The lower priced items tend to demand the highest premium as one would expect. This study was done prior to the implementation of tariffs on Chinese products, which range from 10% to 30%.
So in the current trade environment, assuming that the US continues to implement tariffs on Chinese products, it appears that the price tag premium is not as significant as one would imagine.
Are Americans willing to spend a little more to continue the revitalization of US manufacturing?
You can read the full study HERE
A study by American Machinist shows that from 2010 through 2019, over 900,000 announced new manufacturing jobs are attributable to reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI.)
During the current year 2020, job creation due to reshoring activity is exceeding FDI, adding that the same trend will continue to influence manufacturing growth and U.S. economic recovery in 2021.
Due to the pandemic, reshoring is outpacing FDI for the first time since 2014. “COVID uncertainty is causing companies to emphasize operations in their home countries.”
Also continuing to reshoring activity is U.S. manufacturers’ determination to shorten or close supply-chain gaps for essential products – which is a notable factor in PPE, medical, technology, and defense manufacturing.
We suspect this trend will continue and hope domestic manufacturers look to capitalize on these opportunities.
A counterintuitive article in Assembly Magazine makes the argument that automation can accelerate reshoring.
Those who are dedicated to bringing jobs back home sometimes shy away from automation. But that doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, embracing automation can accelerate reshoring jobs, at least to some extent.
One of the main reasons companies moved overseas was because of the lower cost of labor for relatively mundane tasks. Now that automation is starting to replace the need for labor, companies are finding it more profitable to bring manufacturing back home while hiring more skilled workers. This mitigates risk, increases responsiveness to customer demand, and increases time to market. It also helps that these machines can’t get sick from Covid-19.
We at Unionwear have embraced automation and lean manufacturing for years and will continue to do so. We encourage other companies looking to reshore, or keep manufacturing close to home to do the same.
According to this report from the Reshoring Initiative, reshoring manufacturing to the United States is on the rise. In fact, reshoring has outpaced foreign-direct investment (FDI) for the first time since 2014.
There are a couple of reasons for this reshoring.
COVID-caused uncertainty is leading companies to prioritize operations in their home countries. According to the report, the national demand to shorten and close supply chain gaps for essential products to make the U.S. less vulnerable is most likely to benefit PPE, medical, tech, and defense manufacturers.
Another is ongoing trade tensions between the US and China. China has received widespread condemnation for unfair trade practices. Although their tactics will be different, President-elect Biden will also work toward leveling the trade imbalances between the US and China.
“We publish this data annually to show companies that their peers are successfully reshoring and that they should reevaluate their sourcing and siting decisions,” said Harry Moser, founder, and president of the Reshoring Initiative. “With 5 million manufacturing jobs still offshore, as measured by our $800 billion/year goods trade deficit, there is potential for much more growth.”
A recent Reshoring Institute survey of nearly 500 Americans asked if they prefer “Made in USA” products. According to the survey, nearly 70% of respondents prefer American-made products. And, slightly more than 83% said they would pay up to 20% more for products made domestically.
However, in my experience, what people say and what they do are frequently at odds. As I said in a previous post, there has to be another reason to buy in America that goes beyond where it is made.
For instance, if people believe the items are higher quality and will last longer, customers might be more inclined to pay a premium. Frankly, made in America is a secondary consideration.
For the most part, people want quality products at a reasonable price. They would not buy a made in USA product if it was perceived to be inferior quality, no matter where it was manufactured.
One big competitive advantage domestic manufacturers have is in the supply chain. We never worry about delayed shipments due to the pandemic or other unforeseen supply chain disruptions. We also have the advantage of addressing manufacturing challenges immediately, compared to those who have to deal with overseas suppliers.
So while made in USA is sometimes a marketing advantage — especially with political campaigns and government contracts — quality and consistency will be most buyer’s primary motivation to pay a small premium for domestically produced goods.
As the holiday season approaches, consumers are increasingly deluged with gift ideas. You could spend an eternity on Amazon alone searching for the perfect gift for your loved one. Where to begin?
We at Unionwear believe that it is important to buy made in USA. Although finding gifts that are made in America can be difficult, we found a resource that might make it easier for you.
From Wilson footballs to Crayola crayons to Weber grills to Airstream trailers, this website lists a wide variety of gift ideas from companies that are made right here in the USA.
Unionwear manufactures hats & caps, bags and winter knits that you can customize for the holidays, making them a perfect gift.
So, if you believe in supporting domestic manufacturing, you now have a resource at your disposal.
Automation will probably play a big role in reshoring manufacturing and we need to embrace this reality rather than fight it.
Robotics automation company Rapid Robotics just received $5.5 million in funding to expedite manufacturing reshoring. Their machines are powered by a SaaS model and AI and are ready to perform manufacturing tasks out of the box for just $25,000 per year.
According to CEO Jordan Kretchmer, “The need to automate simple tasks is incredibly high, but the ability to do so has been out of reach for a vast majority of manufacturers. The Rapid Machine Operator is the first robotic solution to close that gap, making US manufacturers more competitive and supply chains more resilient.”
This highlights something I have been saying for a while: that companies will only reshore when it is profitable for them to do so. Perhaps machines like this will make it easier for companies to reshore manufacturing and use the cost savings to hire more skilled workers at higher wages. Automation like this will possibly cost jobs unless manufacturers use the productivity gains to retrain and redeploy their existing workforce.
Regardless, innovation and automation are here to stay and will only become more commonplace as time goes on. Domestic manufacturers need to recognize this reality and embrace the changes rather than resist them.
Every so often, we come across a story that causes us to reflect on how far ahead of the curve Unionwear has always been when it comes to creating American jobs.
Recently, we came across a story from 2015 in Slate Magazine on how our 100% made in USA manufacturing facility has changed America’s presidential campaigns, and how every candidate has to buy made in America products. Democrats and Republicans both agree that good-paying American manufacturing jobs have been disappearing for decades and that bringing jobs back to the US needs to be a priority. And, since the pandemic, both parties agree that reshoring PPE and pharmaceuticals are an urgent national security issue, not just a campaign slogan.
Unionwear has been a unionized manufacturer since 1992, and we have always supported creating good-paying American manufacturing jobs. Let’s hope the politicians in Washington get to work bringing jobs +back to the US and not just using made in America as a once-every-four-years campaign slogan.
#govote #elections2020 #madeinusa #americanmade #promogoods
The trade journal Plastics Today wrote an article discussing the possibilities, and challenges, associated with reshoring manufacturing to the United States.
First, a little background. Offshoring manufacturing to China became very popular since China was awarded Most Favored Nation trading status in the late-1990s under President Bill Clinton. Drawn to cheap labor and huge new market opportunities, companies rushed to offshore manufacturing to China and other parts of the world.
Although the promise of money savings and opening new markets was appealing, there were drawbacks. Chief among these was a lack of intellectual property enforcement. Chinese companies basically stole and reproduced American products in a way that would be unthinkable in the US. And, once Chinese manufacturers such as Haier took American knowledge, began making their own products and started exporting to the US, they became global competitors to those companies that offshored their manufacturing to expand their market share in the first place.
Early in the 2010s, the idea of reshoring to the US became more popular. But the choice isn’t binary: some companies are moving manufacturing from China to other Asian countries, where some are considering “nearshoring” to Mexico.
And then, as I have said in other blog posts, Covid completely upended supply chains, even products made in nearby Mexico. Shipments stopped coming from China, and much activity from Mexico was stopped for at least a couple of months. Suddenly, all of the benefits of offshoring disappeared and America found itself unable to get PPE or life-saving pharmaceuticals.
So now more than ever, reshoring looks attractive. But how feasible is it? Consumers might pay more for made in USA products — one survey from the Reshoring Institute said that consumers would be willing to pay up to 20% more for made in America products. But companies that decide to reshore need more than just higher prices; they need to invest in innovation and technology to make domestic production truly competitive.
Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn had the opportunity to speak at New Jersey Manufacturing Day and discuss the recent global supply chain disruptions due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
When asked how we can prevent supply chain disruptions, Cahn said the pandemic exposed weaknesses in our global supply chain that we didn’t even know existed. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that future disruptions of unknown origin will likely expose additional weaknesses that we cannot even think about.
On the plus side, those domestic manufacturers who managed to survive outsourcing and Amazon have proven to be very flexible. In fact, they learned so much during these tumultuous times that many manufacturers, including Unionwear, were making PPE in a matter of days even though they had zero knowledge of manufacturing such items before. For instance, Cahn said he had never heard of a face shield before the pandemic hit. But after getting specs, he was able to quickly assemble prototypes in less than two days. It was only a matter of repurposing items Unionwear already had — including foam from backpacks, plastic from binders, and headbands from hats — and turn them into useable face shields.
To prevent supply chain disruptions, companies need to invest in domestic manufacturers. It is imperative to do so, as our national security continues to be at risk. To justify its cost, The Reshoring Institute created a formula that calculates the true cost of importing. These costs include:
When taking these into account, importing oftentimes looks more expensive than domestic manufacturing.
Ultimately, if the US government is serious about preventing future supply chain disruptions, American policymakers and regulators need to incentivize increased domestic manufacturing. Meanwhile, purchasers need to support these manufacturers by actually buying materials from them and not letting them go out of business. Although domestic manufacturers came to the rescue during COVID-19, we lost tens of thousands of lives because we didn’t have domestic-made PPE. This needs to be a major national priority.
Links:
NJMEP – Manufacturing Day 2020
US Senator Tammy Baldwin, Democrat from Wisconsin, reintroduced legislation that strengthens Buy American requirements for the federal government’s purchase of ships. It does this by expanding current law to cover all federal agencies, all classes of ships and more shipboard components.
The CEO of Fairbanks Morse, George Whittier, praised the bill. Fairbanks Morse is a US-based manufacturer of power systems for large contracts.
“The Senator’s proposed Made in America Shipbuilding Act will not only strengthen the defense industrial base by providing American-made components for U.S. taxpayer-funded ships,” Whittier said. It “will give American shipbuilding suppliers the confidence to invest capital and add high paying middle-class jobs.”
As of right now, the status of the bill is unknown. But it is good to see senior politicians are taking made in USA more seriously.
A few years ago Adweek wrote an article explaining that made in America is no longer a pipe dream but is slowly becoming a reality. American factory jobs grew to 12.3 million by 2016. And, according to the nonprofit Reshoring Initiative, no fewer than 576,000 factory jobs have returned to America since 2010.
While carrying the made in USA label is a feel-good move for many consumers, businesses are wondering what it means for the bottom-line. Because it might feel good to say your products are made in America, that isn’t the main driver for the return of American manufacturing. It almost certainly doesn’t change buying habits.
Why are companies reshoring now? The reasons are varied and complex, ranging from growing labor costs in Asian countries to quality control. Rarely is the branding opportunity a factor. For better or worse, unless someone has a very strong incentive to buy made in USA products (such as political candidates or government contractors) where a product is manufactured rarely factors into a purchasing decision.
Bayard Winthrop, founder of American Giant, a brand that manufactures hoodies in North Carolina, says geographic proximity is what matters most. “There’s a huge benefit to being able to hop on a plane and talk to the people who are spinning my yarn and weaving my cloth,” says Winthrop, who’s based in San Francisco. Winthrop says Made in America marketing is an add-on, not a reason people buy. “I don’t believe consumers are willing to pay at the cash register for [American-made] things—I really don’t,” he says. “What consumers are willing to pay for is great brands and great quality.”
According to the Adweek article, the vast majority of people are not going to pay a much higher price for made in America. One of the main reasons they make everything domestically is quality control. Indeed, according to David Hamilton, fourth-generation owner of Hamilton Shirts, domestic manufacturing is essential for quality control. Hamilton’s shirts start at $265, and many of them are made to order. Production of a luxury product like that cannot be trusted to something being made halfway around the world. “If I’m on the phone with a customer [who has an issue],” he says, “I can walk into the factory and research the problem and resolve it.”
The same thing goes for large brands. 3M’s Post-it barely mentions that their sticky notes have been made in Kentucky for the last 33 years. Why? Distribution. An American plant is both closer to pulp suppliers and to retailers. “It’s a shorter supply chain,” explains global business manager Adrienne Hovland. Made in America is “not one of those key messages we use,” she says. “We have a lot of other things that are compelling to communicate.”
It’s worth noting that the Adweek article was written before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains. I imagine we will see major reshoring in the coming years because of the issues described in this article as well as government mandates. But companies will not reshore manufacturing to enhance their branding, even though that might be an added benefit.
At the end of the day, made in America isn’t a huge driver for reshoring manufacturing. Quality control, supply chain management and holding people accountable for customer service challenges are major reasons for bringing jobs back home.
Due to popular demand for rush orders and small orders of our union made in USA baseball caps, Unionwear is now offering a stock program to our advertising specialty resellers. Orders ship in 24 hours with minimum orders of one dozen blanks.
While we still offer thousands of made to order styles, we selected our best selling eight styles of union made in USA baseball hats for rush and under minimum orders, and we are committed to keeping several thousand in stock. These include solid-colored blank hats in navy, black, red, and putty (like a “stone”). All four colors come in both 100% cotton low style structured with a Velcro closure and 100% cotton unstructured with a tri-glide closure. All hats have a woven American flag label on the back strap.
Unionwear still embroiders in-house on thousands of different made to order styles, and we can embroider these stock hats too.
Did you know that “union made in USA” can be more affordable than just “made in USA”? How? Why? Check back here for a future blog post.
These blank hats can be ordered from Unionwear’s promotional product distributors, who can also handle the decoration if it is not done by Unionwear.
We don’t have this info up on our website yet but you can download a white-label, Client-Safe sell sheet HERE
Distributors please email PPESales@unionwear.com, call 973 497-0102, or fill out this FORM to resell.
Unionwear continues to make political merchandise for candidates covering the entire political spectrum. We’ve expanded production to ensure that “Made in USA” and the reshoring of the supply chain to the United States are available to the growing number of buyers who recognize how critical domestic manufacturing is to our economy.
The short video in this blog post shows our factory embroidering the front “panels” of the Biden Harris hats. One of the advantages of manufacturing here is we can embroider cut parts flat, which enable us to duplicate logos perfectly with embroidery.
Remember to vote!
Writing for Industry Week magazine, Dan Burrows, CEO of Xtream Trucking, explains why he is reshoring a majority of its manufacturing back to the United States.
Like many others, one big reason for their decision to re-shore is profitability. The 2018 trade war between the US and China highlighted the fact that small disruptions outside their control could have a huge impact on running their business. Furthermore, many of their customers are in North America. International freight creates extra steps, including unpacking and inspecting for damage. If parts are damaged, they must powder coat for the shipping damage, repack, and ship again. With a domestic supply chain, they also can eliminate unexpected delays due to clearance at ports.
They are even saving money by bringing manufacturing back. They trimmed costs by about 20% and cut lead time from 8 weeks to 4 weeks on their aluminum mount system. And, they had a 10% reduction in costs and a reduction in lead time from 8 weeks to 5 weeks for their paneling system.
Then, of course, the pandemic hit, throwing supply chains into disarray. The benefits of having no supply chain disruptions have been huge.
Reshoring has become a popular trend in the past 5-8 years. However, companies like Xtream Trucking will only re-shore when the costs of offshoring outweigh the benefits. I think this trend will continue as further supply chain problems arise.
The entrepreneurial mindset means there is never returning back-to-normal. Our business will definitely change from pre-crisis to post-crisis. With any luck, we will be better than before. At the moment it seems we will go back to our original business while keeping PPE business, depending on demand and other factors.
Regardless, there will be vastly increased demand for Made in USA products.
One of the main advantages is that we are making reusable materials that are actually cheaper than the disposable items made overseas. This is good for everyone. It increases domestic jobs. It protects our environment since we aren’t filling up our landfills. And, our customers are saving money on purchases while getting high-quality, reusable merchandise. Literally everybody wins. Including us.
Mitch of Unionwear discusses this topic and more in this video interview.
Back in 2016, PocketNow, an online website focused on all-things portable tech, reported that Foxconn was considering opening factories in the USA. Thus far, the result has not panned out as our leaders wanted.
A little background: Foxconn is an electronics contract manufacturer with headquarters in Taiwan. It is the world’s largest provider of electronics manufacturing services and the third-largest technology company by revenue. They are also one of the largest employers worldwide with over one million employees. Foxconn’s consideration to open factories in the USA was not motivated by patriotism or even marketing. Rather, like most businesses, their decision was motivated by politics and economics.
Unfortunately, as of late-October 2020, Foxconn’s promise to open American factories has not panned out. And the whole project has turned into a surreal battle for tax cuts and a blame game in Wisconsin. A great quote from this articleillustrates how weird the situation has gotten: “As the divisions bickered, bored employees would come down from the Milwaukee headquarters to race the carts around the empty building, until the batteries finally died.” For their part, Foxconn disputed the report’s claim that the company hired employees only to achieve tax incentives.
This story highlights the challenges associated with reshoring. There needs to be a strategic and business reason to do so, such as better quality control, saving money on shipping costs, and avoiding supply chain disruptions.
Companies like Apple have to factor in all the costs and benefits to see if it makes sense to manufacture domestically, otherwise the initiative will likely fail. Tax breaks cannot be the only reason to do so.
On March 24, Unionwear made a rapid transition from accessories to manufacturing face shields and has made over half a million face shields for state governments in response to the pandemic.
Our face shields are sturdier than most, using the high quality elastic we use in stretchfit hats, sturdy foam we use in backpack straps, and a 17 mil PET-A for the clear shield. Using the hot stamping we normally use in our portfolio business we are able to apply a one color imprint anywhere you would like on the shield.
Face shields are the choice PPE for essential workers working in a loud, outdoor environments—such as construction, transportation, manufacturing, and education–because they provide virus protection without inhibiting communication. They are also preferred when working in close proximity to clients, such as salons, physical therapy, and dentistry.
These shields are Union Made in USA and are available with a very rapid turnaround time.
All our face shields are available from Unionwear’s promo products distributors.
Download a white label, Client-Safe sell sheet here.
Distributors please email PPESales@unionwear.com, call 973 497-0102, or fill out this form to resell.
Just in time for Labor Day and Election Day, Unionwear introduces a broad selection of face masks that are union made and union printed in USA with a removable union label.
Choose between larger imprint areas or more contoured shapes
Unionwear has three shapes to choose from—a rounded front with a perfect fit for breathability and comfort, a flat front for a full-bleed, full-color sublimation print, or a pleated flat front that combines the best of both.
Brushed 100% 7-ounce cotton twill.
All of our masks are made from high quality woven fabrics-not knits. Heavy but soft, this woven fabric provides up to 10 times the droplet blockage of porous t-shirt or handkerchief materials, while withstanding hundreds of home washings. Unionwear presently stocks this fabric in 24 colors.
Pick the right mask for your budget.
Unionwear offers quality levels from blank, flat singly ply masks with elastic earloops to full-color prints on a contoured face mask with adjustable pull-through ear loops and a second ply with filter pocket. All union made in USA.
All our face shields are available from Unionwear’s promo products distributors.
Download a white label, Client-Safe sell sheet HERE.
Distributors please email PPESales@unionwear.com, call 973 497-0102, or fill out this form to resell.
The company was purchased in 1992 with a fully-unionized workforce. Early on, and for largely idealistic reasons, we decided to keep the workforce unionized, because we believed that people should benefit from their hard work. We quickly figured out that working with the union was to our benefit.
When we first bought the company, our number one customers were labor unions, so we changed our name to Unionwear. To expand our customer base we dipped our toes into manufacturing fashionable baseball caps and hemp hats back in the early 1990s, long before they were cool or popular.
But then, around the year 2000, presidential campaigns started buying our hats as well. That’s when things really took off for us. Because it doesn’t look good when politicians talk about creating American jobs while buying hats from overseas.
For this and many other reasons, having a unionized workforce has been a strategic advantage for us. As you will see in later posts, it literally saved our business during the Covid-19 pandemic.
How unions help our employees and our company
In a lot of ways, government mandates have minimized the need for unions. The minimum wage is increasing incrementally for starters. Even more, companies with over 50 employees are now required to offer health insurance benefits and PTO (paid time off.)
For us, it has been much easier to deal with unions rather than negotiate with 180 employees individually for benefits. And, it is much less expensive to offer health insurance through a union which can use its bargaining power to bring those costs down.
And there are other advantages to working with a union. Having a unionized workforce brings in significant political and government business, especially for portfolios and tote bags. Most government employees are union members, which gives us a leg-up in securing government contracts. In fact, that represents 30% – 40% of our business.
So, although there are some disadvantages to working with a union, we have turned it into an advantage. We planned on treating our employees well anyway, so we have a good, rather than adversarial, relationship with them. It brought down costs in some areas. And it led to a lot of new business
See the interview here:
ACG New Jersey earlier this year named Unionwear a winner of its Corporate Growth Award. Mitch Cahn, CEO of Unionwear, recently spoke with ACG Global CEO Tom Bohn for a video on GrowthTV about how Unionwear won ACG New Jersey’s award, the ways the company has pivoted since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, and why presidential campaigns across the political spectrum order Unionwear products.
What led up to Unionwear winning ACG New Jersey’s Corporate Growth Award?
What has Unionwear done to pivot during this crisis?
How was Unionwear able to keep operations running while also protecting workers?
Unionwear makes all of its products here in the U.S., but one would imagine that the supply chain has to be global. How has that held up through all of this?
See the full article HERE
Many people ask, “Mitch, how does Unionwear — a unionized manufacturer in Newark, NJ compete with China? Your real estate and labor costs are among the highest in the world.”
The fact is, Unionwear cannot compete with China on cost. In fact, Unionwear is the most expensive manufacturer in the world for their product categories.
So they changed the game.
Instead, Unionwear competes on value.
There are a lot of misconceptions about competing on value. Here, Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn clarifies what it means to compete on value.
1. Manufacturers cannot create value with work in process, because parts have no value until clients are willing to pay for them.
2. Manufacturers cannot create value by cutting labor costs. If manufacturers cut labor costs with lean manufacturing but do not redeploy that labor to another task, there is no value created.
3. Manufacturers cannot create value by focusing on profits. Using productivity as a tool to increase profits is the other side of the labor cost equation, and a NJ-based manufacturer cannot compete on labor.
4. Manufacturers cannot create value by having people work faster. If they are working fast without adding value to the product, they are destroying value.
Manufacturers only create value when their finished product sells for more than it cost to manufacture. Otherwise, you are not creating value, but are just moving it around.
This is the game Unionwear plays: knowing what it means to add value and focusing on that instead of decreased costs.
Discussion from 2:58 – 4:56:
Face masks hinder workplace communication and don’t protect the eyes or provide a liquid barrier. So why aren’t clear face shields ubiquitous? Because the traditional “foam + elastic + clear sheet” face shield was designed as disposable splash protection for surgery–not every-day use.
We’ve reimagined the Face Shield to be something comfortable and truly reusable.
Unionwear is the leading domestic manufacturer of baseball caps. Our products sit comfortably on heads all day, every day. And we’ve been making traditional face shields since NYC’s quarantine started, continuously upgrading our product based on client feedback. We are now launching the Replaceable Universal Face Shield (the “RUF Shield”). Features:
No Foam: Foam is why traditional face shields are disposable. You can sanitize the clear shield but how do you clean spongy foam that’s been pressed up against a sweaty forehead? You can’t. We use a black cotton baseball cap sweatband, removable for washing.
No Bulk: Traditional face shields are bulky. Bulky to ship—especially with FedEx and UPS new penalties for dimensional weight, bulky to store, even bulky to dispose of. The RUF Shield ships disassembled, flat.
No Latex: Latex sensitivity and allergy affect a sizable portion of the population, and due to skyrocketing demand for elastic for masks and shields nearly all available elastic right now contains latex.
No Sizes: Elastic face shields are not one size fits all, which means you need to order in sizes-but who knows his or her face shield size? Unknown size ranges require excess inventory.
No Scratches: All of our fronts are protected with film—made possible because the shield is not attached until it is ready to be worn. Without this protection PET is bound to scratch during shipping or handling.
The clear shields are sold by Unionwear’s promo products distributors with an MSRP of $1.45 (s) each. The plastic visor/cotton headband that holds the shields are $3.50 (s) each. Case size is 100 units.
Download a white label, Client-Safe sell sheet here.
Distributors please email PPESales@unionwear.com, call 973-497-0102, or fill out this form to resell.
You can also purchase retail online from RUFshield.com.
Marcus Lemonis is a business turnaround expert who hosts “The Profit” on CNBC. This show highlights businesses that are struggling, and Lemonis tries to help them on the path to profitability. He digs in to identify what is right, what is wrong and recommends improvements.
In this episode, he visits a New Orleans-based sewing manufacturer called Queork, which makes a wide variety of items made from cork. The business is truly unique but they are struggling with profitability.
Upon inspection of Queork’s facilities, Lemonis realizes the facility is horribly organized, as there is effectively no manufacturing process in place. The lack of process and procedure is costing them a lot in profitability and inhibits their ability to scale.
To find out what they could do better, Lemonis takes them to Unionwear in Newark, NJ to show them how it’s done. There, they meet Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn who walks them through how efficient processes can dramatically increase their profitability and item quality. Cahn explains that, by implementing manufacturing processes, Unionwear reduced excess labor costs from three hours to about 15 minutes, just looking for thread. By implementing similar changes across their organization, Unionwear has been able to dramatically increase output quality and profitability, even though they are a union shop located in Newark, NJ.
Upon re-evaluation of Queork, Lemonis learns that they moved their facility to a much better-organized space, allowing them to increase production and profitability. Thanks in large part to Unionwear’s example, everyone now knows US-based manufacturers such as Queork can succeed in a challenging domestic manufacturing environment.
Unionwear, an American apparel manufacturer based in New Jersey, celebrates the company’s effort to implement lean manufacturing. Founded in 1992, today they employ 175 people. Mitch Cahn, president, and CEO uses his business as an example of why New Jersey is an ideal place to manufacture.
One reason Unionwear can remain incredibly competitive in New Jersey is its willingness to integrate best practices in order to create an efficient and productive manufacturing environment. Lean manufacturing is a strategy aimed at eliminating waste from production by applying process- es and procedures that have a dramatic impact on the efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability of the company. Lean manufacturing utilizes many “common sense” strategies that might at first sound easy to put into action. However, creating a truly lean manufacturing operation can present challenges, and these processes and procedures are often difficult to maintain over time. There is a clear distinction between understanding the concepts of lean and implementing it on the shop floor.
“We had been struggling to implement lean manufacturing constantly for the last 12 years and it’s a struggle because lean flies in the face of human nature,” said Cahn, the company’s president, and CEO. “The key principles to wrap your head around are reducing waste. Before we started lean manufacturing [employees] were spending 30 minutes working for every hat produced. They are now sending five minutes to produce a hat.”
Lean manufacturing is centered around the idea of creating more efficient processes, working smarter not harder, and eliminating waste in all its forms. Cahn identified that employees were spending too much time searching for fabrics. If Unionwear was able to reduce the time it took to find the correct materials for one employee by 5 seconds, and that employee repeats that process 10 times a day, that could equate to just about three and a half extra hours that one employee can spend on production per year. Scale that up to an entire facility employing 175 individuals and the ROI is undeniable.
Additionally, Unionwear began to focus on “Made in USA” branding. This proved to be a major selling point for American companies and Cahn was confident people were willing to pay a premium for ‘Made in USA’ products. He stated, “We do not have to be as inexpensive as goods made in China. We just need to be in the ballpark,” They are able to maintain a competitive price point due to their implementation of lean as well as through a comprehensive grasp of proper supply chain management and computer automation.
“We want stuff coming right off the truck and going into a product and then we want that product coming right off the production line and being shipped to a customer. That reduces our expenses of keeping inventory and storing inventory.” – Mitch Cahn
Cahn sits on the board of directors for NJMEP, a chairman of the Newark Workforce Development Board, and a director of the Newark Regional Business Partnership. He is a champion of New Jersey manufacturing and insists the state offers an incredible environment for manufacturing because of its workforce, access to ports, and its manufacturing infrastructure.
His impression of New Jersey manufacturing comes from years of experience in the sector and state. Cahn’s success is a testament to his leadership, the ability to implement lean, and brand his products as “Made in USA”.
Unionwear worked with NJMEP to develop a comprehensive lean manufacturing plan and to put it into practice. NJMEP’s lean manufacturing services are designed to make implementing this proven and effective business strategy manageable for a business of any size. For more information on lean manufacturing services, contact NJMEP and begin taking advantage of all the resources, support and experience available.
Although many factors have contributed to the manufacturing returning to the USA, the main driver is what drives most decisions: money. A mere 10 years ago, items made in the USA would have cost 200% more than items made in China. Now, it’s down to 25%.
There are two major reasons why this is happening:
Labor cost: not long ago, China faced an overpopulation crisis. In response, they set out on a One-Child Policy. Because of this, there are now fewer people entering the workforce. And, those people who are entering the workforce want to work for Apple, not work in factories. This shortage of labor has driven up wages.
Politics: the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China employs 1 million people, making tons of American goods. A series of investigations found horrific labor violations. As a consequence, employees received two, back-to-back 40% wage increases over two years. They also reduced the number of hours worked from 100 to 60, leading to 25% – 30% wage inflation year over year. At first, Foxconn and other factories responded by cutting corners, leading to many product failures, such as poisoned pet food, thus increasing expenses anyway. Companies tried moving out of China to “cheaper” places like Bangladesh, but those countries didn’t have the infrastructure, raising prices even more.
So, when you factor in shipping and other associated costs, the economic benefits to overseas manufacturing has all-but evaporated, leading to a resurgence of domestic manufacturing.
We are the primary brand chosen by political campaigns. Here are the details:
“JOE” on Navy, 100% cotton baseball cap with size-adjustable back strap.
Purchase is a donation to Biden Victory Fund.
Orders ship within 10 days.
Union Made and Made-In-USA.
To view and purchase, please click HERE
In 2018, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made this very insightful remark at Davos: “The pace of change has never been this fast, and it will never be this slow again.”
While this holds true in normal times, it is especially true in the middle of a pandemic.
COVID-19 has upended a whole host of sectors, including the entire hospitality industry, live events, and most industries which require person-to-person contact, such as beauty parlors and hair dressers.
Meanwhile, other sectors have never been busier. Those firms which enable working from home such as Zoom, and home delivery services like Amazon, have seen their valuations skyrocket.
One overlooked sector, of course, is manufacturing. Because things still need to be manufactured, manufacturers must innovate to stay alive in an industry that is constantly changing. For instance, how do manufacturing employees work from home? Is that even a viable option when making physical products? Do these firms have the right technology in place to maintain productivity and profitability?
The answer is, sometimes yes, and sometimes no. Over five years ago, Unionwear embraced new technologies such as cloud mobile ERP and MRP, which made our work significantly more productive, so we were more prepared than others. We figured out how to have a number of manufacturing employees working from home while COVID was at its peak so we could avoid production disruptions. We innovated and developed a full line of PPE products in a matter of weeks. And we came up with innovative ways to avoid disruptions to our supply chain.
For me, there are two big lessons to learn from this. One, manufacturers who embrace innovation will stay in business in the short-run and become more profitable and efficient in the long-run. Two, there is a lot of opportunity for entrepreneurs to assist manufacturers in embracing innovation, both from a consulting side and deploying hardware and software solutions.
We are in the middle of unprecedented challenges and an equal number of opportunities. If manufacturers want to stay profitable in the long-run, they must embrace innovation.
In 2013 APICS of Greater North Jersey hosted Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn to talk about his lean manufacturing journey. According to their website, APICS is “the industry leader in supply chain certification, training and networking. For more than 60 years, APICS has provided world-class supply chain training and certification to foster supply chain talent and improve end-to-end performance.”
Mitch has been living and breathing lean principles for years now. Indeed, in this video Cahn says, “I didn’t support the lean program, I was the lean program.”
Running a profitable manufacturing firm in New Jersey with unionized staff is a daily challenge. One of the keys to Unionwear’s survival and success has been to embrace lean manufacturing. In fact, without lean manufacturing, they would not be able to afford union labor. Even though well-paid employees are expensive, happy employees stay longer and embrace lean manufacturing because they want the company to succeed.
As one of the few remaining manufacturers in the US, Mitch Cahn & Unionwear is trying to fill the void left by all of the cost-cutting, outsourcing companies that have contributed to our crippled supply chain for lifesaving healthcare products, including personal protection equipment. They have turned a factory that was gearing up to make baseball hats for the Olympics, the US Census, and presidential campaigns into a facility making face shields & isolation gowns for frontline healthcare workers.
source: The Righteous Capitalists
A group of business owners and executives told state legislators June 10 that federal loans provided crucial assistance in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown, but said they are worried about the state’s business climate and what will happen when the funds run out if the economy does not recover quickly.
“I pushed the button to upload my documents one second after the loans were available,” said Gary Fails, the president of Carlstadt-based City Theatrical Inc. “We were among the first companies to get funding.”
The loans enabled the company to retain all of its employees, but, he noted “as one of the first companies to get funding, we’re also one of the first companies to have the funds run out.” City Theatrical produces lighting products and accessories for live events, a business that is unlikely to return this year. “Broadway shut down and our business disappeared and our sales dropped by 90 percent, Fails said.
Fails’ comments, along with those of other owners and executives, came during an online hearing convened by the bipartisan state Legislative Manufacturing Caucus and the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension program.
While some executives described problems getting loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program they were eventually resolved and allowed them to keep employees on staff.
Newark-based UnionWear usually makes promotional hats and other apparel, but pivoted to producing personal protection equipment when the COVID-19 outbreak hit. “In early March, we were about to have our greatest year ever,” said company President Mitch Cahn. UnionWear had orders to make products for presidential election campaigns and for Olympic athletes.
The PPP loans, Cahn said, allowed him to offer hazard pay to workers. He was able to offer a “significant bonus to convince people to come back to work.”
When a worker at Newark-based ZaGo Manufacturing Co. contracted COVID-19, the company was able to allow him and everyone he had contact with to be away from work for a month, thanks to PPP funds. “Our employees knew that that if they were exposed, they wouldn’t be hurt economically,” explained Gail Friedberg Rottenstrich, ZaGo’s CEO. The company makes self-sealing screws, nuts and bolts.
Cahn also raised an issue that many of his peers echoed: the regulatory environment in New Jersey. He said UnionWear did not get any orders from New Jersey for its PPE because the state did not override the need for approval from the Food and Drug Administration, an action other jurisdictions have taken. “We work with Detroit and Los Angeles, but nothing locally,” Cahn said.
Several lawmakers on the call, including Manufacturing Caucus co-chair Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-14th District, vowed that the Legislature would examine the issue.
Social distancing rules could also pose problems in a state where expanding structures can often be expensive and time-consuming. Marotta Controls CEO Patrick Marotta, told the lawmakers that in preparing his most recent budget, he planned to squeeze more employees into the company’s existing space. “That’s completely out the window,” he said.
The Montville-based maker of electronic components for the military owns 25 acres of land, but cannot add another building because of Highlands Council rules. So Marotta is trying to find a second location and is “looking at New Jersey restrictions as opposed to restrictions in other states.”
While the participants in the call generally praised the government response to the pandemic, many are concerned about what the recovery might look like. As Dax Strohmeyer, president of Triangle Manufacturing Co. Inc., put it: “If the demand isn’t there, it doesn’t matter if you can stay open.” The Upper Saddle River-based company is a contract manufacturer of medical devices and its business was hurt by the prohibition on elective surgical procedures imposed in March. Gov. Phil Murphy ended the ban effective May 26, though some limitations remain in place.
Strohmeyer is concerned that when his PPP funds are exhausted, he may be “in the tough position of furloughing and laying off people to realign our costs and revenue.” He added that when demand does return, he won’t easily be able to bring qualified workers back.
All of the owners and executives heaped praise on the NJMEP and CEO John Kennedy for providing essential guidance on reopening and interpretation of government mandates.
Source: NJBIZ.com
Unionwear in Newark, NJ made hats for the Warren, Bloomberg and Trump campaigns. Mitch Cahn, CEO of Unionwear, has been overflowing with orders of merch. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, the factory had been making election swag for both parties since 1992.
“I want to make sure that people have a way to speak freely and use our products to get their messages across,” said Cahn. “Some will appeal to young people, some will appeal to women, some will appeal to old white men.”
Before the Coronavirus hit, Unionwear was making between 2000-3000 hats in a single day. The factory orders usually come from agencies working with campaigns or candidate-supporting groups. That’s because political campaigns often want to hire US-based businesses for their merch.
The 2016 election was also a busy season.
Cahn continues: “The one time we saw a very surprising spike was with the original ‘Make America Great Again’ hat. The demand overwhelmed the supply. There are only a handful of factories [that could produce these] in the United States working on that hat for Trump.”
This sort of swag often doubles as campaign contributions, and it adds up. The Trump campaign sold more than $20m worth of merchandise between 2016 and 2018.
But not all campaigns make money on merch. Mike Bloomberg did not make money on his hats. He funded his run out of his own pocket.
Political swag is as old as the Presidency itself. Buttons bearing George Washington’s initials were sold at his first inauguration in 1789. But the business really took off in the mid-90s, when Mitch was just getting started.
“When the Internet came around and e-commerce became more viable, we got into the political market in a big way,” Cahn commented. But it wasn’t always easy. “All of our clients had moved overseas. And then we were left with a baseball hat factory and a lot of employees, and not a lot of places to get business from.”
Mitch had to transform the company, but he didn’t have to look far. He began selling to unions, who were looking to buy from Unionized businesses like his. He also began selling to military agencies, some of which are required to buy US-made goods.
Then came the political campaigns.
“The first order we got was a small order for the Bill Clinton campaign and was maybe 150 hats. Our first big break was with the Al Gore campaign [in 2000.] We sold probably more hats than we ever sold for any one particular client before. It was probably 200,000 hats overall.”
But having lots of swag may not translate into lots of votes, especially in 2020.
“The candidate that ordered the largest amount dropped out of the race early, Andrew Yang. That was definitely the most hats we’ve sold in this election cycle.”
Yang’s campaign sold more than 30,000 “Make Americans Think Harder” hats, which made up about $1.2 million of campaign revenue and are still for sale on his website.
And, what does Unionwear do with its merchandise once a candidate drops out?
“We have this down to a science. We are producing in small batches. Someone would have to drop out unexpectedly for us to get stuck with anything.”
Before the Covid-19 crisis, Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn spent the past 28 years supplying hats to a wide variety of clients. Being one of the only unionized, domestic manufacturers of hats and other items, Mitch has found a significant advantage in providing swag to organizations that purchase products that are made in the USA. These groups include labor unions, some military organizations, and especially Presidential campaigns.
Presidential candidates buy hats from Unionwear for three primary reasons:
1- Candidates are eager to show off their commitment to American job creation
2- Some candidates, such as Donald Trump and Andrew Yang, earn a profit off of selling their hats, providing much-needed financing to their campaigns
3- Unionwear’s prices are not significantly higher than those made overseas, thanks to their commitment to lean manufacturing and just-in-time ordering. This also means there are almost never leftover hats, even if a candidate drops out of the race suddenly
How did Unionwear get started selling merchandise to candidates as diverse as Al Gore, Donald Trump, Mike Bloomberg, and Andrew Yang?
After making a whopping 150 hats to Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign, their big break came from Al Gore’s 2000 presidential run, where he sold an estimated 200,000 hats. He has made hats for nearly every presidential candidate since.
“The candidate that ordered the largest amount dropped out of the [2020] race early, Andrew Yang. That was definitely the most hats we’ve sold in this election cycle,” said Cahn.
Yang’s campaign sold more than 30,000 “Make Americans Think Harder” hats, which made up about $1.2 million of campaign revenue and are still for sale on his website.
“I want to make sure that people have a way to speak freely and use our products to get their messages across. Some will appeal to young people, some will appeal to women, some will appeal to old white men,” Cahn said.
Although currently manufacturing face shields and washable gowns for first responders, Unionwear is still taking orders for hats and other apparel. This crisis won’t last forever, but Unionwear plans on being around for a long time afterward.
Mitch tells us how, a month ago, orders for political campaign hats and items evaporated as the Democratic presidential field consolidated. So, Unionwear needed to pivot and they started calling hospitals to find out how they might be able to help by making personal protective equipment (PPE) to help in the Covid-19 crisis.
Read more here
No matter whose team you’re on, there’s money to be made in presidential campaign-branded baseball caps — epitomized by those red “Make America Great Again” hats.
And Unionwear is one of the few companies in the running for that profit.
Mitch Cahn, president of the 180-person manufacturing team in Newark, says there are not a lot of textile products such as hats being made in the United States in general today — most of the work has gone to China or other emerging economies.
But, certain customers need to send the right message by choosing U.S. manufacturers for merchandise. That includes any would-be commander-in-chief.
Read more here
In the latest installment of ACG Global’s At Home with the Middle Market, Unionwear’s President, Mitch Cahn, discusses why Unionwear won ACG New Jersey’s Corporate Growth Award (1:15) and their experience being a union shop (2:55).
Mitch explains how Unionwear was able to participate in the PPP due to some assistance from the Newark Mayor and Invest Newark (9:48), how they’re able to grow by purchasing the assets of bankrupt textile businesses (11:32), and more.
A healthy relationship between company and union has been the driving force in getting health care providers more and more personal protective equipment when it is needed most.
Unionwear, a Newark-based company that is known for its production of hats, backpacks and binders, has quickly shifted its focus to creating face shields and surgical gowns.
Workers United has been reaching out to companies who could provide needs for those on the front lines in combatting the coronavirus, ensuring their employees are still working.
In uncertain times, it was a perfect match.
Please read more here
Mitch Cahn saw his entire summer’s worth of production laid out. His shop was going to produce hats for the U.S. Olympic team, manufacturing the line that organization would wear and sell. It was already manufacturing hats for all of the Democratic presidential nominees. Then his company would make more hats for the fall. Presidential merchandise was a lifeblood for Unionwear and the Newark, N.J., factory where they are produced.
As one of the few textile manufacturing factories in the United States, Cahn said, its “Made in USA” emblem was a premium companies want to be associated with. When a presidential candidate or the team representing the U.S. abroad wants a hat, they also want it, well, made in the U.S. — and that’s Cahn’s business.
But everything went awry quickly in early March. All but two of the Democratic candidates dropped out. Then the novel coronavirus pandemic started to hit the United States in full force, dramatically slowing down business along with the rest of the country. A few weeks later, Unionwear cut their staff, too, sending workers home and trying to figure out how they would operate in this new world.
Read more here
The Reshoring Initiative and SEAMS, the domestic textile manufacturing association, presented their inaugural Manufacturing Reshoring Award to Unionwear for bringing cut and sew jobs back to the USA. Unionwear’s 180 workers in Newark, NJ make baseball hats, backpacks, and other bags for the promotional products, fashion, and uniform industries.
Unionwear’s technological innovations have leveled the playing field with imports by highlighting small batch, quick turn manufacturing. Unionwear’s predictive configuration tool at http://www.trillionhats.com allows it to sell custom made products using a traditional webstore experience rather than a cumbersome online configurator, while its mobile ERP platform automates purchasing, production scheduling, manufacturing, and shipping. The result is “made to order” as seamless as ordering from Amazon.
The baseball cap industry’s mass relocation to China since the 1990’s, and Unionwear’s success in keeping manufacturing stateside throughout, was thoroughly explored earlier this month in the three part serial podcast documentary “American Icon” on iHeartRadio’s Red Pilled America podcast.
The Reshoring Award was presented at SEAMS’ annual conference in Savannah,GA on May 9, 2019. At the event, Contempora Fabrics won the Textile Reshoring Award and Mara Hoffman Designs won the Brand Reshoring Award. SEAMS members had reasons to celebrate, with domestic textile manufacturing showing strong, sustainable growth to $70 billion and over 100,000 jobs, numbers that will continue to climb due to the recent tariffs and the upcoming presidential election, when interest in “USA Made” traditionally peaks.
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