Buy American to Have the Best of the Best

American Manufacturing Is Rebounding

While most of our global society knows that American craftsmen are unmatched by few groups in the world. The “glow” continues to wear off on the rush to have foreign workers make products cheaper than US craftsmen, since although cheaper to buy, many foreign products come with questionable quality.

American manufacturing, long a staple of the US economy since World War II, has not played a critical role in the domestic economic health for the past three decades. But things appear to be changing (finally). Supported by consumers craving quality; the phrase “made in America/USA” is making a renaissance-like comeback.

The growing resurgence of American manufacturing is long overdue. It appears that local manufacturing has impacted the growth of manufacturing in the nation. Smaller manufacturing companies have made a greater impact than huge multi-national mega corporations on the rebound of manufacturing. In past decades, the large steel conglomerates and the domestic auto industry led the way to the predominance of American manufacturing on the world stage.

Now, it is smaller manufacturing organizations that are a major player in this domestic economic resurgence. While these companies are smaller, they are making the largest impact on the return of the mantra, “made in America with pride.”

Local Manufacturing Companies Dominate

The future of the “Buy American” renaissance may be fueled by local manufacturing firms. Many expert observers agree. While former industry giants of manufacturing, such as steel and shipbuilding (can you say, “rust belt”), continue to struggle, smaller local manufacturing companies now stretch from coast-to-coast in the US.

For example, Edward Field, based in San Francisco, made the hard decision to produce products in America. Founded by an entrepreneur, Teddy Winthrop, Edward Field not only manufactures its products, but controls its distribution channels, selling directly to consumers.

As founder and CEO Winthrop says, Edward Field, is “an American accessories company.” Formerly working with his brother at American Giant, Winthrop had input into American Giant’s original single product, “the best hoodie ever made.” Edward Field focused on making a quality phone wallet. Winthrop states, ”I wanted to keep track of my two most valuable items, my phone and my wallet. I combined both items because I felt it was easier to keep track of one item, instead of two.”

Winthrop focused on manufacturing American made products and creating new jobs in the US. This was not boundless patriotism, but features sensibility. Logically, it made great sense to make these products locally, close to home.

Many local manufacturing firms agree with the mission of Edward Field. Its CEO keeps it simple. By making our own products and direct selling to consumers, “we eliminate most of the distribution costs and large marketing budgets,” which typically are necessary with overseas manufacturing efforts.

The Internet Allows Smaller Firms to Access Global Markets

The ‘Net has made it easier to shop online and permits small local companies to operate as large multi-national companies formerly did. Even Internet marketing campaigns are more cost-effective than typical prime-time TV ads. Instead of mega cost 20 to 30 second TV ads, the 24/7/365 nature of the Internet can make money even while you’re sleeping.

If you have a good American manufacturing idea, the only problem you face is keeping your facility active for one, two, or three shifts. Is it possible that local “American made” products will be the foundation of a strong American economy once again?

http://buyamericancampaign.org/buy-american-to-have-the-best-of-the-best/ 

The Impact Of Buying American

When this sentence reaches its’ natural conclusion, consider taking a moment to reflect upon the environment in which you currently find yourself. Whether it is your personal bedroom, workplace, or even on the road, the origin of many of the products around you is questionable at best. The reason for this uncertainty stems from the fact that the United States economy is heavily supported by the import of foreign goods and services that often do not require Country of Origin labels. While these goods and services can be of the highest quality they often don’t stack up to similar goods made here in America. You may be asking yourself why that is? The answer is multifaceted but this article will seek to explain the differences between American perceptions towards the quality associated with domestic vs. foreign goods.

According to the Consumer Reports National Research Center, if Americans were afforded the opportunity to select between a product made in the United States and an identical product made in countries outside of the US, approximately 78 percent of Americans would purchase the product made in America. That is over 250 million people or 6 times the size of California. With that many Americans being in favor of buying American made products, one could safely assume that an America where a greater number of products were made domestically, would be more self-sufficient than it is today.

The next question you might ask yourself would be how a “Buy American” approach might impact the domestic marketplace. Consider the fact that numerous polls indicate that approximately 60 percent of their respondents would happily pay an increased fee (roughly 10%) on goods manufactured in the United States. This is due, in part, to the overwhelming sense of patriotism associated with the “Buy American” mentality. American consumers are inspired by the fact that they have an opportunity to assist their countrymen, increase job opportunities, and support local business. The gains to our economy wouldn’t end there however, as a recent poll conducted by the Boston Consulting Group indicates that more than half of Chinese consumers would rather “Buy American” than buy Chinese. That speaks highly to the quality of an American made product.

In addition to the obvious boost to the economy, “Buying American” will also help the rest of the world. It will decrease child labor in foreign countries that often provide subpar working conditions. Thus allowing for these children to grow up with less physical handicaps later in life. Additionally, it would send a message to foreign countries about the value Americans place on human lives, which would in turn cause other countries to reconsider how they treat their people if they would like our business back.

As this article concludes, you are urged to continue to discover the origins of items in your environment. Investigate their tags, barcode labels, and more. Be curious about where they originated and be inquisitive as to whether there are American made alternatives. If there are not, do not beat yourself up. Know that “Buying American” is a gradual process that takes each of us working in tandem to achieve!

http://buyamericancampaign.org/the-impact-of-buying-american/ 

Why Aren't We Buying American?

Research conducted over the course of the past year or so has revealed a frustrating statistic: more people are paying much more attention to the price than any labeling indicating that a product is Made in America. For those of us who are trying to revive American manufacturing, this statistic is more infuriating than most. How are we going to be able to get the average person interested and actively engaged in manufacturing?

Part of the problem, of course, is that the average person is too far removed from the process to feel like their individual contribution is actually assisting the American manufacturing industry. After all, they don’t interact on a daily basis with manufacturers. They don’t see their fellow Americans returning to manufacturing jobs. In fact, most Americans cannot tell you three facts about American Manufacturing period.

So how do we fix this?

Changing the face of manufacturing is the first way we’re going to bring the idea of American manufacturing home to people. To do this is going to take a lot of effort on everyone’s parts in order to educate people about what American manufacturing looks like.

●        Through a targeted campaigns or ads: There are many organizations throughout the United States that are supporters of American manufacturing. They spend quite a bit of time and money getting the word out to their fellow manufacturers and lawmakers about manufacturing problems. If they regulated some of the funds spent on advertising to market to lay people on the modern face of manufacturing, people might be more apt to recognize the faces as their neighbors and friends, rather than strangers.

●        Education at the school-age level: We’ve touched upon this need in other articles but technical education in schools needs to become a priority as we move into more technical levels of manufacturing. It seems bizarre that something so fundamental is pushed aside in favor of more band lessons, drama lessons, and the like. Most four-year schools don’t even include a technical education component in their curriculum. One or two classes would not disrupt any pre-college coursework and it may encourage students to pursue avenues in manufacturing that will aid in the recovery of an industry. 

●        Having representatives from local manufacturers put in public appearances: This one seems like a no-brainer but a lot of people fail to recognize American manufacturers because they aren’t a very visible part of our everyday lives. Manufacturing can be a very isolating business, with majority of work conducted on premise and many hands exchanging and moving from place to place before it gets to the consumer. By sending out representatives to public events in their home towns, they will become a familiar image in public minds.

Along with visibility, American manufacturing needs to create a demand for its product. Easier said than done, right? I’m not talking in economic terms. Since the last presidential election, large corporate companies like Toys-R-Us have reported no increase in the demand for American-Made products and that is not great incentive to switch to more American-Made manufacturers. So long as people believe that they are only one voice, they will fail to speak out in any significant way. The circulation of petitions, whether online or in-store, would allow for more companies to see that their customers demands, without it being too difficult on the customer to show their support.

In addition, stores would do well to allow the selection via a click-survey on their website to further demonstrate the desire for American products. At least allowing their customers the option of making their wishes known would allow them to look more patriotic, something that many corporations strive for. In a recent poll, it showed that 3 out of 4 Americans believed; buying USA made merchandise is more patriotic. Furthermore, The BCG survey found that about two-thirds of U.S. shoppers said they were willing to pay a 10% to 60% premium for items ranging from appliances to baby food if they were made domestically.

The one thing that we, unfortunately, have very little control over is, of course, price. In tough economic times, it only makes sense that more people are looking toward the price of products more than branding. Fixing this problem is something that manufacturers have been worrying over since the 1990s when the decline in American manufacturing began its rapid descent. A lot of this can be handled with modifications of treaties via congressional encouragement, but trying to make congress make any impactful decision concerning economic impacts seems to be a difficult task.

That being said, it is possible to more closely match competitor pricing through the ever-growing creative manufacturing products as well as increase visibility of the American made labeling system by enabling consumers to simply glance at a product and know it was manufactured right here in the USA. As new innovations and product labeling systems evolve, it is possible to counterbalance higher end-product pricing.

The more American products that find themselves onto retail shelves, the more matters of price and labeling can go by the wayside. It’s a possible but it’s going to take time. Every contribution is pushing us toward a stronger American manufacturing industry. The question remains if those with the power to do so are going to help the American public understand and take action against the industry killers that are currently plaguing the current system. 

A Good Year for Manufacturing

We’re five months into 2017 and it seems like American manufacturing is having a fantastic year. According to CNN Money, the growth in the industry over the last eight months has reached a 54.8% on the ISM Manufacturing index, an indicator of industry health with scores exceeding 50% indicating growth. This figure puts industry health well above last year’s declination and seems to indicate that manufacturers are feeling good about the increased need of industry products.

It’s no wonder they’re feeling positive. This year we’ve added 50,000 new jobs in the manufacturing industry and that number is expected to rise as we go into the latter part of 2017.

Figuring out why the increase is jobs is simple: demand. Automation may allow manufacturers to use fewer workers to do certain tasks but the increased need for other manufacturing employees performing different tasks is growing at a steady rate. This means that encouraging our youth to engage in manufacturing via schooling is not the dead end that many had purported it to be in years previous.

It’s important not to get too excited over this year’s gains just yet. April did see a slight dip in the ISM Manufacturing index in comparison to March’s numbers. Though, it is the opinion of this journalist that comparing statistical analysis month to month is a little like trying to determine weather patterns for an entire year based on a few days’ measurements.

Last year America ended up losing 16,000 jobs thanks to damaging trade agreements like NAFTA as well as the continued automation of manufacturing processes with fewer and fewer qualified applicants able to fill open positions. The last is thanks largely to the lack of education in what exactly modern manufacturing looks like. This new presidency and congressional appointments have claimed to be dedicated to discouraging any damaging trade agreements to American manufacturers. Only time will tell if those campaign promises will be followed through.

That being said, this year’s numbers do look very promising and might signal a turn in the tide of declining American manufacturing conducted on American soil. With new incentive programs being created via additional tax breaks for manufacturers who conduct business here in America, we might see a surge in new industry growth as we approach the latter half of the year.

NAM, the National Association of Manufacturers, agrees. They note that manufacturers’ optimism are at a 20-year high, a good indicator that they are experiencing positivity as they move through 2017.

NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said at a press conference at the White House, “As the survey shows, manufacturers of all sizes are now less concerned about the business climate going forward because they are counting on President Trump to deliver results. Small manufacturers—more than 90 percent of our membership—are among the hardest hit by regulatory obstacles. Regulatory costs for small manufacturers with fewer than 50 employees total almost $35,000 per employee per year—money that could otherwise go to creating jobs. It’s encouraging to see an administration so focused on providing regulatory relief to spur manufacturing growth.”

Business environment concerns have also reached a 20-year high as well, meaning that regulatory hurdles are no longer something that worry manufacturers to the degree it use to. This is most likely due to the promises of newly elected congressional figures to relax manufacturing regulations in order to increase productivity and allow for greater efforts to be put into actual production.

While this may make most manufacturers feel better about their manufacturing bottom line, it does present some new challenges. For example, many less reputable companies may use these lax regulatory options as a way to lower costs and lower value of their product in order to capitalize on cheap production. This may effectively price-out many American manufacturers if there aren’t some modifications to these new regulations in place.

It becomes a balancing act between laxing regulations in order to not stall production and using regulations to keep less reputable manufacturers from capitalizing on loopholes. Despite the risks, manufacturers still remain hopeful that these new rules will allow them to make a larger impact on the world around them by increasing production and the ability to gain new customers through expansion.

Manufacturing leaders have already met with Washington officials several times already to discuss the possible amendments, changes, or adaptations to certain laws in order to encourage manufacturing growth on native soil. The meetings, though kept secret to the public, seemed to be end on a positive note for the manufacturing industry. In press conferences held outside the White House grounds, offices from NAMA and other agencies reported positive conversations between the current presidency and the leading officials.

So where is the positive growth coming from? It seems mainly from areas of technology manufacturing. Apple, one of the largest technology manufacturers in the world, has announced that they plan on creating a $1 billion dollar fund geared toward boosting advanced manufacturing in the USA. Tim Cook, Apple’s president, told CNBC’s Mad Money, “I'm proud to tell you that we're creating an advanced manufacturing fund. By doing that, we can be the ripple in the pond because if we can create many manufacturing jobs around — those manufacturing jobs create more jobs around them, because you have a service industry that builds up around them.”

In addition, promises for corporate tax cuts embolden industry leaders with the promise of more profit for increasing US production. Currently, the tax percentage on large corporations sit at 35%. How and what other adjustments to national budget must be made in order to accommodate lowering the overall taxes imposed on corporations remains to be seen. Some congressional members believe that adjustments, amendments, and cuts in the current Affordable Care Act will enable them to safely lower corporate taxes without too big of an impact on economics and budgetary hurdles that could endanger the promises of congressional members before they even begin changing the regulations.

Overall, manufacturers remain uniquely positive in 2017. We’ll keep a close eye to see if there are better things to come for our American manufacturers. Until then, things look bright. 

American Workers: An Endangered Breed

American manufacturers in today’s economy are faced with the struggle to find workers skilled enough to complete the tasks needed to operate efficiently. Currently, one in ten openings for manufacturing positions requiring skilled workers will remain unfilled. This is because of a shortage in talent and a shortage of people with the qualifications to do the job.

It is anticipated that between the years 2015 and 2025 there will be 3.5 million manufacturing positions that will need to be filled in the United States. The significance of this number could mean a lot of job potential for unemployed Americans and Americans coming of age during those years.

The problem that American manufacturers currently face is the fact that of those 3.5 million manufacturing positions, it is estimated that 2 million of those jobs will be unfilled simply because the manufacturing company won’t be able to find qualified workers with the necessary skills in today’s technology-run industry.

There is a large gap between the demand for qualified workers and people pursuing careers in American manufacturing processes. Unfortunately, ensuring that education and proper training is available to prospective workers is only a small part of the problem.

There is an on-going stigma centered around manufacturing jobs here in America and that plays a large part in the youth’s decision to pursue education and training in other fields of work. This stigma stems from an outdated and mistaken point of view about the American manufacturing industry.

With the struggles from the decline of the old standard of American manufacturing still being felt and the perception that investing the time and education into learning skills for manufacturing jobs will limit a person’s options should the company decide to outsource their work to off shore facilities, it is no wonder that there has been a widespread decline in people interested in pursuing careers within the American manufacturing industry.

Industry leaders here in the United States are working hard to help correct that stigma through education and advertisement. One of the ways they are tackling this problem is by focusing on the younger generation. In a recent survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation that was commissioned by Proto Labs, they found that more than two-thirds of the people involved in the survey did not view American manufacturing jobs as a high tech career choice.

Instead, the routines that people most commonly associate with American manufacturing jobs included working among machines, on assembly lines, non robotic technicians managing automated machines, and only a handful saw American manufacturing workers as software developers in front of computer screens.

The reality is that the days of people working assembly lines has long since passed. Those jobs aren’t as plentiful as they once were, but there is a growing need for new kinds of manufacturing jobs.

The rise in technology now requires skilled professionals who are able to keep up with the electronic and automated processes. The manufacturing industry needs workers who can trouble shoot these machines, complete complex computing tasks, operate these robots, and help in the development of these robots and automatic machines for future uses.

There is such a strong demand for automation and useful equipment that often times the industry isn’t able to keep up. Many companies are relying on the brilliant minds of the people they’ve hired to think of new and inventive ways to handle the large workflow.

Finding people trained in the areas companies need has become a nearly impossible task. Changing the perception of the people in general and youth entering the work force will help to fix this problem and hopefully open up more possibilities for the future of American manufacturing. Whether or not this education will prevent those 2 million job openings from remaining vacant remains to be seen.

American manufacturing companies have already started trying to engage the younger generation. GE is currently working on targeting millennials and the rising generation that will graduate in the next few years. They have done this by creating its “digital industrial” ad series. This ad series stars millennials, Sarah and Owen, and offers an alternative to expensive college costs.

GE has also launched a “Digital Industrial” filter for Snapchat. Snapchat is an app used by many millennials and the subtle targeting to the younger generation is not only a recruitment tool but also a rebranding effort to elevate the American manufacturing industry and the stigma around it.

Other companies have gone a step further. Lincoln Electric has invested money in the new age gear associated with virtual reality. They’ve created a virtual world where the user is transported to a plant floor where they can try their hand at welding. They use this technology at their career fairs and it provides a unique opportunity to actually let prospective employees try out the work and see if it is a good fit for them. This in turn will lead to people seeking out more training in those areas and letting go of the stigma around them.

People have started to move away from the idea that the only way to get ahead is through expensive and extensive years at college. The market is currently flooded with people who hold these degrees but we don’t have any workers able to do jobs in manufacturing positions. The result is a stressed economy with educated people unable to find jobs or a job that will cover the cost of their education and provide a roof over their head.

The American manufacturing industry is offering an alternative to this. They need jobs filled and they anticipate having more jobs in the coming years. By fighting back the stigma, they will be able to fill those jobs and help the American economy by giving back to the Americans in need of work. The stigma of uneducated employees working in manufacturing plants is also being fought. This is because it’s simply not true.

With so much technology involved in the American manufacturing industry, these jobs are requiring a highly skilled workforce that excels in the industry of robotic equipment automation controls.

They also need people skilled in software development. These manufacturing development jobs will require further education, but in the right areas. Those who want to put in the extra time and money to earning a four year college degree or higher need to be educated on which path to choose and by picking a path in software development they will have a steady stream of job opportunities in the coming years.

Encouraging Americans toward manufacturing and the many jobs needed to create successful manufacturing environments still remains an uphill battle. Only through education and a reconstitution of how we anticipate and think about manufacturing can we prevent the rare breed of the American worker from becoming extinct.

The Decline & Rebirth of American Quality Manufacturing

With American quality manufacturing jobs moving overseas, the loss of industry has cost many Americans their livelihood and resulted in a sharp economic decline. The effects of that decline have been felt in recent times as American quality manufacturing has once again come into the lime light as Americans have begun to ask, “Where has American-made gone?”

From 1998 to 2013, America lost 5.7 million factory and manufacturing jobs to overseas facilities and the outsourcing of materials, products, and goods needed for the manufacturing industry.

Many supporters for keeping manufacturing overseas have stated that bringing the manufacturing jobs and process back to America would be a waste of time since robots and automation have replaced many of the jobs that were lost in the 1990’s.

Their argument is valid and they do bring up a good point of how much the manufacturing industry has changed due to technology, but there are still positive aspects to bringing manufacturing companies back to America.

In recent years, people have demanded more and more for products and goods made in America in an attempt to bring the manufacturing companies back to American soil. These demands are slowly being answered as more and more manufacturing companies are finding ways to bring their manufacturing processes back to the United States while still minimizing additional business costs.

The companies that have already taken the plunge have shown that just because they are moving back to American soil doesn’t mean they have to have additional costs and raise their prices.

Even those companies that have revolved around automation like Tesla have found a new way to create American jobs. They are doing this by coming back to American soil, opening up new manufacturing plants, and creating new jobs within the manufacturing industry. Automation and robots can only do so much and with the rise in technology there is a new need for operators and people who know how to perform maintenance on these instruments.

As a direct result of the few companies who have already taken the plunge and come back to American soil, there has been a rise in the American economy. Manufacturing jobs still make up a good portion of the job industry in America. About 8.8 percent of total employment is made up of American manufacturing jobs and more are headed this way.

Companies like Tesla are working to bring back their manufacturing jobs to hard working Americans. Tesla has already invested five billion dollars into its Gigafactory. Not only has the factory resulted in an influx of money being spent right here in America, but it is projected to offer ten thousand jobs when it is finished.

The Gigafactory will be responsible for manufacturing lithium ion batteries. This is a plant where a lot of the production is automated and yet the decision to move their manufacturing plant back to their home soil has resulted in an increase in jobs.

The estimation of ten thousand jobs does not even account for the additional jobs that were created in the process. By building a new plant facility, that means more jobs for contractors, builders, and construction workers. Outside of the plant, distributions centers here in America will be employed to move the finished products to buyers. The trickle down effect of this one company had undoubtedly had a positive effect on the American economy.

Other companies have already made the move back to American soil. In 1991, the family-owned company, Bicycle Corporation of America moved the production of its bikes fully off shore. This cost many people their jobs and while it saved production value within the company, it had a negative impact on the local economy.

Two years ago that same company decided to bring back a small portion of their production process back to America. The Bicycle Corporation of America moved from China to South Carolina and employed one hundred and fifteen people in their facility. This year they are projected to produce three hundred thousand bicycles in South Carolina, which is the same as they made back in 1991.

The Bicycle Corporation of America does operate at a third fewer employees than it used to, but that didn’t mean that their decision to move back to America was wasted since their product gained value as a made-in-America product.

They are bringing in more revenue into South Carolina and have continued to flourish and keep up with the low cost benefits that came with moving their productions off shore.

When it comes to American quality manufacturing, the argument that bringing home companies won’t result in an boom in jobs like we saw in the 1990s due to automation and robots is true. However, it does make a difference and it does bring home an increase in overall economic stability and increased socioeconomic growth, even if it is not the same swell we saw during the 90s.

We might not ever return the era of manufacturing we saw before off shoring became the standard, but we can see a new era, one that comes with new kinds of jobs. These jobs will also allow us to be an industry leader with the advancing technology used in the manufacturing industry.

We don’t need to avoid the subject of American quality manufacturing. Nor do we need to have unrealistic expectations of what it could mean for bringing manufacturing back to the United States, but we can look to the future and embrace the change and find a new way to have our products made in America.

American quality manufacturing might have perished but the rebirth of its productivity is in process and with the help of organizations like the Buy American Campaign, the American public will find itself making better, more well-informed decisions in regards to their product purchases.

Do you have more examples of manufacturers bringing back American jobs? Contact us and tell us about it!