The Made in America Movement has now started to provide promising growth in the domestic apparel manufacturing and styling industry, since coming into prominent effect almost two years ago. However, that growth has not been without its share of obstacles and difficulties, some of which are still present and hindering the rate at which the Made in USA initiative is growing.
Factors that Worked in Favor of Reshoring are Promising
In order for any change in a present and established business model to be successful, it needs to be immediately profitable or present significant benefits that can be deemed as promising in the long run. The Made in USA program has been deemed as profitable and advantageous by the US International Trade Commission on account of the following reasons:
- Significantly lower lead times
- Wider flexibility in the production process
- Markedly improved quality control
Lower Shipping Costs Present a Profitable Scenario for the Domestic Business
When the entire manufacturing, assembling, packing and shipping is completed within the same country, without having to pay international duties for cross-border trading, import fees and excess shipping costs, the savings are quite substantial. For example, Golden Cutting & Sewing Supplies, aka GoldStar Tool is a Los Angeles based web retailer that ships everything from small items such as plastic grommets and washers, to bigger and heavier products like grommet machines and other press machines of every type for just 99¢ within the United States. On considering the fact that it’s not just lightweight items like plastic grommets, but the company is also domestically shipping almost every kind of machine and material required to manufacture apparel at just 99¢ as well, the expenses saved begin to make a lot of sense in favor of the Made in US initiative.
Labor Costs and Availability Still Remain the Major Obstacles
Two major factors that are still causing problems are the higher labor costs in the United States and even the unavailability of skilled laborers to work in the industry and under the initiative. Unfortunately, the initiative has not managed to produce any improvement in the industry’s employment percentage on US soil. Companies are therefore relying more on automation technology to fill in the gaps and also to save on costs associated with manufacturing within the United States. Fewer workers are required when the manual, repetitive tasks can be automated with software.
As is evident from several reports, the initiative is showing both progress and promise, but the obstacles are certainly still there. Nonetheless, the leaders of the business are counting mainly on automated technology to counter those problems, as well as on domestic investments from the government and private organizations to usher the Made in US program to a stage where it will become completely sustainable on its own. While that time may still be quite a bit in the future, progress is being made, and enthusiasm from domestic investors is definitely present to hope for even better results within the next few years.