Forget ‘Made In China,’ Factory Jobs Come Back To U.S.

Workers at Rickshaw Bags in San Francisco produce about 50,000 messenger bags a year. (

Workers at Rickshaw Bagworks in San Francisco produce about 50,000 messenger bags a year. (Joseph Montana, Rickshaw Bagworks)

American manufacturing grew in March at close to the fastest pace in nearly seven years. While the Federal Reserve cautions that the economy is still recovering at a modest pace, factories and high-tech companies added jobs in most parts of the country. Could part of the reason be that some smaller companies have decided to bring overseas jobs back to the U.S.?

Wired magazine recently reported that several companies have decided to stop outsourcing to developing countries like China, because of poor quality, the cost of shipping, the cost of overseeing a factory thousands of miles away and concerns that their designs will be stolen.

We speak with Brendan Koerner of Wired magazine, who profiled several companies that are bringing jobs back to America. We also speak to Mark Dwight, owner of Rickshaw Bagworks in San Francisco and founder of SFMade, a nonprofit group that helps companies set up manufacturing facilities in San Francisco.

ABC News: Made in America

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

JHS

Glad to hear about this business and its philosophy.

Allen Edmunds shoes are made in the US. They’re worth every penny!
http://profiles.google.com/lloydrph Jonathan Lloyd

The guest mentioned his parts cost 50% more. Robin then stated it was double in price. Double would be 100%.
Mike

The truth is that many companies move production to China as much for the culture of corruption as for low cost labor. It is much easier and cheaper for them to set up a new plant in China by using “consultants” to make payoffs to local officials and party members and thereby evade complying with environmental, safety, labor and land use regulations in China than it would be to go through zoning, permitting, and other regulatory compliance in the United States. Thus, companies manufacturing in China can externalize the true costs of production to surrounding community simply by paying the toll to government and party officials through the cut-outs of “consultants”. It is time for the U.S. Department of Justice to start enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) against U.S. manufacturers in China, not just U.S. exporters.
LGPA

What perfect timing!

Axendia, Inc. recently published their findings in a major research study of 112 Life Science Industry Executives titled, “Achieving Global Supply Chain Visibility, Control & Collaboration in Life Sciences: Business Imperative, Regulatory Necessity”.

According the research:

• 50% of Executives see raw materials sourced outside of the United States as the greatest vulnerability to the supply chain.
• 61% view contaminated or nonconforming raw materials as the top threat in the next 5 years.
• 78% said global sourcing outside of the United States would increase
• 76% said their global manufacturing outside of the United States would be increasing.

Request a complimentary copy of this report at: http://www.axendia.com/2010_LS_GSC.html
Guest

I’m confused. Each time an American offers something of genuine quality at a fair price, the design is immediately stolen and the item is mass produced in China at a fraction of the cost (and quality). Where is the incentive for an American to produce? Lower quality leads to injuries in some industries, but “consultants” (or fixers) calculate that cost into their system – they expect people to get injured. I don’t recall any change in our laws or regulations allowing that kind of thinking. This philosophy is more in keeping with criminal activity – like “control fraud” accounting. Our justice dept. (and regulators) must have been silenced by “fixers” and “consultants” too. I ask again – why produce an item here? How can you make it in manufacturing in this country? Feel free to comment!
Pam Hoffman

I have a new knitting needle company, Indian Lake Artisans, and our knitting needles are entirely made in the state of Michigan. I found your Forget ‘Made in China’ segment very interesting especially how it relates to my product. My company’s mission was to produce our knitting needles using materials and resources from Michigan companies, and we have successfully accomplished that. We handcraft our needles using sustainably harvested North American walnut, cherry and birch hardwoods from forests in the Great Lakes region. However, because our products are handcrafted and truly 100% USA made, our price point is higher than mass produced, imported knitting needles which are in abundance in the craft retail market. Our knitting needles have a unique, patented hexagonal design which allows the beginning knitter to quickly master control of the needles and the advanced knitter to knit for longer periods of time experiencing less muscle fatigue and hand stress. Combining the superior quality of our needles, the hexagonal shape benefit and the fact the needles are entirely USA made, is our selling point to the American consumer. We struggle every day with comments about the cost of our needles and honestly if we outsourced production processes to China, or southeast Asia, we could price them for a lot less. We have found our customers are willing to pay a little extra for an excellent product entirely made in the USA and appreciate the fact that we do make our knitting needles here. I hope to help knit America back together one stitch at a time.
Budd

No mention of Rickshaw’s “manufacturing partner” in China here. What’s up with that?
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