Business owners have tough decisions to make. A common one, for those of us involved in manufacturing, is whether to manufacture domestically or overseas.
All things being equal, I would prefer to keep the business within our borders. Beyond feeling a patriotic duty, it also allows for more quality control, quicker turnaround and less mistakes. However, all things are not equal. The fact of the matter is that it is much less expensive to manufacture in other countries and since customers are also very price conscious, this allows companies such as mine to be competitive. But, what are the costs?
There are several downsides to producing overseas. Quality control is a big one. If there are mistakes such as buttons on the wrong side, dye that runs or poor embroidery you often do not find out until the order is delivered. And yes, we get production samples and check every detail. But orders do no always match production samples. Large companies often have their own people stationed near the manufacturing plants who regularly check the orders as they are being manufactured to ensure that everything is up to standard. But most small to midsize businesses can’t afford to do this. So for us, it is a matter of the cost benefit analysis.
Also, shipping from overseas takes longer and is subject to more unforeseen delays such as bad weather, port strikes and customs. Companies that have regular standing orders might not be as effected but it is riskier if your business works with highly customized orders as we do.
Yet domestic manufacturers will not customize orders of fewer than 5000 pieces. Often, these companies are themselves outsourcing to China, Mexico or South America and then tacking on their profit to resell the merchandise to us. Since I like to design unique looks for all of my clients, it makes more sense financially for me to work directly with an overseas factory that will handle small to midsize orders. So in effect, it has also allowed me to be more creative with our designs and keep our pricing down.
All this said, we actually do a lot of our own manufacturing right here in New York City. Our garments are cut in our garment district location and I absolutely prefer this. There is a satisfaction I get when an idea goes from a design on paper, to getting fabric made and dyed, cutting the goods and finally, creating the a finished product. It really is quite exhilarating to watch and to oversee the entire process. So if money was not an object and all of my clients were willing to pay more to manufacture all orders domestically, we would do it. But that is not the case. And thankfully, we have found some good factories overseas that will work with us on our size orders.
What I have come to realize is that it is crucial for companies that work with overseas manufacturers to establish relationships so that your needs will be addressed if any issues arise. And arise they do. In the end, I want to offer our customers high quality and good pricing, so though Made in the USA may be preferred, it just isn’t always possible.
