01/26/2021
There are realistic industry needs for Made in America that far outreaches the politics; speed to market and product control.
While president at Napier Jewelry, we were forced to move large amounts of production to China, at the time the cost efficiencies were massive. For decades, Napier was manufactured exclusively in Meriden, Connecticut. The quality of the product kept the brand relevant far after the previous management's vision failed.
The new management created a model where we designed and made test runs domestically, and landed them to a small cross section of valued retail partners. Within weeks, we could assess the successful styles with retail sales. The domestic factory kept the flow of the best sellers and we scaled the production in China. This initiative was largely responsible for the turnaround of both revenue and profit for the Napier brand while securing American jobs and quality for the consumer.
There is a moral to the story. Perhaps the complexity of global manufacturing and domestic manufacturing is the tail wagging the dog and for our industry’s Renaissance, this may just be the perfect time to write a new chapter making Made in America and profitability a reality.
The Biden plan, as proposed in July, would set aside $400 billion for government purchases of American-made goods, and invest $300 billion.
