Should I make it in the USA? [live]

The Art of Manufacturing

Four experts explore the dilemma of where to do your manufacturing. It’s is an important question to ask yourself when you are launching a company, and most people assume they need to go to China or elsewhere overseas. We’ve heard a lot about Made in America and retaining manufacturing jobs over the years. But is locally-made just a nice thing to talk about? Or are there times when it makes better business sense to make it here?

We speak with Michael Corr, CEO of Durolabs, formerly head of engineering at several hardware startups in the US and China; Sean Scott, CEO of COMUNITY, formerly of VANS, ASICS, Nike, and TOMS; Clarissa Redwine who heads up Kickstarter’s hardware community on the West coast; and Jaleh Factor, who brings her accounting background to her role as founder and CEO of Sourcing Theory, an apparel factory in DTLA. The conversation was recorded live at the LA Cleantech Incubator, at an event co-hosted by MAKE IT IN LA, ArtCenter College of Design, Supplyframe, Kickstarter, and Califia Farms.

I was curious how to model your expenses, how to assess the risks, and how to consider the hidden costs of manufacturing overseas. We discuss the ethical and sustainability considerations, which aren’t as simple as they seem. We talk about how to find your suppliers. And we hear some horror stories from the trenches.

This episode is not meant as a sales pitch for local manufacturing. Every company needs to do what’s right for their business. But, as I suspected, the decision isn’t as obvious as people make it out to be. This week’s guests give some surprising answers.

Links mentioned:

Cost calculator: Reshorenow.org

Tyranny of Small Decisions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_small_decisions

Episode with Jesse Genet of Lumi: http://makeitinla.org/jessegenet

Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck: http://amazon.com/dp/0143039431

Nomiku - sous vide cooker: https://www.nomiku.com/

Turntouch - wooden remote: https://shop.turntouch.com

Wood Thumb – woodworking makerspace: https://woodthumb.com/

PODO Labs – the first stick and shoot camera: https://podolabs.com/

Sourcing Theory: https://www.sourcingtheory.com/

Kickstarter: http://kickstarter.com

Durolabs: https://www.durolabs.co/

COMUNITY: http://comunitymade.com

For more information, bios, and links, check out the show notes at http://makeitinla.org/podcast/makeUSA.