Made in the USA momentum
In the healthcare field, some 80% of all PPE are sourced from Southeast Asia, according to healthcare improvement company Premier Inc. That company is one of many working to change those numbers. “One of the major lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic is that the current U.S. supply chain overleverages foreign markets for many vital medical products, which can inhibit our ability to manage through a pandemic or another natural disaster,” said Premier President Michael J. Alkire.
Like the U.S. Trade Representative, many manufacturers in the hardware and building supply sector believe the pandemic will accelerate interest in domestic manufacturing. An HBSDealer special report on the Made in USA movement appears in the June issue, with contributions from sixty companies that embrace domestic manufacturing.
Wallboard Tool Co. says that it can continue to make tools when the supply chain is interrupted. It imports some tools, but makes more than 85% of its tools in Long Beach, Calif.
“When retailers only focus on price rather than quality, the imports always win,” the company said. “U.S. manufactures cannot compete with low wages paid to workers in China. The supply chain can only improve when the U.S. consumer is willing to support brands that are made in the USA. Many U.S. brands now have all of their production made in foreign countries. We must bring back manufacturing to the USA to support the American work force and protect the American supply chain.”
L.E. Johnson of Elkhart, Ind., makers of innovative door hardware, explained it this way: “We, as a nation and as an industry, have always been innovators. And we’ll build a way to come out of this pandemic stronger, smarter, and safer.”