Should You Manufacture Overseas Or In The USA? November 21 2014
Exclusively Kristen is proud that we manufacture our garments in the USA. However, there are pros and cons to both manufacturing overseas and in the USA, which I will highlight below.
Manufacturing Overseas
Pros:
- Cost: labor is much cheaper
- Cost: textiles are cheaper and so is shipping textiles from one developing country to another
- Raw materials are usually in-house or they can be easily and cheaply sourced
- Manufacturers tend to go out of business less
- There are an abundance of manufacturers
Cons:
- Language barrier
- Less oversight
- Extra costs such as tariffs and international shipping to and from the USA
- Lower/different manufacturing and labor standards
- Delays in shipping due to customs
- Damaged goods due to issues that arise when shipping long distances
- You have to give a 30% deposit to start
- You have to pay in full before it leaves the port
- Delays in production time due to waiting for samples to arrive in the mail
- High MOQ (minimum order quantity)
- Less reliability: delays in shipping and/or production can make it difficult to meet deadlines
Manufacturing In The USA
Pros:
- Low MOQ
- Easier to identify reputable manufacturers
- Quicker turnaround and quicker shipping
- More oversight
- Higher manufacturing and labor standards
- High intellectual property right protections
- No upfront deposit unless the factory provides fabric
Cons:
- Much higher costs
- Tend to go out of business more
- Usually the raw materials (fabric, hang tags, labels, etc.) are not provided by the factory
- Materials can be out of stock (with no notice)