Tech,pinions
Date: August 29, 2019
By: Phil Baker

I’m often asked why consumer tech products can’t be made in this country. In fact, with Trump’s tariff wars, more and more companies are being pressured to look for local manufacturing. I’ve always been skeptical, having worked on more than a hundred consumer tech products over my career, mostly manufactured in Asia, including Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and China. Few companies in this country have the experience, knowledge, and resources to compete. And that’s before considering the cost and time to market advantages of Asia.

I recently had a chance to test this assumption, really hoping that I could prove myself wrong, thinking perhaps I’ve missed changes to US manufacturing over the years. Just maybe things have changed as new companies have emerged from crowdfunding campaigns looking for domestic manufacturers.

A friend asked for help to find a local (Southern California) manufacturer for his client that was building a couple of ruggedized consumer products that involved optics, displays and electronics. They needed to find a manufacturer within a few hours’ drive to take the product from a mature prototype into manufacturing and build a few thousand at a time. It was the beginning of a new line of products for the profitable company that represented about a half million dollars in business per year, likely doubling in year two.

I followed the process that I had used in the past, mostly just common sense: Profile the kind of company we wanted with regard to experience, size of business, skill set, and ideally developing similar products. I identified ten candidates by checking business directories, trade show exhibitions and websites. I then sent a personal email to each with an introduction, explaining the opportunity, what we were searching for, the type of product we wanted to build, and the size of our business. In return, I asked each company to tell us about themselves: how they manage a product introduction, describing any relevant experience, and how do they charge for their services.    [FULL  STORY]