The Rodon Blog - A Focus on Plastic Injection Molding and American Manufacturing

There are many risks involved in selecting an OEM suppliers. Understanding them is essential to running a successful business. In our white paper "Hidden Risks in Your Offshore Supply Chain", we’ll examine three strategic areas to include in your supplier selection process: Cost, Scheduling, and Compliance.

Cost

Cost is not just the final price you pay for a part. Cost also includes shipping, time to market delays, quality control checks as well as labor. Cheap foreign labor is becoming more expensive.  Offshore suppliers face a more demanding workforce. And, today’s consumers are demanding that suppliers provide improved working conditions and pay. All of this is driving up the unit cost of goods sold.

This article written by Mary Ann Pacelli at the Manufacturing Extension Partnership originally appeared on the NIST/MEP blog on November 12, 2015.

As a manufacturer, you don’t want workers – you want company ambassadors. Workers are individuals who show up and get their tasks done. Company ambassadors are a team of employees who are enthusiastic about their careers, and they are inspired and empowered to proactively help your business grow.

Company ambassadors are innovative and are confident in their ability to achieve excellence. They serve as cheerleaders for your company to the outside public. You can guide your workers into becoming company ambassadors through workforce development initiatives.

In the past, many businesses operated on the assumption that their vendors were in compliance with the latest rules and regulations regarding their industry. Technology and materials were limited, so buyers worked with manufacturers who could produce the best product often without clearly defined quality guidelines or parameters.

Manufacturing high-quality plastic injection molded parts takes a lot of attention to detail. There are four key factors that determine if a large-volume project will go smoothly. They include:

Part Design, Tool Design and Build, 
Material Selection and Manufacturing

Speed and efficiency in plastic injection molding equate to cost savings. So, it is no surprise that robots play an important role in improving the manufacturing process. From simple sprue pickers to complex automated End-of-Arm Tooling (EOAT), the industry is taking advantage of this automation trend. 

Dr. Martin Luther King's contributions to the advancement of civil rights in this country defines the word "leadership". He was a visionary leader who was deeply committed to achieving social justice through nonviolent means. 

In celebration of Dr.King's birthday this past Monday, we thought we'd highlight past leaders in the manufacturing world who made very different but equally important contributions to today's advanced technologies.  Each of them had their own unique leadership styles with one important trait in common; they were all visionaries. They each saw the potential of creating a better, more efficient system or machine to complete a task. While the official “Industrial Revolution” may be over, our society still benefits from the work of these current day visionaries. 

For years, products made in the United States have been considered to be more expensive than products made overseas. Manufacturing was cheaper outside of the US, and it was easier to find the low-paid labor needed to keep factories running. In 2004, each manufacturing dollar in the United States cost only 86.5 cents to produce in China, leaving a much wider margin for profit for goods made overseas. According to The Boston Consulting Group, by 2014, that number had changed substantially: each manufacturing dollar in the United States costs 95.6 cents to manufacture in China. The trend suggests that the gap between those numbers can only close further. As a result, a growing number of American companies are reversing the trend and bringing manufacturing back to the United States. 

Take a look at recent headlines and you will notice a lot of buzz about manufacturing.  Manufacturing in the United States is experiencing a renaissance along with all things made in America.  Even Wal-Mart has pledged to increase the number of U.S. made products it purchases to $250 billion by 2032. 

During a recent quarterly meeting of the Manufacturing Alliance of Bucks and Montgomery Counties, business leaders gathered to discuss key issues impacting the local manufacturing climate.