The ongoing global supply chain crunch is becoming a boon to American manufacturers, who don't have to ship their products across oceans. As cargo ships remain backed up in ports, more companies are looking to produce goods closer to home, especially with the holiday season approaching. "I read a story about Mattel, which began to do what we call re-shore," says Gordon D. Smith, professor at the University of Houston Bauer College of Business. "That means to find manufacturing companies that are either on U.S. soil or near U.S. soil, to bring back manufacturing of a lot of their toys for this Christmas season."
As big companies like Mattel look to avoid the cargo ship fiasco, it is benefiting smaller, American manufacturers. One of those companies now thriving is Maine-based Origin USA, which makes clothing, footwear, fitness gear and other items. Origin CEO Pete Roberts tells FOX Business they've been around for a decade, but suddenly their business model is in high demand. "I like to say that if you follow the truck back to the source, you're going to end up in a cotton field in Texas talking to a farmer," he says. "So everything we do here is built off of that American supply chain."
Roberts adds the company recently bought its own 18-wheeler to ship orders due to rising demand. "I think the important thing is we're doing it without compromise, so all components and every piece of our supply chain is in the U.S., and none of it comes from overseas," he continues. "So none of it is stuck on a ship."
Or, as Indiana Congressman Jim Banks recently tweeted: Products made in the USA don't get stuck on cargo ships.
Photo: E+