 We’ve all heard the term “Buy American.” Well, who are some of the MI companies who make products primarily in the United States? We asked, and we received a barrage of responses for this first-time feature. Why make products in the U.S.A. as compared to Asian countries? What benefits does it provide? Are companies facing tariff issues?
Let’s get a complete rundown.
Editor’s note: Since many companies have several manufacturing plants, not all companies who responded make 100 percent of their products in the United States. However, all have a majority of their products made in the U.S.A.
The Music & Sound Retailer loves manufacturers in all countries. We are spotlighting U.S. manufacturers, but this in no way is meant to be a slight against manufacturers located in other countries.
Question No. 1: Why do you make your products in the USA as opposed to Asian countries? What benefits does it provide?
“We make our strings, reeds and drumheads in the U.S.A. because we have many trade secrets that we have developed over the years. We have also invested heavily in capital improvements in our D’Addario, Evans, and Rico production facilities. Every year, we invest millions in each of our factories to improve production throughput, quality, and safety. We feel we make the highest quality products in our factories and have remained very competitive due to our in-house engineering, machine building and our extensive implementation of Toyota’s lean manufacturing systems. Without these efforts, we would probably have had to move these facilities off shore to lower-labor-cost countries. It is our goal to continue to invest and make the highest quality products in the U.S.A.” —Jim D’Addario, D’Addario
“We have made a return to the U.S.A. with our flagship products for several reasons: CAD’s heritage was defined in the 1990s with quality U.S.A.-made products. We needed to come back to the U.S.A. to set us apart and reclaim our heritage. It also gave our engineers the ability to develop proprietary circuitry that resulted in arguably the lowest noise floor in the industry and certainly in its class. In addition, it gave us the ability to maintain the highest possible quality with in-house production management. By returning production to the U.S.A., we were able to oversee every step of the design, engineering, and production of new products with a hands-on approach to ensure the customer gets the absolute best product we can offer.” —Tony O’Keefe, CAD
“The obvious benefits are: Protection of innovative ideas and production processes, quality control, consistency, ability to deliver in a timely fashion, ability to monitor any potential problems with a product, and address it quickly.” —Cliff Castle, Audix
“I have personally designed each and every product that is built here at Heil Sound starting in 1966. We have maintained complete assembly production, testing, and shipping from our Illinois location. I just cannot feel comfortable passing that off to someone else and especially in another country.” —Bob Heil, Heil Sound
“We have a lot of pride for our country and its skilled workers. Washburn has always been located in Chicago and we like to carry on that tradition. The U.S.A. custom shop allows us to be creative on a daily basis and we are really able to build playable works of art.” —Jody Dankberg, U.S. Music
“We make our strings and pickups in the U.S.A. because no country makes better strings than the U.S.A. We prefer to sell the very best and we can control our quality by making them in the U.S.A.” —Dean Markley
“We’ve maintained our U.S. manufacturing model because we like to make lights. Our customers benefit by immediate availability and our ability to react quickly and maintain our quality standards.” —Donn Deniston, Littlite
“We find there is still a large consumer sector (even abroad) who value products that are made in the U.S.A. It is easier to monitor quality, implement improvements, and make revisions. More importantly, it employs U.S workers.” —Bill Wenzloff, Morley and Ebtech
“We proudly produce and manufacture our software and DVD products in the U.S.A. because it makes sense. As a technology company based in Seattle, we can easily find the best talent in the world at our doorstep. Furthermore, we can precisely control the development and production of our product from idea to final boxed product sitting on a retail shelf by keeping all facets of our operation domestic and in-house.” —Craig McGlynn, eMedia
“MXL offers two studio condenser microphones made in the U.S.A.—the M3 and the V6. There are consumers who still appreciate the rare, “Made in the U.S.A.” logo. While the American auto industry has struggled over the last decade, American-made goods still have a reputation as being well built and reliable. Foreign markets, as well, have a preference to sell “Made in the U.S.A.” to their customers. There’s also the benefit of controlling quality and final production.” —Jim Mona, MXL Microphones
“There is a plethora of low-end, mid-level, and even semi-pro-level products being made in Asia. A handful of OEMs manufacture for nearly every major brand (including well-known U.S. brands). The result is a flooding of ‘me-too’ competitors in the marketplace. We didn’t see the point in being like everyone else. We are a small, boutique custom drum company that began with a mantra: to build the Ferrari of drums. In order to manufacturer a super-premium product at the pinnacle of tier-one products, it was imperative that we have total control of the process. We’re proud of the fact that we’re making a product on U.S. soil and putting people, vendors, and suppliers to work. Isn’t that what we should be doing, after all?” —Jay Gaylen, Ford Drums
“Over the last few years, we have concentrated on improving our technology in the U.S.A. and that has paid a huge return to our company and our customers. On our U.S.A. instruments, we can offer the customer the chance to select the exact pieces of wood and hardware they want for their instrument.” —Stuart Spector, Spector Bass
“We believe in supporting U.S. workers by keeping our production here at home. We believe that our U.S. production (we produce everything at our facility in Pacific, Mo.) consistently provides better quality and reliability. As we produce Mel Bay products at our headquarters, we can monitor production on a daily basis to ensure it meets the standards our customers expect.” —Jeff Ponte, Mel Bay
“We manufacture in the U.S.A. so that we can focus on custom case manufacturing. In the sewn goods market, there are a lot of competitors, so being able to offer custom and OEM manufacturing in small quantities is a huge strategic advantage. We also are deeply embedded in the country/bluegrass markets, which tend to have a higher loyalty and affinity for American-made products.” —Steve Simmons, Colorado Case Company
“One hundred percent of Ernie Ball strings and Music Man instruments are made here exclusively in the U.S.A. We feel there’s a distinct quality difference, and more than anything, we like being in control of the production process to ensure the products that are shipped out meet our family’s long-running standards.” —Brian Ball, Ernie Ball
“Building products in our factory affords us the ability to tweak our product for maximum performance throughout the build cycle. We can make changes as needed.” —Ray Maxwell, Eventide
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