Sharpie marker manufacturing thrives in Tennessee after moving all production back to U.S. - Entrepreneur Generations

The Maryville plant makes 1.8 million fine-tip Sharpies 
a day. (Sharpie graphic)

With planning, investments, and an eye on domestic manufacturing, Newell Brands now produces almost all its Sharpie markers in Maryville, Tennessee, using all American-made pieces, except for the felt tips, which are made in Japan, reports Natasha Khan of The Wall Street Journal.

During the early 2000s, Newell moved some parts of Sharpie manufacturing overseas; however, around 2018, company leadership introduced a strategy to move all Sharpie marker production back to the company's 37-year-old Maryville plant.

Overall, the successful move "took close to $2 billion in investments across the company, thousands of hours of training and a total overhaul of the production process," Khan explains. "Newell did it without reducing the employee count, and without raising prices."

Some of the company's transitional success is attributed to robotic advances, but Newell didn't replace people with robots. Instead, it kept its "employees who knew the company and converted their jobs to roles such as automation engineering," Khan adds. For instance, robots now pack boxes and employees "fix the robot instead of packing boxes."

In many cases, Newell paid for the additional education and training employees needed to be prepared for new roles. Khan writes, "The average wage at its Maryville facility, which employs 550 staff, has gone up some 50% over the past five years — without a change in head count."

The Maryville factory floor is "marked squares to delineate space for more lines to shift to America, such as Sharpie’s Clearview highlighter; it will move back from China in coming months," Khan adds. "The factory operates around the clock, making 1.8 million fine-tip Sharpies a day."

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/e1FhENi Sharpie marker manufacturing thrives in Tennessee after moving all production back to U.S. - Entrepreneur Generations

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