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Companies looking to reshore production and bring their manufacturing back to America have many different motivations. They could be looking to accomplish any (or all) of these goals:
- Improve product quality and reliability
- Protect intellectual property
- Shorten production time for new products
- Reduce transportation costs
- Protect supply chains against geopolitical actions like tariffs, armed conflicts, and unpredictable events like pandemics and natural disasters
- Reduce the environmental impact of production
- Support American workers
Companies considering reshoring are in good company. The global business consulting firm Deloitte found 62% of U.S. manufacturers in a 2022 survey have begun moving production closer to home. The 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Build Back Better Infrastructure Act all have financial incentives meant to make U.S. manufacturing more competitive.
You Can Build Your Audio Systems and Loudspeakers in America
“Customers today are looking to simplify their supply chain, increase control over quality, streamline their distribution, have access to local inventory, and lower their shipping costs,” says Mike Everett, Vice President of Global Sales at MISCO. “There are very few manufacturers in the USA today who can offer what MISCO offers: an end-to-end solution for its customers.”
MISCO’s engineering, manufacturing, and testing facilities in Minnesota have already helped many companies move their speaker production back to America.
“We create value by partnering with customers to develop audio solutions that work best for them,” says Dan Digre, President of MISCO. “For instance, we are currently working closely with a high-end American home audio company that creates luxury, high-tech speakers. They are trying to produce as much as possible in the USA to keep the IP of the technology safe and streamline the supply chain. MISCO supplies them with premium Bold North Audio drivers made in the US but with a total cost much less than the European drivers they had considered. The benefits of American-built products, at a favorable price point, keep them both competitive and profitable.”
Capabilities To Look For
Audio manufacturing is both an art and a science. As a company explores reshoring it should look for a broad set of capabilities with its partner in order to get the best return on the investment.
Engineers with deep industry expertise and access can work collaboratively with customers by sharing CAD files to develop products quickly and with the best design for both sound quality and ease of manufacturing.
Rapid prototyping with a large catalog of drivers and the ability to make custom enclosures using 3D printers gives companies an advantage in terms of how quickly they can bring their finished products to market. When combined with American engineering and domestic production, products can be brought to market faster and at a lower cost.
A good supplement to these capabilities is a critical listening space designed for measuring and evaluating prototypes in a space that provides neutral acoustics. When the supplier and the customer do this together in the same space, changes can be made quickly and the result is always a superior performing speaker.
The global gold standard for acoustical testing is Klippel, a company based in Germany. A manufacturer with a complete Klippel laboratory has the hardware and software necessary to verify that a prototype will perform the way it is expected to in the real world and establish performance parameters and QC limits. This then needs to be verified in production with stringent end-of-line testing on each speaker to ensure it meets the specifications and there is batch-to-batch consistency.
Help Reshoring
One of the biggest wins a company can get from reshoring is strengthening its strategic partnership with its audio supplier. Simplified communication channels and greater responsiveness should be the expectation. If you have questions about how to start the process or want MISCO’s input on how to reshore, please reach out to our team and we’d be happy to listen.
