The Rodon Group Blog- a Focus on American Manufacturing

The east coast’s most comprehensive event for design, manufacturing, automation and packaging will be held next week from June 17^th to June 20^th at the Philadelphia Convention Center.  This year’s show promises to be well attended.  The show actually combines several trade shows under one roof including Medical Design and Manufacturing East, East Pack, Atlantic Design & Manufacturing and an Automation Technology EXPO.

Each year, The World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia recognizes local companies for their participation and dedication to bringing greater economic prosperity to the region.  The 11^th Annual World Trade Center’s Dinner and Awards Ceremony recognized three local companies.  The 2013 Member Company of the Year from New Jersey was Epicore BioNetworks, Inc.,  a software solutions company.   K’NEX Brands L.P. received the Member Company Award for Pennsylvania.  Founded in 1992, K’NEX Brands has become the world’s most innovative construction toy company.  Over 95% of its parts are manufacturer by The Rodon Group, a sister company of K'NEX, and has manufactured over 31 billion parts for the K’NEX building toy system.

Filling the education gap

There has been much discussion about the need for quality STEM education and skilled workers.  Both go hand-in hand.  Many companies today complain that they can’t find people with the aptitude needed to work in a modern manufacturing facility.  Unlike many European countries, the apprenticeship opportunities in the U.S. have fallen to the wayside.  So, our high schools are filling the gaps in education and experience.  These schools are doing an outstanding job of taking on the challenge. 

STEM education in the suburban Philly region.

In the Philadelphia metro area, we are blessed to have some top notch technical high schools and programs.  We encourage these high schools students to continue their education and training in STEM related fields.  We know the opportunities in manufacturing are plentiful and financially rewarding.

The Rodon Group is always willing to host school tours of our facility.  Recently, students from the Chester County Technical College High School’s Electronics & Robotics program spent time at our factory.  The tour was led by Lowell Allen, Senior V.P. of Manufacturing and Kevin McGrath, V.P of Sales and Marketing.  The students were particularly interested in learning more about the robotic applications in manufacturing.  Our new adaptive manufacturing robot, Baxter received a great deal of attention. 

For years, The Rodon Group has supported STEM education.   We know the importance of obtaining strong math and science skills throughout elementary and secondary education.  Often described as "too hard", children need to be engaged and supported in the learning process by both teachers and parents.  Math and science should be presented in creative and common sense ways to help spark and encourage curiosity.  A well executed science experiment or a real life math problem can bring the "fun" back into the classroom.

Article originally posted on www.toybook.com , May 14, 2013

By Howard N. Aronson, Managing Partner, Lackenbach Siegel LLP

Like the proverbial child who runs away from home only to return before nightfall, an American toymaker is bringing most of its manufacturing back to the U.S.—after more than a decade of outsourcing in Asia. The decision of K’NEX Brands, a family-owned maker of plastic building toys, to boost manufacturing at The Rodon Group, its Hatfield, Pa. plant, is only one example of a major trend. Persuasive factors leading to the ultimate decision included quality control, overall costs, timeliness of deliveries, and intellectual property issues. Many are following the lead of K’NEX and rediscovering that home sweet home is the best place to make and distribute products after all.

The adage “If it can go wrong, it will go wrong” should never be true in the world of injection molding.  In fact, problems can be easily avoided from the very beginning as long you are working with a turnkey precision molding manufacturer.  Some companies opt to use an outside design firm to design the mold, then contract another vendor to build the mold (often these were offshore mold builders) and another to run the parts.  By separating these responsibilities, they often sacrifice control, accountability and quality.

Many products that are a part of everyday life go unnoticed, either because they are components of larger items or they are so commonly used that little thought is given to their existence.  Items manufactured by plastic injection molding often fall into this category.  Without them however, life would be void of a number of modern conveniences. 

By looking around at home or business, one can better understand and appreciate the items that exist because of the injection molding process.   Screwdriver handles, tool box casters, and plastic fasteners are likely to be found in the average garage.  Appliances and plumbing systems normally include plastic components that are not seen.  Visible items include toys, eyeglass cases, handles, and knobs.  The list could go on and on but enough examples are given here to illustrate the point.

In today's economy, an easy assumption to make is that all plastic components made by injection molding come from China.  However, stateside manufacturers are available and there are distinct advantages to purchasing these products domestically.  Flexibility is one benefit that US manufacturers can provide that is practically unheard of with material sourced in Asia.  Chinese facilities are typically geared toward large lot sizes and long lead times.  Combine the added inventory that must be carried as a result with the increased transportation costs and the advantages of overseas production start to go away.  Additionally, United States manufacturers are usually more capable in regards to higher quality standards than their Asian counterparts.  This is mainly due to the fact that manufacturing technology is not as advanced there.  In the event of a quality problem or a specification change, additional product in the pipeline means the issue is compounded and harder to resolve as opposed to the same issue encountered with a US sourced item.  In short, the reasons to buy from a stateside supplier include cost, quality, and lead time.

There has been a great deal of focus on American-made products and American Manufacturing over the past few years.  And, the recent presidential contest seems to have heated up the conversation.  A survey by the Alliance for American Manufacturing indicates that all political
affiliations - democrats, republicans and independents, believe we need to support a strong manufacturing sector in our country.

With this new interest in all things American, it is no wonder that many websites and blogs committed to this topic have been sprouting up all over the internet.  Some are focused on bringing awareness to the cause; others  are focused on ecommerce. 

Our survey of sites uncovered about 30 websites and blogs specifically targeting the "American Made Craze."  Here are 12 of the top sites: 

Name:  American Made Matters
URL: http://www.americanmadematters.com 
Key Focus: Educating consumers on the impact of buying American made.  Affiliated with Americans Working.com

Name:  A Continuous Lean
URL: http://www.acontinuouslean.com/the-american-list 
Key Focus: To promote American Made products to a younger generation

Name:  Made In USA Challenge
URL: http://madeinusachallenge.com
Key Focus: Made in USA challenge features goods made in America that are safe, ethically made, eco-friendly and awesome.

Name:  Americans Working.Com
URL:  http://www.americansworking.com/index.html
Key Focus: Americansworking.com was created to provide consumers with an easy to use and highly accessible means of finding products made in America.  Affiliated with American Made Matters.

Name: Made in USA Forever
URL: http://madeinusaforever.com
Key Focus: Sells All American Made Product

Name:  Still Made in the USA
URL: http://www.stillmadeinusa.com
Key Focus: The purpose of StillMadeinUSA.com is to share with other shoppers some of the great manufacturers, retailers, and craftspeople that I have found who still produce quality products in America.

Name:  Made in America, Buy American
URL: http://www.madeinamericabuyamerican.com
Key Focus: The Made in America Buy American Directory is your consumer resource to help you locate products made in USA

Name: The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM)
URL: http://americanmanufacturing.org
Key Focus: The Alliance for American Manufacturing is a non-profit, non-partisan partnership formed in 2007 by some of America’s leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers to explore common solutions to challenging public policy topics such as job creation, infrastructure investment, international trade, and global competitiveness.

Name:  Made In America Store
URL:  http://www.madeinamericastore.com
Key Focus: The only general merchandise store in the country that sells 100% American Made Products, down to the packaging.

Name:  The Made In America Movement  
URL:  http://www.themadeinamericamovement.com
Key Focus: We are a nonpartisan organization sharing ideas on how to get involved within your community, providing you with resources on how to buy American made products, facilitating your purchasing experience

Name:  Buy American for America
URL:  www.BuyDirectUSA.com
Key Focus: BuyDirectUSA.com was started in 1998 as a way to promote companies that made their products in the USA. This was well before the scares about toys made in China that contained lead and toxic ingredients.

Name:  Made In USA Products Store
URL:  http://www.madeinusaproductsstore.com
Key Focus: Made in USA Products Store is dedicated to bringing you safe quality American made products.

Name:  Buy American.com
URL:  http://www.buyamerican.com
Key Focus: BuyAmerican.com seeks to promote American manufactured products and services through the use of social networking.

Name:  RedWhiteBlueCo.
URL: http://www.redwhiteblue.com
We hand curate products and services made by Americans.
Our goal is to support the jobs here in our own backyard.

One statistic cited by American Made Matters notes that for every $1 that US manufacturers spend, another $1.40 of economic activity is created.  This multiplier is much greater than any other sector of our economy.   Consumers need to be educated about the provenance of the products they purchase and how their choices impact the American economy.

Tell us what you think. Do you have a favorite Made In America website that you use?

The Rodon Group is lucky to have so many talented and dedicated professionals on staff. We recently asked one of these individuals to provide some insight for our blog.

Jack McPherson is the Technical Manager for The Rodon Group.  He joined the organization in 2006 after serving as an Engineering Manager in the automotive industry.  Today he is responsible for providing technical assistance on everything from quality assurance to regulatory compliance.  We asked Jack to share some insights into the energy saving initiatives at Rodon.  Here is Jack’s story.

“Rodon has a long history of energy consciousness. In the mid 80’s, we were located in Southampton and our electric was served to us expensively by Pennsylvania’s PECO utility. The neighboring electric utility, PPL, just to our west, charged considerably less for electric. So Rodon began plans to move into the PPL area. Not an easy task with a building full of  injection molding machines, support equipment, continuous production obligations and relocating employees.

Their 1986 strategy was quite clever. They incorporated a search for the furthest industrial point east on PPL’s electric grid. Doing so procured electric at reduced rates but minimized the impact to our employee and customer base. They constructed and moved into Rodon’s Hatfield, Pa building in 1987. It assured our continued survival before deregulation became law in Pennsylvania.

If recent headlines are any indication, business leaders and politicians alike are focused on the renewal of the manufacturing sector in the United States.  The terms used to describe this resurgence include onshoring, reshoring and insourcing. Companies large and small are bringing their production back to America.  After years of decline in these high wage jobs, it’s easy to see why people are getting excited.

While all companies should welcome this new patriotism, many manufacturers in this country never left our shores.  These manufacturers have weathered wars, recessions, unfair trade practices as well as the invasion of cheap goods from China.  And yet, they never wavered or considered taking their operations off-shore.

At Rodon, we are proud to be part of that manufacturing legacy.  The company began in the 1940 as the ELGO Rubber.  Irv Glickman, the founder of the company knew plastics would be the next exciting opportunity, and opened the Rodon Group in 1956.  In the 1991, Joel Glickman, Irv’s son developed a new construction toy called K’NEX.  This new venture helped Rodon continue grow and invest in the company.