Reeling'em back to the U.S.

摘要

Many manufacturers and packagers have found success by having products and often their packaging materials made overseas by contract vendors. But recently, many have discovered that in some cases, these things are becoming more cost-competitive if done right here in the U.S. In fact, some state governments are handing out incentives to lure companies back to the U.S., such as free or reduced rent in industrial parks, tax holidays, loans, grants and more. Although labor is still cheaper in China, shipping costs are going up, primarily because of spiraling fossil fuel costs. Proximity to market plays a big role. Having to ship materials back and forth from Asia doesn't do much for energy efficiency. Such was the case with Zebco, the leading name in fishing tackle. Tulsa, OK-based Zebco, a W.C. Bradley company, has been supplying the U.S. market since 1949. In 2001, it cast a line into deep . water by moving production of its rod-and-reel sets and most of their packaging-what Zebco calls flatboards (carded blister-packs that merchandise the rod-and-reel combinations) to China. An estimated 90 percent of the packaging components were obtained overseas at that time. Recently, however, Zebco brought the flatboard blister-pack production back to the U.S., with the help of Tegrant Corp.'s Alloyd Brands (www.alloyd.com), and updated the packages both graphically and structurally to provide more marketing impact, functionality and modernize their image.