New demand for automated sewing equipment increasing oversea prices
Sewing machine sales are on the rise, and while some of the increase is due to DIY projects gaining in popularity, the main cause is coming from an emerging overseas industrial sector that hopes to become more automated, pushing prices up higher in regions where cheap-labor once kept costs low.
THE CAUSE
According to a report on the Global Sewing Machine Market, analysts are forecasting the industry to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 4.28 percent during the period 2018-2022.
“As sewing machines play a vital role in manufacturing read-made clothes, the surge in demand for ready-made clothes is estimated to drive the sewing machines market globally during the forecast period,” the report surmises.
Part of the reason for this upward drive is due to increased sewing machine innovation in the Asia-Pacific region. Vendors proving to be major sewing machine players include Brother International Corporation, China Feiyue, JACK Sewing Machine Co., Ltd., Juki Corporation, Svp Worldwide, Merrow Inc., Elna International Corporation, Pegasus Sewing Machine Mfg. Co., Ltd., Seiko Sewing Machine Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Doso Sewing Machine Co., Ltd., Jaguar International Corporation.
THE EFFECT
A lack of skilled workers to keep up with the demand has encouraged many companies to start eyeing more automated solutions. As a result, the intense competition between vendors has led to a price increase in machinery, affecting the production cost of goods which once relied on cheap or underpaid laborers to turn a profit.
This, coupled with tariffs and the new USMCA North American trade agreement is causing a surge in American companies looking to make their goods domestically as pricing and operational costs of working with an overseas vendor are no longer as lucrative.
THE SOLUTION
Domestic contract manufacturing companies such as CustomFab USA, which have a large in-house skilled workforce and hi-tech automated equipment, processes, and machines are ideally situated to handle the demand.