Benefits of American Production for Game Industry
It’s no secret that producing products abroad can be an appealing option for U.S. companies. Less stringent regulations and lower employee wages often lead to a smaller price tag on foreign soil. But in today’s economy, there are some undeniable benefits to trusting an American company with your puzzle or game.
No Tariffs
Tariffs have always been a factor when choosing production, but in the past they weren’t enough to tip the scale toward domestic manufacturing. Particularly because companies tend to offset the cost of tariffs by raising the cost of their own product.
But lately, tariffs have been a frequent topic of conversation in the political realm. There are many potential moves to be made and even more questions. Companies aren’t sure what’s going to happen next or how they should proceed.
American manufacturing and production can help you avoid this uncertainty completely. With a domestic partner, there’s no question of additional cost or worrying whether politics may delay your timeline.
Shorter Lead Times
Speaking of your timeline, another great benefit of American manufacturing is shorter leader times. Partnering with an overseas company can cause extra delays in communication.
Working in multiple time zones can cause quick back and forth to turn into a couple days. To avoid this, some companies choose to work outside their normal 9AM-5PM schedule.
5 AM conference calls, anyone? Sounds rough to me!
Beyond calls, if you’re expecting a sample of your puzzle or game before 10,000 more are made to fill the shelves at Target, you also have to wait for overseas mail. Not only does it take more time to physically get the sample from there to here, but you also have to worry about customs.
All of this can be a painful process. And all of it can be completely avoided by working with a domestic manufacturing company. Choosing an American manufacturer means establishing a business relationship that functions during your regular work day and shortening your time to production.
Lower Freight Costs
Shorter lead times and lower freight costs go hand-in-hand. When you’re partnering with an overseas manufacturer, you’re paying more for freight. Not only are you paying for the greater distance your game has to travel, the pay structure can often cause you to pay for air.
Air?Yep, you read that right. When you ship from overseas you pay by container and often your game won’t fill the entire container. That means you’re paying for all that extra space.
When you’re shipping in the US, freight costs are determined by weight – you’re only paying for the actual cost of shipping your product, not for a whole container with extra space.
Stimulating the US Economy
This last one may feel obvious, but give it some deep thought. When you choose an American manufacturing company, you’re giving work to American employees. And not just in the manufacturing industry, you’re also helping to employ the companies selling raw materials, distributing them, engineers creating the technologies utilized by the manufacturing company and more. There’s a whole web of people who are supported by this work, which helps to fight unemployment and underemployment.
Beyond employment, American manufacturers also pay US taxes. When you work with a U.S. company, the taxes being paid support the U.S. community infrastructure, social programs and more. The benefit of this to our overall society cannot be understated.
Lastly, when you’re manufacturing in the U.S., you can also mark your game with that classic seal “Made in America.” There’s a whole movement out there to encourage the purchase of American made products, which means someone out there may take a chance on your puzzle or game specifically because they want to put their money back into domestic companies.
Choosing American
These combination of these benefits ultimately outweighs the smaller price tag that can come with overseas manufacturing in the long run. If you plan to be producing games years from now, you’ll find that you save more money through shorter lead times and lower freight costs, and that work offers a greater benefit to the country as a whole.
If you’re making a puzzle or game here in the US, be sure to partner with a truly domestic company. Watch out for the brokers who claim they’re American, but act as an intermediary to outsource all your manufacturing overseas.
Our group company Package Right is a tried and true American company. The Package Right teams produces puzzles and games right here in Tipton, IN. To learn more abou the work they do, or to tour our American facility and learn more about the benefits of choosing an American partner, call Package Right at (765) 675-2323.
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Photo by Shari Sirotnak on Unsplash
