What Are Electronics Made in the USA?
It's no secret that, in 2009, most consumer electronics sold in the United States are made in other countries. Lower labor costs overseas have pushed the bulk of their manufacture to Asian countries. But while that's true for many goods, companies still make electronics here. The reasons vary. Some have small production runs of specialized equipment. Others believe their location is strategically important. They may do all their manufacturing in the United States, or they might do it in several countries, but they've found that domestic production works for them.
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Components
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Many component parts are still made in America. Resistors, fuses, semiconductors, and many other parts can be made competitively in highly automated factories here. The parts are small, uniform and made in large numbers---tens of thousands or more. Production managers and operators are needed to run the manufacturing equipment; little hand labor is used. From a customer's perspective, having parts production close to major transportation hubs is attractive; it minimizes shipping delays and keeps their own production on schedule.
Audio
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Professional, specialty, and high-end audio equipment manufacturers, such as McIntosh Laboratories and Blue Microphones, make their products in small numbers. Much skilled labor, such as machining, construction and assembly, goes into each item. Here, the reputation of traditional craftsmanship commands a premium price, justifying the higher labor costs.
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Industrial
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Industrial electronics is another area where, relative to consumer electronics, volumes are low and skilled labor done on a particular item is high. Products include industrial control panels, telecom electronics, and computerized controllers for manufacturing equipment. These items may be fully custom-built, partly custom-built, or off-the-shelf.
Scientific
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Stanford Research Associates, of Sunnyvale, California, makes electronic equipment for scientists and engineers. Companies like this are frequently start-ups run by alumni of large technical universities. Because the products are specialized, manufacturing runs are small. Production frequently involves manual assembly, careful calibration and testing. Some equipment may be delivered in pieces and site-built at the customer's facilities.
Prototypes
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Electronic designers working in the United States can have prototypes and short production runs of circuit boards made at a variety of job-shop manufacturers. The emphasis is on quick turnaround. They may offer circuit boards only, boards loaded with component parts, or fully-tested, complete boards. The designer submits circuit-board layouts and parts lists to the job-shop, which builds the boards and ships them to the designer. The designer evaluates the electronics, and either commits to a bigger production run or makes changes and orders another batch of prototypes.
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References
- Photo Credit aresauburn, creativecommons.org
