GOOD
Best Practices: Keen Builds Boots in America, Not Abroad
By TIM FERNHOLZ
“Prevailing wisdom has it that the path to cost-effective manufacturing is through the East: Low-cost labor in China, Taiwan and other Pacific-rim emerging markets is seen as the key to low-priced consumer goods in the United States. Keen Footwear, the Portland-based GOOD Company finalist, is bucking the outsourcing trend with a broader view of the costs of supply-chain maintenance and a new factory churning out American-built boots for American workers.”
“The 15,000-square-foot facility opened last year just five miles from the company’s headquarters and has two full production lines creating steel-toed boots and casual shoes. The machinery relies on a direct injection process that uses fewer oil-based adhesives and requires less energy than traditional manufacturing techniques.”
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Tags: Best Practices: KEEN Builds Boots in America, business, direct inject, editior, GOOD, manufacturing, Not Abroad, Oregon, Portland, shoe, TIM FERNHOLZ, usa
I am confused. I just bought a pair of Keen steel toe boots and the tab inside the tongue said “Made in China”
Brain – Only a handful of KEEN styles are being built at our new facility in Portland, Oregon, such as the Portland Boot. Here’s a link to the boot: http://www.keenfootwear.com/us/en/product/ss12/shoes/men/industrial/portland/brown!black