{"id":21826,"date":"2014-08-10T13:49:44","date_gmt":"2014-08-10T17:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=21826"},"modified":"2021-04-23T17:07:31","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T21:07:31","slug":"fashion-brand-sewing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/","title":{"rendered":"A Fashion Brand Keeps Its Sewing in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, Jan Erickson stood on the floor of her small sewing factory in Colorado Springs, Colo., and watched as a Spanish-speaking management consultant persuaded her sewers to move their work stations \u2014 normally spread out in straight rows, like desks in a classroom \u2014 into what\u2019s known as a cellular layout<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The consultant, Angel De Sevilla, told the skeptical sewers that it would be more efficient if they worked together as a team, finishing one garment at a time through a lean strategy called one-piece flow rather than with the traditional mass-production way of doing things in batches.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was some reluctance,\u201d Erickson said. \u201cIt was so different and so new.\u201d But then the sewers finished their first trial piece, a cape called Annie\u2019s Wrap, in five minutes rather than the usual 10 to 12. \u201cIt\u2019s revolutionized what we\u2019ve been able to do,\u201d she said. Her husband and business partner, Jon Thomas, was even more impressed. \u201cIt was like, \u2018Holy buckets, this is incredible!\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Erickson says the lean strategy, commonly employed in auto manufacturing and other industries, has doubled production and will help her company, Janska<\/a>, reach $3 million in annual revenue this year, a jump of 25 percent. More important, she hopes the added efficiency will make it possible for her to keep her sewing in the United States.<\/p>\n

Like a growing number of apparel brands, Janska would like to sew its clothing domestically. The quality is often higher, shipping is cheaper and workplace safety issues are rare. Plus, Erickson said, more consumers are seeking out American-made products.<\/p>\n

But it remains tough to compete against sewing operations in places like China or India, where workers are paid a fraction of American wages. And because the industry was decimated in the 1990s when garment making largely went overseas, it\u2019s also hard to find trained domestic sewers. \u201cWe off-shored that entire labor population,\u201d said Bart Taylor, founder of CompanyWeek<\/a>, a Colorado trade publication that has covered the issue. \u201cTo bring it back, decades later, is a much more complex proposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erickson started the company in 2003, after years of working in restaurants and volunteering in hospitals \u2014 and after dreaming, one night, of making a comfortable fleece jacket for a friend who had suffered a stroke. Unable to shake the dream, she hired a Colorado manufacturer to create the jacket, which led to more ideas and more garments \u2014 vests, scarves, leg warmers \u2014 that Erickson initially sold at the Denver Merchandise Mart, a wholesale market center.<\/p>\n

Within a few years, she had sunk the couple\u2019s savings into Janska, which turned its first profit in 2011 and now sells through more than 900 boutiques. In 2011, Erickson, who had outsourced Janska\u2019s sewing to various American facilities, decided to buy a small sewing factory in Colorado Springs.<\/p>\n

For about $20,000, she said, she bought all of the equipment, cutting tables and sewing machines. She inherited seven sewers, invested about $30,000 in the operation, and hired seven more sewers from Central or South America. Erickson said she would hire at least 10 more qualified sewers now if she could find them.<\/p>\n

Her husband, meanwhile, who practiced law for 30 years before Janska, had studied lean principles and thought Janska\u2019s small sewing staff could produce more if they incorporated them. \u201cThere is something about systems that is fascinating to me,\u201d said Thomas, who had read \u201cToyota Kata\u201d, a book by Mike Rother about the automaker\u2019s practices, which include one-piece flow. \u201cYou learn to work smarter, not harder.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple applied for a grant from a state agency, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, and last fall they received $33,000 to hire De Sevilla, the management consultant, who is based in Los Angeles. De Sevilla spent 15 days at Janska, where he re-trained sewers who were accustomed to \u201cbundling\u201d \u2014 an industry-standard process where garments are made in large batches and move down an assembly line in piles.<\/p>\n

By contrast, sewers using the one-piece-flow technique sit next to each other and work on one garment at a time. As an illustration, if you used the bundling process to mail 100 flyers, you would fold 100 flyers, then stuff 100 envelopes, then stamp 100 envelopes, and then mail all 100 at the same time.<\/p>\n

But if you used one-piece flow, you\u2019d fold one flyer, then stuff it into an envelope, then stamp the envelope, then mail the first envelope before moving on to the next 99. While it may seem counter-intuitive, De Sevilla and other lean experts say the latter approach is more efficient. The sewers don\u2019t waste time setting parts down,\u00a0 individual garments are finished and shipped faster, and mistakes or defects are caught more quickly.<\/p>\n

The owners of Janska say one-piece flow has allowed them to produce more than 300 garments a day at times \u2014 and to increase wages for the entire sewing operation. (Thomas is scheduled to speak about Janska\u2019s manufacturing conversion at the Colorado Apparel Manufacturing Summit<\/a> in Denver next month.)<\/p>\n

De Sevilla said it was unusual for him to work with an apparel maker \u2014 most don\u2019t think of themselves as manufacturers. \u201cPeople who work in sewing come from a design background,\u201d he said. \u201cThey think of it as making a work of art. I agree, but there is a lot of room to incorporate manufacturing principles so you can produce high-quality units very efficiently, using as few people as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jan Erickson of Janska is trying a lean manufacturing strategy to produce her American-made apparel. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":21850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187,3],"tags":[19443,20362,144,20361,19687],"class_list":["post-21826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-entrepreneur-videos","tag-apparel-accessories","tag-domestic-production","tag-fashion","tag-lean-manufacturing","tag-women-entrepreneurship"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Fashion Brand Keeps Its Sewing in the US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Fashion Brand Keeps Its Sewing in the US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jan Erickson of Janska is trying a lean manufacturing strategy to produce her American-made apparel.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Story Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheStoryExchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-10T17:49:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-23T21:07:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/07132449\/30113_1_storyexchange-erickson_marquee.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Colleen DeBaise\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheStoryXchange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheStoryXchange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Colleen DeBaise\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Fashion Brand Keeps Its Sewing in the US","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Fashion Brand Keeps Its Sewing in the US","og_description":"Jan Erickson of Janska is trying a lean manufacturing strategy to produce her American-made apparel.","og_url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/","og_site_name":"The Story Exchange","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheStoryExchange","article_published_time":"2014-08-10T17:49:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-23T21:07:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":360,"url":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/07132449\/30113_1_storyexchange-erickson_marquee.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Colleen DeBaise","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@TheStoryXchange","twitter_site":"@TheStoryXchange","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Colleen DeBaise","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/"},"author":{"name":"Colleen DeBaise","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/person\/37ea4af04b473a35e85983067534a6b6"},"headline":"A Fashion Brand Keeps Its Sewing in the US","datePublished":"2014-08-10T17:49:44+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-23T21:07:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/"},"wordCount":901,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/07132449\/30113_1_storyexchange-erickson_marquee.jpg","keywords":["1000 Apparel & Accessories","Domestic Production","Fashion & Beauty","Lean Manufacturing","Women Entrepreneurship"],"articleSection":["Features","Video Profiles of Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/","url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/","name":"A Fashion Brand Keeps Its Sewing in the US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/07132449\/30113_1_storyexchange-erickson_marquee.jpg","datePublished":"2014-08-10T17:49:44+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-23T21:07:31+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/07132449\/30113_1_storyexchange-erickson_marquee.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/07132449\/30113_1_storyexchange-erickson_marquee.jpg","width":640,"height":360,"caption":"A Fashion Brand Keeps Its Sewing in the US Jan Erickson of Janska is trying a lean manufacturing strategy to produce her American-made apparel."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/fashion-brand-sewing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Fashion Brand Keeps Its Sewing in the US"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/","name":"The Story Exchange","description":"Inspiration and information for women entrepreneurs","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#organization","name":"The Story Exchange","url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/24161459\/TSE-logo-web-e1525383604615.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/24161459\/TSE-logo-web-e1525383604615.png","width":500,"height":180,"caption":"The Story Exchange"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheStoryExchange","https:\/\/x.com\/TheStoryXchange","https:\/\/instagram.com\/thestoryexchange\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/the-story-exchange","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/StoryExchange"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/person\/37ea4af04b473a35e85983067534a6b6","name":"Colleen DeBaise","description":"Colleen DeBaise is former small business editor of the Wall Street Journal. Her most recent book is \u201cStart a Successful Business.\u201d She has also written about the rewards and challenges of entrepreneurship for Inc., Entrepreneur and BusinessWeek, among others. She has been interviewed on MSNBC, Fox, CNBC, CBS and NPR. Colleen has a master\u2019s in journalism from Northwestern University. Contact her at colleen@thestoryexchange.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/author\/colleen-debaise-at-the-story-exchange\/"],"url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/author\/colleen-debaise-at-the-story-exchange\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21826"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48739,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21826\/revisions\/48739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}