It’s weird to think how as you get a little older, boring things like politics and economics start becoming interesting. I’ve recently been hearing more and more things that lead me to believe that production in the U.S is coming back. Now, that might not matter to most of you who don’t have your license, a job or pay for your own parts, but it’s a good sign that someday, you might not have to worry about what you are going to do for a job and that you won’t have to hear depressing news on TV everyday about how “they” took our jobs. After reading why Sunday chooses production in Taiwan on ESPN as a response to another article on ESPN about the cost difference between U.S and Taiwan made frames, Matt Coplon and I began discussing the perks to Profile and Madera being made in the U.S versus Taiwan, and how because of this, they are creating around 25 jobs for people between the in-house employees, freelance and outsourced help. Let’s take a closer look at what it takes to run an in-house production BMX brand in the U.S…
So let’s start from the source. Approximately how many people does Profile currently employ these days?
There are 17 employees here in the shop full time and roughly 3 part time/free-lance employees .
Let’s say you guys need metal for the machine shops to produce hub shells and sprockets. Where do you guys purchase metal from?
We have three main suppliers for all of our raw materials used in manufacturing (aluminum, alloy steels, and titanium): all of which come from US based mills. We have had a relationship with one of our main suppliers for over 30 years.
I can only imagine the number of welders who ride BMX out there that would love this job…
What about small parts like bearings, axle nuts and washers? Are these all from U.S businesses?
We make our axle nuts and bolts in house for both 3/8 and 14mm. Washers are bought locally and bearings are outsourced.
So once the guys down the hall and into the shop from your office are done CNC machining out the hub shells and sprockets, what’s the next step? Shipping them? Who delivers these pieces to the painters?
Once the hub shells come out of the machine they are either tumbled (preparation for painting) or polished (preparation for anodizing). Our anodizers are right outside of Tampa so product must be shipped. Preparations for anodizing can sometimes take several days (right now is a case in point as we’re gearing up for the holidays). We have to de-burr a lot of product by hand: stems being the main culprit. It’s tedious work.
Our painter, on the other hand, is located between Profile and my house. When we need a short run, I take a detour on the way to work and snag the product. With heavier loads, he swings by and does a delivery/pickup about 4 times a month.
With steel products (cassette drivers, 14mm GDH axles and crank spindles, ect…), once finished here in the shop they go out for a trip to the heat treater, come back, then are loaded up for black oxide. Steel tends to make the rounds in Tampa.
Would you believe that’s a soon to be crank arms?
Do you guys use the same company for paint and anodizing or do you guys outsource to multiple paint shops near the Profile head quarters?
We use a company in Tampa for paint (it’s funny, I know so many other locals that go through them) and three different platers/anodizers.
How long have you been working with some of these paint shops? I’d imagine you guys are in contact all the time with each other with so many different limited colorway options coming through.
It’s been well over three years with our current powder coater. He is timely, guarantees his work, and is always down to do wild samples. It usually takes quite a bit of work on his end (and patience on ours) to come up with a color-way we’re stoked on. The new Matte Red (Fall) Madera color, for instance, took four samples to dial in. We just got it in stock yesterday.
GDH spindles coming back from the heat treater.
What would you say the average number of hubs and sprockets you have painted or anodized in a week is? How frequently do you guys have products going to the painters / anodizers?
Product to both the painter and anodizers tend to go out every other day (during the busy seasons: Spring/Fall). Off seasons we’re looking at least once a week. We keep them busy for sure.
All right, so once you guys have the hubs and sprockets painted or anodized, they come back and get ready for shipping. I remember seeing a video or something of you actually building a hub yourself. You guys actually assemble and package each piece, right?
We do. The process between getting product back here in the shop after finishing and then shipping is quite involved. The time killers are assembling cranks and hubs. By hand, cranks have to be broached, cleaned, wrapped, the box packaging assembled, sealed and then re-packaged for shipping.
Hubs have to have the ratchet ring driven in, bearings and axle pressed, drivers built (with bearings, springs, and paws), hardware locked into place, then cleaned and boxed. Both cranks and individual hubs take about five minutes apiece.
With some international distributors ordering every couple months, one order could avail a couple hundred hub sets. That, in effect, could take days to build just the hubs.
Start to finish, how long does it take from the time the metal shows up at the shop to being ready to ship?
That would depend on the individual part being made. On average, I would say about two weeks.
Approximately how many people are involved from start to finish?
There are 17 of us here in the shop and everyone is a cog in the process of getting product out the door. From manufacturing, to building, packing, shipping, and invoicing: 17 employees is hardly enough. We make due.
I’m sure you guys have tried to figure it out. Approximately how long would it take to have this whole process done in Taiwan and shipped to you guys? Would it be that much cheaper?
Considering the amount of parts we stock, cost effectiveness and lead time would suffer pretty heavily if we outsourced over-seas. The only product we deal with through Taiwan are seats and every order is a complete nightmare with finishes, packaging, and ETA always off in some fashion.
How long would it take? Too long (ha, ha).
What about your t-shirts and other apparel? You have a screen printer in Milwaukee that does Madera stuff, right? What about Profile?
Yes. We go through three different screen printers. Scott LaShay in Milwaukee handles most of Madera, GGSB Screen printing (aka the Casselberry dudes) handle a little Madera and 3/4 of Profile, and a local printer fills in the blanks. Props to all three of them for working with us over the years and getting us dialed product at a reasonable price.
Bar stock ready to be fed into the Euro-tech.
Obviously, creating jobs and having 100% control over how the products are made is important to you guys. Are there any other reasons you guys don’t go to Taiwan for your products to be made?
Turnover and quality control is the two biggest advantages for us. With turn over time, we’re basically cutting 6 months of ordering, production, shipping and inventory delivery into two weeks.
With quality control, modification and/or re-finishing is immediate. Say a batch of sprockets come back from the anodizer/painter that are way off color? We have then refinished and back on the shelves in less than two weeks. We are rarely stuck with dead stock.
The biggest advantage is being able to prototype new product within one work day. The most recent examples are the chromo button head bolts and the Aegis hub guard: we had working prototypes put on bikes that very day.
And lastly, we can deal with warranty direct. If a warranty were to arise, we don’t have to rely on a manufacturer thousands of miles away to call the shots. We make an immediate call and get it handled.
There has been a lot of talk lately inside and outside of BMX about how it is becoming cheaper for businesses to hire and create products here in the U.S versus overseas again. What are your thoughts about this? Do you feel like it is kind of like the seat post coming back full circle?
The next 5 years are going to be a pivotal period. They say China’s century is the 21st, leaving the US in the dust of the 20th. That’s a scary thought considering the politics involved.
It’s true that prices are going up overseas (on top of trade tariffs, shipping, etc…) and that puts American made product back into a competitive position. Cheaper here? Probably not. But it might very well level out across the international playing field of pricing. Regardless, we have to stay on our toes and prepare for the worst. Our defense is efficiency: updated machines, updated tooling, daily trouble shooting/problem solving within a crew of people who truly care about their jobs and the company they work for.
As far as you seat post analogy goes: I’ve never ridden a seat lower than a fist and a half high!
Is there anything else I missed that you want to say?
As trite as this sounds (especially if you’re younger and reading this), stay in school/learn a trade. The odds are stacked against us. We need more motivated/inspired people to in turn inspire and create for decades to come. We, as a country, have been spoiled for too long and have become pretty apathetic. In the meantime, there’s a world over that’s on the come up, taking your piece of the pie.
Thanks for the interview Kurt. Thanks to everyone at Profile / Madera for making it a truly enjoyable place to work. Thanks to our riders for years of dedication, loyalty, and shred.
And mostly, thanks to all of you for the support! -Matt Coplon – Profile Racing/Madera
Mini front hub shell coming out of our Euro-tech. This machine does nothing but hub shell manufacturing.
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