When Buying Glass, Buy American… Buy Bear Glass!!!

When trying to cut costs, many companies weigh their options with buying products overseas as opposed to buying American quality products. There are many things to consider when making your decision. Bear Glass is definitely biased when it comes to this subject  but we will try to stick with the facts in this article.

China’s manufacturing advantages remain formidable. With factory wages averaging $1.26 an hour, the mainland is still hard to beat for labor-intensive products such as toys and apparel. China is also rising fast in industries like solar power modules and cars, thanks to strong domestic demand and generous government incentives.

Cost is usually the major driver in a company’s decision to purchase parts and products from abroad. Yet in a 2008 Pricewaterhouse-Coopers survey of retail and consumer-goods companies, one-quarter of respondents said they could not quantify actual savings. Many tracked transportation, customs, and warehousing costs. But quality and reliability of vendors often went unmeasured.

I said it was tough to decide what to do about Chinese-made products if price matters. This led to an outcry from customers, who said among other things “you get what you pay for” and “have you thought about the poor living conditions of the people who make this cheap stuff?”

There is a simple truth to this debate:  It’s easy to stick with American-made when quality matters.

BEAR GLASS IS A FULL GLASS FABRICATOR IN BROOKLYN, NY.  WE ARE THIRD
GENERATION GLAZIERS.  WE ARE AT OUR CURRENT LOCATION FOR OVER 20 YEARS.
HERE WE UTILIZE OVER 25, 000 SQ FT TO ITS MAXIMUM . WE DELIVER TO THE
TRI-STATE AREA 5 DAYS A WEEK, WITH 5 TRUCKS ON THE ROAD DAILY.  ALSO, WE
SHIP NATIONWIDE.  WE USE CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY TO SERVICE OUR
CUSTOMERS, AND WE HAVE THE LARGEST INVENTORY FOR STOCK SHEETS.  EVEN
THOSE HARD TO FIND TYPES.  WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW WAYS TO BE
MORE PRODUCTIVE.  WHETHER IT’S PURCHASING NEW MACHINERY TO PROVIDE NEW
SERVICES OR BRINGING IN DIFFERENT LINES OF GLASS, WE DO IT.  WE STRIVE TO
KEEP OUR CUSTOMERS SATISFIED, AND ARE ALWAYS LOOKING TO MAKE NEW ONES.
WE ENJOY WORKING ONE ON ONE WITH PEOPLE  IN THEIR PROJECTS.

Now we do understand that Chinese labor is much cheaper. (The last I heard, a good glass worker in China makes about $300-$400 per month.) But Americans still do better work. They do it on time. They speak English. They understand what the word “quality” means. And, we don’t have to pay a 20% to 30% surcharge for shipping costs.

Like Bear Glass, a growing number of companies are moving beyond the usual considerations of labor and raw material costs in deciding where to produce goods to calculate the “total cost of ownership.” That means tallying expenses associated with things such as storage and delays. By this light, the so-called China price, which always seemed to be at least 40% below U.S. costs on everything from bedroom furniture to telecom gear, isn’t so low. In fact, China’s once-formidable edge in manufacturing has all but disappeared in some industries

Lots of other business owners are making the same discoveries that Bear Glass has mentioned. Language barriers, long delivery delays and confusion about how to produce the product to specifications are to name but a few.

We found a simple solution for our clients. Work with Bear Glass because we are a factory who speaks your language. Skip shipping hassles by buying inside your own country. And, work with people who understand what the word quality really means.

Bear Glass  is an all American company  that makes a better finished product than China for less money  based on quality and reliability.

For more information, please contact us. We look forward to working with you!

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