Sequins and Sequin Yard Goods Manufacturer

Background
The firm is a manufacturer of sequins and sequin yard goods. At certification, the firm had 362 employees and annual sales of approximately $19 million.

The U.S. apparel industry faces intense competition from manufacturers in China and other Far East countries, which have historically been able to use an abundance of cheap labor to out-produce and capture market share from any competition.

To increase the firm’s competitiveness, management decided that change was necessary. Simply stated—their goal was to be known as a world-class producer. So, this family-owned company embarked on a path that completely changed the way it did business.

Assistance Provided
The primary avenues to achieve this goal included the complete restructuring of management and management philosophies, implementation of current, state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques, and completion of a formal marketing strategy.

To meet the challenge of the marketplace, the firm, on its own, began a complete total quality management project, implemented just-in-time manufacturing in various areas of the plant, and addressed employee training throughout the plant. To continue the momentum toward recovery, Trade Adjustment Assistance was used to provide strategic marketing direction for the firm.

Project Results
A strategic marketing plan, that cost $40,000 to complete, provided the firm with an evaluation of its current and future potential in the market and a profile of successful suppliers to the market, as well as an assessment of the firm’s target markets, sales representation, realistic short and long-term goals and objectives, an assessment of current products compared to the competition, and identification of appropriate marketing tools.

The first year after completion and implementation of the strategic marketing plan the firm realized an increase in sales of nearly $3 million.