The researcher engaged in an activity that entailed identifying and categorizing 25 items in the house that included clothes and households’ items. After identifying the commodities, the researcher arranged the items according to the country of origin and their brands. The table below shows the various clothes and household items identified and categorized.
Many companies are opting in outsourcing their productions to other areas. The table above includes 25 different items that range from clothes, jewelries and other household items. The researcher identified that most of the items listed above originate from Asian or African countries and branded by European and American firms. For example, puma, which is a renowned company in the production of sport wears and other kinds of casual wear, is a German based company.
However, after a thorough search, the researcher identified that most of the items having the Puma label originates from Indonesia, China and Turkey. A similar search for the original of the listed products that had an M & S label indicated the products originates from China, Egypt , Algeria and Turkey and not from America which is the headquarter of M & S.
A similar search of the origin of the Getwear products that the researcher outlined in the list above indicates that most of Getwear products do not originate from Scotland, which is the headquarter of the Getwear Company, but are made in Algeria, Egypt and China. The researcher also indentified a number of items that had the Nike Label. Those items that the researcher identified with the Nike label were mainly sport and casual wear such as Jeans and swimming costume.
Surprisingly, the researcher identified that most of Nike products are not manufacture in U.S., which is the head office of the company, but instead are manufacture in other countries such as Indonesia, Egypt and China. The researcher also identified that some of the items in the house had the brand of the Italian company referred, as Italian Moda.
When the researcher conducted some investigation, she found that Italian Moda Company makes its products from its home country Italy. This was contrary to the earlier findings. Nike and M & S companies and ShirtsMyWay, which are the United States-based companies, do not produce most of their products as indicated from the search.
These companies contract other companies outside the United States to assist them in manufacturing their products. Similarly, Puma and Getwear, which are European based companies, located in Germany and Scotland; outsource production of its products to Asian and African countries.
Various factors make companies to outsource the manufacturing of household items. Some companies outsource manufacturing to save the costs of manufacturing. Costs of labor are the greatest costs of manufacturing. Having employees means paying the workers competitive wages, as well as offering them medical benefits. In United States of America and Europe, the average cost of labor is very high as compared to other countries that are located in Asia and Africa.
Therefore, in order to cut down on the costs of production, Americans and European countries tend to outsource the manufacturing of household items. Low cost of production is important as it helps firms to sell their products at a discounted rate essential in enabling firms’ products to compete healthy with competing brands.
Moreover, the United States of America companies that manufacture clothes and household items tend to outsource most of their manufacturing processes in order to save the overhead costs associated with manufacturing. Off-shoring of manufacturing process is important in helping a firm save overhead costs that involve utilities expenses such as water and electricity bills and maintenances expenses.
There are those companies that outsource manufacturing in order to have more flexibility in their operations. Outsourcing process involves contracting companies to manufacture goods under the trademark or brand of a different firm. Contracted companies can manufacture products for more than one company and in some cases even manufacture products for competing brands.
Companies contract those firms that have more capacity than they do, for producing products. This is important because the contracted company has the capacity to respond to increased production capacity because of seasonal high demand of the product. Although the increased production comes with extra costs, it is more economical than the costs of the company expanding its production facility and the high demand may not last for long.
Some companies outsource manufacturing process in order to focus in other things. For example, a company that is not very competent in manufacturing may opt to outsource its production to concentrate on the area where it is more competent in, such as sales and marketing. The main objective for outsourcing is to enhance profits by cutting down the costs of production.
When companies outsource the manufacturing processes, they are in a better position to concentrate on the areas where they are more competent in. They enhance their performances by investing their resources both human capita and financial to areas of their expertise to revenue and profit. Generally, outsourcing cuts down the costs of production, therefore, if the company enhances its revenue generation by focusing on sales and marketing, it is important in enhancing the firm’s profit margin.
In conclusion, the researcher undertook the task of identifying various household items, as well as clothes and categorizing them according to their country of origin and brands. The researcher was surprised to find that most of the items identified had a label of a brand that was based in a different country their country of origin. The research indicated that many international corporations based in Europe and the united States opt to outsource their manufacturing processes to African or Asian countries where the costs of productions are low.