InfoPower

Americans have a reputation for having a down-to-business and self-reliant work ethic that started during its first Colony in Virginia (1607), to its thirteenth Colony (Georgia, 1732). Forty-four years later, Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and self-reliance was on a roll. Once the war was over, America began to export its goods, and its first tariff was enacted by the First Continental Congress in 1789 “ . . . to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imports and Excises . . . to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations," which was signed into law by George Washington. Tariffs have been used throughout U.S. history—the U.S. government was funded by tariffs until 1913. After that, it was a combination of taxes and tariffs.

Will Manufacturing Become This Century’s Roaring ’20s? The foundation for the reemergence of American manufacturing is happening quickly after nearly five decades of ramping up outsourcing—at least the corporate manufacturing pledges of $8 trillion and counting during the writing of this article trend in a positive direction. While new manufacturing is still a work in progress, let’s review the unwinding of what was the manufacturing sector in America.

By automation or manually by hand, Interpower® crimps bridges for country-specific plugs, and IEC 60320 connectors onto miles of flexible cable it manufactures each year. For cord sets, the optimal crimp is one that provides the most electrical contact between the conductors of stranded wire and its bridge or connector—the B crimp provides optimal electrical contact for flexible cable.

At 7 a.m., Jess, an Interpower Level 2 molder, prepares the ENGEL injection molding machine to mold Continental European (CEE) Cord sets. The CEE plugs will be molded onto 1 mm² international cable, and Jess checks to make sure the 100-lb. CEE mold and proper steel inserts are in place. An additional team member verifies that the correct mold inserts are in place.

In postwar Japan, Taiichi Ohno was tasked with rebuilding the Japanese car market from scratch. Known as the father of the Japanese Toyota Production System (TPS), Ohno inherited limited raw materials in a fledgling automotive market—the behemoth Fordesque assembly lines employed in the U.S. were too sprawling for Japan’s compact approach.