New Balance CEO: Manufacturing matters
The CEO of a leading footwear manufacturer stressed the importance of American manufacturing and investing in technology during his keynote address Monday morning at the DCU Center before a breakfast meeting of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“This is something we believe in deeply,” New Balance CEO Robert DeMartini told about 300 attendees. “What we want people to know is they are standing in something that stands for something.”
In the early 2000s, stagnation at Brighton-based New Balance forced the company to re-evaluate its business plan and highlight its U.S. manufacturing efforts as part of its marketing strategy, said DeMartini, especially in advertising and online media.
DeMartini credits a resurgence at New Balance in the last five years to a commitment to American manufacturing and community involvement, plus more investment in technology. The company, which has seen a 13.1-percent increase in sales over the last five years, now exports more products around the world than it did.
“The fact that we are now able to export from the U.S. has now completely changed the dynamics of these products,” said DeMartini.
Technology has been an important part of the transition to being a global athletic company, he said. Manufacturing advancements such as 3-D printing have allowed for customized products without the need for mass-production through a molding process. For example, New Balance has been creating custom track shoes for middle- and long-distance runner Kim Conley for the last four years, said DeMartini.
“Kim runs in 3D printed spikes we make in Lawrence,” he said. “We completely avoid the molding process in making batches of products, hundreds and thousands at a time. We can print one pair of shoes.”
Community engagement is a continued tenet of the company through sponsorship of local running events as well as a state-of-the-art track that’s being built at the company’s new Brighton facility.
Expanded sales have followed. With a projected $3.3 billion in sales for 2014 and $5 billion by 2018, New Balance will be able to distance itself from other brands and play on the same field as heavy hitters Adidas and Nike, said DeMartini.
The CEO’s keynote address kicked off the two-day conference, a collaboration between the chamber and the Build Northeast Conference 2014. The two-day event includes attendees from Virginia to Maine along with exhibits and multiple discussion sessions.
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