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NOVEL SOLUTIONS


Fighting for a U.S. Industry


SHANNON WETZEL, SENIOR EDITOR


but the story offers many parallels between the two, and the 450 pages are worth reading. T e main character in this true story is John


“F


Bassett III, the third generation furniture plant owner who went against the tide of imports to keep his U.S. factories open. T e story is about Bassett and his fi ght, but it focuses not just on Bassett but also the economic and political condi- tions that led to the closure of hundreds of plants and 73,000 jobs by 2003. Macy, an award-winning journalist, spent con-


siderable time researching the industry, spending time in the towns built around furniture making, talking with line operators, maintenance men, plant managers, Bassett family servants, market- ing executives, sales managers, CEOs, importers, furniture retailers, industry suppliers, lawyers, economists and Chinese factory owners. T rough it all, you fi nd yourself rooting for Bas-


sett, whose fi ght to save his factories is noble, al- though his methods to do so are controversial. T e challenges and triumphs will be familiar to those working in the U.S. metalcasting industry: striv- ing for lean manufacturing principles to compete with lower prices, fi nding niches to make yourself more competitive, and waging legal battles to fi ght against the foreign dumping of goods. Bassett’s factories are still running, although


he has had to close a few. And some reshoring is occurring. But many U.S. furniture companies now are entrenched in retail and rely on low-cost imports to make their profi ts—their domestic production gone for good. For Bassett, the factories and jobs they provide


have been worth the fi ght. “What you do is, you put on your business brain and you say, How can I compete in America?” he is quoted in the book. “T at’s what this country needs to do more of, to get off its a**! Look, we do things football coaches do. We don’t do things MBAs do. Don’t make it complicated.” T e truth is, the demise of U.S. furniture mak-


ing is complicated, and Macy gives a balanced examination of the decline in her book that hap- pens to also be a very good read.


54 | MODERN CASTING August 2014


actory Man”, by journalist Beth Macy, is about the U.S. furniture making industry, not metalcasting,


ABRIDGED


Relevance to Metalcasters Technical Diffi culty Self-Help Fluff Profi t Booster


“A smart factory recreating its


product line as a direct response to a competitor is no diff erent


from a team shifting its defense in the face of an opposing quarterback who can both throw and run.”


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