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Super Bowl Balls Made in the USA
February 10, 2008

At a Small Ohio Factory, Leather and Laces Mesh - New York Times

It's not a Lean story, per se, but it's always nice to read about an American factory.

The N.F.L. is the only major sports league whose balls are manufactured in the United States. World Series baseballs come from a factory in Costa Rica. Basketballs in the N.B.A. finals first bounced on the floors of factories in China.

“I think it’s really kind of cool that it’s an American sport and the product is made in America, too,” said Daniel Riegle, the plant manager.

Agreed!

The factory puts out 4,000 footballs a day (they're made for customers other than the NFL).

Let's hope the NFL or Wilson don't push production to China, as well.

I wonder i f the factory is still here because of Lean success or for PR value? The article also talks employees being paid "piece rate," meaning they get paid for what they do (maybe regardless of whether the customer needs that production or not?). I just picture piles of WIP (Work In Process) when I hear about piecework systems, unfortunately...

Posted by Mark Graban on February 10, 2008 | Comments (0)