According to the American Apparel and Footwear Association, less than 3 percent of apparel sold in the U.S. is manufactured in the country.
Suuchi Ramesh, founder and CEO of Suuchi Inc. in North Bergen, wants to change that.
“How can we deliver on-demand manufacturing at scale in the U.S.?” she said. “We want to localize manufacturing by replicating our model across the country — but that will require the transformation and modernization of existing supply chains.”
At Suuchi Inc., a vertically integrated, one-stop shop and supply chain in which leading apparel fashion brands and companies can source, design, manufacture and ship their products from in as quickly as five days, costs are nearly 20 percent higher than if they worked with overseas manufacturers.
“But our clients more than make up for it over time with customer acquisition, increased transparency, quicker lead times and savings on shipping,” Ramesh said.
The Suuchi model also helps to create untapped and untraditional markets.
“We often work with mothers or kids just out of college who always have had the dream of creating their own fashion label, but did not have the funding,” Ramesh said. “Previously, one couldn’t do much with $5,000 due to the commitment and large batch requirements. But with our quick-turn solutions and virtual technology, we are now opening up new markets for emerging fashion brands.
“What we are building is a vertical powerhouse in which everyone can access the data and the supply chain without needing to invest in further infrastructure.”
