Newell began moving some Sharpie production to China in the 2000s, part of the wave of outsourcing by U.S. companies looking to save costs.
Newell’s investments over the past five years have allowed it to offset inflation by lowering production costs—and avoid raising Sharpie prices. A typical Sharpie marker retails for about $1 a pen when sold in a pack. The shift to the U.S. has also allowed the company to fulfill customer orders more quickly, and reduce shipping costs.
With additional investments in robots and training, the factory has been able to make pens at three to four times its previous speed, he said. The quality is better, too.
“I felt like we had an opportunity to dramatically improve our U.S. manufacturing,” he said.Peterson is now the CEO. And these days, most Sharpies—in all 93 colors—are made at this 37-year-old factory. Newell did it without reducing the employee count, and without raising prices. But to get to this place took close to $2 billion in investments across the company, thousands of hours of training and a total overhaul of the production process.
President Trump, who uses a custom Sharpie, has slapped high tariffs on many imports with the goal of prompting more companies to do what Newell has done and bring manufacturing back to the U.S. But Filippo Falorni, an analyst at Citi, said few companies in the sector have the resources to replicate Newell’s move.
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