President Donald Trump, who signs presidential documents by hand with a custom Sharpie, has made it a presidential priority to reshore American manufacturing, and coincidentally Sharpie maker Newell Brands is a prime example.
Newell Brands has transformed its U.S. operations with a massive onshoring effort that has made manufacturing its iconic markers cheaper, faster, and more efficient — all without cutting jobs or raising prices, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
“I felt like we had an opportunity to dramatically improve our U.S. manufacturing,” CEO Chris Peterson told the Journal. “It’s really night and day compared to when I first joined.
“There’s no longer a reason to manufacture Sharpie outside the U.S.”
At the company’s Maryville, Tennessee, plant, which produces more than 500 million Sharpie markers annually, nearly every part of the pen is made domestically. Only the felt tip is imported from Japan. The shift marks a dramatic turnaround from 2018, when much of Sharpie’s production was outsourced.
Newell, headquartered in Atlanta, invested nearly $2 billion to centralize its supply chain, overhaul production lines, and retrain workers for automation-focused roles. As a result, pen production is three to four times faster, quality has improved, and average wages at the facility — which employs about 550 people — have risen roughly 50% in five years.
The company achieved these gains without layoffs. It redeployed workers into new roles such as automation engineering, supported by expanded training and education programs. Automation has taken over many repetitive tasks, while robots now assemble components and scan products for defects.
The investment has also helped Newell offset inflation and keep prices stable — a Sharpie still sells for about $1 per pen — while fulfilling orders more quickly and cutting shipping costs. Last year, the company even brought production of its retractable Sharpie line back from China after solving quality issues through new engineering solutions.
The Maryville plant runs 24/7, producing 1.8 million markers a day, and Newell plans to expand U.S. production even further, including shifting its Clearview highlighter line from China.
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