Berry Compliant Textiles – Made in the USA

It is no great secret that the latter part of the 20th century saw much of the American manufacturing sector dramatically shrink due to what is commonly referred to as “offshoring” – the relocation of domestic production to overseas factories and/or corporations.

This trend was – initially, at least – driven by the significantly lower labor costs of foreign workers (by comparison to their American counterparts).  As such, those products whose costs were driven heavily by labor (as opposed to materials) became obvious targets for the attraction of offshore production.

Predictably, textiles and apparel were among the first American manufacturing industries to suffer a post-industrial downward turn. U.S. textile mills began closing in the 1970s, and by the 1990s their production was in full collapse. The Bureau of Labor Statics has tracked the last 20 or so years of the domestic textile/fashion industry.  Many jobs simply evaporated due to competition from abroad. By BLS calculations, between 1990 and 2011, more than 80 percent of US textile manufacturing jobs disappeared.

As overseas manufacturers increased and improved their factories and relative capabilities, the effects of offshoring continued to erode more of America’s traditional production sectors, as well as the jobs and innovation related to those industries. 

Many of those companies that resisted the allure of offshoring, were able to remain competitive – and even thrive – by specializing in high quality, innovative, high-performing products that were difficult to find overseas.  Those manufacturers that were able to adapt through creativity and specialization often managed to weather the storm.  By example, we at OTEX (Originally Offray named after the company’s founder Claudius M. Offray) were originally decorative ribbon manufacturers.  When overseas producers flooded the US with low-cost ribbons, Claude V. Offray Jr. (grandson of Claudius) began experimenting with the company’s looms and created a host of specialty narrow textiles that would eventually become the firm’s staple line and saving grace.

Fortunately, as overseas labor and shipping costs have risen, and as American industry and government leaders have taken actions to incentivize “reshoring,” we have, in recent years, seen significant return and regrowth in the domestic manufacturing sector, as well as an encouraging increase/interest in manufacturing jobs.

One of the most important moves to promote domestic manufacturing of textiles, consumables, and measuring tools, was the Berry Amendment. 

Originally passed by congress in 1941 to align defense purchases with domestic producers, it was made permanent in 1994.  Under the Berry regulations, unless a product (as listed in the amendment) cannot be sourced in the US, all defense procurements must come from a domestic supplier(s), who has grown, processed, and/or manufactured in the US from domestically-sourced materials.

If a particular sought-after item cannot be sourced domestically, it would then require a waiver. Domestic Non-availability Determinations, or DNADs, under the Berry Amendment are made only if the USD(A&S), a Secretary of a Military Department, or the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) determines that items grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States cannot be acquired as and when needed in a satisfactory quality and sufficient quantity at U.S. market prices. An analysis of alternatives must be completed as part of this review, and a determination must be made that none of the possible alternatives can meet the DoD requirements.

Berry Amendment compliancy is also a requirement for many/most aerospace and space travel programs (for both government and private industry), as a way of tracking/monitoring supply chains and ensuring continuity of quality.

OTEX Is Your Source For Berry Compliant Textiles That Are Made in the USA.

At OTEX, all of our production occurs at our Watsontown, PA facility, primarily from Made in the USA, Berry Amendment complaint materials.  We are proud suppliers to all branches of the US military, as well as to NASA, NASA suppliers, and to private aerospace and space travel companies.  

All our textiles are custom-engineered to meet customer-specified, performance needs.  Up to 4 inches in width, our product categories are:

• Webbing
• Elastics
• E-textiles / Smart fabrics
• Tubes
• Tapes/Trims
• Cords

And textile performance criteria could include, but not be limited to:

• Fire / Heat resistance
• High tensile strength / tenacity
• UV resistance
• Chemical resistance
• Cut / abrasion resistance
• Hydrophobicity (water / moisture resistance)
• Many others

In addition to defense and aerospace industries, we are key suppliers of mission-critical textile components to other industries, such as:

• Fire safety
• Industrial safety / fall-protection
• Crane rigging
• Flood protection
• Among others

OTEX Specialty Narrow Fabrics® is a longstanding leader in the design and manufacture of specialty textile components.  As an AS9100D certified manufacturer, there is nothing that thrills us more than collaborating with the engineers in order to create new and exciting equipment that will help protect, and save the lives of hard working men and women, and achieve new performance capabilities.  

If you would like to learn more about the interesting and innovative products that we continue to develop for this, and other, mission-critical industries, please explore our website, or contact us directly.  Our research and development team and/or sales staff, would love to hear from you and explore your own unique Specialty Narrow Fabric needs.