“Slow Manufacturing”: producing goods in a way that allows sustainability to have a role in an otherwise wasteful operational category.
You want to produce goods ethically and sustainably? Expect the modern manufacturing world to not be understanding.
Dunsel’s has to source, process and cut all of the fabric that goes into its product because no one is willing to accommodate the lack of efficiency involved with hand cutting every fabric scrap. A typical soft goods business our size would not have to have, a workshop, two workshop staff, or run monthly statewide supply trips to support their business, these would be outsourced overseas for a fraction of the cost.
Our outlook on our growth being slowed by these extra operations is quite positive. We are taking the spare time to build a stronger foundation in our supply chain, manufacturing, sales, marketing, and e-commerce. While it would be nice to grow faster, Dunsel's has never motivated by getting as big as possible as quickly as possible because it causes long-term problems. These long-term problems could be relying on paid advertisement for traffic even though our product has room for improvement. Instead of spending six months redeveloping the Pinhook tote, we might have tried to do it in 3 months. Speeding through it would have caused some features to be overlooked or the quality to decrease.
We love slow manufacturing at Dunsel's because of what it represents. Business since the Industrial Revolution has been wasteful and increasingly lower quality. It has resulted in subpar products and a larger environmental footprint. Here at Dunsel's, we are on a mission to look at what a business can accomplish through a different lens.