IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Trident Case, an Ontario company that makes metal cases used to protect iPhones, iPads and other electronic devices, is moving some of its manufacturing operation from China back to the Inland Empire.
Trident Case has bought a 42,000-square-foot facility at 9076 Hyssop Drive in Rancho Cucamonga and will transfer up to 75 percent of its China operation there, according to a statement released Wednesday.
The company hopes to have the Rancho Cucamonga facility, which is now operating at 25 percent capacity, to be fully operational by the end of next summer and add approximately 75 jobs by the end of next year according to the statement.
While the United States and California in particular, can be difficult places to run a manufacturing business, there are still several advantages to Trident Case moving the bulk of its manufacturing operation back to Southern California, said Lip Yow, the company’s president and founder.
By making its products here, Trident Case can reduce the cost of its airfreight shipping by up to 60 percent, Yow said.
“Manufacturing in the U.S. can be challenging [with] labor, utilities, infrastructure and regulations all more expensive when compared to China,” Yow said in a statement. “However, there are substantial benefits to manufacturing in the U.S., including tax benefits, significant time and transportation savings and greater quality control.”
Trident Case began operating in 2010, in a 2,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Chino. It launched its first two protective cases during October of that year and has experienced steady growth ever since.
Today, the company operates its Rancho Cucamonga facility at its 70,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Ontario. The latter is located in one of San Bernardino County’s foreign trade zones, which encourages manufacturing by reducing a company’s import and export costs.
“Getting manufacturing jobs away from China is a major achievement not only for an San Bernardino County but for all of Southern California,” said Kelly Reenders, the county’s economic development administrator.
The county’s Workforce Investment Board, which promotes job growth and job retention, helped Trident Case secure the Rancho Cucamonga facility so it could return manufacturing jobs to the region, Reenders said.
“It’s awesome for the county, and I think we’re going to see more of it,” Reenders said. “A lot of companies, especially some of the big retailers like Wal-Mart want to put ‘Made in the USA’ on their products.”
