89 / 116
FACTORY FLOOR
“We produce more than 600 different kinds of hats and bags in 360 color combi-
nations,” says David Bronson, national accounts manager at Unionwear. “The most
complicated bag we make is a casualty care bag for the U.S. Army, which requires 75
steps and over 100 pieces to produce. It is a fanny pack that holds medical supplies
for Army medics.”
The simplest product, Bronson says, is a ski hat. To produce the popular cap
UNIONWEAR STITCHES PRIDE INTO EVERY U.S.-MADE, UNION-MADE
CAP AND BAG.
BY JEN ALEXANDER
style, machines knit yarn into a tube and
employees cut the tube and sew it to
shape. Unionwear customers’ top picks
from the supplier are brushed cotton
unstructured hats, structured cotton
twill hats and tote bags.
To ensure a quality-finished product
that’s wearable, usable and long-lasting,
Unionwear has invested in dozens of
pieces of specialized equipment—each
dedicated to a single step in the process
of assembling hats or bags. Additionally,
Unionwear team members are experi-
enced in the manufacture of such items.
“We require employees to have five years
of industrial sewing experience before
they are allowed to finish products in
WENTY YEARS AGO,
textile imports and overseas
manufacturing were on the rise, as companies sought
ways to do more business with less overhead. But at
the same time, Unionwear/Konvex (UPIC: MADEINUS) was
founded with a focus to keep manufacturing and production on
American soil. Now the New Jersey company is a proud suppli-
er of caps, bags and military goods that are both U.S.-made and
union-made.
T
Sew American
DECEMBER 2015 •
PPB
• 87
CONNECT