Executive Summary

Mission Belt Co. has redefined the common belt as a fully functional fashion accessory for men. The uniquely functional ratchet system makes others obsolete while looking great at work and play. Landing a Spot on Shark Tank resulted in a deal with Damien Johns. Business boomed and MB knew they needed to find the right manufacturing partner to help manage the growth. In comes Blacksmith International. A comprehensive provider of outsourced manufacturing services with a teams in the U.S. and China and ready to handle the load.

About
Mission Belt Company has completely redefined the way men view and use belts. The belt is fashionable, functional and unique in its sleek and efficient design. When a customer buys a Mission Belt, the company donates $1 to fighting hunger and poverty worldwide. Confronted with various hurdles in manufacturing their innovative product, Mission Belt turned to Blacksmith International to ensure timelines and quality standards were met and the difficult job of manufacturing was offloaded. As a comprehensive outsource manufacturing service to some very cool U.S. consumer brands, Blacksmith was the logical choice. Blacksmith and Mission Belt set out to improve quality standards and insure that Mission Belt would get the product they wanted when they needed it. Now, Mission Belt has found that they are able to focus more of their valuable time on growing their business and nurturing their loyal customers.

Challenges
Originally operating factory direct, Mission Belt realized that, while the job was getting done, they were losing out on a third party who could help negotiate with factories on price and quality. Outsourced tasks were quickly burning time that could be better spent focusing on what they were best at- “marketing and making cool products.“ For Mission Belt, their main concern was that they were spending too much time getting lost in the intricate details. Undergoing a major overhaul with inventory management and product procurement, it was imperative e that their team could coordinate with a trusted third party to ensure that they would achieve a smooth and efficient supply chain from beginning to end Tiring of restless nights in communication with factories in China, Mission Belt made the decision to exclusively use the services of Blacksmith International.

How Blacksmith Helped
Mission Belt identified three solutions brought to them by Blacksmith International:
  1. Outsourcing: Blacksmith has access to a vast network of hundreds of licensed, vetted, and professional suppliers.
  2. Quality Control: Without having a presence in China, the best quality of products cannot always be anticipated or guaranteed. Having team members located in China, Blacksmith International is able to visit and examine factories to ensure the best manufacturing and production process.
  3. General Production Knowledge: After years of growing experience, Blacksmith understands the process and timing as well as what expectations are appropriate for manufacturing in China.

Results

“As a result of Blacksmith’s influence, Mission Belt freed critical hours up each week of administrative and operational work load directly associated with factory interfacing, sampling, sourcing, quality control, pricing, etc.” – Conor MacArthur (COO of Mission Belt)

“Blacksmith International is a key part of our team. They manage our sourcing, sampling, quality control, production and pricing so we can focus on running our business.”
Connor MacArthur
COO – Mission Belt