
A Woman's Touch
North Bay Biz, May 2010
[Wright Engineered Plastics CEO Barbara] Roberts convened a roundtable of local companies and formulated the first draft of a green manufacturers’ checklist that was eventually accepted by the county. “It was important to me. It took three years to make it happen."
READ MORE: http://www.northbaybiz.com/General_Articles/General_Articles/A_Womans_Touch.php
A Grand Goal for More U.S. Manufacturing Jobs
Business Week, August 31, 2009
In the last six months, Wright Engineered Plastics, a small injection-molder in Santa Rosa, Calif., with clients in the medical and telecom industries, has signed three new clients that have decided to move production back to the U.S. "Their reasons ranged," says Wright President and CEO Barbara Roberts. "Higher transportation costs and rising wages in China are making it more cost-effective for some to manufacture here. Two, in particular, were having significant quality issues."
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http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/aug2009/db20090828_531060.htm
Some manufacturers find California cheaper than China
San Francisco Business Times, July 24, 2009
Four Northern California companies in the past five months have reshored products from China to Wright Engineered Plastics, said President and CEO Barbara Roberts. Their reasons range from costs to vicinity to market and from quality to finance.
Chinese manufacturers, for example, won’t ship until a product is completely paid for, Roberts said, and then transportation could add another 30 days or more.
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http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/07/27/focus1.html
A whole new way to flag down that waiter: Servisensor
North Bay Business Journal. July 13, 2009
The devices are manufactured by Wright Engineered Plastics in Santa Rosa.
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http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/11691/a-whole-new-way-to-flag-down-that-waiter-servisensor/
Marin firm moves manufacturing back to U.S.
North Bay Business Journal, May 4, 2009
“Companies with experience doing business in China are very aware of what they pay for,” said Ms. Roberts. “Duties, fees, export and import documentation, transportation and the need in some cases to pay before shipment all add up.”
Poor quality, or the perception of it, negates the advantages of low cost. Also, factory operations in countries with weak environmental regulations are causing widespread pollution.
The fact that pollution produced in overseas plants eventually drifts back to North America isn’t lost on U.S. companies,” said Ms. Roberts.
READ MORE:
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090504/BUSINESSJOURNAL/905039958
California Molder Wright recovers offshore work
Plastics News, April 27, 2009
“At a time when the U.S. is losing manufacturing jobs at a breakneck pace, it's heartening to see companies such as CP Lab return operations to the United States,” Roberts said. “Manufacturing at home cannot only save businesses money, but it can strengthen local economies.”
READ MORE:
http://www.plasticsnews.com/headlines2.html?cat=1&id=1240841947&q=wright
Overseas manufacturers losing price advantage
San Francisco Chronicle, April 26, 2009
"We're actually winning bids based on quoting prices, which is extraordinary," said Barbara Roberts, chief executive of Wright.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/26/BUHB172VF0.DTL#ixzz0nvf7nKrY
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/26/BUHB172VF0.DTL

Novato lab products maker will return ‘onshore’:
Marin Independent Journal, April 23, 2009
Roberts said although transportation costs seem to be the major reason for the onshoring, there are other factors involved. She said the maker of baby products was concerned about the materials being used by Chinese manufacturers and the safety of the products they make.
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http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_12211604 Local high-tech manufacturer resurges
North Bay Business Journal, June 16, 2008
Wright Engineered Plastics is signaling a turnaround in local high-tech manufacturing, demonstrating it has learned to play a strong game on a completely new field.
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http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080616/BUSINESSJOURNAL/264809529
Motherland of Invention
Santa Rosa Press Democrat, November 18, 2007
[Welling] needed to find a company to make the Tie Buddies. Researching plastic types, including density and quality, Welling came across Wright Engineered Plastics and picked the Santa Rosa company. "I'd rather give local business a boost," she said.
Cost, however, remains her paramount concern as a startup enterprise. Wright Engineered Plastics offered Welling a competitive deal, she said.
READ MORE:
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20071118/NEWS/711180403
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