Black Diamond has forged carabiners at its Salt Lake City headquarters听since the company moved there from Ventura, California听in 1991, just three years after its founding. They鈥檙e among the products that launched the fledgling gear maker听when it Chouinard Equipment nearly 30 years ago,听and they remain one of the brand鈥檚 bestsellers.
Come this fall, that production will mostly听move overseas, along with the manufacturing of hexes, stoppers, ice screws, ascenders, wall irons, and crampons.听
Rumors first began last week when an posted a screenshot听of a听social-media post outlining the announcement that had just been made to employees. On Tuesday, that it had laid off 70 of the 132 workers at its in-house factory, as it shifts all machining of metal out of the U.S.听and transitions its Salt Lake facility to an assembly plant. The downsizing will officially take effect sometime between September 1 and December 31.听Remaining staff will build Camalots, ATC Pilot belay devices, skins, gym quickdraws, and ice screws from parts forged in other countries.听
The change came about as the complexity of Black Diamond鈥檚 product designs began to outpace what its听own machinery and technology could handle. 鈥淔or BD to be competitive long term in the carabiner market we had to outsource the technology to develop the type of carabiners that we are designing,鈥 said听John Walbrecht, Black Diamond鈥檚 president, in a statement sent to 国产吃瓜黑料.听鈥淲e could not do that competitively or technologically here in our in-house facility.鈥 The shift has been in the works for several years. (Black Diamond鈥檚 new carabiners, set to hit shelves in the spring of 2020, are already being manufactured at a factory in Taiwan.)听
International manufacturing is nothing new for Black Diamond. Almost听everything else the brand makes, aside from core climbing hard goods, is already manufactured overseas. This includes skis听and apparel. For nine years, Black Diamond owned a factory in China where it assembled, among other things, many of its carabiners. (Production came back to the U.S. in 2015.)听
Walbrecht emphasized that deciding to let go of 70 employees, many of whom had been with the company for years, was not an easy task.听But听鈥渋t鈥檚 not about Salt Lake, Taiwan, or any one place in particular,鈥 he said. 鈥淔or us to live up to this mandate [of innovation], we need to lead听always with design and development.鈥 To that end, the company is hiring new designers and engineers at a fast clip. Walbrecht told听SNEWS听that Black Diamond听has already welcomed 57 new staffers in 2019. Employes impacted by the downsizing will have access to severence packages and in-house resources听like resume building and job fairs.
What will all the move mean for consumers? If history is any indication, we may see a hiccup or two.听When the company closed its China factory and brought听assembly back to the U.S., it wound up issuing a for, among other things, carabiners, Camalots, and ascenders.
In the long run, however, it likely means there will be some exciting new products鈥攐r significantly upgraded ones鈥攈itting shelves in the coming years.听