How one U.S. suit factory still makes the cut amid a decades-long decline in manufacturing

Sep 1, 2025

Running along the ceiling of the Joseph Abboud suit factory in New Bedford, Mass., are what appear to be upside-down railroad tracks. The system shuttles fabric between workstations – from cutting to stitching to buttonholing – all on its own. Installed in 2019, the fabric railroad boosted the factory’s efficiency by about 8%, said Joe Bahena, vice president of manufacturing. 

 

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/08/19/this-massachusetts-suit-factory-focuses-on-quality-over-cost