Rooted in the Midwest and Beyond
Sky Factory is deeply rooted in the Midwest, not just at our headquarters but throughout our entire organization. On any given week, Sky Factory’s main dock at its 12,000 sq. foot manufacturing facility sees a lot of traffic—everything from receiving assorted wood trim deliveries for OpenView Luminous Virtual Windows to aluminum sheet metal for LED lightbox casings. Window trim shipments of selected wood species originate close to our home base in southeast Iowa. Other varieties arrive from neighboring states like Missouri in the Tri-State area and Nebraska farther west.
Farther from home, but still in the Midwest, the optical-quality image panels that diffuse the LED patterns behind our proprietary Open Sky Compositions arrive from multiple regional facilities, including Ohio. In addition, the aluminum sheet metal we use to manufacture the custom-calibrated lightboxes that lend our Luminous SkyCeilings their ethereal quality arrives from both Kentucky and South Carolina in the Appalachian region.
All in all, over a decade in the making, Sky Factory’s vertical integration efforts have resulted in a reliable and robust supply chain that sources quality materials from local and regional suppliers based all across the Continental United States. The logistic efforts to build a strong network that keeps our supply chain linked to our Midwestern headquarters, while at the same time aligning the company’s business plan with U.S. government economic priorities.
Buy American Act (BAA)
In fact, the Buy American Act (BAA), the Trade Agreements Act (TAA), and the Inflation Reduction Act (Build America, Buy American) all incentivize domestic manufacturers to source materials across the contiguous United States—often referred to in logistics lingo as the lower 48, and avoid dependence on foreign sources of basic components and raw materials.
Family-Owned Entrepreneurship
“As a 2nd generation, family-owned business based in the Heartland of America, we’ve always looked to source local or regionally whenever possible,” says Skye Witherspoon, Sky Factory’s CEO. “The Midwest has a diverse industrial base that gives us access to a lot of different sources of quality materials.
“As a small business, we value a close relationship with our vendors. Reliable partners are worth their weight in gold—they understand our product specs, delivery timetables, and they will often go the extra mile when we have an urgent request. Some suppliers call and give us a heads up about possible component supply disruptions or even a first crack at a good deal.”
Over the years, Sky Factory has brought key operations like our LED strip assembly in-house, which not only gives the company more control over product customization and manufacturing quality, but also yields great flexibility in operations. For example, in our research & development efforts, a more integrated vertical supply chain can help speed up prototype testing and new product development.
Behind the Product Spotlight: Luminous SkyCeilings & Virtual Windows
Over the years, Sky Factory’s high-quality craftsmanship and innovation in artistic design are reflected in the recognition received by architectural juries and benchmark product design competitions like the Architizer A+ Awards, one of the largest international awards programs with a global audience of over 400 million, and the Nightingale Awards, one of the premier competitions in healthcare design.
Regionally Sourced & Expertly Crafted
However, as much as product design is rewarded for its engineering ingenuity and artistic merit, a third factor has emerged as a powerful consideration: domestic manufacturing and component sourcing. Gone are the days when shipping cheap components from China—regardless of time spent in transit—would be easily offset by their cost advantage.
Not only have costs gone up, but the recent Covid-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of the supply chain to external shocks and the inherent difficulty in trying to find ready-made alternatives. While companies have earnest plans in place for vertical integration, Sky Factory always saw the importance of keeping our supply chain close to our manufacturing facilities.
Sustainable Practices
Those efforts began with securing a clean source of energy through our 3,500 sq. ft. Solar Array, inaugurated over a decade ago, in 2012. At the time, it was the largest private solar array in the Hawkeye State and was designed to supply 104% of our annual energy requirements. Excess electricity would be funneled back into the public utility’s grid and the company would receive credits that it could apply at times when energy consumption exceeded solar array output.
“The job is never truly completed,” says Dave Balster, who’s in charge of sourcing material and finding replacements whenever shortages, delivery timetables, or specifications change. “I’m constantly scanning the market, talking to established as well as new providers, and looking for changes in process, technology, or other market dynamics can imperil our established supply channels.”
Manufactured in the USA
Back in 2002, when Bill Witherspoon founded Sky Factory on a shoestring budget and raw entrepreneurial zeal, the globalization trend was in full swing. Jumping headlong into the commercial lighting industry, which imported between 60 and 80% of its components from China and other low-cost manufacturers in Southeast Asia, a small start-up didn’t have much leeway to source components locally.
Making the Heartland Home
However, as a company that started out by painting blue skies and clouds on the ceiling, the idea of sourcing components closer to our operations grew over time as the company acquired its own manufacturing facilities and the Heartland of America became our permanent home, even as international sales and our products’ reputation grew overseas.
