American manufacturing?

[irrig8r]

Originally Posted by INTEGRA Bespoke Lighting

Auroralight, HK lighting, Vision3, BK, Hevilight all all made in the USA. I am sure there are others.
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Thanks James.

[irrig8r]

Originally Posted by INTEGRA Bespoke Lighting

Gregg, a quick browse through that Luma lighting website tells me that the vast majority of their products are made in China. All the same forms, shapes and styles that are available from a wide variety of SE Asian sources.

As far as Luma, I'm only going by the info they publish on their site.

"Luma Lighting strives to provide the highest quality brass and copper outdoor lighting fixtures, handcrafted in the U.S.A."

So, you're saying that "striving to provide" isn't the same as doing it?

[irrig8r]

Originally Posted by steveparrott

Regarding "Made in USA" Claims,

There are two relevent sources of information.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) defines and enforces "Made in USA" claims. Their definition is based on a product being made (and sourced) "all or virtually all" in the USA.

From the FTC, "All or virtually all" means that all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin. That is, the product should contain no — or negligible — foreign content."

There is some ambiguity in the standard. For example, a lighting fixture with US-made body and stake but foreign-made lens and socket might or might not comply. The standard considers place of final assembly (must be USA), the importance of the foreign-made part(s) to the functionality of the final product, and the relative monetary value of the foreign part(s).

The recent adoption of LED's does call into question some "Made in USA" claims since mfgs. are claiming LED's as a prime feature of the product and LED's are expensive. If these LED's and their drivers come from Asia (as most do) then it's hard to claim that they are a negligable part of the product.

FTC "Made in USA" Standards

The other source to consider is the "Buy America Act". Passed in 1933, it mandates that US-made products be selecting for Government contracts. It is also an important part of Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and for the DOE's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

The "Made in USA" qualifications for these programs and government contracts are much more flexible than the FTC standards, and include exclusions relevent to the project at hand, and allow products made in countries that participate in free trade agreements.

This is why most CAST products can not claim "Made in USA" on the packaging (since they're made in Colombia), but they do qualify for BUY American (hence LEED credits) since the USA has a free trade agreement with Colombia.

Interesting distinctions.

[emby]

Excelsior Lighting

[easy-lift guy]

Not to be off topic per say, I manufacturer Two products here in the USA and I sell all over the world. Proud of that fact, and will continue to be made in the USA by citizens of the USA.
easy-lift guy

[irrig8r]

Originally Posted by emby

Excelsior Lighting

That one's new to me. Their TFs look like Justin.

Looked them up too, and found this:

http://www.justininc.com/pdfs/Buy_Am..._Provision.pdf

[INTEGRA Bespoke Lighting]

Hey Ken... Did someone leave Vision3 and open up Excelsior? It sure looks that way to me. Their products look like exact copies of Vision3, who we know was founded and operated by some guys who left BK. Will Vision3 be launching legal proceedings against Excelsior just as BK sued Vision3? Why bother with the new upstart selling an identical line of products to an established competitor... is there a significant price advantage?

[emby]

Originally Posted by INTEGRA Bespoke Lighting

Hey Ken... Did someone leave Vision3 and open up Excelsior? It sure looks that way to me. Their products look like exact copies of Vision3, who we know was founded and operated by some guys who left BK. Will Vision3 be launching legal proceedings against Excelsior just as BK sued Vision3? Why bother with the new upstart selling an identical line of products to an established competitor... is there a significant price advantage?

Really....I am sure they are not the "exact" same. They might look a like but gees, so do these:

Check these out: https://store.illumicaregroup.com/Demeter_p_83.html
Flush mount, louvered, well sealed, approved for use with either 20W MR16 or LED MR16 lamps.

Or you could go really expensive and look at: http://www.hunza.co.nz/product-index/sllu.html

Not much difference.... except of course in the price!

Just saying....

[INTEGRA Bespoke Lighting]

The Vision3 and the Excelsior do look identical whereas you can see obvious differences between the Illumicare and Hunza fixtures.

Ken you mentioned Excelsior, so I assume you have seen or used the product. If so, what is the story there? It is a new brand to me and by the looks of their website they are pretty new to the market as well.

[dglights]

Doesn't look like they have the patented locking knuckle. Vision3 and BK both have different patents on this.