Manufacturing

ARC’ONE

ARC’One, our Canadian manufacturing facility, is located in New Westminster, B.C., only a short drive from our design centre. Having this facility close by is an opportunity for us to design and optimise the manufacturing process for each product from beginning to end. We can discover and solve problems, revise workflow and create specialized tools.

Ideas are worthless until proven. Prototyped at ARC’One and tested in our rugged local mountains, from idea to output, ARC’One, enables us to keep manufacturing within our design process. We can experiment with new fabric technologies, construction innovations and develop blueprints for our global manufacturing partners.

The fastest, most technically advanced apparel factory in the world, ARC’One uses LEAN manufacturing to streamline production. Using a module system, LEAN groups highly skilled, efficient teams into units that perform all the operations necessary to complete products. This method supports small production runs, niche product development, and allows us to rapidly prototype and experiment. Having our own manufacturing facility has always been part of our design process. Solving the problems that come with producing in bulk is actually an extension of our initial question: How do we make better products?

BY THE NUMBERS

• Opened in 2016

• One of the only North American outerwear manufacturers with our own factory

• 480 employees

• Operators receive 1,500 hours of focused training

• Produces 110,500 units in a year (over 302 units every day)

• Modular production teams of 13 work together to produce final products

• 10% of product is made at ARC’One

• 85 different styles are created at ARC’One • ARC’One footprint is 243,000’, four times the previous factory size

GLOBAL NETWORK

Our global network of manufacturing partners share our values of quality, fairness and responsible management. We consider these partners carefully and establish long term relationships with them, to ensure consistent high standards and trust. People are our greatest resource. Manufacturing high-performance outdoor gear remains a challenge for the environment. We believe the strongest path to sustainability is durability. Our vision is to manufacture in a way that all materials and products are resources to be used in repeated loops, rather than disposed. We have aligned ourselves with organizations dedicated to reducing environmental impacts, from material sourcing to production.

BY THE NUMBERS

• We manufacture in 23 global facilities that stretch across five continents

• Many partners have been with us for over 10 years

• Identifying and preparing a new factory partner takes three years before production

• Employee training takes 9+ months

• On average, we visit our facilities 20 times each year for quality assurance