Inside a new factory near Louisville, Kentucky, bright orange robots will soon begin carefully loading boot parts into a machine that adds soles. It’s one step in the highly automated process of ...

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Well-worn leather jackets. An old bowling bag. A drop cloth splattered with multi-colored paint. A bike tire inner tube. The leather from a beat-up couch.

For decades, Western companies have made everything from clothes to toys in Asia, Eastern Europe or Latin America, taking advantage of cheaper labor and highly developed supply chains. But the ...