Can't help but love the current trend in business to reshore manufacturing to the US. Coincidentally, while eating at a Japanese steakhouse recently, another diner was getting his last US meal before departing to Poland. He was going to Poland to take apart a multi-million dollar V-Belt production machine and ship it back Mississippi to run future components there. To help spur this movement along sharing Harry Moser of the Reshoring Initiative justification below. Hope more companies factor in the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) to offshore and realize the production in US is to their advantage.
Why Reshore?
The massive U.S. trade deficit is a major cause of the decline of U.S. manufacturing over the past several decades, the high unemployment rate and debilitating budget deficit. Domestic suppliers have watched as large manufacturers have offshored work and well-paying jobs. Offshoring ultimately contributes to waste and instability.
Reshoring is an efficient way to reduce imports, increase exports and regain manufacturing jobs in the United States. It's also the fastest and most efficient way to strengthen the U.S. economy.
For the nation, reshoring brings back desirable jobs that have been lost to decades of offshoring. Reshoring also helps manufacturers recover from offshoring's poor quality, trade secret thefts, supply chain disruptions and lengthy delivery times -- all while staying cost competitive.
Top reasons for companies to reshore:
◦Reduces Total Cost of Ownership
◦Improves quality and consistency of inputs
◦Reduces pipeline and surge inventory impact on just-in-time operations
◦Clusters manufacturing near R&D facilities, enhancing innovation
◦Reduces intellectual property and regulatory compliance risk
◦Eliminates the waste and instability caused by offshoring
◦Strengthens companies’ ability to respond quickly to customers' demands
Top reasons for the nation to reshore:
◦Brings jobs back to the U.S.
◦Helps balance U.S., state and local budgets
◦Motivates recruits to enter the skilled manufacturing workforce
◦Strengthens the defense industrial base
These reasons have been true for years. Now the company benefits of reshoring are growing daily as offshore sourcing faces increased wages and currencies, higher transportation and fuel costs, and inability to provide required responsiveness. Nationally, reshoring breaks out of the waiting-for-policy-decisions problem (currency, trade negotiations) and the economic zero-sum-game (taxes and spending).
Many companies are shifting their operations back to the U.S. because offshoring has hindered their ability to rapidly deliver goods, maintain low inventories, uphold competitive costs and meet demand for rapid adjustments to unique products.