Where to Get Input on a Reshoring Strategy

Rising labor costs, working across far-flung time zones, and challenges moving goods across oceans have led many American companies to relocate manufacturing operations back home. Reshoring is a smart strategy thanks to automation that helps small and mid-size U.S.-based manufacturers compete on a global scale.

Changing places is often fraught with challenges. Imagine how difficult it is transporting equipment and people to a new office setting or facility within the same city. Companies that do decide to relocate to the U.S. have a resource they can turn to for help. The Reshoring Institute provides research and support for companies heading back to America.

Learn more about the benefits offered through this collaboration with the Institute and their organizational partner, the University of San Diego.

Benefits

Companies deciding whether or not to switch operations back to the U.S. must measure if the move makes economic sense. In Shanghai alone, wages jumped 76% between 2010 and 2013 and that makes an automated factory that employs U.S. workers more appealing.

A benefit of the Reshoring Institute is developing cost-comparison models and conducting research. Project management services are available at budget-friendly fees.

The services have a two-way benefit. Student interns handle case-loads that clarify issues for the clients and in turn the students gain new perspectives about the manufacturing sector. A new generation of business leaders is trained to see the importance of manufacturing jobs for the economy.

The Reshoring Institute’s website has a variety of downloadable research available in articles and white papers that include Reshoring with Walmart and Ride the Wave of Reshoring.

Trends

Signs of moving manufacturing and assembly operations back to the U.S. are prevalent. Companies that help U.S. manufacturers implement robotics and streamline their assembly operations have workloads that are causing them to expand.

ATP Manufacturing Solutions in Hicksville, Ohio recently added 15,000 square feet of space to make room for more engineering offices and automation floor space as noted in this article on the website of Robotic Industries Association.  

A write-up on CIO.com focusing on reshoring trends in 2016 notes that companies have “exhausted the opportunities to move work to lower-cost people…[and] are now focused on moving it to machines.”

Reshoring itself is taking on a new twist. China is not just a labor source anymore as it’s working to become a source of robotic manufacturing. In an article, The Business of Automation, Betting on Robots it’s noted that “the country as a whole has decided to focus on automation as a way to create an innovation economy, as opposed to a low-cost manufacturing economy.”

Impact

As companies move operations back to the U.S. and implement automated solutions, it’s possible that the robots they purchase will come from the places that once housed their manufacturing and assembly operations.

For those wanting to lay out a reshoring plan, a good place to start is with the Reshoring Institute’s Reshoring Guidebook. Topics covered are how to create a project roadmap and a business case; how to automate; and how to compare costs of U.S. production with overseas operations.

Positioning your company for success with the right strategies requires getting input from talented people. From organizations like the Reshoring Institute to global experts on automation, your doorway to expert knowledge is A3.