Reshoring Initiative Winter 2013 Newsletter

Reshoring Initiative to Help Mississippi Reshore

The Reshoring Initiative is a partner with Mississippi State University in a $1.9 million award from the Make it in America Challenge, a $20.5 million federal fund to promote reshoring, job creation, and training. We will be speaking, consulting and training on reshoring and skilled workforce development. The MSU grant will be used to:

• Link small manufacturers into the supply chains of larger manufacturers.
• Engage more than 100 advanced manufacturers to prioritize reshoring and other related supply chain opportunities.
• Promote private and foreign investment, job creation and retention.
• With cooperating advanced manufacturers, establish an internship program that will fund 276 internships with a targeted 85 percent placement rate.

Reshoring in the News

CeramicIndustry.com reported that the article, "Majority of Manufacturers Planning or Considering Reshoring from China to U.S." garnered the most activity during the week of Oct 13. Reshoring continues to headline economic news, with an average of 11 new articles being added to the Reshoring Library per week, and 1-2 new company cases of reshoring announced per week.

Walmart's $50 Billion Producing Results

Walmart is influencing corporate sourcing decisions and consumer buying choices. The list of companies that are bringing work back to the U.S. to supply Walmart's $50 billion domestic manufacturing commitment continues to grow. Forbes magazine projects that 1,753 new U.S. manufacturing jobs have been announced so far (not including construction or support service jobs or component suppliers). Here are some of the participating companies:

The Reshoring Initiative is serving as an advisor to one Walmart supplier and actively encourages other current and prospective Walmart suppliers, as well as their suppliers, to contact us for help evaluating the feasibility of domestic manufacturing and sourcing. Learn more by using our free Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Estimator™.

AMT includes Reshoring as One of the Hot Three Trends in Manufacturing

At the 2013-14 Global Forecasting & Marketing Conference, Association of Manufacturing Technology (AMT) President Doug Woods reported that reshoring, automation, and big data are the three trends that are significantly impacting manufacturing. Check out the AMT website to learn more about what is being done to improve innovation and R&D in new products and manufacturing technologies, improve global competitiveness, and build a better educated and trained "Smartforce."

Reshoring Offers Opportunities for Community Development

Harry Moser presented at the IEDC (International Economic Development Council) Annual Conference in Philadelphia in early October, where reshoring was greeted with enthusiasm. Tom DiFiore posted on his blog a great summary about the Reshoring Initiative's activities, outlining how the Initiative helps communities strengthen their manufacturing sector. See full description here. The Initiative has developed several reshoring and skilled workforce programs to support community development. E-mail us for information on how to help your community.

Report on SelectUSA Investment Summit

The U.S. Commerce Department's SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington, DC on October 31 and November 1 was a great success, focusing primarily on increasing FDI (Foreign Direct Investment.) One thousand business leaders attended from about 60 countries, including the U.S.  Speakers included President Obama, Secretaries of Commerce, Labor, State and the Treasury and senior U.S. corporate leaders including the CEOs of Caterpillar, Dow, BlackRock and Walmart. Forty-seven states discussed their states' strengths and incentives at booths to attract foreign investment.  Several speakers referred to the current reshoring trend - foreign companies invest here for the same reason domestic companies reshore here: to obtain the advantage of producing near the consumer in the world's largest market. The tools of the Reshoring Initiative, especially the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Estimator, work as well for foreign companies as for domestic ones in quantifying that advantage.

Upcoming 2014 Events

• January 22-24 – RIA - 21st Robotics Industry Forum, Orlando, Florida
• February 20 – EBEC Webinar, Webinar
• February 24 – Plastics News Executive Forum, Tampa, FL
• February 25 – F4SS (Foundation for Strategic Sourcing) Conference, St. Petersburg, FL
• March 4-5 – Anklesaria Cost Forum, Del Mar, CA
• April 10 – Procurement Leaders, Webinar

A complete list of upcoming Reshoring Initiative appearances can be found on the Upcoming Events page.

Reshoring Resources

Are you and your company using all of the available Reshoring resources? Here is a list of just a few helpful tools to aid in your reshoring decision-making process:

• Calculate TCO with the Total Cost of Cost of Ownership Estimator™ – Free online tool to help evaluate sourcing alternatives and to make a case when selling against offshore competitors.
• Submit your own reshoring case for free publicity.
• Invite the Reshoring Initiative to address your or your customers' industries at a speaking engagement or meeting.

Please consider posting a link to the Reshoring Initiative on your website, and/or donating your time, talent or dollars. You can download our logo at the website. Contact us for more information on how you can help.

Happy holidays from the Reshoring Initiative!