"Social Reshoring" is a Win-Win with TCO

Labor costs are still higher in the U.S. than they are in China, but this is not the only piece of the puzzle manufacturers are using these days to determine whether to offshore or reshore production. Thanks to total cost of ownership (TCO) calculations, manufacturers are realizing that sacrificing a little in labor costs can be worth a lot in total cost. Higher productivity, quality, and ease of redesign combined with shorter lead times and lower freight and inventory costs are more than worth the margin on American labor. Many manufacturers are seeing that using TCO can increase profit margins as well as economic and commercial welfare in their communities.

According to one strategist, Thorsten Hoins, in a post titled “Consider Social Reshoring,” what many manufacturers may not be capitalizing on is their ability to improve social welfare by creating jobs where they might not previously have existed—and, yes, still remain cost-competitive. FVO Solutions, a provider of U.S.-based manufacturing and third party logistics services for private and public firms, maintains cost-competitiveness and provides socially-conscious Made in USA goods and services in one fell swoop. Their coup de grâce is that they “provide employment opportunities that would otherwise not exist”: operating as a not-for-profit, they practice what Hoins calls “social reshoring". In his definition, social reshoring is “[t]he practice of bringing outsourced labor back to the location from which they were originally offshored and create price competitive jobs in our own communities: for veterans, wounded warriors, at-risk youth, people with disabilities and others with barriers to employment.”

He suggests that by implementing social reshoring, manufacturers can bring jobs back to all Americans while increasing profitability and competitiveness: it's a win-win.

See Thorstein Hoins' full post here.

Is your company using a TCO model for sourcing decisions? Try the free Total Cost of Ownership Estimator.

Reshoring IT Hardware Leads to TCO Cost Savings and Risk Avoidance

A recent post on Planet Magpie, an IT blog, asks the seemingly-simple but surprisingly-complicated question, “where did your computers come from?” And perhaps more importantly, why should you care?

Inaugural Reshoring Summit – Manufacturing Networking at its Finest

by Harry Moser, founder of The Reshoring Initiative

Next week is sure to be exciting for the manufacturing community as key reshoring leaders and U.S. manufacturing stakeholders gather in Cleveland, Ohio for the inaugural Reshoring Summit: Bringing Manufacturing Back to the U.S. Presented by Infocast, the event will take place at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown in the Key Center March 12-14.

Being the first national event of its kind, The Reshoring Summit will focus solely on the issues surrounding the reshoring movement and serve as a unique opportunity for manufacturers to discover the benefits of making better sourcing decisions. Over the three days, we (the reshoring community) will engage in discussions with manufacturers, suppliers, governmental development organizations, site selectors and others in attendance. The event will also serve as a platform for building valuable relationships and learning how to sell against offshore competitors while attracting, obtaining and retaining companies to their regions.

As part of the educational sessions, case study reviews and interactive panels, I will deliver the opening day presentation on establishing the proper procedures when considering reshoring. The two-hour session will take a closer look at what factors companies must evaluate when making manufacturing and sourcing decisions. One factor that is frequently overlooked is the total cost of offshoring, easily done with our free Total Cost of Ownership Estimator™. The presentation will also cover the cost components necessary for determining accurate financial scenarios – many of which are ignored when making sourcing and investing decisions.

Other Reshoring Summit faculty and distinguished reshoring colleagues include Walter Snodell, Tobais Schoenherr, Hope Paolini, Scott Paul and Kristi Tanner. For more information and to register, please visit: www.infocastinc.com/reshoring.