The push to reshore manufacturing operations to the US will not succeed unless manufacturers join forces to reimagine the American manufacturing industry.
A handful of job shops clamoring for reshoring won’t prompt significant change. Everyone, from individual shop owners to government leaders, must coordinate their efforts to make reshoring a reality for over 330 million American buyers, CNC business owners, and manufacturing professionals.
So how do we collaborate within our industry to drive reshoring efforts? And how can we maximize our collective productivity and efficiency to make reshoring a viable solution?
Successful Reshoring Starts with Us
Reshoring is an all-or-nothing project. We can’t reshore some manufacturing operations and not others—not if we want to succeed! The American manufacturing industry needs a system-wide reboot, with every aspect revived right here at home.
Here are five areas of opportunity that US manufacturers must embrace if we want to increase production in America:
1. End offshoring
As long as manufacturers continue to ship parts overseas for secondary services, reshoring will remain on the back burner. We must all commit to finding US-based manufacturing partners who can accommodate overflow work and provide secondary service support.
2. Keep costs competitive
Consumers won’t tolerate reshored manufacturing if the price of goods skyrockets. To keep costs competitive, manufacturers must embrace automation at every level, from administration to operations to capabilities. Automation works wonders for shops seeking to increase production, too.
3. Localize manufacturing
Reshoring means your freight won’t get stuck outside the US. Localization means fewer supply chain issues inside the US. Along with reshoring manufacturing to the US, we must make an effort to source from local vendors as much as possible. By supporting local shops and suppliers, we ensure thriving manufacturing businesses in every corner of the country.
4. Emphasize quality
Can you genuinely say that the parts you’ve been shipping to the other side of the globe receive the high-quality services you’d get in the US? Cheap manufacturing typically equates to poor quality—is that what you want to give your customers? It’s time to emphasize quality, both internally with our teams and externally with those who buy from us.
5. Embrace social awareness
We must not accept human rights abuses in offshore factories simply because we want cheaper services. When we buy from such businesses, we enable their dangerous working conditions and underpaid (or unpaid) labor. Instead, divert outsourced work to American shops and workers. You may pay more, but you’ll know someone else isn’t paying the price for your “good deal.”
Let’s Work Together to Successfully Reshore American Manufacturing
If you’re ready to increase production in your own shop, join the ranks of manufacturing professionals who are fighting to reshore our industry to the US.
