There may be a silver lining, from a US perspective, of the challenges we are facing because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a growing intention on the part of companies to bring many of the supply chain sources back to the US. This reshoring initiative, already occurring before the pandemic, is likely to increase a great deal now that supply chain weaknesses have been exposed. Shortages of offshored products have made it clear that the economy may be over-dependent on foreign supply chains.
With that in mind a number of benefits can be recognized by US manufacturers as a result of reshoring. Increased costs of US goods and services may still exist, but other aspects of the equation make the decision to buy American a stronger position. Concerns such as lead time, supply chain reliability and lower inventory levels will improve greatly as a result of reshoring.
In addition, the savings associated with offshore manufacturing are not always as great as thought as there are many hidden expenses that occur.
The May 2020 article in FABshop magazine “Ideas for a Strong Return” by Harry Moser, founder and president, Reshoring Initiative, provides a persuasive argument as to how reshoring can benefit individual companies and the economy in general.
Phil Celotto, Insyte Consultant, helps WNY companies improve their operations through the implementation of lean manufacturing practices and ISO quality management systems. In addition to Insyte, Phil has worked at Hughes Aircraft, Carleton Technologies and SoPark Corporation in the engineering and operations fields. His experience includes positions as Project Engineer, Systems Engineer and Operations Manager. Phil is a certified Lean practitioner from SME/AME, has ISO 9000 and ISO 13485 Provisional Lead Auditor certifications and is an active member of APICS. He holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University at Buffalo.