Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • Subscribe!
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings

Is re-shoring the new green manufacturing buzzword?

By Paul Heney | March 14, 2011

Share

We’ve heard the cry for years, especially from the hard-hit Midwestern states, that China is taking our manufacturing jobs. And there certainly has been a steady stream of U.S. manufacturers that have taken to off-shoring jobs over the past decade. Whether it’s been machining, assembly, plastic injection molding, castings, or another piece of the supply chain, you’d be hard-pressed to find a company in your area that hasn’t at least tried this cheaper way of doing business.

Ford-Michigan-Assembly-Plant

Ford has announced that they will be reshoring nearly 2,000 jobs from Japan, Mexico and India by 2012.
Photo of Michigan Assembly Plan courtesy Ford Motor Co.

Because it is cheaper, right? After all, China and many other overseas countries have less expensive labor costs than we do. So what could go wrong?

Well, plenty, it turns out.

Errors abound in off-shoring manufacturing and production. Tolerances and quality control aren’t always what we’ve come to expect from domestic manufacturers or job shops. Lead times have to be taken into consideration. Companies often find that they have increased inventory needs to take the lead times into account. Shipments may include damaged goods. And the stories about stolen intellectual property are everywhere.

But there is an environmental cost, too. When the supply chain stretches clear across the Pacific, shipping becomes a huge portion of the real cost of doing business. As oil prices continue to rise worldwide, that part of the equation may soon begin to eclipse the gains from cheaper labor. It’s also worth questioning what sustainable practices are being used in the off-shoring country—if any are. Could that be a P.R. disaster waiting to happen for your company if the right advocacy group latches onto that information?

There’s been a definite uptick in the U.S. manufacturers that are talking about re-shoring. Some companies are already bringing back those manufacturing jobs to the U.S. or North America, to keep shipping costs reasonable. Caterpillar, GE and Ford are among the heavyweights that are bringing jobs back to the U.S. from China and other countries, according to a recent story by USA Today.

There’s an added P.R. bonus to bringing jobs back home, to keeping people in the community employed, to maintaining the tax revenues here for local governments and schools.

The key is that calculating TOTAL costs—not just labor—sometimes results in very different numbers. Green numbers that companies have to start examining.

Please join the active discussion that we have started on our popular Engineering Exchange on this topic: http://bit.ly/fTGzgS.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the benefits of or your experiences with off-shoring and re-shoring.

::Design World::


Filed Under: Automotive, Energy management + harvesting, Green engineering

 

About The Author

Paul Heney

Paul J. Heney, the VP, Editorial Director for Design World magazine, has a BS in Engineering Science & Mechanics and minors in Technical Communications and Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Tech. He has written about fluid power, aerospace, robotics, medical, green engineering, and general manufacturing topics for nearly 25 years. He has won numerous regional and national awards for his writing from the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

Tell Us What You Think!

Related Articles Read More >

wcx
Interesting tech at SAE’s WCX 2022 exhibits
8603 ZERO-MAX VRT Image
Zero-Max VRT Variable Ratio Transmission For agricultural seeding and fertilizing applications
RFID comes to electric vehicles
wuerth catalog
Catalog covers certified components for automotive electronics

DESIGN GUIDE LIBRARY

“motion

Enews Sign Up

Motion Control Classroom

Design World Digital Edition

cover

Browse the most current issue of Design World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading design engineering magazine today.

EDABoard the Forum for Electronics

Top global problem solving EE forum covering Microcontrollers, DSP, Networking, Analog and Digital Design, RF, Power Electronics, PCB Routing and much more

EDABoard: Forum for electronics

Sponsored Content

  • Industrial disc pack couplings
  • Pushing performance: Adding functionality to terminal blocks
  • Get to Know Würth Industrial Division
  • Renishaw next-generation FORTiS™ enclosed linear encoders offer enhanced metrology and reliability for machine tools
  • WAGO’s smartDESIGNER Online Provides Seamless Progression for Projects
  • Epoxy Certified for UL 1203 Standard

Design World Podcasts

July 26, 2022
Tech Tuesdays: Sorbothane marks 40 years of shock and vibration innovation
See More >
Engineering Exchange

The Engineering Exchange is a global educational networking community for engineers.

Connect, share, and learn today »

Design World
  • Advertising
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Manage your Design World Subscription
  • Subscribe
  • Design World Digital Network
  • Engineering White Papers
  • LEAP AWARDS

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • Subscribe!
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings