In our first post on reshoring, we discussed the record-high rates of companies choosing to bring their manufacturing back to the U.S. to reap the benefits of making products where they will be sold. One of our recent case studies was on a company that was reshoring for this exact reason.
You can view the full case study here, but in short, a major tool manufacturer was combining operations for multiple product lines. They had been increasing (and have continued to increase) their presence in the U.S. over the past few years and had purchased a new product line that was produced overseas. Their goal was to develop and integrate the new family of products into one of their U.S. facilities, which led to our engagement with them.
The case study outlines the ways Wes-Tech was able to help with that challenge, from calling on our knowledge of the automotive industry to build a better solution for their welding equipment, to the way we were able to increase flexibility and decrease downtime with our solution. There is plenty of documentation about how they benefitted from Wes-Tech expertise. This post takes it a step further to outline the ways they benefitted more generally from reshoring this product line:
- Flexible Manufacturing
In this example, the largest gains were in flexibility, which has resulted in a great deal of risk mitigation. Besides the flexibility we were able to build into the line so that it could handle a wide range of products, the company has found that they now have much more flexibility to innovate when all members of the team can easily stop in to view their operations, which was not always the case (particularly during the pandemic). They are better able to keep their finger on the pulse of what is available and what is needed, and this has led to them requesting our help adding even more product to the line since this first engagement. This reduces their risk by better preparing them to meet changing market demand. - Reduce WIP
The company is very focused on making where they sell, and timing is a big part of this. Pandemic shipping delays have played a part in this, but even before the pandemic the time costs of shipping from overseas were already wearing on their suppliers and end-user customers due to customs and other unforeseen delays. Being able to ship from one state to another has alleviated many of these timing issues. This also mitigates their risk because they are less likely to end up out of stock on items being shipped due to overseas delays.
While this is just one case study, there are many more that enumerate the ways reshoring is helping companies like yours to mitigate risk and to take advantage of the many benefits of making where you sell. You can visit The Reshoring Initiative website at https://www.reshorenow.org/ to find many other examples.
Team Wes-Tech is here to help as you consider reshoring. Here are a few of the services we offer:
- Highly flexible and dynamic ability to meet the demands of mid project product changes.
- Keep process development and innovative Intellectual property secure.
- Reduce product containment WIP when quality issues arise.
- Increase profitability with risk adjusted ROI of capital expenses.
- Increase brand loyalty with “Made in the USA” recognition.
Whatever your reason for considering reshoring, the Wes-Tech team can help you get to the right solution for your operation by helping ensure your facilities and automation capabilities fit your production needs, your budget, and your timing. Contact us today for a free consultation.
Team Wes-Tech
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