Tag: reshoring

Massachusetts Manufacturers Continue to Reshore Operations

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The reshoring trend continues as Massachusetts manufacturers bring their operations back home. Companies, such as Energid Technologies Corp., are making the leap back to US soil to avoid external costs from unpredictable tariffs, foreign bureaucracy, and additional shipping charges. It seems the emerging economies of countries such as China and India have finally made outsourcing the less profitable option.

Energid is in good company among more than 350 US businesses that have chosen to reshore their operations. The influx has brought nearly 40,000 manufacturing jobs back to the United States over the course of the last five years. 3,000 of those jobs have returned to the Northeast, with 600 to Massachusetts, according to the Reshoring Initiative. While these new positions still represent a very small portion of the available manufacturing jobs in the US, expert economists say they are a very positive sign of the industry’s post-recession rebound.

Competitive production, automation and the complexity of today’s products have created a need for increased collaboration between designers, engineers, and production lines. Massachusetts remains a prime location for most manufacturing industries due to access to highly trained engineers and innovators from places like MIT. Despite this, there is still an observable labor shortage in the manufacturing industry as skilled workers are retiring with fewer young people coming in to take their place.

Manufacturing resources like MassMEP are exploring initiatives to increase the number of motivated and highly trained workers coming into the manufacturing industry. MassMEP is currently teaming up with UMass Lowell to deliver the Advanced Computer Numerical Control Training Program in Massachusetts, which would value and merit to the industry while encouraging young individuals to get their certification and consider a career in manufacturing.

Other resources are helping businesses overcome the initial expenses of re-locating their operations back to the US. MassDevelopment, a quasi-public industrial development agency, has helped several companies reshore operations with loans of up to, and in some cases exceeding, $1.5 million.

The Realities of Reshoring US Manufacturing

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Offshoring—or outsourcing—is the practice of moving factories and jobs overseas. In the last 20 years, American companies have started sending manufacturing operations to countries with cheaper labor, fewer regulations, and more forgiving tax schedules. The phenomenon is familiar to anyone talking to tech-support in India, but it has also occurred in the manufacturing industry. Before 2000, US manufacturing grew almost as fast as the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at ninety-four cents on the dollar, but since the turn of the millennium that number dropped to only 45%, until this year.  Currently, US manufacturing has grown faster than the GDP.

The reason for this is called reshoring—returning factories to US soil. Many companies are finding good reasons to move their operations back to America, and the result is higher domestic manufacturing rates, and in some markets, more general growth. Companies have returned to the US to: reduce the complexity of their management and supply chains, avoid the costs and delays of shipping, ensure quality control, and to take advantage of some lower energy costs.

Some corporations are not moving their existing operations, but instead opening new facilities. This geographic diversification insulates businesses against economic hardships like labor disputes, natural disasters, political upheaval, and more.

made in usa

Unfortunately, reshoring is not a marvel of American job-creation. Companies are choosing to move back stateside because it is the most economically feasible option. They are utilizing automation and optimization consultants to make their operations as lean as possible. The cost of healthcare and other benefits, coupled with government labor regulation, makes reshoring labor-intensive industries less likely to return. Those who do reshore have reported problems finding qualified employees, as too many applicants cannot pass drug screenings, do not have a grasp of basic math skills, or are unreliable.

Bill Conerly, an economics expert writing for Forbes, sums it up perfectly when he writes, “The fastest-growing parts of manufacturing will be those that use the least labor. Productivity in factories continues to improve, so the best jobs picture we can hope for is flat. The peak year for US manufacturing employment was 1979, and we’re not going back there.”