Lessons From a Manufacturer That Successfully Shifted to Onshoring
Have questions about whether you would benefit from onshoring? This case study from bicycle manufacturer Kent International might help answer them.
Have questions about whether you would benefit from onshoring? This case study from bicycle manufacturer Kent International might help answer them.
You would think that Hollywood would be the largest employer in the LA market. Not so. According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor, manufacturing is the No. 1 job category in LA, with 510,000 manufacturing jobs, outpacing Chicago and New York.
Everyone is talking about reshoring these days. Last week, there was an entire conference dedicated to the subject at Mississippi State University. In attendance was the Mississippi Merchandise Manager for Walmart, who said, “We have made the commitment that in the next 10 years, we are going to purchase an additional $250 billion of U.S. manufactured goods.”
Over the last two years, companies have started to move away from offshoring, bringing operations back to the US. So what has triggered this change? Simple: cost, capital, and the job market.
Businesses that outsource research and development (R&D) overseas are more likely to innovate than those who outsource at home, says new research. IBM’s strategy of building research capability in places like Switzerland, China, and India mirrors that of GE, Intel and others. Ordinarily the purpose of outsourcing R&D was cost reduction, but many are now doing it to boost innovation as well.
For 30 years, companies have sought to outsource and offshore IT as a way to reduce costs and/or quickly improve performance. Mega-deals were done in the ’90s and then, after that market was saturated, lesser deals ensued.
“In some areas we have outsourced too much,” General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt acknowledged in a speech as he announced plans to open a new
General Electric and Boeing are reacting the most loudly to the continuing lack of Congressional authorization of the Export-Import Bank, with both companies cutting or threatening to eliminate U.S. jobs and moving them overseas because of the demise of the federally funded business- financing agency. But some mid-market and small companies also have begun to react as conservative members excoriated the Ex-Im Bank as an agent of “crony capitalism” for big companies that don’t need the help.
For the fourth consecutive year, reshoring of manufacturing operations to the United States in 2015 failed to keep up with continued offshoring of factory output. In fact, an index compiled by A.T. Kearney showed the largest year-over-year decrease in reshoring-vs.-offshoring in the last 10 years.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.