Reshoring Initiative Celebrates Anniversary and Key Accomplishments

The Reshoring Initiative has 40 sponsors, primarily manufacturing technology companies and manufacturing associations, plus an economic development agency and an insurance company, all dedicated to the same goal: helping manufacturers and suppliers consider the total cost of ownership (TCO), the profit/loss impact of both offshoring and reshoring.

At the heart of the Reshoring Initiative is the proprietary Total Cost of Ownership Estimator™ tool, which helps users determine the total cost of offshoring by accounting for and understanding the relevant offshoring costs. Those costs include inventory-carrying costs, shipping expenses, travel costs to check on suppliers, intellectual property risks and the loss of innovation by separating manufacturing from engineering.

More than 400 registered users are utilizing the estimator, and data are being gathered that provide insight on the value of reshoring. Those data show that:
•    Of work that has been offshored or is considered for offshoring, 25 percent more work could come back to the United States if companies made decisions using TCO rather than price when making source decisions;
•    Approximately 50,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs are already being reshored, based on a tabulation of jobs mentioned in the published articles listed in the Reshoring Library; and
•    The universal use of TCO would bring back 500,000 manufacturing jobs. That number would increase as foreign wages rise and the United States improves automation and processes.  

The Total Cost of Ownership Estimator tool took center stage earlier this year when Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative, attended the White House’s Insourcing American Jobs Forum where President Obama asked him to explain what costs American companies often overlook in their sourcing decisions. Since then, the U.S. Department of Commerce has launched websites (www.manufacturing.gov and http://nist.gov/mep/reshoring.cfm) devoted to reshoring and TCO, with links to the Initiative’s website and Total Cost of Ownership Estimator tool.

“With the help of our sponsors, the last 18 months have far exceeded my expectations,” Moser said. “And while we have spread the word, from meeting with President Obama to providing tools for hundreds of users, the biggest challenge remains: to encourage more large companies to use TCO instead of price for sourcing decisions. We continue to develop tools and resources to support our mission and to reach the ultimate goal of bringing jobs back to the United States.”

As part of its ongoing mission to broadcast the benefits of reshoring, the Reshoring Initiative recently launched its newest tool – the Reshoring Case Study template. Manufacturers, technology suppliers and distributors can easily report cases, which are then posted at multiple sites to accelerate the visibility of the reshoring trend. These cases join more than 276 articles online in the Reshoring Library, a clearinghouse of articles that are sortable by state, country and industry for easy access and use. Moser continues to speak passionately about the reshoring effort and has already delivered more than 150 presentations in 28 states to industry, government, labor and academia, including 19 webinars and multiple appearances on national and local television and radio programs.

Moser, former president of Charmilles Technologies (now GF AgieCharmilles), founded the Reshoring Initiative in 2010 and incorporated it last year. He has spent a majority of his career not only driving Charmilles Technologies to its current market share leadership position, but in carrying the torch for U.S. manufacturing through skilled workforce development initiatives and educational efforts to underscore the benefits of local sourcing. For his work with the Reshoring Initiative, Moser has been inducted into Industry Week’s 2010 Manufacturing Hall of Fame and has been named Quality Magazine’s Quality Professional of the Year for 2012.

Through reshoring, manufacturing in the United States is starting to gain momentum. Companies such as NCR and General Electric are already repatriating some of their manufacturing. And Moser pledges that the Reshoring Initiative will continue its "return-manufacturing-home" message until all U.S. manufacturers are making objective sourcing decisions and realize America is increasingly the place to produce and source goods to supply the U.S. market.

About the Reshoring Initiative
A 45-year manufacturing industry veteran and retired President of GF AgieCharmilles, Harry Moser founded the Reshoring Initiative to move lost jobs back to the U.S.  For his efforts with the Reshoring Initiative, he was named to Industry Week magazine’s Manufacturing Hall of Fame in 2010. Additional information on the Reshoring Initiative is available at www.reshorenow.org. The Initiative’s many sponsoring associations and companies are also acknowledged on the site.