Use total cost analysis to reshore powder coated products
Reshoring is bringing back manufacturing that went offshore. The Reshoring Initiative is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping companies understand the true cost of offshoring by using Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis. If the customers of powder coating companies use Total Cost analysis more, they will offshore less and reshore more. The Initiative’s many tools to help US companies decide to produce quality products at home are reviewed in this article. Ways you can help build the momentum of reshoring and get more business are outlined at the end of the article.
Reshoring (also known as backshoring, onshoring, and insourcing) is based on simple logic: Produce near the customer. Over the past few decades, many powder coating products were offshored for cheap labor and low purchase price. But as the global economy has evolved, labor savings have shrunk and the "hidden costs" of producing in places like China have become both greater and more apparent, often offsetting any residual labor savings. With the adoption of Total Cost analysis, companies are increasingly deciding to source locally. The US is still the largest market for most products. To meet the needs of the domestic market, it makes sense for US companies to expand here instead of offshore, and for foreign companies to locate their factories close to US consumers. The powder coating industry can use TCO analysis to help convince existing companies to stay and expand in the US, and to bring some offshored products back.