American Job Shops Benefitting from Reshoring

Download the complete survey results  in PDF format Job Shop Survey (right click to download)

Summary of the Analysis

The results of this survey confirm that reshoring is real and job shops are benefitting. Capacity
among these job shops is getting tighter and when coupled with the shortage of skilled
manufacturing employees, especially machinists, could limit the speed of reshoring. Anecdotally,
we are hearing from sourcing professionals (as they turn to MFG.com for help) that they would like
to reshore more work but are having a tough time finding high quality suppliers with capacity. This
is especially true in the areas of high volume machining, forging, casting, die/mold making, textiles
and other sectors that were hit hard by offshoring that resulted in the elimination of a significant
amount of capacity in talent. It will take time and much more education and support to rebuild this
base.

Further, the capacity shortage and talent shortage will give job shop owners something that has
been missing for a long time, leverage... leverage to increase prices, fire customers and be more
selective in the work they take on. This is a time of significant opportunity for job shops in America
but they must be diligent and as precise in operating their business as they are with the products
they produce. They have to become savvy and aware of what is happening globally, the
implications for their business and understand how to leverage the advantages they have.

Marketing is more important to job shops than ever before. The customers they wish to attract are
very active in the market right now sourcing for many varied reasons including moving to a more
distributed supply chain, to comply with offset agreements, to find a local partner they can innovate
with, etc. Job shops have typically not been savvy marketers and if they are not present in these
channels the sourcing professionals are using, they will be overlooked.

We see two types of job shops owners, those who love making parts and running machines and
that got in business for that reason and then there are those who are also savvy business people
who thrive on the metrics of the business, selling, developing customer relationships and
developing strategies to grow top line revenue and bottom line profits. The latter are the ones who
will be the big winners as manufacturing in America recovers from its bottoming out.

Here is a link to the complete survey results and analysis in PDF format Job Shop Survey (right click to download)

About MFG.com

MFG.com is the largest and most trusted online marketplace for the manufacturing industry and the developer of LiveSource, a cloud-based enterprise class sourcing and supply chain management solution. MFG.com is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and has regional offices in Paris, France and Shanghai, China. MFG.com’s investors include Bezos Expeditions, the personal investment company of Jeff Bezos and Volition Capital.

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