Reshoring as a form of reindustrialization

Abstract

For more than half a century, offshoring has been a noteworthy business strategy amongst many industry sectors. The companies of all sizes which were aiming to expand business by reducing costs and accessing foreign markets tended to actively apply it in their activities. However in recent years, there appear more and more evidences indicating that offshoring strategies may no longer continue to provide the same level of benefits for organizations' manufacturing activities. Companies have begun to establish a better understanding of the total risk/benefit-balance and base their supplier decisions on strategic supply chain issue rather than simply relying on cost analysis. Hence it is obvious that there are tendencies to reverse the offshoring strategy and to reshore manufacturing activities back to the home country. Despite the significance of this phenomenon to manufacturing, the literature dealing with the supply chains has focused predominantly on the macroeconomic analysis whilst the literature on the operational aspects of reshoring is relatively sparse. Over the past few years manufacturing sector has witnessed a considerable revolution in the way that the respective industries operate. One of the most recent production strategies used in the Western countries such as USA, Germany, France and UK is reshoring strategy. Reshoring currently receives significant attention by the media as well as academic environment. This is due to the urgent requirement to meet the customer specifications and survive in a dynamic business environment. As a result of this a new generation of technologies and business models are being developed to substitute the previously offshored manufacturing activities.