It’s a story that’s becoming increasingly common: manufacturers that previously sent their production overseas are bringing these processes back to the United States and North America. While lower labor costs overseas may have once provided savings, increasing offshore tariffs are proving that reshoring is quickly becoming a financially viable investment with many benefits for manufacturers. These benefits include:
- Higher quality control
- Shortened delivery times
- Protection of intellectual property
- Ease of responsiveness to changing customer demands
When manufacturers are ready to reshore their assembly and manufacturing processes, they may face challenges associated with lower labor forces, decreased technical staff, and process validity. Having supported manufacturers with over 10,000 applications involving forming, fastening, automation and conveyors, Orbitform’s Assembly Experts can help solve these challenges for those looking to reshore.
Automation
Organizations that decreased their labor force when outsourcing their production are now facing issues when trying to reshore these processes. With increasing labor shortages, manufacturers need a new, unique, and highly efficient manufacturing process. Orbitform’s Applications Engineers can design and concept the right automated system to meet production needs based on:
- Required annual volumes
- Shifts and hours worked per day
- Desired number of operators
- Takt time
- Application requirements
By showing manufacturers what level of automation and labor force is required to meet their annual volumes, we provide insight into what it will take to reshore their production and the estimated return on investment. If more automation is required, the initial investment may be higher, but long-term costs will be minimized.
Solutions Lab
As manufacturers downsize their labor forces after outsourcing, many also reduce their technical staff. This can be challenging when bringing assembly processes back to the United States if current staff is not familiar with the assembly processes. Orbitform’s Solutions Lab is a valuable resource available to manufacturers to assemble their products in a real-world environment and learn how the process works. Many manufacturers also experience a lack of process and quality control from their overseas manufacturing partners. When reshoring those processes, the Solutions Lab is an effective way to revalidate and improve upon the existing assembly process.
Reshoring of manufacturing processes is becoming a familiar story for many companies. Offshore tariffs, poor quality, and changing customer demands are only a few reasons manufacturers are pulling back their production. With over 35 years of experience in assembly and automation, Orbitform is a trusted advisor for companies looking to reshore. From concept to completion, our Assembly Experts work with you to determine the right solution for your production requirements and budget.
Whether it’s working in our Solutions Lab to revalidate and improve your assembly process, or providing an automated solution for low labor concerns, Orbitform stands ready to support US manufacturers. Contact us today to discuss your reshoring strategy and assembly requirements.