Manufacturing Jobs Returning to U.S.?

[Kelly_Bramble]

Interesting listen..

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/46546...eturning-to-us

[RWOLFEJR]

I watch things like that with strong reservations about what's being said, but that was interesting. You have to have your filters on when watching any news to sift out the potential garbage. Most news media nowadays is so biased it makes me sick. Beside the point... different subject anyway.

I think there's some truth in that report. Business is driven by the bottom line. The only way "most" business will switch suppliers is if they see an effect on that bottom line. The whole "global economy" thing pretty much dictates that all things be shopped both home and abroad. I believe that what was said in that news report above... is a result of businesses starting to see that cheaper isn't always the less expensive way to go. If the quality of that cheaper part has a negative effect on the finished product then it could actually cost more. Since this is a World Wide Web page, I’d like to add that I’m not saying that there’s a correlation between where a part is made and the quality. Just saying lower labor rates CAN sometimes equate to unskilled labor, which can result in poorer quality.

Couple quick examples of actual work returning to the U.S.
I recently had a product in my hand made in another country. The piece was very poorly made... but it was cheap. We did "win" the small job and I'm very hopeful that after seeing the quality and the benefits from that quality, that the customer will consider us for some of their other similar components. They weren't saving anything on the component because they had to fuss with it too long to make the things fit. To pay an extra dollar for our part, they can cut maybe five bucks off the assembly cost. A bottom line effect...

Another job we're just finishing up... very large job for the size of our shop... was a big win for us and it came about from our consistent quality and our on time deliveries. We've supplied product for this customer many times in the past but this job was for a build overseas. The last job this customer released prior to this was also for an install across the pond and we lost that job to an overseas company. The products were being used over there so it appeared to make more sense to find a supplier that was closer and avoid the high shipping costs. (When the cost to ship was added to our piece price we were high.) Well turned out the supplier they chose for that job wasn't capable of the quality they expected and their deliveries were late and held up the program. Cost them more to pay less... again an effect on the bottom line. So this build we got the job and it’s being ship overseas.

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that things pick up more around here so our economy doesn't go completely down the crapper...