Onshoring Project Helps Companies Achieve Agile Supply Chains

Ongoing global supply chain disruptions have led a group of North American innovators, practitioners and supply chain experts from across the manufacturing industry to launch The Onshoring Project — an endeavor to reverse the five-decade trend toward offshoring.

The Onshoring Project is focused on developing and sharing new metrics, new tools and practices that will shift executive focus from piece-price calculations, which have led to disastrous effects, toward the sounder and more financially beneficial strategy of sourcing from lean-performing North American suppliers, project members say.

“The Onshoring Project’s mission is to facilitate a shift in OEM executive behavior when they select and evaluate supply chain partners,” says Douglas K. Woods, president, AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. “Through sharing best practices, documented case studies, and supply management techniques, the Onshoring Project will prove the positive business impacts of working with lean and agile suppliers. As a result, we can strengthen and grow our domestic manufacturing base, especially among small and medium-sized companies.”

Current members are like-minded associations and companies whose own interests align with the organization’s vision. Initial members include AMT, IndustryWeek, American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC), Helpful Engineering, the Reshoring Initiative and Gardner Business Media. These organizations have signed the Onshoring Project’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) that outlines the consortium goals. Any organizations interested in joining the Onshoring Project should contact them through the website theonshoringproject.com.

“The Onshoring Project will help members present lean supply chain strategies in terms that grab the attention of the C-suite,” says Paul Ericksen, IndustryWeek supply chain advisor and author of “Better Business: Breaking Down the Walls of the Purchasing Silo.”

Better customer fill rate, lower finished goods on hand, less work in process and inventory in transit, reduced inspection, lower safety stock, lower risk, innovation at a faster pace and shorter lead times are the enablement goals of the Onshoring Project.

“Companies with lean supply chains are less reliant on long-term demand forecasts,” Woods says. “They can capture more incremental sales by reacting faster to market demand and grow faster and more profitably.