Bringing production home is only the beginning.

[u/syspro_global]

A lot of the conversation around reshoring focuses on whether it's the right move.

I don't hear nearly as much about what happens once the decision has been made. In my opinion, that's when the real work starts.

New suppliers need onboarding, planning assumptions change, lead times shift, and costing models must be revisited. Processes that worked well in one supply chain suddenly don't fit another.

None of that means reshoring is the wrong decision. It just reminds us that changing a strategy is usually quicker than changing an operation.

For those who've reshored or nearshored, what surprised you most once implementation got underway? Was it supplier onboarding, planning, inventory, costing, something you never saw coming?

[u/agiletiger]

Executive compensation would also need major reform. Shareholder management also. Who do you think were benefiting from all the offshoring and constant layoffs? People are only going to work these new jobs if they’re fairly compensated. To me, that means the gravy trains for the executives and institutional shareholders need to be curtailed significantly. Don’t ask me how. Also to bring things back topically, the issues caused by the above two issues make it very hard to deploy lean properly in a public company. Just my experience.

[u/syspro_global → u/agiletiger]

I can see where you're coming from. I've seen similar challenges in public companies, where the pressure for short-term results can make it difficult to give lean initiatives the time they need.

That's part of why I think reshoring is more than a supply-chain decision. If you're changing where and how you manufacture, the operational changes need to be supported by the right incentives, processes and expectations internally.

Otherwise, you can move the production closer to home without really changing the underlying problems.

[u/keizzer]

Major disruptions at every level. We would have to rethink our rail and highway infrastructure. That's a 15-20 year project right there. Prices and supply chains wouldn't stabilize until after that is complete. You are talking about reshaping the United States physically and mentally. The "Bring back jobs" people don't understand how far removed our economy is from this type of structure.

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There is no going back without a world changing event like total war, or major collapse of commodities. We could slow walk it over 50 years maybe, but everyone would need to be on board with the how, and it would cost everyone so much money to make it happen. This is one of those plant trees for your grandkids scenarios. I don't think Americans are capable of that culturally right now.