In our first research project, we have focused on getting a snapshot of mid-market companies’ perspectives on offshore sourcing and manufacturing.
Many mid-market manufacturing companies are currently evaluating offshore sourcing or setting up manufacturing facilities in overseas developing markets. As executives are considering these decisions, they have likely read anecdotes in newspapers about other companies that have an international footprint bringing products back via re-shoring and near-shoring. However, most of these articles tend to focus on large multi-billion dollar corporations. In our experience, there is a general lack of data available for mid-market companies to understand overall trends in offshoring.
Many companies are becoming more sophisticated about these types of decisions – looking at not only unit cost savings but also “total cost of ownership”. Total cost of ownership factors in a broad range of costs including production, logistics, quality issues, inventory holding & obsolescence, product lead times, and corporate overhead. They are also assessing strategic reasons for moving offshore, such as being closer to new and growing markets.
We want to acquire a definitive picture of the current state of offshore sourcing and manufacturing and provide mid-market executives with common sense guidance from other companies who already have experience with offshoring, specifically:
- What is the strategic direction of other mid-market manufacturing companies related to offshore sourcing and manufacturing?
- What successes have companies achieved from offshoring?
- What are some of the common issues that companies have experienced as they go through offshore initiatives?
- Have companies been able to drive cost savings or realize other strategic benefits from offshoring?
- Are there certain industries or product categories that benefit from offshoring?
The goal of the research project is to be able to take the current pulse on a broad sample of mid-market manufacturing companies. Results will be shared with all of the respondents, along with our thoughts on the keys to success and lessons learned for other companies considering a similar initiative.
If you have any questions regarding this research, please contact Amar Shah or Robert Ruoti at research@thekeystonegroup.com.
