Assembly lines have been around for more than a century, but new technologies, processes, investments and strategies are accelerating production, increasing capacity and driving revenue growth.
Rarely does a major spending bill in Washington draw bipartisan support and yield immediate results. Behold the CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden Aug. 9. The act provides more than $52 billion in new funding to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors in the U.S.
Geopolitical forces are accelerating the growing trends of reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI). Over the last decade, an expanding understanding of the routine logistics costs of offshoring drove an upward trend of reshoring.
Resilient supply chains are fundamental to our national security and economic prosperity. The pandemic-induced collapse of global supply chains has launched a national movement to strengthen domestic manufacturing.
In his June 2021 editorial, ASSEMBLY's editor in chief John Sprovieri discussed President Biden's February executive order to review critical U.S. supply chains. I would like to build on John's analysis and offer advice to the Biden administration.
Shortening and closing supply chain gaps for essential products will immediately benefit the following industries: personal protective equipment (PPE), medical device manufacturing, electronics and defense. Sixty percent of reshoring cases after March 2020 mention the pandemic as a factor in the decisions. Already, reshoring cases among manufacturers of medical devices and PPE are double compared with last year.
The volatility and uncertainty resulting from trade wars and the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with increased consumer demand for faster delivery, customization and responsiveness, is helping to promote reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States. Reshoring and FDI are both motivated by the same logic: the agility and financial advantages that companies achieve by producing near their customers.