The story I am going to relate is true. However, since it is not very flattering, it has been sanitized to prevent finger-pointing. I’m telling this story because you may find yourself in the same circumstances when managing your supply chain, especially one distributed across the globe.
Deglobalization was already happening before the coronavirus brought the world to a grinding halt. Global supply chains that were once so appealing were becoming less attractive due to geopolitical turmoil, shifting priorities, rising costs, trade wars and environmental concerns.
All things being equal, most U.S. consumers would prefer to buy products that are made in the USA. So when a company claims a product is made in this country when it's not, it can get burned.
Productivity growth in manufacturing is stuck. Despite improvements in equipment, software and management approaches, annual labor productivity growth in the U.S. was around 0.7 percent between 2007 and 2018.
Wire and spring makers do some quite-interesting work. Ace Wire Spring & Form Inc., for example, regularly turns thick wire into specialty hooks using a complex, multistep production process.
Diversification is just as important for company managers as it is for individual investors. Both parties know it helps ensure growth without being dragged down by any one declining market sector.
Implantable orthopedic devices and the wireless sensors that monitor them are highly specialized products that regularly come into contact with body tissues and fluids.
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