(Photo courtesy Wikipedia commons)
National Manufacturing Day was officially Oct. 2, but at On Time Logistics we are excited about manufacturing every day. What we’re seeing in the manufacturing industry is good for the economy and our local communities.
In the last four to five years, there has been a strong effort to reshore or onshore manufacturing efforts to the United States. Companies are doing less outsourcing of jobs to other countries, are returning many manufacturing operations to the U.S., and are focusing upgrades on their U.S. operations instead of overseas operations.
This means a shorter supply chain for a growing number of products. A shorter supply chain means less potential problems and usually, lower costs for the end consumer. This is positive both for the individual consumer, and the overall economy.
Take, for example, the announcement made Oct. 1 that Rockline Industries, a manufacturing facility just a few blocks from our office, is bringing the manufacturing of facial wipes from Europe to Springdale. The move required them to move some of their Springdale operations to a new manufacturing facility in Russellville, so several communities felt the positive impact.
Rockline’s efforts are one example of onshoring efforts among Walmart suppliers. Walmart is nearly three years into a 10-year commitment to source $250 billion in products that support American job creation.
Job creation is a vital component for all onshoring efforts, no matter who is leading the charge. According to a report in The City Wire, manufacturing jobs are back on the rise although they have not reached the high levels they were at 15 years ago.
The warehousing industry is another aspect of our economy that manufacturing onshoring affects. Companies need manufacturing space, but they also need somewhere to store the items they manufacture before the items are shipped to individual stores or users.
This means that we in the warehousing industry need to be innovative and efficient. We need to think of ways to offer warehousing even with a limited land area. We need to make sure our part of the supply chain is secure and technologically advanced.
On Time Logistics welcomes more manufacturers to our area and look forward to potentially partnering with them and helping them provide a secure, efficient supply chain.