Harry Moser, founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative, will be the keynote speaker at the 29th Annual Illinois Governor’s Sustainability Awards. He will discuss his organization and how reshoring can reshape the U.S. economy and bring greater sustainability into manufacturing.
What is the Reshoring Initiative?
The United States used to be the world’s industrial powerhouse. However, times have changed. Many American manufacturing plants have closed due to many decades of off-shoring. The Reshoring Initiative’s founder and now president, Harry Moser, grew up during the United States’ manufacturing boom. As he saw manufacturing jobs begin to disappear due to off-shoring, he decided that it was critically important to start an industry-led initiative is not always the best economical decision for companies.
The mission of the Reshoring Initiative is to bring well-paying manufacturing jobs back to the United States by helping companies to more accurately assess the total cost of offshoring, and shift collective thinking from “offshoring is cheaper” to “local reduces the total cost of ownership”.
There are major costs to off-shoring that companies sometimes do not consider. The main goal of the Reshoring Initiative is to help manufacturers realize that local production can sometimes reduce their total cost of ownership. It also helps train suppliers to effectively meet the needs of their local customers. This training gives suppliers the tools to help them compete with lower priced, offshore competitors.
As reshoring gains momentum, the Reshoring Initiative continues to spread the “return-manufacturing-home” message to help other manufacturers realize America is an advantageous place to produce goods.
Tools to Assist Manufacturers
The Reshoring Initiative believes it is important to provide information, case studies, webinars, data, and other tools to help companies learn more and find real-world examples and success stories of manufacturers who have reshored operations or processes. Many of these stories highlight how reshoring has helped to create good jobs and enhance deliverables to customers.
One tool that the organization has created is the Total Cost of Ownership Estimator. It is designed to help companies account for all relevant factors, including overhead, balance sheets, risks, corporate strategy, and other external and internal business considerations, to determine the true total cost of ownership. By using this tool, companies can better evaluate sourcing, identify alternatives, and even make a case when selling against offshore competitors. This industry-leading tool provides a framework for companies to evaluate their operations and make critical decisions about reshoring and sourcing.
About Harry Moser
Harry Moser founded the Reshoring Initiative to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. by documenting and promoting the trend and encouraging the use of Total Cost of Ownership analysis. Largely due to the success of the Reshoring Initiative, Harry was inducted into the Industry Week Manufacturing Hall of Fame 2010 and was named Quality Magazine’s Quality Professional of the year for 2012. He participated actively in President Obama’s 2012 Insourcing Forum at the White House; won the Jan. 2013 The Economist debate on outsourcing and offshoring; and received the Manufacturing Leadership Council’s Industry Advocacy Award in 2014.
About the Governor’s Sustainability Awards
Now in its 29th year, the Illinois Governors’ Sustainability Awards recognize organizations in Illinois that demonstrate a commitment to our economy, society and environment through outstanding and innovative sustainability practices.
Registration for the awards ceremony opens September 1st, 2015. Sponsorship opportunities are available now. Contact Cassie Carroll at ccarrol2@illinois.edu for more information.