My colleague Peter Zelinski, senior editor of sister publication Modern Machine Shop, recently spent time with Harry Moser to discuss the topic of offshoring/reshoring.

Harry is the founder of the Reshoring Initiative, and in his conversation with Pete he talks about the total cost of ownership of manufactured goods. Various hidden costs often are not factored in when manufacturing work is sent to a foreign country, Moser points out. And when work is brought back to the U.S., these hidden costs turn into visible savings. The conversation seen here between Harry and Pete was filmed at G & G Manufacturing in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Have you lost some business here and there over the years to overseas competitors because of price? Maybe your customers don't understand the difference between price and cost; that the true cost of offshoring can more than mitigate any perceived advantage they might gain by getting a price concession. If that is the case it might be a good idea to try to educate them on this matter.

Phil Cullen of the Corporation for Manufacturing Excellence (Manex) recently sent me an interesting paper on the subject. Shoot me an email and I will send you a copy.

Among the cost of offshoring that Cullen indentified:

• Supplier selection: Because of increased complexities, the vendor selection process could account for 2-10% of the OEMs budget for the project. The OEM will have to visit suppliers to personally perform due diligence on the supplier, among many other things.

• Transition: This process can take anywhere from three months to a year, during which time the OEMs costs will increase. People will need to be trained, travel expenses will increase, and most likely something will go wrong during the transition process that will cost the OEM a customer.

• Global Supply Chain Risks:  Natural disasters can strike anytime, anyplace, but there are political and currency risks associated with doing business overseas that are not the case domestically.

Check out the case studies link on the Manex website to view some of their success stories.

Did you catch the story that appeared on Fox News on 8/30 about the irony of having high unemployment at a time when manufacturers are having an extremely hard time finding qualified personnel? Check out the video and read the story here.

Give a shout out to the always colorful and charismatic John Berg, marketing director for MGS Mfg. Group, who pulled no punches in his comments about what it takes to compete in the molding market against competitors from so-called lower cost countries. Talk about telling it like it is.  It's all about technology, innovation, speed to market, providing solutions not parts. Take heed my friends. Manufacturing is not dead in the U.S. It helped build our economic machine in the first place, and quite frankly is leading the recovery now.

But manufacturing in the U.S., plastics processing for our purposes, has certainly changed. Change with it.

I recently received a press released announcing that Jad Darsey has been named director of sustainability and plastics for TricorBraun, one of North America’s largest suppliers of bottles, jars and other rigid packaging. Got me thinking. Will more processors be filling this kind of job in the years ahead. Seems likely, especially in the packaging field.

In the newly created post, Mr. Darsey will evaluate new packaging technology and assist TricorBraun’s customers with material choices and package designs that will enable them to improve their sustainability programs, the company said in a statement.

Interestingly Mr. Darsey has a background in chemistry, having graduated in 1999 from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Textile Chemistry.

TricorBraun has more than 40 locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Asia. The company’s primary focus is on packaging for personal care; cosmetics; healthcare; food and beverages; as well as industrial and household chemicals.

At June’s Plast-Ex Show in Toronto, the SPI, the Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council, and the Canadian Plastics Industry Association announced that the SPI’s Operation Clean Sweep Program would be made available to Canadian processors.

 Operation Clean Sweep was initiated by SPI more than 25 years ago in the U.S. Basically, it is a volunteer program whereby a pellet “consumer”—be it a processor, compounder, or materials supplier—pledges toward working to keep pellets from making their way into local waterways, lakes or the ocean. SPI helps the pledging company improve its housekeeping by offering guidance, tips and tools on the Operation Clean Sweep website. At no charge.

All good stuff. But I got a little disappointed to learn that fewer than 200 processors have actually participated in Operation Clean Sweep since it was launched in the U.S..  To me, every pellet is precious, not only for environmental reasons but for productivity reasons as well. Is a pellet worth more in a hopper or on a beach?

Granted, quite a few U.S. processors run pristine operations all on their own. But for those who don’t, this is a valuable resource that has been overlooked for too long.

So I urge you to check out the website.

In addition to the U.S. and Canada, Operation Clean Sweep Programs are also in place in the U.K. and New Zealand.