The cost effectiveness of bringing back manufacturing to the state will be discussed during a free seminar held by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (NEPIRC) in November.
The trend to “reshore” manufacturing to America is gaining interest as many manufacturers are seeing a cost shift as wages and utility costs are on the rise in foreign markets and quality control issues develop with products made overseas, said Maureen Mulcahy, continuous improvement specialist with the Hanover Township-based center.
“The larger manufacturers and big box retails we have spoken to understand manufacturing costs have shifted and many of the cost factors leading to the offshoring of productions and importing of consumer products have reversed, making domestic production and near-sourcing more practical,” said Eric Joseph Esoda, chief executive officer with NEPIRC.
Ready to crunch numbers and talk details, Harry Moser, founder and president of The Reshoring Initiative, will be the guest speaker, highlighting his Total Cost of Ownership model analyzing over 30 different cost factors, including risks and loss of innovation, along with strategic impacts of outsourcing.
The seminar will be held with registration starting at 8 a.m. and the program will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Nov. 5 in The Holiday Inn, the former East Mountain Inn, off Route 115 in Plains Township.
Also, information on the supplier scouting assistance, funding available when manufacturing jobs are in-sourced to Pennsylvania, will be presented. Preregistration is required; call 570-704-0029 or email maureen@nepirc.com.
Manufacturing jobs, the backbone of a strong economy, was once prevalent, regionally and nationally. In 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization, the United States lost 2.7 million manufacturing jobs, Mulcahy said.
So far, she estimates since the start of the Reshoring Initiative in 2009-10, about 100,000 manufacturing positions returned stateside.
A prime example of this trend is K’NEX toy manufacture, reshored in 2009 and now claiming 60 percent of its snap-together building toys are made in Hatfield.
“These are good paying jobs,” Mulcahy said. “It is good for everyone.”
Currently, there are a total of 578 manufacturers in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, employing 24,560 people, Mulcahy said.
The NEPIRC, a not-for-profit corporation, provides advisory and technical consulting services for manufacturing industry in Northeastern and Northern Pennsylvania.
Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter at TLNews.
Source Article from http://www.timesleader.com/news/business/50490660/
