American reporters have been covering an interesting trend since 2012. Manufacturing in the US, once thought to be a thing of the past, seems to be making a comeback. Some companies that moved their production facilities to China are now regretting that decision because labor costs have increased significantly during the past few years. A few companies have already engaged in the process of reshoring, which involves bringing their manufacturing work back to the United States. Everyone in the American manufacturing industry should keep their eyes on several companies that are thinking about making big moves in the industry.
At the end of 2012, Apple CEO Tim Cook discussed plans to manufacture a line of Macintosh computers in the United States. Doing some of its manufacturing in the US would help Apple escape some of the recent scrutiny of its manufacturing practices. The company has been plagued by problems with worker safety at its foreign production facilities. Cook told Brian Williams of NBC that the company will start manufacturing in the US in 2013. The CEO did not reveal which computers would be produced in the United States, but he said that some of the parts used to make the iPhone are already produced in Kentucky and other US states. In May, 2013, Apple revealed that this line of computers would be produced in Texas.
General Electric is another company that is interested in manufacturing in the US. The company was manufacturing some of its appliances and water heaters in China, but executives decided to move production to Louisville, Kentucky. Before GE moved its manufacturing operation back to the United States, Appliance Park in Louisville nearly went out of business. In 2012, the company started making low-energy water heaters at the facility. It later started a new assembly line so that workers could make refrigerators with French doors and high-tech features. The CEO of General Electric stated that he thinks the company will make more money by manufacturing in the US instead of manufacturing in China.
Even tech giant Google is interested in manufacturing in the US. Some customers were surprised when they noticed that the Nexus Q had been manufactured and designed in the United States. The factory is somewhere in Silicon Valley, but company executives will not reveal its exact location. Executives have also been tight-lipped about where they are getting the parts used to make the Nexus Q. If this American manufacturing experiment works well for Google, it could pave the way for other consumer electronics companies to produce their products in the United States.
Everyone in the country has a vested interest in keeping manufacturing companies on US soil, from American consumers to manufacturing industry professionals. The fact that these industry giants are producing some of their products here is a positive sign. Because it is too early to tell what kind of impact this will have on manufacturing in the US, you should keep a close watch on industry reports to see if other companies follow suit.
(Photo courtesy of njaj / freedigitalphotos.net)
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