Ultriva Director of Business Development Bill Swisher Discusses How He Has Viewed the Re-shoring Trend over the Course of his Career

I have been blessed to have worked for leaders in the manufacturing industry who have been dedicated to helping US manufacturing companies compete in the global marketplace. My introduction to this shared vision was in 1991 working for John Costanza, the "father of flow manufacturing" and founder of JCIT. John helped hundreds of companies transform from being schedule-based and forecast-driven to demand-driven with minimal working capital. Many of those companies were able to compete with their manufacturing based here in the United States, while their competetiors chased cheaper labor overseas.

Remember the 1983 Wendy’s commercial that had an actor that said “Parts is Parts"?

In today’s environment streamlining the supply chain is a high priority for most manufacturing companies.  Purchased parts are typically 60% or more of the manufacturing cost.  This puts tremendous pressure on materials and supply chain executives to drive these costs down, while at the same time improve on-time delivery.  A proven approach to achieve those goals is to improve supply chain collaboration.