Reshoring. Convergence of Technological Innovations that Support a Business Case for Repatriating Offshored Electronics Production

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2017 in the subject Business economics - Supply, Production, Logistics, grade: Pass, Ryerson University (Ted Rogers School of Management), language: English, abstract: The following report presents a justification for repatriating electronics manufacturing from China to the United States, by recommending a technological framework that serves to neutralize the benefits, namely lower labour costs, that lead to its original transition and expansion. This justification is specifically based on the premise that due to the expansion of global communications channels that have greatly improved the diffusion of new technological concepts, China’s access to technological innovation is not unique, and that its competitive factors of production are increasingly capable of being neutralized through the deployment of modern technological advances, including automation, artificial intelligence, 3D printing/adaptive manufacturing and others, and through a reduced level of human labour input. Further enhancing the desirability of this model are advantages that would be gained in operational efficiency, reduced energy usage, stability and time-to-market, through their deployment.