Issue link: https://jocdigital.uberflip.com/i/570538
14A THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE www.joc.com SEPTEMBER 21.2015 SPECIAL REPORT GLOBAL LOGISTICS FOCUS 2015 By Reynolds Hutchins HOMEBOUND MANUFACTURING More companies are moving operations to the U.S. or nearby to cut costs and shorten supply chains, a new survey says EXECUTIVES AT U.S. and North Ameri- can manufacturing and distribution companies say they are moving opera- tions back to, or near, the location of demand for their products. According to a recent AlixPartners survey, 32 percent of executives surveyed said their companies have recently near- shored manufacturing production or are in the process of doing so, with 40 percent of North American business leaders saying so. The survey polled nearly 250 North American and Western European execu- tives at manufacturing and distribution companies across 15 industries. "I think clearly what we're seeing is that manufacturers, retailers and distrib- utors are continuing to look at sources of supply to help them maintain competitive costs and quicker time to market," Foster Finley, managing director of AlixPart- ners, told The Journal of Commerce. Yet despite the hubbub over so-called near-sourcing and promises that U.S. manufacturers want to move operations back to U.S. soil, the country continues to post net job losses, down 300,000 so far in 2015 alone, the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation says.