This medical boot was made for walking…back to the U.S.
By Clare Goldsberry
Published: December 7th, 2011
Published: December 7th, 2011
The OEM approached customer thermoformer Shepherd with a challenging problem: a medical "walking boot" that was being thermoformed and assembled in China had ongoing quality issues, including the fact that the boot's trimming was inconsistent and often in the wrong place. Todd Shepherd Shepherd Thermoforming president notes that because the boot is a medical product, its components required a high level of part detail and precision to accommodate the Velcro straps: the perfect project for Shepherd.
Not only did Shepherd solve the quality issues, but it also provided added value by doing in-house trimming that saved the OEM assembly time. Additionally, the customer was able to take advantage of a local supplier. "We told them we can do the trimming and do it accurately and repeatedly, providing a true value-add operation using our 5-axis automated trimming equipment," says Shepherd. "The customer told us that this was really worth the effort and cost of reshoring this product."
Shepherd also notes that another customer has some high-tech components produced in Hong Kong. The problem was that many components were being damaged in shipping, something that was becoming very costly for this OEM. To ensure better protection during shipping, Shepherd designed and developed a special thermoformed tray that the company ships to the customer's supplier in Hong Kong. "We're shipping the trays to Hong Kong and our customer's supplier is shipping the parts back to the U.S. in trays formed by Shepherd. There are ways we can compete with foreign competitors and increase our business," Shepherd states. "We have to hone in on those areas where we can solve problems and enhance customer solutions and our business."
Great stories! Readers can
Great stories! Readers can help bring more jobs back by encouraging their employers to more accurately recognize what it really costs when the company offshores. Boston Consulting Group recently reported: Chinese net unit manufacturing costs are rapidly converging on U.S. costs. For the manufacturing jobs to actually return, companies will have to calculate their total cost of offshoring. Unfortunately, most companies’ calculations are rudimentary, rather than complete, mainly comparing prices rather than the entire cost of offshoring, as reported by Accenture and Archstone Consulting. As a result, companies have offshored more than is in their own self interest.
To help these companies make better sourcing decisions the non-profit Reshoring Initiative, www.reshorenow.org, provides for free a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) software that helps them calculate the real offshoring impact on their P&L. With clear evidence of the fragility of global supply chains, Chinese and other LLCC (Low Labor Cost Country) wages rising rapidly, the U.S. $ declining and oil soaring, this is the perfect time for U.S. companies to reevaluate their offshoring strategies and bring some of the sourcing home.
Readers and viewers can bring back jobs by asking their companies to reevaluate offshoring decisions. Suppliers can use the TCO software to convince their customers to reshore.
You can reach me at harry.moser@comcast.net.