In the second half of the 20th century, the quest for lower and lower manufacturing costs led many businesses to move their manufacturing processes overseas. In more recent years, the pendulum has begun to swing back in the other direction; better wages overseas, pandemic complications, higher tariffs, and more sophisticated cost estimation methods are bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States.
Why You Need to Reshore Your Plastic Injection Molding
Reshoring, as this phenomenon is called, is highlighting the many advantages of domestic plastic injection molding, including the following:
1. Focus on Design for Manufacturability (DFM)
Effective DFM begins early in the process and includes all the stakeholders, designers, engineers, material suppliers, and manufacturers. When done well, DFM is meant to challenge every element of the design and eliminate all unnecessary costs.
Involving your injection molder company in the DFM process early on is critical to achieving ideal production efficiencies, but these design services are not usually a strength, or even an option, with offshore companies. Reshoring gives you the opportunity to review molds, resins, and design elements with your plastic production partner from the get-go so you can optimize your product and lower production times and costs.
Advantages of reshoring:
- DFM services, including valuable input in the early product design phase
- Better out comes; the final product meets your quality and cost expectations
2. Flexibility in Supply Chain and Communication
When it comes to supply chains, less is more; shorter supply chains are more efficient and more flexible. Offshore production lengthens your supply chain and decreases flexibility and efficiency; communication, lead times, product design changes, and overall production management are more challenging when production is overseas. Reshoring gives you easy access to your plastic injection molding partner and facilitates close collaboration in every phase, from product development to final transport and every step in between.
Advantages of reshoring:
- Easy communication without difficult time zone differences
- Constant, consistent collaboration
- Flexibility
- Greater efficiency
3. Reshoring Provides Shorter Lead Times and Lower Freight Costs
You can’t move your manufacturing offshore without moving it farther away and long distances naturally increase lead times, backlogs, and transportation costs. But the challenges don’t stop there; overseas production is also unreliable and makes it very difficult for you to stay in touch with your product and maintain any control as it travels through the production/transportation process. Many companies choosing to send plastic injection molding offshore fail to include the costs of these inevitable challenges into their calculations, resulting in models that significantly underestimate the costs involved with offshoring.
Advantages of reshoring:
- Shorter, tighter lead times
- Reduced backlogs
- Greater control over product at every step
- Easier access to product changes
- Faster overall design-to-market process
4. Design Protection Mitigating Risks
Sending your production overseas increases risk across the board, but nowhere is this more evident than in the realm of intellectual property. Once you turn your production process over to an offshore provider, you surrender your intellectual property. While it’s true that many offshore firms are trustworthy and valuable partners, it’s also true that it’s easier to find a trusted partner domestically who will protect your proprietary design and production knowledge. And it’s not always the partner that’s the issue; local laws and regulations regarding nondisclosure agreements and intellectual property rights are often much less certain overseas.
Advantages of reshoring:
- Greater protection of your intellectual property
- Tighter regulations governing intellectual property rights and nondisclosure agreements
- Easier to find a trusted partner
5. Quality Control and Public Image
American manufacturers are held to tight safety and quality standards that are simply not present for imported goods. Product recalls are expensive in terms of both money and reputation. Producing plastic components in the United Stated ensures your customers feel safe using your products; a “Made in the USA” sticker means every aspect of your product is non-toxic and safe, including colorants and resins.
Advantages of reshoring:
- Tighter quality control and product safety
- Lower risk of product recalls
- Greater customer confidence in your products
- Higher price tolerance as Americans are willing to pay more for “Made in USA”
Trust JB Plastics, Inc.
JB Plastics, Inc. is an American company, based in Southern California, providing comprehensive plastic injection molding services. We specialize in plastic consumer products including caps, closures, electrical equipment, construction products, pest control products, toys, auto parts, containers, and displays . We provide our partners with a single point of accountability over the following:
- Product quality
- Packaging
- Delivery
Our engineers offer exceptional project management and integrated services including tool design, material selection, final production, packaging, and delivery. It’s our goal to provide Total Plastics Solutions to our customers by producing products that meet or exceed expectations.
It’s time to reshore your plastic injection molding services and it’s time to choose JB Plastics, Inc. The advantages are clear; JB Plastics provides:
- DFM services
- Flexibility and communication
- Short lead times and lower freight costs
- Intellectual property protection
- Exceptional quality control
Contact us today to talk about reshoring your plastics production. (714) 541-8500
