‘Farm-to-Table’ Becomes ‘Maker-to-User’: A Manufacturing Trend

Chances are you’ve probably heard the term “farm-to-table,” the increasingly popular culinary movement that prioritizes local sourcing. Some restaurants even tout their local sourcing on their menus, listing vendors from whom they acquire their foods — whether it’s beef, cheese, beer, or fruits and vegetables, they want you know where the elements on your plate originated.
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The same mentality can be applied to manufacturing at large, particularly in a world currently dominated by tariffs.
MetalMiner’s latest white paper, “‘Farm-to-Table’ Becomes ‘Maker-to-User’: How a Manufacturing Movement is Emerging,” explores the concept of local sourcing, in addition to evidence suggesting local sourcing is picking up steam among U.S. manufacturers.
The paper looks at import trends by sector and analyzes the various benefits of local sourcing, which include the positive impact on local economies, greater flexibility and innovation, and shorter lead times.
In addition, with the U.S. engaging China, a major supplier of just about everything — including parts and a wide variety of intermediate goods used in final products — as part of its Section 301 investigation of China’s trade practices, manufacturers might find themselves in a bind if a product they import is subject to a tariff. Given the number of products that have already come in for new tariffs (or could be subject to new tariffs, once the U.S.’s $200 billion tariff proposal goes through its review process), the odds are good that a manufacturer is going to be affected in some way.
Following along the lines of our recent discussion about risk mitigation with Resilinc President and CEO Bindiya Vakil, local sourcing can do just that: mitigate risk and offer manufacturers peace of mind in an increasingly volatile trade climate.
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You can read about all of the above — and much more — by downloading the new white paper here.

One Comment

  • The benefit of manufacturing/sourcing locally is in the total costs.
    We see many companies moving toward localization. U.S. companies are reshoring and foreign companies are investing in U.S. locations to be in close proximity to the U.S. market for customer responsiveness, shorter lead times, flexibility, quality, and for the positive branding of “Made in USA”.
    Companies are recognizing that with the use of the refined metrics of total cost of ownership (TCO) to uncover the hidden costs and risks of offshoring and reducing costs with sustainable strategies such as robotics, improved product design, and automation, they can increase competitiveness and manufacture in the U.S. profitably.
    The Reshoring Initiative Can Help
    In order to help companies decide objectively to reshore manufacturing back to the U.S. or offshore, the not-for-profit Reshoring Initiative’s free Total Cost of Ownership Estimator (TCOE) can help corporations calculate the real P&L impact of reshoring or offshoring. http://www.reshorenow.org/TCO_Estimator.cfm

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