Title: Reshoring and additive manufacturing

Authors: Hamid Moradlou; Wendy Tate

Addresses: Department of Engineering and Mathematics, City Campus, Sheffield Hallam University, Howard St, Sheffield S1 1WB, UK ' University of Tennessee, 453 Haslam Business Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-4140, USA

Abstract: Since the mid-20th century, offshoring of manufacturing facilities has gained significant popularity because of the opportunity for cost reduction. However, there is evidence that shows that offshoring strategies may not be beneficial for the organisation's manufacturing activities and may increase the cost of ownership. There appears to be a tendency to reverse offshoring and begin reshoring manufacturing back to the country of origin. This paper focuses on the applicability of additive manufacturing (AM) as a supporting technology for increased reshoring to the UK. This manuscript focuses on theory elaboration, bridging the new generation technologies to the reshoring movement in the UK. This research identifies six potential areas where AM can have impacts on supply chain of reshoring companies to make them more responsive: shorter lead-time, responsiveness to the product and market changes, lower transportation costs, fewer miscommunications with the suppliers, more customisation options, fewer products stored in inventory.

Keywords: reshoring; additive manufacturing; Industry 4.0.

DOI: 10.1504/WRITR.2018.093564

World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research, 2018 Vol.7 No.3, pp.241 - 263

Received: 18 Jul 2017
Accepted: 28 Feb 2018
Published online: 27 Jul 2018 *

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