Propel’s Modern Manufacturing Report dives into nearshoring and China’s Belt and Road initiative
by Sadi Muktadir
The report dove into the increase in nearshoring, and moving global operations back to North American soil, in an effort to address supply chain disruptions as a result of COVID-19.
Propel clients are nearshoring their manufacturing operations in response to the pandemic.
On March of 2021, Propel released their 2021 Modern Manufacturing Report, reporting on North American trends and issues in the manufacturing industry, and the challenges associated with a pandemic recovery.
The report dove into the increase in nearshoring, and moving global operations back to North American soil, in an effort to address supply chain disruptions as a result of COVID-19.
“This nearshoring trend we’re seeing reduces risk for manufacturers,” said Ray Hein, CEO of Propel. “The cost of shipping is being eliminated, which is huge during the pandemic when manufacturers want to save on capital and be in a better financial position. Due to pandemic risk, organizations need multiple points of manufacturing to ensure a more resilient supply chain that won’t be affected.”
When asked about the chip shortage affecting the manufacturing industry across all its verticals, Ray Hein was clear in speaking about North America’s potential in building its own semiconductor industry.
“Chip factories take a long time to build,” he said. “It takes years. So right now, semiconductor factories are tiering their customers, their best customers are getting serviced first. Instead, it’s on manufacturers to redesign their products to be able to build it without a semiconductor. Products like jacuzzis, dryers, will probably be the last to be services.”
The Modern Manufacturing Report also spoke about China’s Belt and Road initiative, and the global superpower’s efforts to secure influence internationally.
“China wants to make sure that the global supply chain goes through them,” said Dario Ambrosini, CMO of Propel. “They’re trying to gain access to every market for the products they’re selling, so that’s why you’re seeing Biden’s infrastructure plans reflect having a strong domestic supply chain.”
When asked about Biden’s ‘Buy American’ infrastructure plan, Propel executives were forthcoming, explaining that they understood that Canadian and US protectionism may linger, but hoped that tariffs may be dropped in a few years. Propel’s Modern Manufacturing report, and Propel executives echoed that US manufacturers were more concerned with building a more domestic supply chain that didn’t need to rely on China.
Propel is a PLM software company servicing manufacturers with international supply chains, providing a platform for companies to bring together disparate systems and processes to better market their products.
