Benefits of Onshore Outsourcing: Also for Manufacturing and Used Car Parts?

Filed in archive Did you know , Onshore Suppliers , Supplier sourcing on April 23, 2010

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While offshore outsourcing sections of a business to a third party, such as certain services (product design, call center, etc) or manufacturing processes (production of textiles, recycling and disposal e.g., used car parts) has been increasing exponentially over the past decades, onshore sourcing has also been regaining foothold. While outsourcing to a poor countries can definitely help companies cut corners, onshore outsourcing may sometimes prove to be a better option for some companies.

Paul Gasparo, in his article at SandHill.com, outlines the benefits of onshore outsourcing. He cites practical experience that may be crucial in product development. If you need professionals who not only understand technology, but who know how to commercialize that technology for a specific target customer or marketplace, then you have better chances by remaining onshore.

Other advantages he cited include potential issues with intellectual property protection when contracting with suppliers from countries with less established proprietary laws, geographical, language, and cultural barriers, as well as the economic and political stability of the contractors' countries.

He concludes that while an offshore outsourcing strategy may be perfect for "high-volume manufacturing, product testing, fixing a problem versus creating a product from scratch, or any instance in which vigilant project oversight or insightful outsourcer feedback is not required", processes that involve "designing a brand new product, creating a prototype, or doing something that's out of the company's primary areas of expertise", onshore outsourcing may be a better solution.