Manufacturing Executive - November 2008 - (Page 18) S UPPLY CHAIN Home is where the MARKET 18 November 2008 Photo: Managing Automation o “Nearshoring” takes on new meaning as manufacturers set up plants near booming markets while also bringing them closer to headquarters. BY MARK HALPER IS ne of the maverick notions hitting manufacturing these days is that production, which has long headed for low-cost, faraway places like China, will star t to return closer to home. With oilbased transportation costs soaring, green imperatives looming, risks rising, and quality assurance concerns growing, forecasters are predicting that “offshoring” will give way to “nearshoring.” But a funny thing happened on the way home. Last summer, Europe’s largest automaker, Volks- wagen, announced that it would start making cars in the United States. Ten days later Toulousse, France-based Airbus, the world’s largest commercial aircraft maker, ratcheted up its first-ever final assembly operations in China when its Tianjin facility received its first fuselages, wings, and other A320 sections. Top executives at both companies heralded the moves as vital to production and overall strategy. “This plant represents a milestone in Volkswagen’s growth strategy,” said Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the board of management at VW, in announcing plans to build a €620 million plant in Chattanooga, TN. “We will be selling
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