Reshoring to... Mexico?

As I walked the Plastec West Show in Anaheim a little over a week ago and talked with mold builders who were there, I had more than one conversation that revolved around how busy their shops were and about the reshoring of manufacturing that’s going on. It seems that many mold builders are hearing that a lot of that reshoring is not being done here in the USA but, rather, in Mexico.

Is this true? Is this what mold builders in other parts of the country are hearing and experiencing, or is it a regional development?

I recently read in Harry Moser’s Reshoring Initiative newsletter that Industry Week is citing a Deloitte Global and US Council on Competitiveness report that says by 2020, the USA will retake, from China, the title of being the most competitive nation in the world for manufacturing. I certainly hope that it’s true. The report says that, besides China, the USA, Japan, and Germany currently hold the top four rankings, with Mexico ranked seventh.

Still, mold builders at Plastec (most of whom are based on or near the West Coast) said they are not seeing that much work coming back from China to their companies. This has not stopped them from being optimistic, however, and some companies, like Fairway Injection Molding Systems out of Walnut, California, are instead looking to break into the Mexico market as the next step for expansion. Fairway will be exhibiting for the third time at Plastimagen in Mexico City next month. That’s the kind of “reshoring” (and, actually, the correct term in this case is “nearshoring”) that we can all support.

Electronics is a strong sector of manufacturing that has, and continues to, thrive in Mexico, according to the Deloitte report. Automotive, including cars, trucks and vehicle parts, is also expanding there and providing opportunities to build company growth on.

I’d be interested in hearing from other mold builders about work coming back from China. And who else has chosen to expand into Mexico, and why?

By the way, if you’ll be at Plastimagen 2016, be sure to look for our booth where our sister publications, Modern Machine Shop Mexico and Plastics Technology Mexico, will be exhibiting.