Managing in an Unpredictable World

For many months now, I’ve been discussing various factors driving the resurgence of U.S. manufacturing, such as increasing labor costs in China, the productivity of American workers, the abundance of cheap energy here that “fracking” technology has brought about, intellectual property issues, and the fact that manufacturing in the U.S. involves far fewer headaches than managing long-distance supply chains.

In many cases, as I’ve stressed, choosing a location for the next manufacturing facility is not an either-or choice. Many companies will choose to manufacture in China, India, Brazil, and other overseas locations for the African, Asian, and Latin American markets, even as the U.S. and Mexico become increasingly attractive choices for companies making products for North America and Western Europe.