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Next-shoring: A CEO’s guide
Katy George, Sree Ramaswamy, and Lou Rassey

Proximity to demand and innovative supply ecosystems will trump labor costs as technology transforms operations in the years ahead.

The problem Demand for manufactured goods in emerging markets is surging and fragmenting as factor costs shift; technological advances, such as more powerful robotics and the Internet of Things, are creating a range of new opportunities for manufacturers to digitize operations. Why it matters Manufacturing strategies built on labor-cost arbitrage are becoming outmoded; the race is on to get ahead of what comes next.

What to do about it Place greater emphasis on proximity to both demand and innovation while:
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Making location decisions that balance economies of scale against the growing diversity of tastes within and across global markets Building supplier ecosystems that combine technical expertise with local domain and market knowledge Developing the people and skills needed to make the most of technological advances across the organization

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© Bruno Ehrs/Corbis

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When offshoring entered the popular lexicon, in the 1990s, it became shorthand for efforts to arbitrage labor costs by using lowerwage workers in developing nations. But savvy manufacturing leaders saw it as more: a decisive change in globalization, made possible by a wave of liberalization in countries such as China and India, a steady improvement in the capabilities of emerging-market suppliers and workers, a growing ability to transfer proven management processes to new locales, and increasingly favorable transportation and communications economics.

Something of equal moment is occurring today. As we settle into a “new normal” catalyzed by the global financial crisis, the ensuing recession, and an uneven global recovery, traditional arbitrage