US manufacturing onshoring is returning to prominence in 2025 and beyond. Due to ongoing international trade disputes and resulting tariffs, the cost advantage of overseas manufacturing has shrunk precipitously. While change can be challenging for any business to digest, onshoring provides many benefits over the oft-preferred method of overseas manufacturing, where per-board costs dominate every aspect of production, including turnaround time for sensitive market deadlines. See how an experienced contract manufacturer (CM) like VSE can exceed your next project’s quality expectations and offer greater responsiveness to designs while adjusting to market demands.
How US Manufacturing Onshoring Improves Production Outcomes
Several years ago, the fragility of global supply chains became clearly evident as the pandemic greatly reduced overseas production, and many industries have yet to recover from this fallout completely. While global manufacturing had once been seen as inevitable due to reduced overseas labor costs, it has received some significant pushback since the pandemic. Now, the advantages of domestic manufacturing are being revealed in a new light.
US Manufacturing Onshoring vs. Traditional Overseas Manufacturing
| # | Task | Onshoring | Overseas |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turnaround Time | ✅ | ❌ |
| 2 | Security | ✅ | ❌ |
| 3 | Communication | ✅ | ❌ |
| 4 | Quality Control | ✅ | ❌ |
| 5 | Shipping Costs | ✅ | ❌ |
| 6 | Flexibility | ✅ | ❌ |
| 7 | Supply Chain Simplification | ✅ | ❌ |
| 8 | Local Expertise | ✅ | ❌ |
| 9 | Innovation | ✅ | ❌ |
| 10 | Supply Chain Resilience | ✅ | ❌ |
- Reduced Turnaround Times: Overseas shipping time is lengthy and poses some time-to-market risk. For domestically manufactured and marketed goods, cutting out nonessential steps can help improve both the availability and the speed at which end users can access their products.
- IP Security: Working with overseas manufacturers or subcontractors can give malicious actors access to sensitive design documents. The US legal system’s framework for IP protections trumps those of any international market. More comprehensive and robust data security measures ensure files remain accessible only to the intended partners.
- Ease of Communication: When reached during business hours, engineering change orders (ECOs) take hours instead of days to enact. In general, it’s easier to contact local manufacturers and foster relationships. Working with a domestic manufacturer also typically means greater transparency and relationships with the people responsible for translating your design into a product.
- Improved Quality Control: Onshoring allows for closer oversight and easier communication with domestic manufacturers, leading to better quality control and reduced defects.
- Reduced Shipping Costs and Carbon Footprint: Without the need for overseas transportation, shipping costs are minimized, and the environmental impact associated with long-distance shipping is eliminated.
- Greater Flexibility and Customization: Onshore manufacturing can be more adaptable to changes in design or demand, allowing for greater flexibility and customization.
- Simplified Supply Chain: Fewer intermediaries and less complex logistics make the supply chain more manageable and less prone to disruptions.
- Access to Local Expertise: Domestic manufacturers may have specialized knowledge and skills relevant to the local market.
- Potential for Innovation: Proximity to design and manufacturing can foster innovation through closer collaboration and faster feedback loops.
- Increased Supply Chain Resilience: Onshoring can reduce reliance on global supply chains, making businesses more resilient to disruptions.
Design and Manufacturing – The Benefits of a Local Business Relationship
The greatest value of onshoring manufacturing is the ability to foster relationships with the local assembly industry. Clients can better understand the manufacturing processes their designs will undergo, alleviating any trepidation before agreeing to a work order.
Some of the benefits of a local design and manufacturing relationship include:
- Clients can see the professionalism of the manufacturer in person to build their confidence instead of relying on an overseas relationship based solely on electronic communication.
- With the manufacturer’s technology and machinery on display, clients can determine firsthand if the facility can meet the demands of a particularly cutting-edge board.
- A local tour is more welcoming to newcomers in the electronics space. Walking through a local facility provides newcomers with a gentle introduction to the process from beginning to end and builds strong partnerships.
Your Contract Manufacturer Is Set Up for the Shift in Manufacturing
US manufacturing onshoring is a long-term investment strategy that looks to circumvent some of the inherent chaos of a global supply chain. In theory, the more of the manufacturing process that can be brought “in-house” (so to speak), the better insulated the supply chain is from pressures caused by global weather patterns, foreign government policy, or other unpredictable issues. Moreover, onshoring helps push careers and increase the industry’s stability, improving the health and technology of the field.
Electronics manufacturing will continue to build within the decade and the coming years and we here at VSE are ready to grow alongside it. With manufacturing facilities in San Jose and Reno, we’re prepared to continue building electronics for our customers through our team of engineers. Alongside our valued manufacturing partners, we’re ready to assist you in your board’s design, fabrication, and assembly at any level of product development.
If you are looking for a CM that prides itself on its care and attention to detail to ensure that each PCB assembly is built to the highest standards, look no further than VSE. Contact us today to learn more about partnering with us for your next project.
