Crisis brings change — something you understand firsthand if you are reading this from the unfamiliar comfort of a temporary home office. The coronavirus pandemic has changed everyday life to some extent for almost everyone. We see evidence of this change throughout the day; however, we can’t know the long-term effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Some politicians and manufacturers view the current health crises as an opportunity to bring American manufacturing back to the United States.
Mitigating the spread of coronavirus is the top priority at the moment; we’re putting space between ourselves and our friends, families, and coworkers. This reduce the number of people exposed to the virus. The less exposure people have, the fewer who get infected. This reduces the number of people who die as a result of overburdened medical facilities.
Once we get past the point where we are limiting lives lost we have another obstacle to overcome — getting back to normalcy. Recovery will take a long time and we don’t quite know what that will look like. How much will need to be rebuilt? How long it will take?
Could COVID-19 lead to reshoring?
Bringing industry back home is a matter of politics for some. For others it is a matter of self-sufficiency; the coronavirus outbreak brought American dependencies and vulnerabilities to light. We’re waiting on necessary medical supplies and pharmaceutical drugs to ship from across the globe instead of meeting our demands domestically.
For others still, the current health crises isn’t new evidence that we should bring manufacturing home. Instead of showing us a new problem, the coronaviurs outbreak presents us with an opportunity to make good on the promise of reshoring.
There’s been a promise of reshoring — bringing American manufacturing back to the United States — for more than a decade. So far, it’s been little more than wishful thinking.
Are things different this time?
We often make do with things that work, even if they don’t work exactly the way that they should. Your climate control cabinet goes out, so you keep your servos cool with a box fan. You get by with this setup for a while, but your servos will eventually fail. So you fix your servos and go ahead and fix the cabinet while you’re at it.
You have that door knob that you have to finesse in just the right way to get the door to open. It’s inconvenient, but it kind of works. It’s not until the knob falls off that you decide to replace the thing outright.
Crises brings change. The global economy and supply chains across the world have been thoroughly derailed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Could this be the catalyst that sees the promise of American reshoring fulfilled? This is a question that will only be answered as we rebuild from COVID-19.
We’re here to help you with all of your Indramat crises. Many of the motion control systems being used for critical industry are Indramat systems. Call 479-422-0390 for immediate Indramat support.