SMT Perspectives & Prospects: Artificial Intelligence Part 6: Data Module 1
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Nolan’s Notes: Tariffs, Technologies, and Optimization
Survey Says Reshoring is a TCO Equation
August 13, 2025 | Nolan Johnson, SMT007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative, and Kathy Nunnally of Regions Recruiting partnered to survey contract manufacturers and OEMs earlier this year, querying them about their offshoring beliefs and practices. They found that while offshoring, tariffs, trade balances, and the like, are important to a company’s bottom line, there’s a larger and more extensive issue: workforce. In this interview, they detail the results of that survey and what they believe can and should be done to fix this long-standing issue.
Nolan Johnson: Harry and Kathy, let's start with some background on the Reshoring Initiative.
Harry Moser: I founded the Reshoring Initiative in 2010 as a nonprofit with a mission to balance the goods trade deficit, which was $1.2 trillion last year. We do that by documenting the trend so people can see it's real and happening, and by promoting the trend. We believe that by having tools such as our Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Estimator available to help companies make smarter decisions, they can buy smarter and, in some cases, such as with contract manufacturers, sell smarter. That may convince the OEMs to buy from them.
Johnson: Harry, how did you come to be working in this space?
Moser: I was president of a $100-million-a-year company, and when I turned 65, the Swiss parent company told me it was time to leave. Since I was available and knew someone had to do something to reverse offshoring, I volunteered myself. Fortunately, I had excellent support from various manufacturing trade associations over the years, helping to make this possible.
Johnson: Kathy, what brought you to this project?
Kathy Nunnally: Regions Recruiting is supporting the manufacturing and B2B distribution industries with talent. We're helping advance those businesses with top talent, and it's an exciting time to be in the industry.
To continue reading this interview, which originally appeared in the August 2025 issue of SMT007 Magazine, click here.
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