Manufacturers Start to Trade Offshoring for Botsourcing
Robotics technology is boosting manufacturing and employment in the U.S., and in developed economies has led to “botsourcing,” that is, the return of manufacturing from overseas, according to a new Harvard Business Review HBR Blog Network post.
Botsoursing, bringing production back home through robotics automation, may be the single biggest disruptive threat to India’s $118 billion information technology industry. The more processes can be automated, the less it makes sense to outsource activities to countries where labor is less expensive.
Foxconn, which manufactures the iPhone, plans to used advanced robots and hire 500 people at a new factory in Pennsylvania. And Tesla Motors builds its electric cars entirely in the US in one of the most advanced robotic manufacturing facilities in the world,
These are just two of a growing list of firms that realize that robotics advances combined with rising wages in developing countries have made offshoring more costly and less appealing for manufacturers.
