Today's News

New Job and Cost Reduction Opportunities Emerge as Manufacturers Contemplate Migration Back to the U.S.
A report was issued in Smart Brief that shows a number of companies are contemplating the re-establishment of manufacturing domestically, amid rising costs and other strategic challenges within the off-shoring model. As companies reassess their manufacturing and supply chain strategies for today’s global economic environment, the trend may create significant job opportunities in the U.S., according to the recent study.

“For years, the concept of off-shoring, or moving production and/or sourcing operations to a foreign country, has been the mantra of any supply chain manager looking to cut costs,” said John Ferreira, Principal and Global Manufacturing Industry Practice Leader, Archstone Consulting. “Now, amid volatile oil prices and an uncertain global economic future, this analysis no longer is a certainty. Furthermore, companies that will commit to domestic manufacturing can spur much-needed improvements in customer service, innovation and job creation – especially when servicing the large domestic market.”

TCS to Absorb RR Donnelly Staff
Sify.com reported that approximately 80 employees working with the India unit of Chicago-based RR Donnelley & Sons will join the rolls of the country’s largest software exporter, Tata Consultancy Services, starting June 1. The reason: Both RR Donnelley and the back-office unit of TCS provide third party transaction processing services to a US-based financial services company. The US firm has embarked on a vendor consolidation drive, as a result of which it has decided to move some of the BPO assignments from RR Donnelley to TCS.

Generally whenever a client company moves work from one vendor to another, both vendors have to come together to ensure smooth transitioning of knowledge and processes from the incumbent vendor to the new vendor, say analysts. Whether a company is initiating a new off shoring activity or transferring work among vendors the key to a successful event is clear communication of the roles, responsibilities and expectations of all concerned parties. This point is brought home in chapter 3 of Bob's book.