According to The Reshoring Initiative, a recently passed “minibus” spending bill that directs the Commerce Department to develop a “cost of ownership” calculator illustrates the group’s influence on U.S.
According to The Reshoring Initiative, a recently passed “minibus” spending bill that directs the Commerce Department to develop a “cost of ownership” calculator illustrates the group’s influence on U.S. Policy.
The bill in question, approved by the House and Senate and signed by the President, involves the 2012 budgets for the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Science, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The Reshoring Initiative points out that the bill encourages the Commerce Department to develop an online cost of ownership calculator to help firms determine the hidden costs of offshore manufacturing, such as those associated with shipping and carrying inventory. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA), chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the Commerce Department’s budget, the goal is to develop a national job repatriation strategy.
Harry Moser, founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative, says Congressman Wolf obtained the idea for a calculator after reading an article Mr. Moser wrote for the June 2010 issue of Manufacturing Engineering magazine. The Initiative’s Total Cost of Ownership Estimator is an online tool that aggregates a manufacturer’s cost and risk factors and sums them into one figure for simpler, more objective sourcing decisions. “The Reshoring Initiative looks forward to providing its Total Cost of Ownership Estimator to the Commerce Department as a means of meeting the requirements of the bill,” Mr. Moser says.
For more information from The Reshoring Initiative, visit reshorenow.org.
