Rethinking reshoring

“I was really shocked the other day. Usually, we deliver about 90 percent of our products in time and we work hard to improve that. But last months, it was only 28 percent!” There are huge issues with the supply of parts from countries like India and China, and transport costs rise quickly. “I’m really considering reshoring now,” concluded an entrepreneur of a manufacturing company in the province of South Holland. That statement would have been unthinkable a year ago.

But hold your horses! Reshoring is much easier said than done. Dutch companies currently have a very hard time finding staff, from the vocational level up to the academic level. In our crowded country, business premises are hard to find, certainly when a larger building is required or higher levels of environmental permits are needed. The challenge of building houses in the Netherlands is big enough as it is.