Disruptions in the supply chain, from Covid-19, to weather, to geopolitical tensions, has led to an uptick in companies seeking to bring production closer to home and away from China.
Retailer Bath & Body Works has shifted their supply chain by “reshoring” its production process. They have consolidated a 13,000 mile supply chain into a single manufacturing “beauty park” outside of Columbus, Ohio.
And it is paying off for the company’s bottom line.
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Originally the pump for a bottle of hand soap came from China, the bottle itself from Canada, the label from New Jersey and the soap itself from Virginia. But now, every component is manufactured within a several million square foot ‘beauty park’ in the outskirts of Columbus.
The new system rapidly increased the time it takes them to deploy an entirely new product from more than five months to just 21 days. It’s net sales were $7.6billion last year, an increase of more than $2.2billion since 2019.
President Trump has championed reshoring and released a statement about the importance of reshoring production of essential medicines.