Both offshoring and outsourcing are solutions for companies trying to lower manufacturing costs, complete tasks more efficiently and increase company productivity through resource allocation. Outsourcing at its core involves hiring a third-party vendor to complete a particular element of production, while offshoring simply shifts production abroad and stays with the business. While both options can increase manufacturing efficiency and create more competitive pricing overall, there are far fewer internal risks when offshoring.
Offshoring is an outsourcing alternative that keeps all company communication internal and allows for a more seamless application of policies and expectations. Because offshore manufacturing lets a company reallocate some of its production elsewhere, it is still able to shift more of its attention to core functions at home while allowing for more control and less risk abroad. There are also offshoring advantages to manufacturing in Mexico enable efficient production, access to large markets, lower costs, and company growth.
Nearshore manufacturing is becoming more common where companies offshore their manufacturing efforts to bordering countries or countries nearby. For U.S. companies, manufacturing in Mexico is the best nearshore option for lowering costs, finding skilled employees, and accessing global markets.
Offshore manufacturing enables full control of your manufacturing process.
The main danger associated with outsourcing is the potential loss of sensitive company data. Because a third party vendor is involved in business functions, there is an inherent loss of confidentiality simply through the sharing of intellectual property. In comparing outsourcing your manufacturing efforts to offshore manufacturing, outsourcing reaps many of the same benefits of offshoring, it necessitates that a company be willing to divulge some of its internal affairs.
On the opposite end of this spectrum lies the lack of company knowledge a third party might have when beginning a partnership. Potential consequences resulting from this include loss of control from a managerial standpoint, inaccurate delivery times, mismatched perceptions of production quality and divisive business interests. Gaps in the contract governing the relationship can also exist, leaving responsibilities and expectations unclear.
A final risk of outsourcing is the reliance it creates on an outside vendor. Any financial loss they might incur will directly affect the production of the company utilizing its services, and if the party serves multiple clients, they will not be able to dedicate all of their resources to any one company.