Reshoring and Industry 4.0: How Often Do They Go Together?

Abstract

This paper investigates the linkages between the reshoring of manufacturing to high cost countries and the adoption of technologies labeled Industry 4.0. Using a large database of reshoring initiatives to either the U.S. or Europe, results show that the adoption of technologies, such as robotics and three-dimensional printing, is relatively limited among reshoring companies, and often confined to reshoring strategies where the cost focus that originally motivated the relocation offshore is still retained. Reshoring firms with quality-oriented business strategies, and for which cost containment is not the top priority, engage in capital investment in new technologies mainly when they are involved in new product development.