Dec 12, 2021
Over the last two years, supply chains have been under seemingly unprecedented stresses courtesy of covid, high shipping rates, container displacements, driver shortages, and the Suez Canal accident. These developments and more have seen the concept of nearshoring come into focus when it comes to managing supply chains.
Although not everyone is sold on the idea of a major nearshoring pivot, there are plenty of proponents of moving supply chains closer to home. This is evidenced by IKEA, which recently announced its plan to nearshore production of some of its product lines to Turkey – a move intended to streamline the supply chain of its European stores.
Another area of the continent that appears primed to take advantage of a nearshoring boom is arguably Central Europe.
One of those who share this opinion is Tomasz Gonsior, Managing Director at specialist manufacturing firm IMA Technik, and Partner at procurement consulting technology firm & OptiBuy. Indeed, earlier this year, writing for Switzerland Global Enterprise, Tomasz made the case for Swiss companies utilizing nearshoring as a means of optimizing supply chains.
Eager to question Tomasz on the topic, as well as hear the arguments behind his hypothesis, we caught up with the man himself – not only taking the opportunity to hear about the virtues of nearshoring but also about the dangers of getting it wrong.
