Understanding and developing decision making in manufacturing relocations - A case study on offshoring and backshoring

Since the 1960’s, companies have searched for competitive advantage from offshoring their manufacturing processes to countries of lower labour cost, or countries that are located closer to interesting markets. However, since about 2005, the trend has partly reversed: large amounts of offshoring projects face unprecedented costs and setbacks, making domestic production more favourable again. The reasons for both offshoring and backshoring of production have been studied in detail, but little focus has been given to how those decisions unfold day by day in the board rooms. In this study, three case companies, one offshoring case and two backshoring cases, were interviewed to find out how manufacturing relocation decisions are really made. The investigation was divided into four major sub-questions: how could the case decisions processes be modelled; what is the role of management accounting information in those decisions; what factors affect the risk perceptions of decision makers, and; how could the decision making processes be improved. It was found that offshoring and backshoring decisions are very different by nature due to the differences in uncertainty that the decision makers have to deal with. The myriad of options and factors present in choosing an offshore location from anywhere in the world translates into huge information and accounting needs, as well as complex decision making processes including several nested subdecisions. Meanwhile backshoring decisions were found to be very straightforward, less reliant on large amounts of accounting information and less time consuming to implement. This is due to the fact that these decisions usually consider only two locations, the offshored and the domestic location, both of which are well known and measured. The case companies were also asked to determine what parts of the decisions they would want to improve the most. The high level conclusion is that companies that seek global success should remain extra vigilant of the immense complexity of these decisions, and that there is a clear need to quantify and concretify the benefits of domestic production, such as quality, flexibility and trust between suppliers and partners

Concordance and discordance in how patients and therapists experience the psychotherapy process in the treatment of depression

Despite the extensive literature on the outcome and process of psychotherapy in the treatment of depression, little is known about how the underlying factors of depression and the therapy process are experienced by the patients and therapists. In particular, the recognition of themes that are discordantly experienced by patients and therapists may have practical significance for how the therapy process should be conducted. We have previously developed a process description questionnaire to explore the views of patients with major depression and their therapists during the psychodynamic therapy process. In this study, we used factor analysis on the data collected with the process description questionnaire to explore the perceptions of the patients and therapists at different stages of the therapy process. We derived 15 clusters of variables from the questionnaire, on which we conducted primary and secondary factor analysis. The formation of the factors was found to be largely consistent between the patients and therapists regarding the alliance and affectively neutral aspects of the treatment process, whereas the variables of the patients vs. therapists concerning symptoms of depression and their underlying factors dispersed to a greater extent into separate factors. Dispersion was found especially in the experience of processing affectively laden themes and the developmental background factors underlying depression. Our findings refer to a defective insight of the patients into the developmental, interactional and affective factors underlying their symptoms. These factors should be especially targeted in psychotherapy of depression

Purine metabolism is dysregulated in patients with major depressive disorder

Peer reviewe

Global arginine bioavailability ratio is decreased in patients with major depressive disorder

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by increased oxidative and nitrosative stress. We compared nitric oxide metabolism, i.e., the global arginine bioavailability ratio (GABR) and related serum amino acids, between MDD patients and non-depressed controls, and between remitted and non-remitted MDD patients. Methods: Ninety-nine MDD patients and 253 non-depressed controls, aged 20-71 years, provided background data via questionnaires. Fasting serum samples were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry to determine the serum levels of ornithine, arginine, citrulline, and symmetric and asymmetric dimethylarginine. GABR was calculated as arginine divided by the sum of ornithine plus citrulline. We compared the above measures between: 1) MDD patients and controls, 2) remitted (n= 33) and non-remitted (n = 45) MDD patients, and 3) baseline and follow-up within the remitted and non-remitted groups. Results: Lower arginine levels (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.97-0.99) and lower GABR (OR 0.13, 95% CI 0.03-0.50) were associated with the MDD vs. the non-depressed group after adjustments for potential confounders. The remitted group showed a decrease in GABR, arginine, and symmetric dimethylarginine, and an increase in ornithine after the follow-up compared with within-group baseline values. The non-remitted group displayed an increase in arginine and ornithine levels and a decrease in GABR. No significant differences were recorded between the remitted and non-remitted groups. Limitations: The MDD group was not medication-free. Conclusions: Arginine bioavailability may be decreased in MDD. This could impair the production of nitric oxide, and thus add to oxidative stress in the central nervous system.Peer reviewe

Relocation of Nordic Manufacturing

Manufacturing industries have had an important role in the export-driven economies of the Nordic countries. Manufacturing companies from these countries have increasingly been moving production abroad in recent years. However, backshoring of previously offshored manufacturing is attracting growing attention among researchers and policy-makers. This phenomenon, and its consequences for the renewal of manufacturing, are yet little understood.The research project “Reshoring of manufacturing (ROaMING): Disruptive Technologies, Business Ecosystems and Performance Information as Key Enablers” focused on increased understanding of production relocation trends in the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. The aim was to create in-depth knowledge on the status of and potential for relocating manufacturing as a source of renewal of the manufacturing sector. The research approach consisted of quantitative and qualitative parts utilizing both available databases and new data collected through a large-scale survey and case research.The report consists of five main content chapters. First, the survey results of offshoring and backshoring trends in the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, and Sweden are presented. Then we discuss the use of financial information in decision-making regarding manufacturing offshoring and backshoring. Thereafter the results of a study on manufacturing innovations and the adoption and implementation of new manufacturing technologies are reported. The fourth chapter presents the results of a study involving two manufacturing companies on the role of business ecosystems in manufacturing relocation decisions. Finally, the fifth chapter explores the global production investments made during the period 2005-2015 by large manufacturing firms with headquarters in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.The results among the Nordic manufacturing firms indicate that offshoring is clearly more common than backshoring. The manufacturing relocations by Nordic firms are geographically wide-ranging. The most important regions for offshoring and of backshoring are Eastern and Western Europe, the Nordic countries, and China. Offshored production is typically cost focused, whereas production relocated to the Nordic countries is relatively complex and technology-intensive, seeking access to technology, skills and knowledge, and proximity to R&D and product development. Movement of production is expected to continue both offshore and back. The reinforcement of the Nordic countries as a strong base for high value-adding manufacturing firms can be influenced by policy measures and future research.Policy implications, as well as future research proposals are noted as the result of this study. Cost competitiveness in the Nordic countries needs to be ensured in relation to their reference group in the competition. This also exerts pressure for continuous productivity improvements through technological advances and process improvements. Access to skills, knowledge and technology are important factors for Nordic manufacturers to relocate production. Therefore product, process and supply chain innovation, as well as colocation of R&D and production, need to be promoted. Policy-makers need to pay attention to maintaining the Nordic innovation systems. Many firms seem to lack a clear strategy or analytical capabilities for manufacturing location decisions. Expertise on managing global manufacturing networks should be enhanced. Follow-up on the extent, drivers and benefits of production relocations of the Nordic manufacturing firms is needed to enhance the fact-based understanding of the longer-term trend of manufacturing relocations

Continuous reformulations and heuristics for the Euclidean travelling salesperson problem

We consider continuous reformulations of the Euclidean travelling salesperson problem (TSP), based on certain clustering problem formulations. These reformulations allow us to apply a generalisation with perturbations of the Weiszfeld algorithm in an attempt to find local approximate solutions to the Euclidean TSP

Relocation of Nordic Manufacturing

Manufacturing industries have had an important role in the export-driven economies of the Nordic countries. Manufacturing companies from these countries have increasingly been moving production abroad in recent years. However, backshoring of previously offshored manufacturing is attracting growing attention among researchers and policy-makers. This phenomenon, and its consequences for the renewal of manufacturing, are yet little understood. The research project “Reshoring of manufacturing (ROaMING): Disruptive Technologies, Business Ecosystems and Performance Information as Key Enablers” focused on increased understanding of production relocation trends in the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. The aim was to create in-depth knowledge on the status of and potential for relocating manufacturing as a source of renewal of the manufacturing sector. The research approach consisted of quantitative and qualitative parts utilizing both available databases and new data collected through a large-scale survey and case research. The report consists of five main content chapters. First, the survey results of offshoring and backshoring trends in the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, and Sweden are presented. Then we discuss the use of financial information in decision-making regarding manufacturing offshoring and backshoring. Thereafter the results of a study on manufacturing innovations and the adoption and implementation of new manufacturing technologies are reported. The fourth chapter presents the results of a study involving two manufacturing companies on the role of business ecosystems in manufacturing relocation decisions. Finally, the fifth chapter explores the global production investments made during the period 2005-2015 by large manufacturing firms with headquarters in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. The results among the Nordic manufacturing firms indicate that offshoring is clearly more common than backshoring. The manufacturing relocations by Nordic firms are geographically wide-ranging. The most important regions for offshoring and of backshoring are Eastern and Western Europe, the Nordic countries, and China. Offshored production is typically cost focused, whereas production relocated to the Nordic countries is relatively complex and technology-intensive, seeking access to technology, skills and knowledge, and proximity to R&D and product development. Movement of production is expected to continue both offshore and back. The reinforcement of the Nordic countries as a strong base for high value-adding manufacturing firms can be influenced by policy measures and future research. Policy implications, as well as future research proposals are noted as the result of this study. Cost competitiveness in the Nordic countries needs to be ensured in relation to their reference group in the competition. This also exerts pressure for continuous productivity improvements through technological advances and process improvements. Access to skills, knowledge and technology are important factors for Nordic manufacturers to relocate production. Therefore product, process and supply chain innovation, as well as colocation of R&D and production, need to be promoted. Policy-makers need to pay attention to maintaining the Nordic innovation systems. Many firms seem to lack a clear strategy or analytical capabilities for manufacturing location decisions. Expertise on managing global manufacturing networks should be enhanced. Follow-up on the extent, drivers and benefits of production relocations of the Nordic manufacturing firms is needed to enhance the fact-based understanding of the longer-term trend of manufacturing relocations.publishedVersio