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70 SMT Magazine • August 2014 now also considering on-shoring issues, again when and where their customers are doing the same. There is a synergy for manufacturers and suppliers to work together in the reshoring pro- cess. The challenge is then whether local manu- facturing of raw materials can be as cost-effec- tive as importing. The answer will again reflect the increased automation and technology of manufacturing processes, as well as the flex- ibility of manufacturing according to the cus- tomer's demand pattern. Raw material costs can also be avoided by having direct distribution links from the suppliers to manufacturing. This synergy of operation was achieved and proven by Toyota in Japan using their just in time sys- tem for delivery from their suppliers. The suc- cess of this strategy is ultimately dependant on whether suppliers actually follow the principles of flexibility and agility and so really achieve the cost savings, or whether they simply keep to their constrained legacy production practic- es, building to local stock to satisfy the custom- er's just-in-time demands. This is the juncture where the synergy of the whole process needs to work together. updating u.s. Manufacturing Setting up new factories in the United States is going to require modern thinking. The leg- acy operational practices, driven by ERP tech- nologies dating from the 1970s, need some enhancement. The design of the manufactur- ing operation must be based primarily on the ability to directly supply in accordance with the demands of the market. It may mean that the operation will have a large variety of products to make, with a high mix of each every day. The old adage that productivity is inversely pro- portional to product mix, which held true for many years, is no longer true. Today's process preparation software can take a qualified product model, defined in a single file format such as ODB++, and make it REshORINg MaDE sIMPLE continues Figure 2: best practices for lean manufacturing bring the necessary enhancement to ERP to create a new manufacturing paradigm necessary to meet the changing demands of the market. eSSenTiAl pioneer'S SurViVAl guiDe