Preparation & Planning

 
Let's say you want to increase profitability in North America. In order to achieve this, you need to cut your cost and expand your business. What is your plan to achieve this? If you simply want to find suppliers for your goods to increase your value-adding in your existing US facility or export to Europe, check out "Purchasing and Logistics."

Let's assume you have decided to invest in a manufacturing facility in the US. You want to start with a small assembly operation and slowly increase "local content." Maybe your customer is even strongly suggesting this step, or is offering you future business contingent on this investment? There may be many reasons other than decreasing exchange rate risks which might motivate you to think about localizing in North America.

Once you decide to go down and explore this route there will be countless decisions to make during the preparation process. You will have to find answers to questions like:

Where should I go within NAFTA? US? Mexico? Canada?
Do I need to be close to my customer‘s location? Or do I select for best logistic access? Talent availability?
Which state or province would provide me with the most favorable economic package (tax incentives, state training grants...)
Do my processes require proximity to big pools of well-trained individuals or can I benefit from a geographically attractive location?
Should I separate sales and engineering from manufacturing or do I see synergies between the two?
Should I invest in a building and own my own plant? Or should I seek an investor to build one for me and lease it back? Or are there suitable buildings to rent? Who is going to supervise construction or remodeling?
Will my European equipment run in the US? What needs to be done to prepare for this?
How do I get my equipment over to the US? Ship or plane?
Do I need to get my process certified by OSHA once installed?