140: Local Manufacturing for a New Hardware Invention Idea
Nigel Southway, author of 'Take Back Manufacturing' and former chair of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, discusses the strategic shift from offshore to local manufacturing for hardware startups. He argues that when factoring in hidden costs like tariffs, inventory, and logistics, the unit cost difference between onshore and offshore production is often only about 10%, making local production increasingly viable. Southway emphasizes the importance of short-run manufacturing to build feedback loops and reduce risk, while advocating for policy, education, and technology integration to rebuild domestic manufacturing capacity.