Mitchell Metal Products of Merrill, Wisconsin, has received the first National Reshoring Award in recognition of the company’s success bringing manufacturing back home to the United States. The award, given by The Reshoring Initiative and the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA), honors a company that has effectively reshored products, parts, or tooling made primarily by metal forming, fabricating, or machining.

Founded in early 2010, The Reshoring Initiative helps manufacturers realize that local production, in some cases, reduces their total cost of ownership of purchased parts and tooling. The initiative also trains suppliers how to effectively meet the needs of their local customers, giving the suppliers the tools to sell against lower priced offshore competitors.

Mitchell Metal Products was selected after using reshoring to complete more end products with less lead time. In 2016, the company manufactured a cultivator handle subassembly product, increasing the production volume from 4,500 made overseas to 30,000 made in Wisconsin.

“By utilizing the total cost of ownership approach pioneered by The Reshoring Initiative, we have won a number of value-added contracts and brought work back home,” said Tim Zimmerman, president of Mitchell Metal Products. “Right now, eight percent of our workforce is employed because of products we have helped to reshore.”

The award was presented in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 28, 2017, at Sourcing Solutions, a popular procurement program hosted by PMA. This premier sourcing event brought together buyers and engineers from top manufacturing companies with pre-screened suppliers, enabling companies to find the most competitive resources for their projects.

“I was delighted that the winning product was a relatively conventional item, instead of being an advanced aerospace or electronics component,” said Harry Moser, founder and president of The Reshoring Initiative. “Mitchell’s success demonstrates that large portions of offshored work are eligible to be reshored.”