Why in the world did they reshore? Examining small to medium-sized manufacturer decisions

Small and medium-sized enterprises are reversing their previous offshoring decision by relocating manufacturing activities from low-cost countries to high-cost ones. However, it seems cost-related factors regarding location change failed to explain these activities completely. In order to understand the reason why SMEs reshored, this paper codifies four empirical observations and analyzes nine product-line decisions (six reshoring decisions, three offshoring decisions). It also develops and analyzes a system dynamics model of SMEs’ decisions (offshoring or reshoring) by integrating observations with relevant literature.