RESHORING CASE

ABB (E)

Company details
Code: 
ABBe
Company name: 
ABB
Company country: 
Switzerland
Number of employees: 
140400
Sector: 
C - Manufacturing
Sector detail: 
C27 - Manufacture of electrical equipment
Sub-sectors: 
C27.1 - Manufacture of electric motors, generators, transformers and electricity distribution and control apparatus
Reshoring details
Reshoring announcement date: 
01/07/2016
Starting implementation date: 
August, 2016
End of Implementation : 
December, 2016
Reshored to: 
Estonia
Reshored business function: 
Production
Partial or Total reshoring: 
Partial
Reshoring governance mode: 
In house (in own facilities)
Reasons for reshoring: 
Economic crisis
Firm's global reorganization
Streamlining of supply chain
Untapped production capacity
Case narrative: 

ABB is a Swiss multinational manufacturing company specializing in automation and power-related technologies. The company has 135,000 employees worldwide. In 2013 ABB bought Power-One Inc. in a $1 billion deal that included the Phoenix plant near Sky Harbor. Power-One had 450 employees in Arizona in 2013.

ABB plans to close down its production plant in Phoenix in the US state of Arizona and to transfer production to Italy and Estonia.ABB claims the move will optimise the group's costs and supply chain. The relocation will leave 89 out of job at the ABB plant that manufactured solar inverters in Phoenix. The decision reflects conditions in the wider macroeconomic scenario. The consolidations will enable factory and supply chain optimization while improving cost, delivery and quality to customers.

Sources: 

DELFI.lv, 01/07/2016

Phoenix Business Journal, 28/06/2016

Offshoring details
Offshoring location: 
United States
Offshored business function: 
Production
Offshoring governance mode: 
In house (in own facilities)
Offshoring entry mode: 
Wholly owned