Reshoring 2026: Who Will Manufacture the Parts?

Reshoring is no longer just a boardroom discussion.

More U.S. manufacturers are actively moving production and sourcing closer to home, and contract manufacturers are seeing that activity show up in real RFQs.

According to the 2026 USA Reshoring Survey from the Reshoring Initiative and Regions Recruiting, 36% of OEM respondents said they had reshored or were actively engaged in additional reshoring in 2026, compared with 29% in 2025.

The signal from contract manufacturers may be even more interesting: 32% said they were currently quoting reshoring projects—double the 16% reported a year earlier. Another 79% said at least some of their customers had discussed reshoring during the previous year.

That sounds like straightforward good news for U.S. manufacturing.

But it creates another question:

If OEMs bring more manufacturing back to North America, who is actually going to make all of those parts?

That is where the next challenge begins.

Reshoring Does Not Automatically Create Manufacturing Capacity

Moving a sourcing decision from Asia to the United States is not the same as instantly creating domestic production capacity.

An OEM that decides to reshore a metal component or assembly may still need:

• equipment;
• operators;
• welders;
• press-brake personnel;
• finishing capacity;
• floor space;
• tooling;
• quality resources;
• supplier development;
• working capital;
• and time.

In many cases, the OEM’s existing plants are already focused on core production.

Adding a fabricated-metal product line internally could mean purchasing lasers, press brakes, welding equipment, stamping presses or finishing systems. It could require recruiting and training operators. It may also require additional manufacturing space and new environmental, quality, maintenance and process-support infrastructure.

That is not necessarily the best use of an OEM’s capital.

This is why reshoring can create an opportunity not only for new factories, but also for established North American contract manufacturers.

The Capacity-Without-CapEx Question

One of the most useful questions for an OEM considering reshoring is:

Do we really need to own every manufacturing process?

Sometimes the answer is yes.

Processes involving proprietary technology, highly specialized intellectual property or core product differentiation may belong inside the OEM’s plant.

But many metal manufacturing processes do not necessarily need to be recreated internally.

Sheet-metal fabrication, stamping, press braking, welding, coating, subassembly, packaging and similar operations can often be supplied by qualified manufacturing partners.

That gives OEMs another path to increasing North American production:

add manufacturing capacity without adding all of the capital equipment and infrastructure themselves.

This is especially valuable when demand changes quickly.

An OEM may have sufficient capacity today but win a large program next quarter. A new customer may demand North American sourcing. An overseas supplier may become unreliable. Tariffs may change the economics of an imported component.

Contract manufacturing can provide another capacity lever without waiting for a complete factory expansion.

The Skilled-Labor Constraint Is Real

Capital equipment is only part of the challenge.

People remain one of the biggest bottlenecks.

The same 2026 Reshoring Survey found that 66% of respondents rated hiring technicians—including welders, machinists and electrical or chemical technicians—as either very difficult or at crisis levels.

Sixty percent said the same about maintenance and repair technicians.

For a metal-fabrication operation, those numbers matter.

A company can buy a welding cell.

Finding experienced welders is another problem.

A company can install a press brake.

Finding, training and retaining people who can produce consistent parts safely and efficiently still takes time.

That creates a strategic reason to consider contract manufacturing services that has little to do with outsourcing for outsourcing’s sake.

The OEM is effectively gaining access to an existing manufacturing organization—including its people, equipment, process knowledge and supply chain.

Reshoring Is Increasing at the Same Time That Costs Are Under Pressure

The reshoring trend is also occurring in a challenging cost environment.

Manufacturers continue to face pressure from steel, aluminum, energy, transportation and other supply-chain costs. Recent reporting has highlighted renewed manufacturing input inflation, including pressure associated with metals, energy, freight and electronics.

That makes the decision to duplicate manufacturing infrastructure even more important.

Buying equipment, adding facilities and hiring an entire production team can make sense when volumes are large, stable and strategically important.

But when demand is uncertain—or when an OEM needs additional capacity quickly—a contract-manufacturing model can reduce the amount of fixed investment required before production begins.

Reshoring Should Be Evaluated Using Total Cost, Not Piece Price Alone

One of the most persistent mistakes in sourcing is comparing an overseas supplier’s quoted piece price directly with a North American supplier’s price.

That comparison may leave out substantial costs.

A more complete sourcing analysis should consider:

• international freight;
• tariffs and duties;
• customs administration;
• inventory in transit;
• safety stock;
• working capital;
• packaging;
• quality escapes;
• expedited shipments;
• supplier travel;
• engineering response time;
• communication delays;
• production disruption;
• and the financial value of shorter lead times.

The 2026 Reshoring Survey found that use of Total Cost of Ownership analysis among OEM respondents increased from 30% in 2025 to 40% in 2026. Respondents reporting reshoring benefits also cited improvements such as faster speed to market, better fulfillment/on-time delivery and logistics savings.

That is an important shift.

The real question is not simply:

“Where can this part be purchased for the lowest unit price?”

It is:

“Which manufacturing structure creates the best overall cost, responsiveness and supply-chain risk profile?”

The Next Step: Supplier Consolidation

There is another opportunity hidden inside reshoring.

Many OEM supply chains evolved around individual processes.

One supplier cuts the material.

Another bends it.

Another welds it.

Another coats it.

Another performs assembly.

Then the finished or partially finished product moves again before reaching the OEM.

That structure can create transportation, inventory, scheduling, handling and supplier-management complexity.

For some programs, reshoring offers an opportunity to redesign that entire value stream instead of simply finding a domestic replacement for each offshore supplier.

A multi-process contract manufacturer may be able to consolidate:

Form → Finish → Assemble → Package → Sequence → Ship

under one manufacturing relationship.

That can reduce handoffs between suppliers and, in the right application, shorten the amount of time material spends waiting, moving or sitting as work in process.

An Example of What Process Consolidation Can Do

Prince Manufacturing experienced this with a recoil assembly program for Fasco Motor Division.

The product required several processes, including stamping, welding, riveting and powder coating.

Before Prince took over the program, the manufacturing cycle took approximately 10 to 14 days.

After integrating the processes, the cycle was reduced to approximately 1.5 days—an improvement of about 89%.

The significance is not simply that each individual manufacturing operation became faster.

The larger benefit came from managing multiple manufacturing steps as one coordinated value stream.

That is an important lesson for companies evaluating reshoring.

Moving a part closer to the customer is valuable.

Removing unnecessary movement between manufacturing processes can be valuable too.

Reshoring Does Not Have to Mean “U.S. Only”

There is another dimension manufacturers should consider.

North American manufacturing does not have to mean choosing exclusively between the United States and Mexico.

Depending on the product, labor content, customer location and manufacturing processes involved, the best model may involve both.

Highly automated fabrication may make sense in the United States.

Labor-intensive assembly may make economic sense in manufacturing in Mexico.

A customer may want one component manufactured in a U.S. facility while another operation is performed closer to a Mexican assembly plant.

The objective should be to create the best North American manufacturing architecture, not simply move everything from one country to another.

What OEMs Should Ask Before Adding Internal Capacity

Before investing in another production line, OEMs should consider several questions:

Is the manufacturing process a core competitive capability?

Will the new demand be stable enough to justify the capital?

Do we have the people to operate the equipment?

Do we have floor space?

Can an existing supplier provide capacity sooner?

Can several current suppliers be consolidated into one?

Would U.S.-Mexico manufacturing flexibility improve the economics?

And most importantly:

Does owning this manufacturing process create more value than buying the capability from an established manufacturing partner?

There is no universal answer.

But reshoring makes these questions increasingly important.

The Bottom Line

The reshoring trend is strengthening.

More OEMs are bringing production and sourcing closer to home. More contract manufacturers are quoting reshoring opportunities. And a substantial share of OEMs plan additional U.S. capital investment through 2027.

But reshoring creates a second challenge:

North America has to provide the capacity to manufacture what comes back.

For many OEMs, the answer will involve a combination of internal manufacturing, capital investment and strategic contract-manufacturing relationships.

The companies that approach reshoring as a supply-chain redesign—not simply a change of supplier address—may have the greatest opportunity to improve responsiveness, reduce complexity and build more resilient North American production.

Need Additional North American Manufacturing Capacity?

Prince Manufacturing works with OEMs that need additional metal fabrication, welding, finishing, assembly and value-added manufacturing capacity in the United States and Mexico.

Prince can support individual processes or integrated manufacturing programs involving multiple steps—from fabrication through finishing, assembly, packaging and shipping.

For manufacturers evaluating reshoring, overflow production, supplier consolidation or a U.S.-Mexico manufacturing strategy, contact Prince Manufacturing or visit princemanufacturing.com to discuss the program or submit an RFQ.

References

• 2026 USA Reshoring Survey — Reshoring Initiative
  Direct PDF report:
  Download the 2026 USA Reshoring Survey Report
  Reshoring Initiative summary/press release:
  U.S. Reshoring Momentum Builds Despite Policy and Workforce Challenges
  The survey reports, among other findings, that 36% of OEMs had reshored or were actively reshoring, 32% of contract manufacturers were quoting reshoring projects, 63% of OEMs planned U.S. capital expenditures through 2027, and TCO usage among OEMs rose from 30% to 40%.

• U.S. Reshoring Trend Still Rising — American Machinist
  Read the American Machinist article
  This is the September 1, 2026 article by Robert Brooks covering the same survey, including OEM investment plans, contract-manufacturer quoting activity, workforce shortages, speed-to-market benefits and reshoring trends,

• US manufacturers hit by fresh burst of supply chain cost inflation — Financial Times
  Read the Financial Times article
  Published September 15, 2026, it covers rising manufacturing input costs from energy, tariffs, freight, steel and aluminum, while also noting AI-related pressure on component availability and manufacturing supply chains.