Reshoring production to France: where to start

“Reshoring” covers very different projects: bringing back a single part, adding a second source of supply, rebuilding a manufacturing chain. Before looking for a workshop, write down what you want to improve. The most common reasons are:

• shorter and more reliable lead times;
• closer technical follow-up: visits, direct discussions, quick adjustments;
• securing supply, so as no longer to depend on a single distant source;
• flexibility on small runs and variants;
• control of intellectual property;
• the environmental footprint and the expectations of your own customers.

Each objective leads to different choices. To secure supply, dual sourcing (part in France, part elsewhere) may be enough. To gain lead time, proximity matters more. Also define the scope: the whole catalogue or a few references? The wisest approach is to start with a few parts, chosen for what proximity brings them. These common-sense guidelines should be adapted to your business:

The ex-works unit price only tells part of the real cost. The total cost of ownership (TCO) adds up all the cost items linked to the part, from order to use. An honest comparison lists at least:

Two tips. Work with your own data (history of scrap, delays, average stock) rather than published averages. Then compare on an equal scope: same level of inspection, same packaging, same payment terms. The part price is sometimes still higher in France. The gap narrows, disappears or persists depending on the parts: only a calculation on your own references will tell you.

To identify candidates, combine several sources: the network of your CCI (French chamber of commerce and industry) and of the organisations in your sector, trade fairs, recommendations, the directory of suppliers and the industrial overview of each region. On Meaflow, you post a request with your drawing; interested workshops send their quotes, you compare them and exchange messages. It is free and commission-free.

To qualify a workshop, check:

• technical fit: machines, dimensions, materials, processes, and what it subcontracts itself;
• quality requirements: inspection equipment, certifications relevant to your sector (see the guide on certifications);
• capacity: current workload, ability to ramp up, order peaks;
• the company’s soundness: age, reference customers, public information on its situation;
• responsiveness: quality of the questions asked, speed and clarity of replies.

Ask the same of every candidate: a quote on the same file, references for comparable parts and, if the part justifies it, a paid test part. For a critical part, visit the workshop. The guide on choosing an industrial subcontractor details these criteria; to compare offers on an equivalent basis, read the guide on comparing subcontracting quotes.

A successful transfer rests on a complete file. Gather:

• the current drawings, with their revision, and the 3D files;
• a clear specification (the specification tool helps you structure it);
• the critical dimensions, the control plan and the level of report expected (see the guide on dimensional inspection and the first article);
• the material and treatment specifications, packaging and delivery;
• the history of defects encountered at the previous supplier, valuable for avoiding repeating them.

Deal with tooling separately: moulds, jigs, programmes. Where are they, who owns them, what condition are they in? Check your current contract for ownership and recovery terms before announcing the change.

Take the opportunity to adapt the design: a part designed for a process or material that the local workshop does not use is worth reviewing with them. Finally, protect your drawings: have a non-disclosure agreement signed before any detailed exchange (see the guide on drawing confidentiality).

1. Pilot. One to three references, representative of your business, whose switch remains manageable.
2. Qualification. Prototypes or first articles validated against written criteria: dimensions, material, appearance, lead time.
3. Pilot run in parallel. The previous supplier keeps delivering during validation; a buffer stock covers the unexpected.
4. Switchover in stages. Ramp up volume over several orders, with tracked indicators: conformity rate on receipt, on-time delivery, responsiveness to requests, actual total cost compared with the forecast.
5. Fallback plan. Know how to go back or activate a second source.

Plan a realistic timetable. Between choosing a workshop and the first validated run, count months rather than weeks, especially if tooling has to be made. Negotiate the contract with the same rigour: duration, forecast volumes, price review based on material, payment terms, ownership of tooling, continuity in the event of disruption.

Reshoring does not end with the first run. A local workshop brings the most when the relationship is actively managed:

• Share your forecasts of needs over several months, even without a firm commitment, so that the workshop can plan material and workload.
• Hold regular reviews on quality, lead times and deviations, based on your indicators.
• Evolve the design together. The workshop sees what complicates or adds cost to manufacturing and can suggest variants.
• Agree rules for urgent orders and stock: safety stock, framework orders, reaction to peaks.

This proximity is one of the concrete advantages of a local supplier, but it still has to be nurtured.

• Unforeseen extra cost. Compare on total cost and accept that not every part is worth bringing back: a successful reshoring is often partial.
• Dependence on a single workshop. Replacing a distant dependence with a local one solves nothing: keep a qualified second source.
• Qualification that is too fast. A validated first article does not prove that a run is stabilised: follow the first deliveries closely.
• Real capacity. Workshop workloads vary. Check availability, lead times at peak periods and qualified staff.
• Volatility of materials and energy. Provide for price review clauses.
• The current contract. Notice periods, tooling held, purchase commitments: settle them before switching.
• Intellectual property. Limit the drawings sent to what is necessary and frame them in writing.
• Unrealistic expectations. A French workshop will not replicate a price obtained at large scale elsewhere: look instead for gains in design, lead time and flexibility.

Several bodies support reshoring projects in France. Support schemes change regularly and vary by region, company size and type of project: we therefore do not detail any here, neither amounts nor conditions. Approach these bodies directly, with a concrete file (target references, total cost calculated, timetable), which makes the discussion far more useful:

• your CCI (chambre de commerce et d’industrie, the French chamber of commerce and industry), whose advisers know the local industrial fabric and can point you to workshops, business networks and the schemes in force;
• your region: the regional council and, depending on the area, the economic development agency;
• Bpifrance, the French public investment bank, which finances and supports companies: ask its advisers what applies to your project;
• your trade association or sector cluster, for introductions between buyers and suppliers;
• your accountant or legal adviser for tax and contractual aspects.

To act without waiting, choose one to three references, calculate their total cost, gather the technical file, then post your request on Meaflow to receive quotes from several French workshops and launch a pilot.