Executive Q&A: Sikich on how Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations enables manufacturers to "reshore" smoothly

In 2016, the number of manufacturing jobs gained in the US through re-shoring (companies bringing back positions from outside the country) exceeded those lost to offshoring by about 25,000. That's according to information from The Reshoring Initiative, a manufacturing-industry organization which promotes reshoring and foreign direct investment.

Those 25,000 jobs are a tiny fraction of the more than 153 million manufacturing jobs in the US as of July 2017, but it represents a slight shift in the decades-old trend of manufacturers and other companies moving jobs overseas.

A enterprise-grade cloud-based ERP like Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations (D365FOE) is essential to the reshoring move, says Lee House, enterprise sales manager with Microsoft Gold Partner Sikich. He is the author of the company's recent report 5 ways cloud-based ERP makes reshoring easier and more profitable.

House describes for MSDynamicsWorld readers how Dynamics 365 can help companies capture the benefits of reshoring, while minimizing the risks. All of the tools necessary are present in D365FOE to deliver improved quality and customer experience, while optimizing operations. Still, the walk across the pond is no cakewalk. "The proof is in how you have [D365FOE] set up and configured, and making sure that you're using it in an optimal manner," he says.

MSDynamicsWorld: Please explain why cloud-based software like Dynamics 365 improves the ability to reshore.

Lee House: When you look at reshoring a manufacturing operation, they really need to focus upon the operation itself and everything that comes with that: ...