Using AI to Speed up Site Selection for Reshoring

• 01 Oct 2020

Last month, a Duff & Phelps study, known as Duff & Phelps’ Reshoring Index, published in IndustryWeek, identified the best industries positioned to reshore manufacturing to the U.S. from China. The study analyzed the following six criteria to assess 28 U.S. manufacturing industry sectors:

• Cost (labor and logistics)
• Level of automation (labor productivity)
• Innovation/intellectual property (R&D, IP, patents, etc.)
• Product quality/safety
• Essential business designation
• Environmental regulations

Duff & Phelps identified the industries with the highest potential as those whose costs are relatively low for labor and high for transportation. The results revealed eight of those 28 industries as being closest to the “tipping point” to reshore manufacturing. They include:

• Automobiles, bodies, trailers, and parts
• Other transportation equipment (e.g., boats, rail)
• Navigational, measuring, electromedical and control instruments
• Basic chemicals
• Semiconductor and electronic components
• Medical equipment and supplies
• Communications equipment
• Aerospace products and parts

SITE Selector is now leveraging this Duff & Phelps research to help companies efficiently identify sites best fit for their project needs using our proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Since SITE Selector’s launch, it’s been leveraging AI and machine learning to build profiles on approximately 2,400 economic development offices (EDOs) across the U.S. The EDO profiles serve as a resource bank providing up-to-date information on a myriad of crucial site location factors, including but not limited to business climate, quality of life, workforce, transportation and incentive awards history.

Through AI, SITE Selector matches projects to communities in a matter of hours based on various criteria, digitally tailored for each company’s unique needs. SITE Selector can issue an Request for Proposal (RFP) to our robust national EDO network and analyze thousands of sites almost instantly using our AI scoring method, bypassing weeks of research traditionally required for a site search.

For a recent project, we matched our international clients to 12 state EDOs who, in turn, referred our project to 70 regional and local organizations. These EDOs submitted a total of 292 sites. With 144 questions in the RFP, our AI was able to efficiently analyze over 40,000 data points and rank the top communities.

With our AI, companies can quickly compare the RFP response through the SITE Selector process to identify the top sites and maximize incentive benefits. Now you can speed up your site selection process while having access to a wide range of suitable locations and critical information to make sure you leave no stone unturned and enhance your productivity.

Click here for a complimentary evaluation of your company’s potential to leverage newly available AI technology to reshore your operations through SITE Selector’s swift and diligent process.