As global conflicts and rising inflation encourage many manufacturers to reassess their sourcing processes, the last year has seen a myriad of UK and European businesses looking to onshore and nearshore their fastener supply. However, localised sourcing appeals not only to those looking to mitigate supply chain risk, but to the plethora of manufacturers aiming to lower their carbon footprint.
Supply Chain Stability
Many businesses are continuing to report lengthy lead times, unexpected customs charges and high shipping costs. Sourcing fasteners from or nearer to point of manufacture has become a clear way for businesses to bypass common supply issues, by significantly lessening both transportation cost and time to redelegate funds and meet demand. Localised sourcing also brings with it more fruitful and communicative customer-supplier relationships, allowing for increased visibility over processes and delivery.
Sustainability
Spurred on by both consumer and government demands for eco-friendly products and processes, manufacturers are also onshoring and nearshoring fasteners to limit their carbon footprint. Fastener sourcing is often one of the first stages of a production build and, with goods transportation amounting to 17% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, eco-friendly procurement is becoming a crucial first step in many manufacturers’ sustainability roadmaps.
Optimas Solutions, the leading global industrial distributor of fasteners and supply chain solutions, are just one such company to have seen an uptick in the amount of customers looking to onshore and nearshore their fastener supply.
With cold-form manufacturing facilities on both sides of the Atlantic, Optimas facilitate a considerable number of US, UK and European customers to meet their sustainability targets and reduce their supply chain risk.
Eco-Friendly Manufacturing
Cold-form manufacturing is a process with a substantial amount of history – first records of its use date back to the 1800s – but the team have proved its suitability to multiple modern engineering requirements. The company recently secured a partnership with a notable electric vehicle business with facilities across the UK and mainland Europe, cemented by their ability to source and manufacture fasteners close to the end-user. The facility also caters for those with design and rapid prototyping requirements, boasting state-of-the-art industrial 3D printing and CNC turning machines.
As 2023 looks set to present a continuation of supply instability, onshoring and nearshoring opportunities will continue to play a crucial role in helping manufacturers meet demand.
For further details on Optimas visit: www.international.optimas.com
