In an environment of increasingly global competition, companies are depending on their supply chains to differentiate themselves in key markets, says Michael Woore, former program director of IT services with Technicolor.
The reshoring of manufactured goods from Asia to North America is bound to take some import business away from U.S. ports. But there are other developing threats to the continued dominance of gateways like Los Angeles-Long Beach - specifically, a couple of upstarts to the north and south.
China is transforming itself from a source of low-cost manufacturing for western consumers to a potentially huge market for domestic production. Ron Tarter, senior vice president and general manager of Flextronics, discusses how his company and others are adjusting to the shift.