Insights into Reshoring from Big Data

Visualization of Social Media Posts

Symposium on Data Science and Statistics

May 19, 2018

Megan Eileen Moore, Lori Fay Rothenberg,

North Carolina State North Carolina State
University University
© Copyright 2018 by Moore & Rothenberg
 Introduction

 Offshoring is manufacturing in foreign

countries, nearshoring is manufacturing in
neighboring countries, and reshoring is the
act of reintroducing domestic manufacturing
 Definitions of Reshoring
 Reshoring can be defined as “a strategy that returns manufacturing
to its home country” (Maronde et al., 2015, p. 80).
 Tate, Ellram, Schoenherr, and Petersen (2014) define reshoring as
“the relocation of manufacturing facilities from traditional offshore
locations to more attractive offshore locations, or even home to the
United States” (p.381).
 The Reshoring Initiative (2017) defines reshoring as “the practice of
bringing manufacturing and services back to the U.S. from
overseas” (p. What is reshoring?”).
 Terminology
 Reshoring (e.g., Ellram, Tate & Petersen, 2013; Gray,
Skowronski, Esenduran, & Rungtusanatham, 2013; Tate,
2014), onshoring (Kazmer, 2014)
 Backshoring (Arlbjorn & Mikkelsen, 2014)
 Back-reshoring (Fratocchi et al., 2016)
 Nearshoring (Ellram, et al., 2014)
 Foreign direct investment (Reshoring Initiative, 2017)
 Methodology and Search Parameters
 English only language selected
 IBM Watson Analytics for  Topics - Reshoring, Made in the
USA, American manufacturing,
Social MediaTM (WASM) Onshoring, Backshoring, and
 IBM Watson AnalyticsTM American made
 Context terms -manufacturing,
manufacture, made, produce,
production, source, and sourcing
 Excluded celebrity hashtag events
 January 1, 2017 to March 31, 2017
Figure 1. Mentions per topic over time from January 1, 2017 to March 31, 2017
 Table 1. Number of Mentions and Percentage of Total Mentions based on Source

Source Number of Mentions Percentage of Total

Videos 23,528 27.57%
Forums 18,752 21.97%
News 16,787 19.67%
Twitter 11,497 13.47%
Blogs 10,141 11.88%
Reviews 3,924 4.60%
Facebook pages 718 0.84%
Total 85,347
Figure 2. Geographical map of the Social Media posters of reshoring related topics
 Table 2. Author Country and Unique Author Count for Countries with 10+ Authors

Author Unique Author Puerto Rico 10

Country Count Indonesia 15 Russia 10
Argentina 18 Ireland 16 Singapore 16
Australia 97 Italy 26 South Africa 23
Brazil 42 Jamaica 10 Spain 13
Japan 31 Sweden 17
Canada 420
Malaysia 17 Switzerland 10
Egypt 10
Mexico 49 Tanzania 10
France 37 Nepal 26 Thailand 13
Georgia 25 Netherlands 39 United
Germany 33 New Zealand 10 Kingdom 226
Iceland 21 Nigeria 16 United States 8197
India 31 Philippines 15 Blank 31925
Figure 3. Image from IBM Watson AnalyticsTM of "How do the values of Conversation
Size compare by Author Country?".
Figures 4 and 5. Images of video posts regarding reshoring on Social Media.
Figure 6. Image of an example of
news posts regarding reshoring on
Social Media.
Figure 7. Image of an example of Twitter posts regarding reshoring on Social Media.
Figure 8. Mentions per theme Made
in the USA, American Made,
American Manufacturing,
Reshoring, and Onshoring
 Table 3. Number of Mentions and Percentage of Total by Topic/Theme

Topic/Theme Number of Mentions Percentage of Total

Made in the USA 39,035 47.74%
American Made 25,897 30.34%
American Manufacturing 15,741 18.44%
Reshoring 1,295 1.52%
Onshoring 193 0.23%
Other (possibly Backshoring) 3,186 3.73%
Total 85,347
Figure 9. Sentiment of reshoring on Social Media as categorized by WASM as
positive, ambivalent, neutral, and negative
 Table 4. Number of Mentions and Percentage of Total based on Sentiment Type

Sentiment Type Number of Mentions Percentage of Total

Positive 41,915 49.11%
Ambivalent 5,893 6.90%
Neutral 28,934 33.90%
Negative 8,605 10.08%
Total 85,347
Figure 10. Image from IBM Watson AnalyticsTM of "How do the values of
Conversion Size compare by Type".
Figure 11. Image from IBM Watson AnalyticsTM of "How do the values of
Author Engagement compare by Sentiment?"
 Key Findings
 Discussions about U.S. reshoring activities are taking
place in 140 countries
 The term ‘reshoring’ is rarely used in social media posts
 In 2018, the ubiquitous discussion about reshoring
related topics makes it approachable to most audiences
 This study offers an example of the application of big
data visualization to answer questions that are being
considered in industry and academia
© Copyright 2018 by Moore & Rothenberg
 References
• Arlbjorn, J. & Mikkelsen, O. (2014), Backshoring manufacturing: Notes on an important but under-researched theme., Journal of
Purchasing & Supply Chain Management, 20, 60-62.
• Bailey, D., & De Propris, L. (2014). Manufacturing reshoring and its limits: The UK automotive case. Cambridge Journal of Regions,
Economy and Society, 7(3), 379-395.
• Ellis, K. (2014). Made in USA gains, but china still key. WWD: Women's Wear Daily, 207(117), 1-1.
• Ellram, L., Tate, W. & Petersen, K. (2013), Offshoring and reshoring: An update on the manufacturing location decision, Journal of Supply
Chain Management, 49(2), 14-22.
• Fratocchi, L., Ancarani, A., Barbieri, P., Di Mauro, C., Nassimbeni, G., Sartor, M. & Zanoni, A. (2016). Motivations of manufacturing
reshoring: an interpretative framework. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 46 (2),98-127.
• Friedman, A. (2017, May 6). Senate Committee Advances American-Made Products Act. Sourcing Journal,
• Grappi, S., Romani, S., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2015). Consumer stakeholder responses to reshoring strategies. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, 43(4), 453-471.
• Gray, J., Skowronski, K., Esenduran, G. & Rungtusanatham, M. (2013), The reshoring phenomenon: What supply chain academics ought
to know and should do, Journal of Supply Chain Management, 49(2), 27-33.
• Gundecha, P. (2016). IBM Watson just got more accurate at detecting emotions. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from
https://www.ibm.com/blogs/bluemix/2016/10/watson-has-more-accurate-emotion-detection/
• Gylling, M., Heikkila, J., Jussial, K. & Saarinen, M. (2015), Making decisions on offshore outsourcing and backshoring: A case study in the
bicycle industry, International Journal of Production Economics, 162, 92-100.

© Copyright 2018 by Moore &

Rothenberg
 References continued
• Kazmer, D. O. (2014). Manufacturing outsourcing, onshoring, and global equilibrium. Business Horizons, 57(4), 463-472.
• Knight, L., & Tate, W. (2016). Editorial from the incoming editors: Setting out. Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management, 22(2), 69-71.
• Kinkel, S. (2012). Trends in production relocation and backshoring activities: Changing patterns in the course of the global economic
crisis. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 32(6), 696-720.
• Kunz, G. I., Karpova, E. &Garner, M. B. (2016), Going global: The textile and apparel industry (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Fairchild Books.
• Malhotra, N. (2015). Essentials of marketing research: A hands-on orientation. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
• Mangold, W. G., & Faulds, D. J. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business horizons, 52(4), 357-365.
• Margulescu, S., & Margulescu, E. (2014). Reshoring in manufacturing and services. Global Economic Observer, 2(1), 90-95.
• Martinez-Mora, C. & Merino, F. (2014). Offshoring in the Spanish footwear industry: A return journey? Journal of Purchasing and Supply
Management, 20(4), 225-237.
• Maronde, U., Stambaugh, J., Martin, L. & Wilson, P. (2015). The effect of reshoring on purchase behaviour Journal of Marketing
Development and Competitiveness, 9(2),80-92.
• Moore, M. E. (2016). Evaluation of the Reshoring of Sourcing and Manufacturing Strategies in the Textile and Apparel Industries.
(Master’s thesis). North Carolina State University, Raleigh. Retrieved from http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/resolver/1840.20/33268
• Reshoring Initiative. (2017), available at: http://www.reshorenow.org/ (accessed 24 April 2017).
• Tate, W., Ellram, L., Schoenherr, T. & Petersen, K. (2014). Global competitive conditions driving the manufacturing location decision,
Business Horizons, 57,381-390.
• Tate, W. L. (2014). Offshoring and reshoring: U.S. insights and research challenges. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management,
20(1), 66-68.
© Copyright 2018 by Moore &
Rothenberg