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Welcome to The Wave Engineering Newsletter, your weekly guide to the cutting edge of engineering. Whether you're a seasoned professional, an eager student, or simply curious about innovation, we’re here to inform, inspire, and connect.
More than just a newsletter, we tell the human stories behind the tech—spotlighting the innovators, dreamers, and changemakers shaping our world. Backed by insights from Pipeline Design & Engineering and the Being an Engineer Podcast, we deliver the latest advancements, impactful collaborations, and stories that redefine what’s possible.
Join the conversation at The Wave, where ideas spark, questions find answers, and the engineering community comes together to create the future. Engineering isn’t just about technology—it’s about people. Subscribe and ride the wave of innovation with us.
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"Ideally, you'd have every plant you own on a barge to move with currencies and changes in the economy," declared former GE CEO Jack Welch in the 1990s, crystalizing the offshoring philosophy that would reshape American industry for decades. Today, that tide appears to be turning. As new tariffs target goods from China, Taiwan, and other manufacturing hubs, corporate America is announcing unprecedented domestic investments. But beyond the political rhetoric lies a complex reality: reshoring faces fundamental challenges in workforce development, infrastructure limitations, and cost structures that automation alone cannot solve. With economists estimating a $2.59 trillion infrastructure funding gap and 5 out of 10 skilled manufacturing positions remaining unfilled, the path to rebuilding America's industrial base requires more than executive orders and press releases. What's really driving these changes, and can they create sustainable manufacturing growth? Our comprehensive analysis explores the economic, technological and strategic factors that will determine whether this reshoring movement represents a genuine industrial renaissance or merely a temporary political response.
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Current Events
Manufacturing’s Homecoming?
Major tech and pharmaceutical companies are making headline-grabbing commitments to American manufacturing. NVIDIA's $500 billion investment in AI infrastructure and Johnson & Johnson's $55 billion pledge signal what could be a turning point after decades of offshoring.
In this month's newsletter, we explore this potential manufacturing renaissance - tracing how globalization, cost-cutting, and shareholder primacy drove manufacturing overseas, and examining what's now bringing it back. From tariff pressures to pandemic-exposed supply chain vulnerabilities, multiple forces are converging to reshape where America's goods are made.
But significant hurdles remain. Our full article delves into challenges including the manufacturing skills gap, higher production costs (estimated 10-30% above offshore manufacturing), deteriorating infrastructure, and the complex regulatory environment that makes reshoring difficult despite political will.
What do you think?
Could reshoring succeed in your industry? What specific processes would be easiest to bring back?
What would make you more willing to pay premium prices for domestically manufactured products?
How is your company addressing the skills gap for advanced manufacturing positions?
Dive into our complete article to explore these issues in depth, including thought-provoking questions about upstream raw material investments, energy cost challenges, automation's impact on reshoring calculations, and emerging manufacturing business models. We'd love to hear your perspective on reshoring's future - email us or join the conversation on our LinkedIn page!
Closing Thoughts
Engineering is about solving, innovating, and connecting ideas to make a difference. Progress is a collective effort and your curiosity is what drives it forward. Thank you for exploring the dynamic world of engineering with all of us at Pipeline Design & Engineering and The Wave.
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“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.” - Steve Jobs
In collaboration and creativity,
Brad Hirayama
Blueprinting tomorrow, today