Abstract Purpose – The aim of this study is to investigate Swedish companies’ motives and difficulties when reshoring. In order to fulfil the purpose, the following two questions were formulated: 1. What are Swedish companies’ motives for reshoring? 2. What difficulties do Swedish companies experience when reshoring? Method – The methods used in the data collection were literature review and case study. The case study consisted of interviews and document studies, which were conducted at four companies that either have reshored or are planning to. The literature review was based on a previously developed model, which were revised and updated. The collected empirical data was then analysed against the theoretical framework and thus formed the findings of this study. Findings – The findings of the study indicates that Swedish companies do not only have one motive or experience one difficulty when reshoring, instead there is a combination of several. Most of the identified motives are connected to the supply chain, and that is because the supply chain was not taken into account when offshoring. The following motives were confirmed by all companies: increased logistics and transportation costs, lack of delivery performance, increased demand for customization, and that innovation/R&D will suffer because of the long distance to production. The most distinctive difficulties Swedish companies experience are: great economic differences between countries, lack of or limited access to qualified personnel in Sweden/the region, lack of access to internal resources such as finance or workforce, limited capacity and difficulties to develop a good basis for decision. Furthermore, the study identified several new motives/difficulties that were not previously identified in the literature. This confirms that the research on reshoring is limited and that more studies are needed to cover the existing gap. Implications – The theoretical implication is that the findings covers a part of the existing research gap on reshoring. The practical implication is that this study contributes to Swedish companies with knowledge of other Swedish companies' reshoring experiences. The study's social implication is that the findings indicates that society must support Swedish companies that wants to reshore by educating people with the required competence. Limitations – Only four companies were investigated, which can be considered as a limitation. If additional companies were studied, more motives and difficulties would likely be confirmed, which would have strengthened the study's findings further. Keywords – Reshoring, motives, difficulties, location decisions / Sammanfattning Syfte – Studiens syfte är att undersöka svenska företags motiv och svårigheter med reshoring. För att uppfylla syftet har följande två̊ frågeställningar formulerats: Vilka motiv har svenska företag till reshoring? Vilka svårigheter upplever svenska företag i samband med reshoring? Metod – De metoder som användes vid datainsamlingen var litteraturstudie och fallstudie. Fallstudien bestod av intervjuer och dokumentstudier, vilka genomfördes på fyra fallföretag som antingen har eller planerar att reshora. Litteraturstudien utgick från en tidigare framtagen modell som reviderades och uppdaterades. Insamlad empirisk data har därefter analyserats mot det teoretiska ramverket och detta har legat till grund för studiens resultat. Resultat – Studiens resultat visar att svenska företag inte endast har ett motiv till reshoring eller upplever en svårighet i samband med reshoring utan att det är en kombination av flera olika. Flest motiv kopplas till försörjningskedjan, vilket beror på att denna inte beaktades vid offshoringbeslutet. Följande motiv bekräftas av samtliga fallföretag: ökade logistik- och transportkostnader, bristande leveransförmåga, ökat krav på kundanpassning samt att innovation, forskning och utveckling blir lidande på grund av långt avstånd till produktion. De mest utmärkande svårigheterna som identifierats är stora ekonomiska skillnader mellan länder, avsaknad eller begränsad tillgång till kvalificerad personal i Sverige/regionen, bristande tillgång på interna resurser såsom finansiering och arbetskraft, begränsad kapacitet samt svårigheter att ta fram ett bra beslutsunderlag. Vidare identifieras flera nya motiv/svårigheter som inte tidigare identifierats i litteraturen. Detta bekräftar att forskningen om reshoring är begränsad och att fler studier krävs för att täcka det gap som finns. Implikationer – Studiens teoretiska implikation är att resultatet täcker en del av det gap som finns i forskningen kring reshoring. Studiens praktiska implikation är att denna studie bidrar till svenska företag med kunskap om andra svenska företags erfarenheter med reshoring. Studiens sociala implikation är att resultatet visar att samhället måste stödja svenska företag som vill reshora genom att utbilda människor med den kompetens som efterfrågas. Begränsningar – Studiens begränsningar innefattas av att endast fyra fallföretag undersökts. Om fler fallföretag studerats hade troligtvis fler motiv och svårigheter bekräftas, vilket hade stärkt studiens resultat ytterligare. Nyckelord – Reshoring, motiv, svårigheter, lokaliseringsbeslut

Due to the global nature of business, the dispersion of international geographical activities has increased and location decision-making has become a critical strategic decision for companies. Recent research, on the other hand, has begun to report on an opposite movement. Pandemics, dramatic weather disasters, political conflict, and cyber-attacks are all examples of shocks that can disrupt global value chain-based manufacturing.  The reshoring of production is a hot topic in recent EU policy debates, both because of supply shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic and because of geopolitical changes. Despite increasing attention to the manufacturing location, the lack of empirical studies on this phenomenon, especially to return activities to high-cost countries such as Sweden, is clearly visible. With a qualitative method, the purpose of this study is to create a deeper understanding of reshoring in the Swedish context. Focuses is mainly on the drivers and barriers, as well as a company's expectations of reshoring and their challenges to implementing the decision. Secondary data is in the form of literature review and related surveys to gain knowledge of the phenomenon. In addition, primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with two Swedish manufacturing firms that decided to reshore. In this research, a deductive approach is used in which existing theories, mainly in the field of international business, are used to analyze empirical data. Secondary data cited labor costs in Sweden as one of the main offshore factors and the development of technologies such as automation, quality, and flexibility as reasons for the reshoring. In the primary data of this research, some other factors such as a focus on core competencies and using another country's experience/resources, as an offshore's reason besides social matters and having a sustainable strategy as a reshore's reasons were highlighted. Regarding expectation and challenges, awareness of problems such as decreasing company flexibility and increasing the lead time before offshore decisions by both companies, besides the perception of the challenges of implementing a reshore decision with an appropriate long-term plan to address them, reflects their comprehensive view of their strategic decision.

No description available.

Background: Companies operating in the low-cost offshore locations are increasingly challenged with various critical issues more recently that have directed their attention towards re-evaluating offshore strategies and considering reshoring. Rising labour costs, labour shortage and high labour fluctuation in offshore locations continues to create substantial risks and disturbances to the business and supply chain. These difficulties, especially in the light of higher labour productivity levels of developed countries and prospects of automation and robotisation, has persuaded many to believe this trend would encourage reshoring and enable companies to see manufacturing in developed countries cost effective once again. However, studies in reshoring are scarce, very little is known about labour or automation and especially how the two interrelates. Purpose: This thesis aims to explore the concepts of labour and automation and their interrelations in reshoring. Method: This research has adopted case study approach. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with a total of 6 companies from various countries, situated in both high and lowcost environments with reshoring intention or previous reshoring experiences. Transaction cost economics and the resource-based view have been applied in analysing the findings. Findings: This study has identified twelve labour factors and five automation factors in reshoring. The empirical findings showed labour cost as well as labour availability important in the decision of two companies. This study did not find empirical evidence to suggest automation as a significant reshoring motivating factor. Reviewing the literature also did not yield sufficient reliable evidence in support of automation. Labour and automation interrelations in reshoring have also been discussed as well as elucidating some considerations in applying automation in manufacturing.

Background: In the last decades, with a shift in global competitive conditions, increased labor costs, developments in automation and robotics, rising environmental concerns, and increased importance of country of origin from a consumer perspective, manufacturing companies started moving their production back to their respective home countries, while others are staying offshore. To address the above-mentioned changes, reshoring can possibly become a suitable strategy for every firm, which operates in its specific industry and creates a special internal and external environment due to the interaction with its customers, suppliers, employees, and other stakeholders. However, it is yet unexplored how firm-specific factors can influence its motivation to reshore. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore and establish links between motivations to reshore and firm-related contingent factors and develop theoretical propositions which add value for theory and practice alike. The fulfillment of the purpose of the research is done in two stages. Firstly, firm-related factors that have contingent effects on motivations to reshore are identified. Secondly, once the factors and respective motivations are known, the influence of these firmrelated contingent factors on motivations to reshore is established. Method: To fulfill the purpose of the thesis, the qualitative case study method is applied. The chosen method with multiple cases allows to create valid propositions, which can be further tested deductively in separate studies. The data is collected via semi-structured interviews from four Swedish manufacturing companies that recently moved their production back to Sweden. The analysis is held in two stages. Each case is analyzed individually using the explanation building and logic models strategy. Later, with the purpose of developing theoretical propositions, the findings are synthesized in the cross-case analysis. Conclusion: There are two major contributions both of which are novel to the academic area. Nine firm-related factors which have contingent effects on motivations to reshore are derived and 13 theoretical propositions of how these factors are affecting motivations to reshore are developed. The results show that firm-related contingent factors and motivations to reshore are in a causal-effect relationship which depends on the respective case situation and cannot always be generalized. This thesis can be seen as an incremental step for further research possibilities in the field, whereas the firm’s specific context is vital.

Titel: Strategiska beslut bakom reshoring- en studie om hur strategi påverkar reshoringbeslut Författare: Simon Nilsson, Christian Persson och Gustav Andersson Handledare: Natalia Semenova Examinator: Pia Nylinder   Bakgrund och problem Svenska företag har flyttat sin produktion till låglöneländer under många år. Under de senaste åren har det däremot blivit vanligare att företag flyttar tillbaka sin produktion till Sverige igen. Problem som kan uppstå utomlands kan vara kvalitetsproblem, minskad kontroll och flexibilitet vilket bara är ett par exempel om varför företag flyttar hem. Vid strategiska beslut måste företagets strategi tas i beaktande, vilket är ett mindre utforskat område inom ämnet reshoring.  Syfte Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur strategiska beslut ser ut bakom reshoring i svenska tillverkande företag. Uppsatsen ämnar att med djupare förståelse beskriva varför produktion har flyttats hem, bakomliggande faktorer bakom besluten samt hur väl de strategiska besluten är förankrade i bolagens strategier. Metod Denna kandidatuppsats utgår ifrån en kvalitativ ansats med flerfallsstudier. Data kommer att samlas in med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer samt att företagen har valts ut med ett målstyrt urval. Slutsats Företagens strategiska beslut ser i viss grad lika ut bakom reshoring men det finns även skillnader. Vissa aspekter menar företagen är viktigare än andra vid hemflytt av produktion till Sverige. Företagets strategi är starkt kopplad till de bakomliggande strategiska beslut som ligger bakom reshoring. / Title: Strategic decisions underlying reshoring- a study about how strategy affects reshoring decisions Authors: Simon Nilsson, Christian Persson and Gustav Andersson Supervisor: Natalia Semenova Examiner: Pia Nylinder Background and problem  Swedish companies have moved production to low-wage countries for many years. During the last years it has been common that companies move their production back to Sweden again. Problems can occur abroad and a few examples are quality-issues, lack of control and flexibility which are just some reasons of why companies move back home. At strategic decisions, the companies strategies have to be taken into account, which is a less investigated area within the reshoringsubject. Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how does the strategic decisions behind reshoring in Swedish manufacturing companies look like. The thesis is intended, with a deeper understanding, to describe why production moves back, explain the underlying decisions and how the strategic decisions are established in the companies strategies.   Method This bachelor thesis emanates from a qualitative approach with a multiple-case study. The data will be collected from semi-structured interviews and also where the companies have been selected by targeted selection.   Conclusion The companies strategic decisions are, to a certain extent, similar regarding reshoring although there are some differences. Some aspects according to the companies are more important than others in the move of production to Sweden. The companies strategies are strongly connected with the underlying strategic decisions that are at hand to reshoring.

Sveriges tillverkningsindustri av kläder är inte vad den en gång har varit. I mitten av 1900-talet producerades miljontals plagg varje år i Sverige. När konkurrensen kring priser för produktion blev starkare utomlands så började företag leta sig utanför Sverige, för produktionsalternativ, till Europa och därefter lågkostnadsländer i Asien. Ny forskning visar att förenklade beräkningar kring kostnader för produktion leder till produktion i lågkostnadsländer, samt att totalkostnaden för offshoring, när man tagit i åtagande parametrar såsom kommunikation samt hanteringen av logistik över landsgränser, är högre än alternativet reshoring där man flyttar hem produktionen till ursprungslandet igen. Frågan är dock komplex då priser på olika marknader är dynamiska. Syftet är därför att undersöka vilka möjligheter det finns för en svensk textilproduktion, ur perspektiven av svenska herrmodeföretag och producenter, där avgränsningen har dragits vid producenter som står för sömnaden. Detta är en kvalitativ studie där vi med hjälp av semi-strukturerade intervjuer har undersökt svenska herrmodeföretag samt svenska producenter av kläder. Sju stycken herrmodeföretag och fem stycken klädproducenter har intervjuats för att avgöra om möjligheten till svensk klädproduktion av herrmode, för att se om det finns en matchning mellan företagen och för att de ska kunna ge en bild av möjligheterna för en svensk textilproduktion. Analysen av materialet görs med en öppen kodning och teman som identifieras klassificeras i ett ramverk som delar upp beslut kring produktion. Resultatet visar på att det finns flera beröringspunkter mellan företagen och möjligheterna till en svensk produktion, men det beror på kvantiteterna av produktionen och på vilket sätt produktionen är hanterad. I nuläget finns inte förutsättningar för en storskalig svensk textilproduktion - men det finns möjligheter för att skala upp produktionen. Produktion av mindre serier eller för snabb påfyllning av slutsålda plagg är två incitament till svensk textilproduktion på grund av dess fördelaktiga geografiska positionering. Kommunikation och relationer nämndes som viktiga aspekter för modeföretagen när det kommer till sourcing, något som de producerande företagen kan matcha. Detta innebär att det krävs mer jobb för företagen att kontrollera samt följa upp underleverantörer, då dessa främst är representerade i andra länder. Det gör den flexibilitet som svenska produktionsalternativ står för mer komplex. Uppsatsen är skriven på svenska. / The Swedish clothing production industry is not what it once was. In the middle of the 20th century millions of garments were produced in Sweden annually. When the competition in prices of manufacturing grew too strong, companies began to look beyond Sweden, for production alternatives, to Europe and later low-cost countries in Asia. New research shows that simplified calculations of production costs lead to low cost country sourcing, and that the total cost of offshoring, taking in account parameters such as communication & cross border logistics, is higher than the alternative of reshoring, where production is moved back to the home country. The issue however is complex and prices of international markets dynamic.The purpose is therefore to examine the possibilities of a Swedish textile production, from the perspectives of Swedish Menswear brands and Swedish textile producers, where the delimitations within that production has been limited to the manufacturing area. This is a qualitative study, and with the help of semi-structured interviews we have examined Swedish menswear companies and Swedish garment producers alike. A total of seven menswear brands and five producers has been interviewed to decide whether the possibility to produce in Sweden is feasible, to see how the companies match and for them to be able to give their perspectives of the possibilities of a Swedish textile production. The analysis of the data is concluded with an open coding which enables identifying themes that are then categorized into a framework, divided according to sourcing-decisions.The results show that there are several touchpoints between the companies and possibilities for a Swedish production, but it depends on quantities produced and in what way production is managed. As of now, the prerequisites for a larger scale Swedish clothing production does not exist - but there are possibilities of scaling up production. Production of smaller series or restocking of garments are two drivers of Swedish textile production due to the favorable geographical location. Communication and relations were also mentioned as important aspects of the companies when it comes to sourcing, which the Swedish textile producers can match. There were however different perceptions of the quality, and another barrier is that the entire supply chain is difficult to get ahold of in Sweden. This means that it takes more work for the companies to be able to verify and monitor the subcontractors, as they most likely are located in other countries. This makes the flexibility that the Swedish production alternatives stand for more complicated. This study is written in swedish.

Background: A growing reshoring trend has recently been discovered, when companies bring back their manufacturing to the domestic country. Reshoring has received more public attention recently and the interest in reshoring strategies is growing. The knowledge about the reshoring decision is however limited and there is not a great deal of research addressing this. The knowledge about how companies have performed their cost analysis is limited as well as the risk assessments behind the reshoring decision. Hence, there is a knowledge gap regarding what cost and risk factors that are critical to consider in a reshoring decision. Purpose: The purpose of this master's thesis is to identify critical cost and risk factors to consider in a reshoring decision within Swedish companies. Method: The research design includes a literature review to identify what cost and risk factors that already have been stated. A literature review was essential in order to demonstrate current knowledge in the field. The search included four databases involving several search terms. Since the purpose is to gain a deeper understanding about the phenomenon and to investigate in depth within a real-life context a multiple case study was viewed as a proper method to use. The multiple case study included four companies and was performed using semi structured interviews and investigations of cost analyses and risk assessments.   Findings: This thesis shows that there is a great deal of factors that are critical in a reshoring decision. However, Coordination, Inventory, Management, Quality and Transportation were the most common cost factors to consider when deciding for reshoring. The most frequent risk factors mentioned by the case companies were Control, Engineering and Innovation and Undesirable reaction. Implications: Different factors are critical depending on what type of company considering the reshoring decision. This is due to deviations in such as products, company strategy, customers and manufacturing techniques. Since each company and each product is unique it is overall important to identify which costs to include in the cost analysis in a reshoring decision for one specific company. The result of the thesis indicates that critical cost factors that are more difficult to measure and compare, so called soft factors, have a great effect on the reshoring decision. Further, companies seem to consider risks with remaining in the offshored country to a higher extent than the risks of reshoring. These risks that appear if not reshoring seem to be of an importance to consider since they generate costs. The findings of the thesis are believed to be evidential to the fact that there is a lack of research since critical factors found in the multiple case study are more than the existing literature indicates.

Purpose: The study aims to explore the supply chain factors that impacts reshoring decisions.Methods: The study followed a qualitative research method based on exploratory research. In order to attain the context of situation-based interpretation, semi-structured interviews were conducted based on two Swedish firms engaged in reshoring initiatives. The collected data were individually analysed followed by a cross-case analyses.Findings: The research findings identified several experiences within the supply chain factors that have an influence over the reshoring decision. Firstly, firms are required to secure the replacement of offshored suppliers in their home country and ensure the access to the abundance of raw materials while reshoring. Secondly, realignments are needed for components to suit with organizational values, integrate to obtain independence from external entities and utilize pre-existing assets to mitigate challenges. Thirdly, increase in customer participation for firm’s product decision and locally produced goods can further enhance brand perception. Lastly, proximity allowed firms to streamline logistical communication, deter investment cost and promote R&D capabilities.Contribution: The study contributes in the knowledge of reshoring through the lens of supply chain management and also provides managerial context for reshoring decisions. The sole focus on supply chain factors enhances the theoretical expansion of reshoring and allowing further study materials into the emerging research field of reshoring. In addition, the research findings from four different supply chain factors allows a multifaceted contribution for organizational managers. Managers can individually or conjointly utilize the ideas on resource, reconfiguration, customer and proximity for reshoring decisions.Conclusions: The results from the study and the fulfilment of the aim shows that reshoring is a case of strategic decision making by firms who aim to secure a better competitive standpoint by repatriating production back to the home country.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether European production firms, that reshore parts of their manufacturing processes back to the originating country of the firm, perform financially differently than prior to the reshoring process. The performances of the firms are quantified by the financial indicators of return on equity, return on assets, and net profit margin. It also examines if these three performance indicators are affected differently depending on the scale of the reshoring operation relative to the total size of the firm. To effectively analyse the aforementioned, the study performs a paired-sample T-test for the three metrics, comparing the pre and post reshoring. Three OLS-regressions are also conducted to gain further insights into how a reshoring process has affected the performance indicators of a company. Based on a sample of 34 European companies that have performed a reshoring, the results of the conducted tests show no significant difference in performances for the sampled companies’ ex-ante or ex-post a reshoring of manufacturing activity. This suggests that firms that are planning to make a reshoring move cannot expect a certain outcome of that decision, either positive or negative, in terms of this paper's chosen variables.