If you are thinking about reshoring manufacturing, especially from China, you should be worried about your intellectual property.

According to the Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry, companies are finding out that leaving China raises intellectual property protection concerns among other things.

Why? According to Rosemary Coates, who was on the forefront of helping companies leave the US for Chinese manufacturing, put it bluntly. “You’ve taught the Chinese manufacturer how to manufacture your goods. You’ve sent them the blueprints. You’ve told them what the processes are. You’ve told them who all of your suppliers are across China. They’re not going to go to sleep at night, wake up in the morning and forget how to make your goods. They’re going to come to work in the morning and keep making your goods and put a different label on it.”

Now that companies are looking to reshore their manufacturing, they find themselves competing against their own items with different labels on them — for a lot less money.

So, it seems that the big push to manufacture overseas was not a great long-term strategy.

In any event, if you are looking to reshore your manufacturing, you might want to be mindful of this unintentional side-effect of cutting costs at any cost.

Read more here.