Putting precious capital at risk in the form of an overseas production facility is one of the riskiest bets a senior executive can make.   Due to the relative risk and complexity of a manufacturing deployment, we begin by helping our clients establish an in-house project manager function, to which Cornerstone 'bolts on to' for a specified period of time.

We normally adopt a phased approach to advising on project planning, site selection, and incentives negotiation, which allows clients an opportunity to review and sign-off on the results of each phase before proceeding to the subsequent phase.

Although overseas manufacturing objectives understandably vary client to client, Cornerstone essentially supports clients in their efforts to answer (and then act on) 3 types of questions:

1. Based on financial and non-financial drivers and decision criteria, where is the optimal location to deploy our production facility?
2. What incentives and subsidies can we expect for a project of our size, and what can we do to generate maximum negotiation leverage with local officials?
3. Since flexibility is a critical success factor, how can we negotiate for maximum flexibility, and what steps can we take to ensure we can ramp up and ramp down quickly?

Staightforward questions, but answers can cut across many disciplines, including: import/export, currency, logistics, real estate, labor,  taxes, and manufacturing footprint strategy. Cornerstones' recommendations are summarized in a detailed deliverable ‘report’, which is formally presented to the client in their offices - scheduled at the end of each phase of the project.

If you are interested in seeing how we would approach your company's efforts to pursue overseas sourcing opportunities, please contact us.

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