IndustryWeek’s article “We Needed Automation to Reshore Our Supply Chain” describes how TAC Industries, a Springfield, Ohio-based manufacturer that produces cargo nets for the U.S. Air Force, used automation as the key lever to bring critical hardware sourcing back from Asia to the United States. Author Jim Zahora, CEO of The Abilities Connection (TAC), explains that while domestic metal stamping could compete on raw part costs, the labor-intensive hardware assembly made reshoring financially impossible until a supplier agreed to fully automate the assembly process for a long-term contract. That investment closed the cost gap enough for the Air Force to require domestic hardware, and as of June 1, 2026, every cargo net TAC ships to the Air Force is 100% sourced and manufactured in the U.S. for the first time in at least 20 years.
Zahora notes that automation delivered much more than price parity: hardware lead times dropped from roughly six months to one, enabling TAC and its customer to ramp production quickly when funding and demand surge, and overall throughput increased by a factor of 2.5 while creating meaningful defense manufacturing roles for employees of all abilities. He also emphasizes the role of outside support, including NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership and industry associations, in helping TAC evaluate equipment and de-risk the transition, and urges manufacturers to rethink long-standing processes before offshore competitors—and domestic rivals who automate faster—pull ahead.