With the New Year and a new administration underway, I wonder what 2009 will mean for our overall economy and for outsourcing in particular? When we launched Baselodge Group in 2006 to serve customers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico, we decided to focus on being “outsourcing specialists.” We knew that the word “outsourcing” was somewhat charged, but we chose it on purpose because that is our focus.

As time goes along more and more people understand the rationale behind outsourcing services that are not really their core competency. As long as there have been external supply chains, there has been outsourcing. In our case we provide the outsourcing of a variety of manufacturing services from printed circuit boards (PCBA) and final assemblies to injection molding, custom keypads, membrane switches, metal casting, and aluminum extrusions.

As long as our customers need to manufacture some or all of their products outside of their own facilities, there will be a need for the services we offer. Some of our customers outsource only during the engineering phase when they need quick-turn circuit boards or plastics. Others need us only when they are ready to move into volume production of their products.

So, what will the year ahead look like for outsourcing? Some experts believe the market will experience flat to slight growth. We will continue to assist our customers with their new and existing products as they look to sustain and grow their business in these uncertain times.

We hope 2009 is great for all of our customers and suppliers. Please let us know if we can help you with any of your outsourcing needs.