Build a total landed cost model that includes freight, duty, inventory carrying cost and quality risk.
Warehousing & Procurement
Nearshoring and Reshoring Decisions Using Total Landed Cost Models
Evaluate nearshoring and reshoring options with a full total landed cost model covering freight, duty, inventory carrying cost and risk, rather than comparing unit price alone.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
A sourcing decision built on unit price alone will consistently favour the lowest-cost country on paper and then underperform in practice, because unit price ignores freight volatility, duty exposure, inventory carrying cost during a longer transit lane and the disruption risk of a single distant supply base. This course builds a total landed cost model that a finance team will accept as rigorous rather than directional, starting with the cost elements that are easy to miss: safety stock carried to cover longer and less reliable lead times, obsolescence risk on products with short life cycles, and the working capital tied up in extended transit inventory. It then applies that model to real nearshoring and reshoring scenarios, comparing a distant low-unit-cost supplier against a nearer option with higher unit cost but lower total landed cost once freight, duty mitigation opportunities and inventory carrying cost are included. The course closes with a structured decision framework that weighs total landed cost against qualitative factors such as intellectual property risk, geopolitical exposure and the time required to requalify a new supplier, so the final recommendation reflects the full picture rather than a single spreadsheet column.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Quantify the safety stock and working capital impact of longer and less reliable transit lanes.
Compare nearshoring and reshoring options against an incumbent distant supplier on a like-for-like basis.
Model duty and tariff exposure differences across candidate sourcing locations using current trade agreements.
Assess obsolescence and demand volatility risk for products carried in extended transit inventory.
Apply a structured decision framework that weighs total landed cost against geopolitical and intellectual property risk.
Present a nearshoring or reshoring recommendation to leadership with a sensitivity analysis on key assumptions.
Who Should Attend
Supply chain strategy managers evaluating manufacturing or sourcing footprint changes.
Procurement directors assessing whether to relocate sourcing closer to demand markets.
Finance business partners reviewing the cost model behind a footprint relocation proposal.
Operations and manufacturing leaders assessing reshoring against current offshore capacity.
Category managers building the business case for a supplier location change.
Trade compliance and logistics managers quantifying duty and freight impact of a footprint decision.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Building the Total Landed Cost Model
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Identifying Cost Elements Beyond Unit Price
- List cost elements beyond unit price, including freight, duty, insurance, handling and inland transport.
- Quantify safety stock carrying cost driven by longer and more variable transit lead times.
- Include obsolescence and markdown risk for products with short life cycles held in extended transit inventory.
- Capture quality failure cost, including rework, returns and expedited replacement freight.
Session 2Structuring the Model for Comparability
- Normalise the model to a common unit of comparison across candidate sourcing locations.
- Separate fixed cost elements, such as tooling or certification, from variable per-unit landed cost.
- Build sensitivity ranges around freight rate and duty assumptions rather than relying on a single point estimate.
- Validate the model against actual historical shipments before applying it to a forward-looking decision.
02Evaluating Duty, Freight and Trade Agreement Impact
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Modelling Duty and Tariff Exposure
- Compare duty rates across candidate sourcing locations under applicable trade agreements and preference programmes.
- Assess origin qualification requirements that a nearshored supplier would need to meet for preferential duty.
- Model exposure to anti-dumping or countervailing duty orders that may apply to certain countries or products.
- Quantify the duty mitigation opportunity created by relocating final assembly closer to demand markets.
Session 2Assessing Freight Lane and Transit Risk
- Compare freight cost, transit time and reliability across ocean, air and overland lane options.
- Model the impact of shorter transit lanes on required safety stock and total inventory investment.
- Assess port congestion, capacity constraints and seasonal freight rate volatility for each candidate lane.
- Evaluate the carbon and emissions impact of freight lane options as part of the overall comparison.
03Comparing Nearshoring and Reshoring Scenarios
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Running the Total Landed Cost Comparison
- Apply the total landed cost model to compare an incumbent distant supplier against nearshore alternatives.
- Model a reshoring scenario that returns production closer to or within the demand market.
- Identify break-even volumes at which a higher-unit-cost nearer supplier becomes lower total landed cost.
- Test model outcomes against multiple freight rate and exchange rate scenarios.
Session 2Assessing Qualitative and Risk Factors
- Weigh intellectual property protection and technology transfer risk across candidate locations.
- Assess geopolitical, labour and regulatory stability risk for each sourcing location option.
- Estimate the time and cost required to requalify a new supplier against existing specifications.
- Score qualitative factors alongside total landed cost using a weighted decision matrix.
04Decision Governance and Implementation
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Building the Decision Framework
- Apply a structured decision framework combining total landed cost, risk score and strategic fit.
- Set decision thresholds that define when a relocation business case proceeds to implementation.
- Involve finance, operations and risk stakeholders in reviewing the framework before a final decision.
- Document assumptions and data sources so the decision can be revisited as conditions change.
Session 2Planning Implementation and Monitoring Outcomes
- Sequence a phased transition plan that avoids disrupting current supply while a new source is qualified.
- Set post-implementation monitoring that tracks actual landed cost against the modelled projection.
- Review the total landed cost model annually against updated freight, duty and inventory cost data.
- Present the relocation outcome and lessons learned to leadership to inform future footprint decisions.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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