Cost of manufacturing operations around the globe

This joint study by KPMG and the Manufacturing Institute (MI) in the U.S. provides a current assessment of how the U.S. compares to its main trading partners as a location for manufacturing.

Specifically, this study compares the primary and secondary factors that impact the cost of operations (Cost of Doing Business or CoDB) of a business conducting manufacturing operations in the United States relative to 16 other countries that are the leading manufacturing exporters to the U.S. These 17 economies together account for about four-fifths of global value added in manufacturing, and thus a comparative analysis across countries provides insight into how regional economic factors may affect the global competitive landscape in manufacturing.

Our approach examines different cost factors including costs that directly impact a firm’s bottom line (Primary Costs) and costs that typically impact a firm’s operating costs and profits more indirectly (Secondary Costs).