Nearshoring’s Next Evolution Is Operational Engineering

AI is the topic and toolset of the moment, there's no denying that. You can't log into LinkedIn and scroll more than 10 seconds without getting 'advice' on AI deployment, and that's assuming you even have to scroll. It might feel like a system default message at this point.

But AI didn't create the need for better operational processes. It simply made decades of operational shortcuts impossible to ignore. These are fundamental problems we as an industry have 'powered through' for years without explicitly developing strategies to solve them.

One of the areas in which this issue has arisen in the past has been in the deployment of nearshore teams in support of logistics operations. The value prop for nearshoring has long been undeniable; a lower cost workforce for repeatable actions that are easily trained and with enough volume to dedicate full headcount (or teams of headcount) - sound familiar? In years past, we solved process problems by adding people. Now many organizations are trying to solve those same problems by adding AI. Neither works, and both approaches will simply amplify inefficiencies to dizzying levels.

But today, the greatest ROI from a nearshore workforce is no longer simple labor arbitrage. It is operational engineering. A decade ago, it was difficult to find trained logistics professionals familiar with the US truckload market outside of the United States. Today, that is not the case, and with that experienced talent base comes the opportunity to redefine how to strategically deploy nearshored resources. That experienced talent base creates an opportunity to document SOPs, challenge long-standing assumptions, test alternative workflows, measure results, and refine operations with a level of consistency that's difficult to achieve inside mature organizations. Companies no longer have to rely exclusively on their busiest, longest-tenured employees to drive operational change.

The following is not an uncommon scenario: Brokerage A's appointment scheduling follows six different workflows depending on who trained the employee. A dedicated operations team supported by the right technology can document the variations, standardize one approach, measure results for 30 days, then deploy a more successful process across every office with data to support the need for change. Now Brokerage A can operate more efficiently, with fewer people, and with a clear SOP to train and onboard new hires more quickly and effectively.

The point is this: if you haven't mapped your processes, or you haven't updated them, or if they are simply broken, your nearshore strategy doesn't have to continue to be the crutch your processes limp along on. The organizations that generate the greatest value from nearshoring over the next decade won't simply be the ones that hire the most people. They'll be the ones that use that workforce to build better operating models.

Written by David Peckman, Chief Revenue Officer at MySavant.ai.