Columbia Manufacturer Gerald Ashcombe Reshores Production From Overseas Suppliers

Gerald Ashcombe, founder of Columbia-based precision components manufacturer Ashcombe Machine Works, announced plans to bring production of several core product lines back from overseas suppliers, a shift expected to add roughly 70 manufacturing jobs at the company's Howard County facility.

Ashcombe founded the company 22 years ago as a small machine shop serving aerospace and defense clients, gradually shifting a portion of production to overseas contract manufacturers over the past decade to remain price-competitive on certain component lines. Rising shipping costs and increasingly unpredictable delivery timelines from overseas suppliers pushed Ashcombe to reconsider that strategy.

"We chased the lowest unit cost for years and didn't fully account for what happens when a shipment gets delayed six weeks and your customer needed the part yesterday," Ashcombe said. "Bringing this back in-house costs more per unit, but it means we actually control our own delivery schedule again."

The company is investing approximately $14 million in new automated machining equipment at its Columbia facility to offset some of the labor cost difference from reshoring production, a strategy Ashcombe said allows the company to remain price-competitive while regaining control over quality and lead times. The new equipment is expected to be operational within the next year.

Ashcombe Machine Works currently employs around 210 people and serves primarily aerospace, defense, and medical device clients. Ashcombe said the reshoring decision was made easier by defense industry customers increasingly requiring domestic manufacturing for supply chain security reasons, a trend he expects to continue across the sector.