SME

By FedEx | September 22, 2026

​​Multi-shoring can help businesses strengthen supply chain resilience by spreading production and sourcing across multiple locations. From choosing the right markets to managing suppliers, compliance, and logistics, here’s what to consider when building a more diversified sourcing strategy.

• In an increasingly uncertain business landscape, multi-shoring enables companies to reduce concentration risk and strengthen supply chain resilience.
• Supply chain diversification is accelerating, with 73% of companies making progress on dual sourcing and 60% regionalizing their supply chains.
• A successful multi-shoring strategy depends on more than location. Businesses also need strong supplier management, regulatory compliance, greater supply chain visibility, and reliable logistics connectivity.

A backup supplier isn’t much of a backup if it sits within the same industrial park or depends on the same port as your other suppliers. Rather, it can create a false sense of security while leaving your business vulnerable to the same underlying risks.

Instead of concentrating production in one country or region, spreading your manufacturing and supplier locations across multiple geographies can be a more resilient approach. This supply chain diversification strategy is known as multi-shoring.

For businesses in Asia Pacific (APAC), multi-shoring can offer greater agility when market conditions change. It can reduce concentration risk while preserving access to established manufacturing ecosystems, new talent pools, trade agreements, and growth markets.

What is multi-shoring vs. nearshoring or friendshoring?

Multi-shoring is often discussed alongside nearshoring and friendshoring, but there are key differences between each strategy.

Nearshoring moves production or sourcing closer to the business or end market, often to shorten lead times and simplify coordination. Meanwhile, friendshoring concentrates sourcing in countries viewed as more closely aligned from a trade or policy perspective. In contrast, multi-shoring focuses more broadly on geographic diversification, spreading production across multiple locations so that a disruption in one location is less likely to affect the entire supply chain.

A company that chooses to adopt one or a combination of these models doesn’t necessarily need to leave its established manufacturing base. For example, it might maintain primary production in China while adding capacity in Vietnam, Malaysia, or another market. This “China Plus One” approach can preserve existing supplier strengths while reducing dependence on a single location.

Why multi-shoring is moving up the sourcing agenda

Amid widespread disruption, supply chain resilience has become paramount. In a 2024 McKinsey survey, nine in ten supply chain leaders reported encountering supply chain challenges. To address these challenges, 73% of leaders reported making progress on dual-sourcing strategies, while another 60% were taking steps to regionalize their supply chains.

Southeast Asia is drawing attention as a key hub for supply chain diversification. In 2024, manufacturing foreign direct investment (FDI) in ASEAN grew by nearly 150% to USD 44 billion, driven by supply chain-intensive industries and the digital economy. Markets like Vietnam are benefiting from this shift, as manufacturing and exports continue to anchor the country's growth.

Free trade agreements also strengthen the business case for moving production or sourcing within ASEAN. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), for example, links ASEAN with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. This FTA offers business benefits such as reduced tariffs, improved market access, and smoother customs clearance. For companies designing a multi-country sourcing strategy, lower barriers to trade can make regional production networks easier to manage.

What to consider when choosing your next production location

While a location may look compelling on paper, its ability to perform consistently as demand changes matters more. Adding another country as a sourcing or manufacturing base only enhances resilience if it offers meaningful differences in capabilities and risk exposure.

Before choosing a new location as a sourcing or manufacturing base, consider the following factors:

• Total landed cost: Compare the costs of production, duties, inventory, warehousing, and international shipping.

• Supplier and talent depth: Evaluate the availability of skilled labor, technical capabilities, local supplier clusters, and scalability.

• Trade access: Review applicable free trade agreements, rules of origin, product requirements, and customs processes.

• Logistics infrastructure and connectivity: Consider access to airports, ports, roads, reliable energy, and logistics services.

• Risk independence: Ensure your new site doesn’t rely on the same critical suppliers, gateways, or infrastructure as your existing base.

Today, more businesses are looking beyond traditional manufacturing centers to emerging markets such as Vietnam. Vietnam combines an expanding manufacturing base with growing investment in technology, infrastructure, and logistics. With its strategic location, manufacturing capabilities, trade partnerships, and growing technology sector, the country is fast transforming into a key player in global trade.

However, every business has different requirements. A fashion brand, semiconductor supplier, and healthcare manufacturer will weigh skills, transport speed, compliance, and inventory requirements very differently. Focus on assessing which combination of locations will give your multi-shoring strategy the strongest mix of cost, capability, connectivity, and resilience.

How your operations can keep up with multi-shoring 

Multi-shoring does come with a downside: more locations mean more moving parts. Without strong processes, coordination risk can replace concentration risk, leading to supply chain delays and operational challenges.

Here are four key areas to pay attention to:

1. Supplier management

Start by standardizing supplier expectations across locations. Consistent specifications, quality controls, and reporting formats can help you monitor supplier performance more efficiently. Track indicators such as on-time delivery, defect rates, lead-time variability, available capacity, and response times when issues arise.

2. Supply chain mapping

It’s worth mapping your supply chain dependencies beyond tier-one suppliers. Two factories in different countries may still rely on the same upstream component maker. While companies are improving visibility into their direct suppliers, visibility deeper in the supply chain remains a significant gap.

3. Regulatory compliance

Regulatory compliance becomes more complex as shipments cross additional borders. Your business needs to manage classification, duties and taxes, documentation, rules of origin, and market-specific requirements.

Digital tools like FedEx Global Trade Manager can help businesses look up HS codes, estimate duties and taxes, and identify the necessary shipping documentation. Another useful tool is FedEx Electronic Trade Documents, which enables businesses to submit trade paperwork electronically, which can help streamline the customs clearance process.

4. Logistics visibility

Logistics visibility matters when inventory is moving between several production points and markets. A global logistics provider like FedEx can help your business coordinate transport options, respond to exceptions, and maintain a near-real-time view of shipments.

FedEx Surround, for example, offers next-level visibility for critical shipments. This monitoring and intervention suite combines near-real-time shipment visibility with predictive insights, helping businesses anticipate potential delays, make contingency plans, and take action when needed.

Build optionality, not complexity

Multi-shoring may seem challenging to manage, especially for small businesses. But when done well, it gives you additional qualified sources, production hubs, or routes to rely on when disruptions occur.

By combining geographic diversification with strong supplier management, compliance processes, and logistics visibility, businesses can strengthen supply chain resilience without losing sight of efficiency.