Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesEngineering & Construction

How the Medical Device Industry Will Adapt to a Reshored Economy with Tom Allen of TRICOR Systems

The economics of offshoring have looked and remained appealing for the last 50+ years. This is especially true for manufacturing. Cost-savings and a trickling labor force in the states haven’t encouraged much in-house production. That’s beginning to change, though. Tariffs encouraging more US manufacturing, increased speed to market in industries like retail, and innovations…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Engineering & Construction teams put it to work with Partner & Channel Enablement.

Share

Free workspace

Turn your Engineering & Construction expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI in a free MarketScale workspace. Qualifying companies also get one professional video edit a month. No credit card.

Start free

The economics of offshoring have looked and remained appealing for the last 50+ years. This is especially true for manufacturing. Cost-savings and a trickling labor force in the states haven’t encouraged much in-house production. That’s beginning to change, though. Tariffs encouraging more US manufacturing, increased speed to market in industries like retail, and innovations in automation are all swinging the manufacturing pendulum back around, making a recent push for a trend in reshoring.

Here to explain how reshoring is affecting the medical device industry is Tom Allen, Vice President of Sales for TRICOR Systems. As the conversation turns to home, Allen has found new challenges in convincing manufacturers that reshoring could be a blessing in disguise.

It’s a lot easier to jump on a plane and fly from even California to New York than overseas to discuss or solve a problem if that’s needed, Allen said. “As the labor goes up, we’re going to either see people moving to other countries where the labor’s cheap again, or back to the US. Our goal is to get them back to the US.”

Allen explains the pros and cons of moving manufacturing to the US, how infrastructure is preparing for the influx, and why reshoring is creating stronger relationships between OEMs and contract manufacturers. “There’s more of a handshake between the OEM and the contract manufacturer, where the CM is offering suggestions for improvements that can save money and save time,” Allen said. “And I believe the OEM’s are listening and open to that.”

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Healthcare Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @HealthMKSL

Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Engineering & Construction starts with a company putting its project engineers, superintendents, and estimators on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Owners shortlist firms they already trust, and your field leaders become the reason your name is on that list.

Get your team featuredSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.
B2B Weekly

The week in Engineering & Construction, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Engineering & Construction: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Engineering & Construction buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free plan

You just read one Engineering & Construction expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your project engineers, superintendents, and estimators into the articles, video, and social content Engineering & Construction buyers are searching for. Create a free workspace and see it with your own people. No credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What you get, free

Your own MarketScale workspace, up to 10 people
One professional video edit a month for qualifying companies
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
$0. No credit card. Company confirmation required.

More Engineering & Construction Insights

Packaging robots can beat labor long term on cost, PMMI argues

Packaging robots can beat labor long term on cost, PMMI argues

PMMI's Tom Egan wrote in Processing Magazine that adding packaging automation and robotics can now be justified as more cost-effective over the long term than the high cost of labor in food, beverage and CPG plants. Separately, Packaging World describes AI-enabled AMRs from ABB and Agilox that automate material movement between packaging stations. The remaining gap is adoption among smaller manufacturers.

  • 01Two reference points for infrastructure-light material movement: ABB's Flexley Mover P603 carries 1,500 kg with sub-centimeter positioning and no floor markers, and Agilox's OFL lifts 800 kg pallets on peer-to-peer fleet software with no central traffic controller, per Packaging World.
  • 02The open ground is small and mid-sized manufacturers: MTC's Mike Wilson counts tens of thousands of UK SMEs with no robotic automation at all and expects cobots to take most of that growth.
  • 03A robotics business case should include procurement, not only line labor: a June 2026 China Journal of Accounting Research study found heavy robot adopters spread buying across more suppliers, gaining resilience but losing inventory efficiency and adding transaction costs.

Sep 18, 2026

Xtellio brings telematics to jobsite tools and heaters

Xtellio brings telematics to jobsite tools and heaters

Xtellio launched a two-tier telematics platform in March 2026: 32 battery-powered Xense sensors for small tools and wired Pro-Xentral devices for excavators, light towers and heaters. The company claims a 10-year battery life. Data is delivered through open APIs, which Xtellio frames as customer ownership of the data, aimed at rental and construction fleets where small assets have gone largely untracked.

  • 01Xtellio’s stated 10-year battery life for its Bluetooth Xense sensors is the key spec to test in the field; if it holds up, tagging hundreds of tools can look like a one-time install rather than a recurring battery-maintenance program.
  • 02For rental houses and contractors running mixed fleets, the sharper question is no longer which machines have telematics but whether the heaters, light towers and hand tools do, and whether that data lands in the same system.
  • 03Open APIs and “data liberation” are part of Xtellio’s pitch, and the coverage frames that as a prompt for RFP questions: what the APIs expose, where data can be sent, and whether customers can take historical data if they switch providers.

Sep 18, 2026

Senate bill would double smart water grants to $50 million a year

Senate bill would double smart water grants to $50 million a year

S. 2388, the Water Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2025, would double an EPA water tech pilot to $50 million a year through 2028. Grants would cover design, construction, training and operations for leak detection, advanced metering and AI analytics, WaterWorld reported. Planning and maintenance stay on the utility's tab.

  • 01Under S. 2388 as WaterWorld describes it, feasibility studies are not grant-eligible, so a utility would have to pay to build the case for a smart water project before applying for help building the project itself.
  • 02The bill's eligible list puts advanced digital design and construction management tools in the same bucket as meters and sensors, which would give a utility's capital delivery team a claim on the same grant as its field operations group.
  • 03The existing pilot program's authorization runs through 2026, per WaterWorld; the bill would extend it to 2028, and its last reported status was 'introduced' as of Aug. 12, 2025.

Sep 17, 2026

Explore More Engineering & Construction Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Engineering & Construction.

Browse Engineering & Construction Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Engineering & Construction and beyond.

Book a 15-minute demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512