When tariff increases hit, the knee-jerk reaction is often: “Let’s find a new supplier.” But it’s not that simple. Relocating manufacturing—whether to the U.S., Mexico, or a different region in Asia—requires more than vendor vetting. It requires product transformation.

Before you can re-source, you need to understand:

• What will it cost to tool up again?
• Can the same design be built in a new factory with different constraints?
• Will labor-intensive processes still be viable?
• How will environmental or regulatory standards affect material or process choices?
• What is the new “landed cost”?
• How will I preserve my products quality through change?

That’s why front-end research is critical. You need expert support to sift through potential partners, evaluate capabilities, assess risks, and map out a cost-effective path forward.

Making decisions in these key moments will be the difference between “putting out a fire” or pivoting into a path that not only evades the tariff wake but uses it as an opportunity to add value to your product in the competitive market.

Tariffs are a shock to the system, but they’re also an opportunity. To reduce long-term risk. To gain control over quality. To build a more resilient product ecosystem. And to design in ways that give your brand strategic leverage for years to come.

Many current product designs are tailored for environments with low labor costs and fewer regulatory pressures. To move manufacturing to the U.S. or other higher-cost regions, it will require more than just negotiating new deals. It often requires brands to rethink their product strategy and design from the ground up. With a strategic design approach, manufacturers have a chance to turn a costly problem into an opportunity:

• Design for Robotic or Semi-Automated Assembly: Reducing labor reliance is key. Simple changes in part geometry or fastening strategy can drastically reduce assembly time.
• Modularization and Commonization: Building products from shared platforms allows brands to minimize SKU complexity while maximizing flexibility across applications and market segments.
• Platform-Based Design: When the product line is built on a scalable core architecture, manufacturers can adjust features, performance levels, or branding without reinventing the wheel every time. A modular approach also makes it easier for domestic or nearshore manufacturing facilities to shift between products or customer needs quickly—an advantage in a volatile market.
• Material Sourcing within Regulatory Constraints: Navigating “green” regulations and sustainability goals requires strategic sourcing and selection of materials—especially for domestic manufacturing—balancing cost, availability, and environmental impact.

As a product design and innovation firm, we’re seeing this play out in real time. Our clients are being asked to make business-critical decisions on compressed timelines—with real cost, brand, and supply chain implications. We help them bridge the gap between high-level strategy and on-the-ground execution:

• Conducting vendor discovery and technical audits
• Evaluating design readiness for automation
• Redesigning products to align with U.S.-based or nearshore manufacturing capabilities
• Advising on supply chain and product line architecture that supports agility and brand coherence

If you’re facing tough decisions about how and where to build your products, let’s talk. At BOLTGROUP, we help you not only respond to change but also design smarter for what’s next.