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Business

Companies beginning to return back to Denmark

admin
July 16th, 2014


This article is more than 10 years old.

Outsourcing is getting too pricey, inflexible and bad for business

Danish companies are giving up on outsourcing to low income countries and are moving production back to Denmark, Epn reports.

According to a survey asking 651 union representatives from Dansk Industri, three quarters of companies that have outsourced production to countries where wages are low, like China or India, have shifted jobs back home in the last year. 

Companies are responding as production in Denmark increases, competitiveness improves and politicians favour industry by lowering taxes and removing fees.

Danish researchers: Not worth outsourcing to China

Bad quality
Jan Stentoft Arlbjørn, a professor who specialises in supply chain management at the University of Southern Denmark, explained that not all companies that venture abroad are satisfied with their outsource provider.

"A substantial amount move production back because the quality suffers, the total costs are too high and it's too inflexible," he told Epn.

"Many find that when they outsource to somewhere far away, they become just another number in the line in the eyes of the provider, who may not prioritise Danish companies very highly if bigger customers come along." 

Outsourcing continues
Arlbjørn said he still expects Danish companies to keep outsourcing some tasks despite the recent trend to withdraw.

"It's primarily standardised products that can be shipped along with a clear blue print that will still be outsourced," he said.

"Customised productions that require more specifications and continuous dialogue between the buyer and seller will remain home."


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”