[bluGill]

Depends very much on the product.

The more a factory produces the more automation pays off: it takes a big up front investment to pay for the machines, but once the machines are working it costs very little to make more.

Shipping has a bunch of other issues. Wars, border issues, weather, [long list skipped] all interrupt shipping, and the farther something needs to go the more likely it is one of these interrupts your shipment. Everything that depends on that is in turn disrupted.

Cars are best assembled near where they are used because when fully there is a lot of empty space (the cabin). The alternator for that car can be made pretty anywhere, it is small and dense and so shipping costs are not high. Most other products have elements of each along the way.

Large companies often have a large department dedicated to mapping out logistics. It is no easy to make sure that all the parts needed to build their widget arrive on time.