Harry Moser is a man on a mission.

Moser is the founder and force behind what he calls the “Reshoring Initiative,” an effort to help U.S.-based manufacturers understand what he argues are the costs of moving jobs from the United States and the benefits of returning those jobs to the U.S.

He wants companies already operating overseas to rethink those costs. He encourages company leaders weighing a move away from American production to do the same.

Chicago-based Moser will speak starting 8 a.m. Wednesday at the Dayton Region Manufacturers Association’s 2012 Advanced Technology Manufacturing Show at the Dayton Airport Expo Center. It will be the first time he has spoken at DRMA’s annual show.

A former president of Charmilles Technologies Corp. (now GF AgieCharmille), a Swiss machine tool producer, Moser believes his message is sinking in. Some 50,000 jobs have been moved back to the U.S. — “reshored” — since January 2010, he said. He points to companies like NCR, General Electric, Whirlpool and others that have slowly shifted work back domestically.

Some of his arguments include: Chinese wages are rising, closing what was once a wider gap between U.S. and Asian worker pay; operating overseas may entail holding on to three times as much inventory as a company might hold domestically because supply chains overseas can be less reliable; transportation costs are rising; and there is a greater risk of intellectual property theft in overseas production.

“For the big companies, they have been trained to buy (at) the cheapest price,” Moser said. “And we’re saying, ‘Don’t buy the cheapest (immediate) price. Buy the lowest total cost.’ ”

Angelia Erbaugh, DRMA executive director, said Moser was a natural fit for this year’s show. She not only leads the DRMA but is part of a community manufacturing task force chaired by Dayton City Commissioner Nan Whaley. That task force wanted to have a community event in October.

Moser’s “name immediately came up,” Erbaugh said. “I said, ‘Well, that’s perfect.’”

Moser can be reached through his website, www.reshorenow.org.