Insourcing, also referred to as contracting in, is usually defined as the delegation of core operations or jobs from internal production to an subcontractor or other external entity that specializes in that operation. For example, Ford Motor Company insourced its logistics operations to the United Parcel Service.
Insourcing is widely used in such areas as software development, production etc.
Insourcing was mentioned in the bestselling book The World Is Flat, by Thomas Friedman.