The problem with Java 6 wsimport is that the JAX-WS runtime needs to fetch the WSDLs from the endpoint each time a service instance is created, which could incur a network overhead. The WSDL location is saved in the generated artifacts and the JAX-WS runtime fetches the metadata, which is useful if the endpoint policy or the service definition has changed. In the absence of the runtime fetch of the metadata, the clients would need to be regenerated if the endpoint policy or the service definition have changed. JAX-WS runtime may have access to local WSDLs using various methods such as a Service API, a jax-ws-catalog.xml file, or making the WSDL available at a relative local location and using the -wsdlLocation option when running the wsimport tool.