May, 2017
www.us-tech.com
Page 27 U.S. Politics Aside, Mexico is in Great Shape By Philip Stoten (@philipstoten)
ernment, innovators, and those in academia, in support of this June’s upcoming inaugural Innova- tionsFORUM in the city. While it is hard to avoid the inevitable discussion of politics, walls and NAFTA, it is clear that Mexico is in great shape. Eric Miscoll, Managing Principal of Charlie
I
Barnhart & Associates, joined me on stage at a re- cent event in the city and delivered some impres- sive evidence pointing to Mexico as being the only country predicted to grow in manufacturing capac- ity in 2017. It is also running at high utilization, and fully burdened labor rates are both consistent and competitive.
On the Up and Up Numbers are only part of the
story, and spending a month there has confirmed a great deal of what I suspected about where it is in its de- velopment. Guadalajara, like much of Mexico, found its way onto the EMS map in the late 1990s when major EMS companies migrated from the U.S. to build factories and benefit from the well-educated, lower-cost local workforce. The approach of these EMS
companies was fundamentally im- portant in the development of the local infrastructure and supply chain. Those that arrived in the first wave built campuses with the space for suppliers to set up shop right next door. They supported local industry, helping them develop business prac- tices and to become the vendors that they needed. They also supported the development of infrastructure and worked with the local governments and educational institutions. At the same time, local compa-
nies were formed. One such company is InterLatin, a representative com- pany initially formed on the Flex- tronics campus to supply and support capital equipment for the EMS in- dustry. InterLatin now has more than 400 personnel across Mexico supporting much more than just the electronics manufacturing industry, and delivering way more than sales and service. While Mexico may have suf-
fered from the onslaught of Chinese business in the first decade of this millennium, it is clear that it has been able to sustain steady growth. As labor rates have risen in China and elsewhere, they have stayed rel-
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spent much of the month after February’s APEX Expo in Guadalajara, Mexico, meeting with EMS companies, vendors, the local gov-
atively flat in Mexico, thanks in no small part to the dollar/peso exchange rate. For the last twenty or so years, Mexico has steadily performed and is now developing into much more than a low-cost manufacturing country with a massive consumer as its neighbor. With many local companies such as Inter-
Latin, Mexico has grown its offering to suit market demands. It now has diverse industries and many local OEMs, not least in the automotive sector, which have flooded into the country. It also has much stronger ties to innovation. Plug and Play, Silicon Valley’s largest incubator, is present at Tec de Monterey university in Guadalajara. Universi-
dad Panamericana (UP), this year’s Innovations- FORUM host, also has its own local startup accel- erator program, “UP Spark.” Innovation isn’t restricted to physical prod-
ucts, or even software and apps. Mexico has an im- portant role in the development of manufacturing technology with many companies influencing In- ternet of Manufacturing (IoM) or smart factory strategies from their local manufacturing sites.
Viva Mexico! I believe the story of InterLatin reflects that
of greater Mexico. Formed in 1999 to provide sales Continued on page 34
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