Mexico’s workforce offers a powerful enticement to foreign investors looking for a low-cost country to manufacture complex products. The country’s extensive manufacturing history has given rise to a strong network of training infrastructure and developed clusters where the labor force holds deep experience in specific manufacturing strategies.
For manufacturers planning a launch in Mexico, the question isn’t necessarily how to find qualified labor but who will manage it.
While some manufacturers may opt to bring in a plant manager already familiar with their corporate culture who can train the new workforce, many others hire a plant manager with local experience. Both options offer advantages and challenges. The right fit will be tasked with navigating cultural differences and managing expectations from the plant floor and management.
“We’ve supported manufacturers with very different approaches to plant management,” shares Wayne Heckman, Director of Client Development, Tetakawi. “Ultimately, the right approach to plant management is the one that helps a manufacturer achieve their desired level of productivity.”
For example, Heckman shares, one electronics manufacturer felt the most effective way to replicate the success they’d established in the U.S. in a new Guaymas, Sonora, manufacturing plant was to send a manager from its U.S. headquarters to support the startup process for the Mexican plant. The manager was able to bring to the plant time-tested training, processes, organizational structure, and corporate culture. Having an internal plant manager who was already familiar with this structure made sound sense.
While the company had intended to send the manager back to the U.S. after a year and hire a plant manager in Mexico, they found that having an individual already familiar with U.S. business practices and the main plant smoothed the process of communicating technical information to the workforce operating at the Mexico facility. Having an operator already well-versed in corporate expectations proved to be an asset when it came time to communicate instructions from the main factory to the plant and then back again to the home factory.
On the other hand, a U.S.-based wire harness manufacturing operation opted to go in a different direction. When they made plans to launch operations in Empalme, Sonora, they prioritized working with a shelter service provider that could connect them with a highly qualified workforce. This extended to identifying a local manager who could lead the Mexico team. Mexico’s technical universities and institutes matriculate many engineering, quality control and management experts each year who can oversee the local workforce.
There are pros and cons to either approach, whether you hire a local plant manager or bringing in an experienced expert from home. While ultimately, either approach can lend itself to a great (or disappointing) hire, it’s important to take a few additional considerations into account when selecting the right fit.
Ultimately, it comes down to finding the right individual for the position, someone who is a strong fit with your corporate culture and is able to drive forward your productivity and product quality goals, among other objectives. While proven experience in a managerial role may be your final deciding factor in selecting the right person to manage your manufacturing facility in Mexico, it’s important to ensure that this manager can be trusted to back up results with clear communication.
No matter who you select for this role, you’ll want to provide them with adequate support to get the job done right. This is one more area where it can help to work with a shelter service provider with like Tetakawi. For decades, we’ve helped connect companies around the world with qualified labor, training, and administrative support in Mexico. With a strong network of success in place, it becomes that much simpler to manage a manufacturing plant in Mexico.
If you’re ready to set your operations up for success, contact Tetakawi today.