Monterrey, NL. From the perspective of large companies like Bosch Mexico, it is crucial strengthen the supplier base local to ensure competitiveness in costs, quality and deliveries, said Alexander Firsching, president of the company. Without these conditions, he warned, consumers opt for other companies.
For his part, René Mendoza, president of the Value Chain for Industry in Mexico (CAPIM), highlighted that suppliers face significant challenges, such as access to financing, compliance with quality standards and the need for training.
In the zoom panel “The challenge of locating suppliers”, Emmanuel Loo, in charge of the office of the Ministry of Economy of Nuevo León, also participated, pointing out that the agency mapped the supplier needs of the companies that are have installed in the state, to make the connection.
He cited the example of the assembly company KIA, with which it has managed to link companies such as Vitro, Nemak and Frisa, through the SupplyHubNL program. They are also supporting Bosch, Caterpillar, Tesla and Volvo to obtain local supplies.
Why should suppliers be developed more?
Alexander Firsching recalled that Bosch recently inaugurated its first BSH appliance plant for refrigeratorslocated in Salinas Victoria. According to company data, the investment was 260 million dollars, with the creation of up to 1,500 jobs and it has an annual production capacity of more than 300,000 units.
“Mexico is the largest exporter of auto parts (to the United States), being here helps us a lot. In the last two years, investments of up to 25,000 million pesos have been made, we are happy, but we need a larger base of suppliers,” the manager stated.
He added that they have internal suppliers, and although local companies have more opportunities because they are close, “they have a cost challenge, we see great competition with China,” because despite the tariffs, they cannot be compared. For this reason, he raised the need to further develop Mexican companies.
René Mendoza agreed with Emmanuel Loo that actions are being taken to develop suppliers, to increase national content.
Main obstacles to being a supplier
However, he listed some obstacles for IMMEX companies “right now what is done through tariff fractions is a mess, they are procedures that take a long time.
Second. Asian companies bring 100% of their suppliers and it is difficult to integrate local companies into the value chain. “Before we had ProMéxico, now hope arises with Plan México,” Mendoza highlighted.
Financing is another obstacle, “money in Mexico is very expensive, if compared to the almost zero rates in Asia or the United States. ‘We have to get into it’. I was a director of Bancomext, we have to give more funds to the banks of development, it is not a matter of quality but of access to credit,” he stressed.
For Emmanuel Loo, the state Ministry of Economy has very good interaction with Capim, “we need many Capim, with key meetings, and to have promotion strategies, to support companies and bring them closer to Caintra and the Clusters.
The official said that this Thursday, January 16, he received an Italian company that manufactures truck cabins, with an investment project of 50 million dollars. Loo mentioned that Nuevo León has Navistar International, Volvo and other manufacturers that need local supplies.
