Name: Graycor  

Address: One Graycor Drive

City: Homewood, ILL 60430   

Phone Number: (708) 206-3686   

CEO:  Melvin Gray

Products: General Contracting

      For some U.S. companies expanding into Mexico there is a comfort level knowing that their contractor is a U.S. firm with an understanding of how business is conducted in the United States.

      Graycor International S. de R.L. de C.V., a subsidiary of Chicago-based Graycor, provides construction services in Mexico. Established in 1996 and headquartered in Monterrey, N.L., Graycor International has provided construction services for clients such as Ford Motor Company, International Truck and Engine Corporation, Electrolux, Kohler, Kraft Foods North America and Toyota.

      Graycor initially came to Mexico to be closer to a Ford project in Ciudad Juárez, Chih., but has since performed top level work for some of Mexico’s signature projects, including the new Toyota assembly plant in Tecate, B.C. and the 1.7 million square foot Electrolux project in Juárez.

      Dave McAllen, Graycor executive vice president, said in addition to its quality and competitive pricing, Graycor offers clients a comfort level that comes from knowing a U.S. contractor is in charge.

      “Our business model is to try to work for U.S. clients who are maybe doing business in Mexico for the first time,” McAllen says.

      Graycor International uses Hermosillo y Asociados, a Mexicali-based contractor, for help in Mexico.

      The Graycor International staff is a combination of highly experienced Mexican and American personnel of which nearly every member is bilingual.

      Graycor International offers the following to corporations doing business in Mexico:

      •Permitting and governmental negotiation assistance.

      •Construction contracting services.

      •Design-build.

      •Construction management.

      •Construction management at risk.

      •Lump sum.

      •Cost reimbursable with fee.

      •Land selection assistance.

      •International and local expertise.

      •Import knowledge and services.

      •Fast-track scheduling.

      •Cost competitiveness.

      •Online reporting systems.

      •Quality control to ISO 9000 standards.

      •Safety (equal to U.S. OSHA regulations).

Major projects

      Electrolux, the world’s largest producer of appliances and equipment for kitchen, cleaning and outdoor use, recently chose Graycor International S. de R.L. de C.V. to construct its 1.7 million square-foot refrigerator manufacturing facility in Juárez. Project plans call for performing complete design, site work, foundations, floor slabs, structure and enclosure construction, architectural finishes, and all mechanical and electrical utilities. The year-long, fast-track design-build project includes the simultaneous construction of a manufacturing building, plastics building, warehouse, office facility and site ancillary buildings. Due to the remote location of the facility, new state access roads were constructed and utilities required for plant operations have to be brought to the site from a distance of several kilometers. Electrolux manufactures Electrolux and Frigidaire refrigerator brands.

      Kohler Sanimex S.A. de C.V., a world leader in the production of plumbing products, selected Graycor International to design and construct building and perimeter areas to house a Kohler-designed waste water recovery system. The recovery system is responsible for processing all process water from Kohler’s existing pottery plants complex in Benito Juárez, N.L. The project consisted of design-build construction of a metal building with block walls, including a concrete mezzanine, an exterior concrete road and office/laboratory areas to support the recycling system. Close coordination with several Kohler production managers was required to install more than five miles of water distribution piping and system inside the operational plant without disrupting production. The successful completion of this project ensured compliance with new Mexico environmental standards as well as substantially reduced operating costs.

      Blue Diamond Truck Company S. de R.L. de C.V., a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and Navistar International Corporation, named Graycor its program integrator. The joint venture was established to build medium commercial trucks that will be marketed independently under the Ford and Navistar International brands. The trucks will be produced at International Truck and Engine Corporation’s assembly plant in Escobedo, N.L.

      The program integrated modifications, retooling and expansions to the plant’s body shop, paint shop and general assembly areas, where the trucks are assembled and produced. As integrator, Graycor managed the project’s engineering, procurement and construction.

      Additionally, Graycor recently completed a utility study for the expansion, an expansion of a sealer oven and a study of the maintenance operations at International Truck’s Escobedo assembly plant paint shop.

      Graycor recently completed an 114,000-square-foot stainless steel sink manufacturing facility for Kohler Reynosa S. de R. de C.V. in Reynosa, Tamps. The design-build project included complete building and facilities construction services from foundations through office finishes. A critical area of this project was completed one month ahead of schedule to enable the client to start equipment installation earlier. This acceleration was performed at no cost to the client.

      A large North American consumer goods company chose Graycor to install a food process line for a new product at the company’s Monterrey plant. The project, completed on an aggressive schedule, included the removal of an existing process line and installation of new and used equipment. In addition, Graycor installed a new ventilation system at the factory, upgraded the existing lighting and expanded the facility’s loading docks and warehouse areas.

      In order to meet the client’s accelerated completion date, crews worked around the clock in two 12-hour work shifts, and production began in less than two months from the project’s start date. Graycor’s construction methods needed to conform to food industry standards for the final product and while construction was in progress, since the existing facility remained operational throughout the project’s duration.

      Graycor successfully completed upgrades to Ford’s plant in Juárez, Mexico. The phased project was divided into three individual contracts consisting of extensive utility upgrades and building additions. Graycor successfully managed coordination of differing construction methods and customs.

      Graycor also did the site work in Tecate, B.C. for a new assembly plant built by Toyota. The scope of work includes excavation and embankment of more than 2 million cubic meters or 2.7 million cubic yards of earthwork, rock blasting, erection of 8 kilometers of permanent security fencing and construction of 6 kilometers of drainage channels for storm water. To maintain the schedule early in the project, Graycor imported additional water for compaction of earthwork from a nearby reservoir as the existing water main supplying the site was taken down for modification by the utility, limiting the water supply.