New Mexico is ideally located to be the key link in the supply chain between maquiladoras and their supplier partners in the United States. The state is crossed by major interstate freeways, I-10 and I-40, as well as BNSF and Union Pacific rail lines. The commercial border crossings of Santa Teresa and Columbus/Palomas are efficient and convenient.

      However in many cases those supply chains are stretched too thin for today’s just-in-time manufacturing processes. When issues such as quality control arise, the thousands of miles between maquilas and their suppliers make it impossible to quickly troubleshoot and resolve those problems, which is why the New Mexico state government developed the Maquila Supplier Program.

      The program is run by the Economic Development Department’s Mexican Affairs Office, whose executives work directly with the management of maquila suppliers to identify the products and services that are most crucial to the plants’ operations. In some cases, the Mexican Affairs Office can connect the maquila with existing vendors in New Mexico, and in others the office will work with maquila managers to attract their existing key vendors (typically in the American Midwest) to southern New Mexico.

      For maquila managers, the benefit is a closer, more responsive vendor. For participants in the program, the Mexican Affairs Office also leverages the New Mexico technology base to give a competitive edge to maquiladoras. For example, a plant could be searching for improved packaging, better assembly line methods, or even a new product opportunity. With access to such institutions as the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico State University, and New Mexico Tech, plant management can kick-start projects and...

...Continued in the pages of Twin Plant News, Subscribe Today!