Name: Aromat Mexicana  S.A. de C.V.

Address: Ave. Centinera #1729   City: Mexicali  

State: Baja California  Employees: 800  

  Year Established: 1996 

CEO: Tatsuya Teraoka    Product: Home Appliances

  Aromat Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. (MEW) headquartered in Osaka, Japan, recently celebrated the grand opening of its third Mexican plant, dedicated to home appliance production. Aromat has invested about $5 million to increase the production capability of Aromat Mexicana in Mexicali, B.C. to support the growth of home appliance business in North America. Annual production volume is planned to be $150 million per year by 2003, four times as much as in 2000.

  The third plant was constructed in order to expand the production capacity of home appliances with sales growth potential in North American markets, including power tools and massage loungers, and to establish a unified production system for products for North American markets. Through reduced production costs and increased local component purchases, improved cost competitiveness and higher added value are expected. Aromat Mexicana plans a broadening of the product range in addition to expansion of the home appliance production capacity.

  As a result of transferring all production functions for home appliances from the San Jose, Calif. factory to the new plant, Aromat Mexicana will be the main production center for home appliances for North America. This will be in addition to its current product range, which includes relays, automotive components and electronic ballasts for lighting fixtures for the North American market. The company’s plans for new products will focus on the requirements of North American customers, and on MEW’s popular products, such as shavers, with a total sales target of about $50 million annually by 2003.

  Aromat Mexicana is currently positioned as the main production facility for Aromat’s automation control components and lighting products. The company was established in January 1996 as a satellite production facility of the San Jose factory of Aromat Corporation. It started operation in July of the same year, with production of compact power relays, automotive relays and electronic ballasts for lighting fixtures for the North American market. In 1999, transfer of manufacturing, molding and piece-parts fabrication for tele-communication relays from the San Jose plant was completed, to integrate the complete manufacturing process of relays in Mexicali. Now production of home appliances, such as power tools and massage loungers, has been transferred from the San Jose Factory, and production capacity has been increased.

  Aromat Mexicana has become the main production facility for Aromat’s home appliances, automation control components and lighting products. In the mid-term plan which sets out goals until 2003, the production volumes of home- appliance, automation control components are expected to double compared with volumes in 2000, and lighting products production volume is expected to quadruple.

  Aromat Mexicana’s mission is to accomplish speedy delivery of quality products to North American customers by making full use of its favorable location in the NAFTA region as well as abundant quality workforce. In addition to IS09002 and QS9000, essential for the automotive market, the company acquired IS014001 certification for its continued efforts to minimize environmental impacts, to allow it to achieve its economic goals while protecting the environment.