| By Hector Nuñez Polanco Director of Business Development |
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Ciudad Juarez is a world-wide renowned manufacturing center. Our city has had the first places in the manufacture of TV sets, automotive wiring, upholstery and many other products.
We have many advantages, such as being so close to the largest market in the world (the USA), highly qualified and trained personnel, a large labor force, and social and political stability.
And yet´ we cannot say that we have a local growing industry or that industry is an important economic factor.
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Why hasn´t national industry grown together with maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juarez?
For Mexican Industry to grow in Ciudad Juarez the benefits that it would bring to all of us must be recognized.
Some of the benefits would be:
1.- Maquiladora industry would have more suppliers, which would bring savings.
2.- Professionals would have more alternatives in fields such as products strategy, business strategies, business plans, international marketing, proprietorship management, financial planning, brand management, etc.
3.- Reducing migration of professionals due to lack of opportunities in the City.
4.- Economic groups would endeavor in activities with higher profitability.
5.- Development of local technology.
It is not a utopia to think that national industry in Ciudad Juarez could reach 20,000 employees in about 10 years.
In order to achieve this in no more than two years government, education institutions, financial firms, businessmen and professionals must join to reach one sole purpose: to decisively develop national industry.
Immediate benefits for maquiladora industry
The first to receive benefits from national industry would be maquiladoras already established in the City. Savings in both time and money would be considerable.
If maquiladoras instead of bringing the components they assemble from other countries – increasing transportation costs – could order said items from suppliers established in the City, they would reduce the amount of money allocated to keep high inventories in transit and in warehouses.
Mexican companies would quickly supply components; and if changes or modifications were required, they would be virtually immediate.
National industry would supply with the same or even better quality, because of the high professionalism and skilled manpower our City offers.
Maquiladora industry, having suppliers that allow them to save money and keep or exceed the quality required, in addition to quickly responding to engineering changes, will be able to compete with better advantages in a much more competitive world market that demands flexibility and recover some business currently being lost to Asian companies.
More alternatives for professionals
There is currently a significant number of professionals that cannot achieve their full potential in Ciudad Juarez because there are very few jobs for them.
Even if there are many companies established in this City, most of them do not have departments that are essential for a full industrial activity.
Engineers specialized in product development, business strategies, product introduction, marketing, proprietorship, patents, software and hardware development, materials selection, etc. are usually forced to take jobs as supervisors or administrators.
National industry must have all the departments required by the company´s activity, including marketing, financial planning, product development, strategic and business plans design, technology, etc.
Said industry would offer more alternatives to professionals in fields that currently are practically inexistent.
We must also consider that new activities brought by national industry would offer more long-term advantages, because of experience accrual.
For example, a person with 10 years experience in marketing, opening new markets, would be on a higher demand and could therefore make more money no matter his/her age.
On the other hand, a person that has been working as supervisor for 10 years and decides to temporarily retire will find it harder to be offered the same salary in another job because experience is not accrued the same way, for in this area age and physical capacity are essential factors.
Retaining talent and experience
Ciudad Juarez is continuously loosing talent, experience and leadership because of a lack of opportunities.
A significant number of professionals that have reached the highest steps in corporate ladders and that could very well be the motor for the generation of a national industry are forced to emigrate to other cities.
A national industry can provide the opportunity to be not only stakeholders but even stockholders in companies. They have the required experience and are familiar with quality standards and global productivity because they have worked on it.
If we make of this City a comfortable and safe place, if we set product design challenges, if we compete with our own brands and proprietorship management, if we offer stockholding options, etc., leaders of the future will decide to stay in the City.
Better profitability for local economic groups
There is no doubt that successful manufacturing businesses have a larger investment return than other activities that seem to be safer.
To larger risk, larger profitability. We can assure that companies that develop technology, that permanently compete to increase their share in the market, that have developed technologies, etc., have larger possibilities to obtain larger profit than their counterparts devoted to safer activities with lower profitability.
It would be good if economic groups with more resources evaluated how their profits would be increased if they endeavored in industrial activities, making them more successful.
It is true that a technological and scientific core should be developed in order to successfully compete within new realities.
Having a geographical position that Asian countries would long for, in addition to hard working and highly trained people, a first level work culture, an unexplored potential market, a strong determination to be taken into consideration and respected around the world based on our work, what could go wrong?
Local technology
It is more and more necessary to develop technology so that companies may stay in business. But technology does not necessarily mean manufacturing computers, TV sets, cars, etc. Technology means mastering activities such as welding certain materials, painting surfaces, drilling metals, combining plastics, combining colors, identifying needs, etc.
I make this clear because almost always when we think of technology we think of big brands or very complex products. Technology can be as simple as finding the way to make something better, faster, more functional, more economic, etc.
In order to compete in the world we must first compete in our subdivision, then in our city, then in our country and later against other countries that have mastered markets in specific areas.
To compete in the global market one must start today competing locally and accruing technology and experience in order to be ready for the major leagues in competitiveness.
More and more often we see Asian companies looking for technology and offering product manufacturing at practically cost prices. What this tells us is that they value acquiring technologies which they will use in the future, even at the expense of current profit.
We cannot let time pass by without making real use of the advantages being offered to us. There are risks and there will undoubtedly be failures. However, conditions are on our side and successes will exceed failures by long.
National industry has global conditions in its favor. We must sort out local conditions and start the change.
Whenever history is made, risks are faced.
In this case, the greatest risk is taking no risk at all.