CAPABILITIES in MEXICO © January 2018, Promexico
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CAPABILITIES IN MEXICO © January 2018, ProMexico Business Intelligence Unit: Marco Erick Espinosa Vincens, Head of Unit Claudia Esteves Cano, Executive Director of Strategy Jose Mariano Moreno Blat, Strategy and Prospective Analysis Coordinator Nevid Meza Rodriguez, Project Consultant (In charge of Project) Luisa Regina Morales Suarez, Economic Information Analyst The purpose of this publication is to map the installed capacities of Mexican forging companies. The information presented here was gathered from public sources as well as from surveys to several Mexican companies. ProMexico accepts no liability for any inaccurate information or content published here. FORGING CAPABILITIES IN MEXICO CAPABILITIES IN MEXICO 1. INTRODUCTION CHARACTERISTICS OF 2. MEXICAN PRODUCTION 3. CAPACITIES MATRIX BUSINESS 4. OPPORTUNITIES 5. FINAL REMARKS DIRECTORY OF 6. MEXICAN COMPANIES CONTENTS 1 1. INTRODUCTION FORGING CAPABILITIES IN MEXICO Forging is one of the oldest metal manufacturing processes in the world. It was originally used to make jewellery, coins, and hand tools. Nowadays, forged parts include automotive components, turbine rotors, gears, lug nuts, valve components, and machine parts, among others. Basically, forging is a manufacturing process used to shape materials, usually steel or aluminium, until the desired shape is obtained without damaging the material’s proper- ties. Given that forging increases the material hardness, yield stress, strength, and tena- city, forged parts are used to manufacture many products that benefit from the parts’ mechanical properties. Forging is one of the main seven metal-mechanic proces- In our efforts, we have identified and selected the sec- ses that, together with stamping, casting, machining, plas- tor’s main companies in Mexico. We have also gathered tic injection moulding, mould-dies, and die-casting, create information on the different forging processes they uti- great opportunities in Mexico. All these processes play an lise, the materials they process, their production infras- important role in the production chain of industries such tructure, their quality assurance tools and certificates, as automotive, car parts, electrical, consumer electronics, their customers, and development plans, among others. and domestic appliances, among others. The materials and processes used in industrial manu- Mexico offers business opportunities in different indus- facturing are paramount as they are key to the streng- tries, as established companies already count quality th, performance, safety, and, especially, the mechanical management, experienced staff, good customer servi- properties of a product. ce, solid infrastructure, and flexible production among their strengths. In recent years, there has been a clear trend in the re- lation between productive processes and the environ- Therefore, ProMexico, seeking to compile support infor- ment. Therefore, having a deep knowledge of Mexico’s mation for potential investors interested in including our forging industry capacities will allow allies and potential country in their productive processes, has set out to outli- investors to make better use of the opportunities avai- ne this sector’s manufacturing capacities in Mexico. lable in our country. CHARACTERISTICS OF 2. THE MEXICAN PRODUCTION FORGING CAPABILITIES IN MEXICO Forging has been done in Mexico for a long time and, The aerospace industry uses a large amount of forged although there are many companies that still forge me- parts, mainly made of very special alloys, which are not tals manually, an increasing number of companies are available in Mexico and would require significant tech- using industrial processes. nological development to produce them. However, com- ponents for engines, landing gear systems, and preci- Currently, most of these companies’ annual production sion-machined parts are being produced in Mexico. This is less than 5,000 tons, but there are also large compa- sector, under-explored by national forging companies, nies with bigger machines and the capacity to manufac- has great potential for development but will also need to ture large-size parts. become NADCAP certified (demanding an unprece- dented cooperation effort in order to guarantee quality There are forging companies in several Mexican states; across the whole aerospace and defence sector while re- however, the highest concentration of manufacturers ducing costs), and AS 9100 certified (the Quality Mana- with the required skills to compete internationally are gement System Standard developed by the International in the states of Mexico, Guanajuato, Nuevo Leon, and Aerospace Quality Group). Queretaro. The Construction industry uses forged parts mainly for Although most of these companies are of Mexican ori- water and gas fittings. Whereas, the agriculture sec- gin, some are foreign, mainly from Japan and Germany. tor utilises machinery that, in turn, contains large numbers of forged parts. Auto parts hold the highest production in terms of vo- lume, as it is one of the world’s most important ma- nufacturing and exporting platforms of automotive ve- hicles. Other industries, such as metal-mechanic, use forged parts for their high-strength components. The traditional energy industry undertakes large-size ope- rations, requiring pipe valves and connectors to exploit new deposits. Likewise, the renewable energy sector requires large, high-strength parts, mainly for wind energy production. These are the most widely used ones by type of product. Main forged products in Mexico (in percentage) Auto parts Screws, rivets, pins Other: blades, rowlocks, block bars, rollers Fittings, flanges, building and oil valves Gears, sprockets, crowns Ironworks Tools Electric parts 0 20 40 60 80 100 Source: Prepared by authors. Note: Some non-auto parts could also be included in this category; such as screws, lug nuts or gears. With regards to certifications, most companies in Mexi- the most commonly used pieces of equipment are me- co are ISO 9001 certified (for quality and quality mana- chanical eccentric presses, hydraulic presses, forging gement); some companies comply with the automotive machines, Pitman arm pullers, and upsetters. standard TS 16949, and only few companies have been certified by the IATF 16949 standard.1 Steel and aluminium are the most commonly used ma- terials. Other materials also used although in smaller Among the most commonly used quality tools, Kaizen’s amounts are copper, brass, and bronze, while only one continuous improvement tool is the most popular one; company uses titanium. In general, materials are trans- followed by Core Tools, and lean manufacturing. ported manually within the plant; although conveyors and forklifts are also used. The use of robots and hand- In regard to sales, although the domestic ling devices in uncommon. market is this sector’s most important target market, its main customers are transnational companies established in Mexico; a clear case of indirect ex- ports. Mexico’s top export destination is the United States, followed distantly by Brazil, Canada, and Colombia. Forging can be classified as cold, hot or warm, according to the temperatures at which it is performed; and most Mexican companies are classi- fied accordingly. Secondary forging processes, such as machining, heat treatment, trimming, and shot blas- 1. The automotive industry standard IATF 16949:2016 is the only glo- ting, are also common bally recognized quality management standard for this sector. It was pu- blished on October 1, 2016 by the International Automotive Task Force in Mexico. The most and replaces one of the automotive industry’s most widely used interna- commonly used hearth tional standard for quality management, the ISO/TS 16949. Therefore, furnaces are powered after October 1, 2017 no ISO/TS 16949:2009 audits can be conduc- ted, and all organizations must have completed their transition to IAFT with natural gas; and 16949:2016 by September 14, 2018.de 2018. Most companies have their own workshops and make and repair their own dies or tooling, which are usually made of steel with different characteristics or steel combined with chrome, nickel, molybdenum, and vanadium alloys. Most tooling manufacturers use Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine tools. In addition, some of these manufactu- rers also use Computer- Aided Design (CAD), Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM), and Computer- Aided Enginee- ring (CAE), electro discharge machining, and heat treatment. The support infrastructure used to test forged parts in- One of the most important achievements is the crea- cludes metrology, mechanical testing, non-destructive tion of an original algorithm; that is to say, a set of sys- testing, and metallographic analysis. Some companies also tematized mathematical operations to calculate grain use saline test chambers, 3D scanning, and laser marking. distribution during casting. As a result, high perfor- mance components, such as aircraft turbine rings, have Manufacturing planning is the most widely used engi- greater homogeneity in their molecules distribution and neering process; followed by tooling design and ma- a better load distribution. nufacture, as well as product development. Transna- tional forging companies generally conduct their own research and development activities at the company’s headquarters. Technological innovation has helped Mexican companies to become LEADING As stated above, there are foreign forging companies es- forged products manufacturers, both tablished in Mexico and, in general,