Mexico is continuing to move forward with its “Go Green” movement by implementing solar panels throughout public schools. Mexico has made tremendous progress with attracting solar companies to manufacturing in Mexico strides and now the country is focusing on renewable energy and its relationship with education and other public forums.  The Mexican Congress has recently approved amendments where the renewable energy bill will help further the installation of solar panels within [...]

Effective December 01, 2012, Mexico’s Federal Labor Law (FLL) underwent the most comprehensive reform in over 40 years.  Many of the new laws will impact companies manufacturing in Mexico, especially those who are uninformed and/or unprepared to address the more than 300 changes in the decree.  Below are three key changes employers can expect under the new decree. Outsourcing The reform heightens the regulations on employee outsourcing (subcontracting) with potentially [...]

Mexico Maquiladoras  The maquiladoras (IMMEX Program) in Mexico are manufacturing plants in free trade zones. Mexico manufacturing is impacted by maquiladoras in that maquiladoras are mostly tariff-free and domestically tax-exempt assembly, processing and manufacturing plants. In terms of manufacturing in Mexico, nearly 1.5 million Mexican workers are employed in Mexico's 3,000 maquiladoras. The IMMEX (maquiladora) program continues to expand and contribute to significant growth throughout the country, especially now that manufacturers are moving operations back to [...]

A new proposition may enable drivers who are crossing the US-Mexico border to be offered a special California drivers license to speed up the border crossing process, while maintaining security for both nations. This new proposition could be extremely beneficial for the numerous employees who manufacture in Mexico. California would be the first state to occupy this new license, if the proposition goes through, for the southwest states. This "enhanced [...]

Mexico's outsourcing sector hit a high in November for the second consecutive month, giving the economy a boost as it moves towards year end. This also provides economic stimulation in regards to manufacturing in Mexico. November's "HSBC Mexico Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 55.6, it's highest since June." These results are providing manufacturers with a sense of assurance, suggesting that mexico manufacturing activity will continue to grow at a [...]

Cargo carried across the border from Mexico into the United States will soon be inspected by officials south of the border, affecting various consumers and companies manufacturing in Mexico. Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's ambassador to the United States, describes this as a way to decrease waiting time at the border for cargo companies who are approved for the program. The U.S. Mexico border is the busiest border crossing in the world, [...]

The thriving automotive industry in Mexico stands out as a success story amidst the torrent of doom and gloom news surrounding the world economy. With several automakers planning to either begin or expand their operations, the future of automotive manufacturing in Mexico looks primed to continue growing substantially. J.D. Power, an automotive consulting firm, estimates, in all, that auto production will grow by a third over the next six years [...]

Packaging in Mexico is a current trend in supply chain management, which allows businesses to circumvent trade taxes and utilize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to its fullest. As a result, operations are much more efficient, and production is much more flexible. Not only is production better able to respond to changing market conditions, but also cost savings are a value-added benefit, which helps company’s improve their bottom [...]

NAPS was featured in the article “As China’s Wages Climb, Mexico Stands to Win New Manufacturing Business”, written by Tim Johnson, Mexico Bureau Chief of the McClatchy Newspapers. There was a time where China was much more competitive than Mexico. Companies turned to China for low cost manufacturing, while shipping or other logistics costs were not an issue since the labor cost was so much lower than anywhere else in [...]