Recently, Benchmark had the privilege of welcoming Eric Miscoll, EMSNow Publisher, to our manufacturing facility in Guadalajara. Eric was in the region for SMTA Expo Guadalajara and wanted to get a close and personal look at the manufacturing activity happening in the city. At the conclusion of his trip, Eric wrote an article that covers the state of the industry in this region and provides some of the insights he gained about each of the facilities he visited. We have included a snippet of the article below but we encourage you to read the full article at EMSNow.
While in Guadalajara, I also visited with four global EMS companies with operations in Guadalajara. I saw a great variety of manufacturing styles and platforms on these tours. These are some of the most impressive EMS facilities I have seen in North America:
- All Circuits
- Benchmark
- IMI
- Plexus
Each of these facilities was impressive in a unique way. Several have planned expansions, and will be purchasing new equipment. We discussed their strategies to keep up with the growth, and I found these managers well prepared for the future. I very much appreciated the gracious welcome and the time spent showing me around.
Overall, I learned that relationships with OEMs have gotten stronger and closer through the events of the past few years, i.e. pandemic and supply chain disruptions. What really impressed me was the strong focus on the employees; respect and care for the people seems to be a high priority. Clearly this is likely due to the intense competition for skilled labor, but it is also a recognition that higher salaries are not the only thing of value to workers. A positive and engaging work culture is crucial.
