Search results

Assesses the quality management systems of the maquiladoras in the Tijuana region of Mexico. Maquiladoras are manufacturing plants set up by foreign companies in the border zone of North Mexico to produce finished goods for export. Information was gathered by survey from companies representing the Pacific Rim, Europe, the USA and Mexico, and from different manufacturing sectors. The survey addressed quality management system certification, quality data collection and analysis, total quality management (TQM) and statistical process control (SPC) implementation, teamwork, communication and training practices, as well as suppliers certification requirements. The results showed that the majority of the responding maquiladoras generally have a decent quality management system, over half indicated that they have a certified quality system, and a large percentage reported utilizing teamwork for problem solving and many SPC charts such as Pareto and control charts. The maquiladoras are creating “quality culture” in Mexico’s manufacturing systems based on the principles TQM. This could be instrumental in transforming Mexico’s manufacturing from being known as a “cheap labor” provider into becoming a global manufacturing power.

The maquiladora program is an important part of the economy in North America. A significant share of intra‐industry trade has been generated between the USA and Mexico. The imports and exports from maquiladoras to the USA continue to grow under NAFTA. However, non‐maquiladora sectors are growing at a faster pace. Non‐US foreign direct investment, particularly from Asian and European companies, is a current trend in maquiladoras. A cluster concept is now developed among new maquiladoras from Asia and Europe to remain competitive in an increasingly price‐sensitive market, to maintain consistent quality standards in a high‐volume environment, and to fulfill the NAFTA’s rules of origin provision. Maquiladora production is now shifting from lower‐skilled, labor‐intensive assembly to advanced production technologies. Obstacles still remain in Mexico’s infrastructure and regulations to its market. There are some debates on the future of maquiladoras after January 1, 2001, the theoretical expiration date of maquiladoras. However, the complementarity of the US and Mexican economies should nonetheless sustain incentives for production sharing and sourcing.

Although maquiladoras create needed jobs in Mexico which help the country economically, they also appear to create problems in terms of the infrastructure, waste pollution, and Mexican family traditional roles. Unless addressed, these problems wilt continue to grow, and might eventually curtail the expansion of maquilas in Mexico. There are important lessons to be learned from these issues. Maquiladoras managers would be wise to promote the orderly planning and development of the infrastructure in the cities in which they operate, they would be wise to dispose properly of their waste materials, and they would be wise to study the changes they are creating among Mexican family traditions.

The goal of this study is to further the existing understanding of the diverging pollution prevention and occupational and safety practices undertaken in the Mexican maquiladora industry in order to promote the creation of a sustainable production system.

This study explores in detail the occupational health, safety and environmental practices performed by six electronic maquiladoras located in the State of Sonora, Mexico. The OSHA's program evaluation profile (PEP) and cleaner production and pollution prevention and worker surveys were the instruments used for collecting information. All instruments were complemented with short interviews and walkthroughs in the production lines.

Evidences from this study suggest that today's trends in maquiladoras production patterns continue to go in an unsustainable direction because of the lack of good environmental and occupational and safety practices.

This study reveals the most telling and significant sustainability themes associated to the maquiladora industry that holds the exciting potential of protecting the environment and labor and strengthening economic growth through more efficient and sustainable production.

Sustainability production is an issue that is often neglected into the actual stock of published material about maquiladoras. This study fills this gap through a broad structural approach that takes into account economic, social, and environment aspects as a way to helping the adoption of sustainability practices in the maquiladora industry.

Maquiladora operations have become increasingly popular during the past 10 years. The driving force behind this popularity has been the dramatic devaluation of the Mexican peso, which has made Mexican labour among the lowest cost in the world. However to take full advantage of maquiladora operations additional logistics costs are incurred in supporting the Mexican production/assembly facilities. The logistics/manufacturing cost trade‐offs inherent in maquiladora operations are explored empirically. While logistics costs were found to increase and logistics performance decreased, most of the firms involved in maquiladora operations considered their operations to be highly successful based on product cost savings.

Among the problems of the in‐bond (maquiladora) assembly plants in Mexico, voluntary turnover is a complex phenomenon, difficult to assess and solve. Although caused by several factors, previous research has demonstrated that social, labour, organizational and cultural variables are closely linked to the turnover problem. To study the strategies that managers use to retain workers in their companies in the USA and how they apply those strategies to subsidiaries in Mexico, selects 13 multinationals with headquarters in north east Ohio and plant operations in Mexico and interviews were conducted with human resources top executives. Finds that each one of the companies has adapted and implemented similar policies consistent with the factors previously identified. On balance, it appears that US multinationals are beginning to address this voluntary turnover problem effectively.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of cyclical and structural factors on the decline of maquiladora employment. In addition to the US industrial production, the cyclical factors examined are relative Mexican US wages, the Mexican exchange rate relative to the US, and US foreign direct investment (FDI). The paper also explores the effect of competition from China, a structural effect, on the decline of maquiladora employment.

A vector error correction (VEC) model of maquila employment for the period 1980‐2002 is estimated and controlled for US industrial production, FDI flows, relative wage rates of Mexico and USA. To empirically investigate the structural differences of lower costs in Mexico vs China a seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) is estimated across three sectors: apparel and textile, electronic, and transportation.

From the VEC maquila employment model it is found that, in addition to the strong effect of US industrial production on the maquila employment, there exist significant short‐ and long‐run effects of Mexico US exchange rate and Mexican wages relative to USA on maquila employment. The sectoral (SUR) model shows that competition from China has a bigger adverse effect on relatively labor‐intensive good and commodities which are cheaper to transport (such as textiles) over more bulky transportation goods. The transportation sector has a location advantage, though is more sensitive to the cyclical fluctuations in the US industrial production.

Future research should investigate the role of USA and world FDI exclusively into Mexico and maquiladora sector.

Well designed controls, output choice, and location advantage are important for the growth and viability of small scale manufacturing industries.

The VEC model for maquila employment and the SUR framework across main maquila sectors is the first to account for wages, exchange rate, and FDI in addition to the US industrial production in understanding the decline in maquiladora employment.

This study aims to report on the current issues facing the maquiladora industry in Mexico and the cross‐border supply chain and to present suggestions for improving the situation in the future.

Phenomenological interviews were conducted with managers overseeing various aspects of the cross‐border supply chain. The resulting data were analyzed using a grounded theory methodology to uncover theoretical linkages.

The results of this study show that maquiladoras experience many of the same problems as other companies in terms of managing the cross‐border supply chain. Key factors such as distance, comparative advantage, and integration of the workforce cause problems everyday for the managers involved.

This was an exploratory investigation of the issues with a small number of informants and future research needs to be done to gain additional insights. As North American Free Trade Agreement enters its second decade, and the focus on global supply chain efficiency becomes primary for all manufacturers, solving the problems discussed in this paper becomes even more paramount.

In addition to low‐cost manufacturing, distance and integration are critical issues for companies to understand in their pursuit of a low‐cost strategy for competitive advantage.

The major contribution of this paper has been an improved understanding of the impediments to success in the Mexican maquiladoras. Many of the issues discussed in this paper would also apply to other global supply chains and numerous other countries.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the deepening understanding of the diverging pollution prevention (PP) and occupational and safety practices undertaken in the Mexican maquiladora industry.

This study was outlined by a modified version of the PP Program based on a continuous improvement cycle, which identifies areas of opportunity and then, proposes ideas for solving problems. This study was carried out based merely on a quantitative approach. However, when this was not possible, parameters were determined under a qualitative or semi-quantitative approach.

Findings in this study have proven that Cleaner Production and Pollution Prevention (CP&PP) programs are successful to obtain not only environmental but also occupational benefits at the same time; therefore, they should not be seem only as an environmental tool but as a sustainability tool that have the potential to make possible the creation of a sustainable production system in the maquiladora industry where products and processes, and operations are designed to be not risky for Mexican workers, communities, and environment.

The study revealed empirical environmental and occupational practices that took place in nine maquiladoras located in the Northwest of Mexico and analyzes how these practices affect Mexican workers in this industry and their environment.

The study evaluated the feasibility and usefulness of CP&PP programs in the maquiladora industry under an integrative approach that takes into account environmental and occupational aspect in order to understand how this industry is changing their production patterns toward sustainability.

The maquiladora industry is a manufacturing system that utilizes the Mexican workforce and foreign investment and technology on the border region between the USA and Mexico. This study seeks to explore managerial support and employee involvement as well as quality processes (internal enablers) and supplier selection criteria (external factors) in the maquiladora industry with respect to ISO 9000 certification.

The enablers of ISO certification were studied through a survey instrument and extensive field interviews with experts of maquiladora plants in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. Based on a 78 percent response rate (171 usable questionnaires) and 11 in‐depth interviews of quality experts in eight industries, statistical analyses including reliability and validity analyses, factor analyses, tests of hypothesis, and ANOVA were performed.

The four hypotheses developed were verified. Based on the analyses, ISO‐certified companies exemplified better and longer‐term relationships with main/core suppliers, greater top managerial support and employee involvement and communication, and more effective quality processes than those of non ISO‐certified companies.

The results of the study could assist maquiladoras to improve their internal and external enablers in order to have a better chance of achieving ISO certification. Likewise, the headquarters of the maquiladoras could benefit from the identification and recognition of these internal and external enablers.

The quality of products manufactured in maquiladoras should be congruent with the parts and products produced in their headquarters. The paper addresses the role and importance of ISO certification for both maquiladoras and their headquarters. The headquarters could provide the necessary support and resources for achievement or ISO certification in maquiladoras.