In the mid–seventies I transferred from a company in Chicago to a maquiladora in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, as an industrial engineer. I had experience working in U.S. American manufacturing operations but not in a management position. Although the plant in Nogales was large, there weren’t many with industry experience—the average age in the plant was in the low twenties. I became one of the leaders almost by default. Within the first three years I was put in charge of industrial engineering, plant and equipment maintenance, security then production. Eventually I left to become a plant manager in another maquiladora.
Japanese industrial management was not in style yet so we had to come up with techniques that didn’t have a name. We just had to figure something out, or we weren’t going to meet our shipping schedule. There were as many theories as there were problems. We tried all kinds of things; some worked, some didn’t. I started to write down the things that did. Many of them are in The Maquiladora Survival Guide.
Getting production out has always been a full time job requiring a team effort. Selecting personnel for the many positions in the plant has been a difficult task in an environment where industry is relatively new. Career paths haven’t always been clearly defined. While some maquiladoras have provided extensive training programs, ambitious individuals have had to find paths on their own; much of The Maquiladora Survival Guide is devoted to such endeavors.
Personal development requires the understanding of the objectives of the company and the responsibilities and functions of the departments that make up the maquiladora. Once the “playing field” is defined the techniques for establishing and reaching individual goals found in the Guide, can be applied.
There are many topics in the Guide that aren’t unique to the maquiladora but needed to be included. These include subjects such as Continuous Flow and Batch processing and Your Resume and Interviewing.
The Maquiladora Survival Guide was originally intended for Mexican executives in the maquiladora industry. U.S. American executives, students of international business and Mexican college students who intend to work in the maquiladora have since indicated an interest in the book. Several government officials in the state of Chihuahua have also stressed the need for bridges between the school and industry. I hope that the Guide will offer there will be something of use here to those individuals as well.
–— Michael Grunsten