September 19, 2013 – Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
Senior Flexonics is pleased to announce that they have expanded North American operations into Mexico. The city of Saltillo was selected because the region offered highly-skilled engineers, technicians and production employees. The area also boasts a positive business climate and an established supply base. From this new facility, Senior Flexonics will be the only Mexican based supplier of “completed” hydro-formed bellow assemblies, uniquely positioning the company to serve the on and off-highway diesel and automotive Tier 1 suppliers and OEM’s currently manufacturing in Mexico and throughout North America.
According to Jim Melia, Business Unit Director, “We learned that we needed to be closer to our client’s facilities to promote better efficiencies and collaboration with these customers. As a global company that thinks regionally, Senior Flexonics has already implemented these LEAN principles in Europe and Asia with great success. Applying LEAN methodologies has provided us with a better understanding that there are many key areas of waste to consider including Transportation, Inventory and Waiting, to name a few. When we compared the cost of Defects, Overproduction, Transportation and the inconvenience of extended lead times associated with procuring parts from faraway places, it led us to the decision that Mexico, our neighbor in the region, was the best overall solution for Senior Flexonics to serve our North American customer base.”
As next-generation products are launched, a close working relationship will continue between design engineering at our Bartlett, IL (near Chicago) location and manufacturing engineering at both facilities. The APQP development process will be shared and both facilitates can easily transfer responsibilities between sites. To promote internal collaboration, Senior Flexonics’ production team members will be travelling between sites for training and assistance in setting up new production cells in Saltillo. Also, the fresh eyes of the talented engineering staff in Saltillo have introduced productivity and quality improvements to the processes that have also been integrated into similar processes back at the Bartlett, IL facility.
About Senior Flexonics:
Senior Flexonics is a company dedicated to innovation. We strive to listen to our customers, develop unique product solutions, meet commitments, and build strong customer relationships. Development of new and better products for Tier 4 applications and tighter emission standards globally will continue in Bartlett, IL. Our engineering center there supports development and validation of next generation bellows incorporating proprietary insulation approaches and patented design solutions to ensure long term reliability, as well as EGR Coolers and Diesel Fuel Systems. Our desire for operational excellence is derived from respect, trust and a continuous desire to improve. The addition of our facility in Saltillo will allow us to extend that goal to an additional location while providing our customers with the benefit of logistical savings and reduced inventory investment.
For more information contact:
Jim Melia
Business Unit Director
Email: jmelia@seniorflexonics.com