During 2024, the surface finishing industry-maintained a pace of strengthening in Mexico, which, during 2025, will be reflected in the operations of Mexican companies that have invested heavily in their infrastructure and that will be the benchmark anchors that invite international markets to recharge in our country to manufacture their products.
The last 14 months have shown a duality in using companies' installed capacity in surface finishing processes. Some have shown an increase and saturation, while others have shown a decline and untapped capacity.
The impact of vertical integration has been evident for parts coating maquiladoras, as well as the decrease in demand for services due to the reduction of production peaks of their customers.
The surface finishing industry in Mexico continues without a clear identity due to the lack of complex data that synthesizes the behavior of the processes of this specialty in the domestic market and compares them with those in the international market.
Investment in market research is required, although, if at any given time it were to occur, in Mexico, there is a very evident apathy on the part of the industry players to participate by sharing information for fear that the results will be a brutal awakening to possible current optimistic perceptions, or that the comparison will work against them beyond seeking to obtain a measurement of the possible scenarios.
Good expectations
Like others in Mexico, this industry has experienced a growth in the demand for its services and processes, along with the development of the pie of its sector, due to the arrival of companies to the country and the increase in the installed capacity of those already established.
The installation and start-up of new and relocated surface finishing lines, which will happen during 2025, are highly anticipated. This will positively impact Mexico's perception in some international markets, as the technology involved is more advanced than the current one in traditional design equipment. This will significantly influence the factor that allows Mexico to attract world-class international customers.
Mexico has always stood out for its exceptional customer service, which is characterized by anticipating the user's needs and staying aware. This is a perfect ingredient that many companies have been combining with state-of-the-art technology, placing them at an unprecedented level of international competitiveness.
The industry in Mexico has been strengthened with the presence of premium brand suppliers established in the country, combining the best-of-origin engineering with Mexican human capital, benefiting operations in their constant effort to optimize production capacity while seeking to maximize the quality of the final products.
The growth in the level of the industry in Mexico is tangible, palpable in the constant practice of exceeding expectations in compliance with process and quality standards, guidelines that have become a work style transformed into a norm for most companies, leaving in the past the conformism of complying only with the minimum necessary.
The tightening of labor and environmental regulations in Mexico has played an essential role in the intangible value that companies imprint on the industry by collaborating with the government to operate within a fair regulatory framework that allows a national comparison with developed countries and regulations that have been eliminating bad practices and abuses. Mexican workers and communities benefit the most.
Transnational companies and investments that arrive in the country, among many other factors, evaluate these aspects for their operations and those of their national suppliers. They maintain the same point of reference in all the countries in which they are supplied and seek to engage with compliance and promotion of the industry and communities. The supply chain in Mexico must be consistent with global practices and standards.
World-Class Practices
Technical education and training have found momentum thanks to the chambers, initiatives, and national and international associations that shelter the country, all seeking to meet specific needs and high specialization, complementing the efforts of higher education institutions in basic academic training with practical training.
Operational and corporate strategy positions continue to bridge the gap in their communication for the benefit of companies, allowing work plans to be better aligned with the needs of the value chain and sending a message of congruence in the industry's reliability.
The importance of world-class practices in surface finishing operations has allowed the increase in supply, as well as the growth of the industry itself, whether in companies specialized in surface finishing services for third parties, including vertically integrated companies, creating a value that allows Mexico to remain on par and current within the tremendous North American trade project, combining it with the United States and Canada, attracting to the country opportunities for expansion in finishing processes, offering products with protection and aesthetics of the highest quality.
The economy in North America evolves, and Mexico keeps pace.
Economic policy in North America is going through moments of adjustment, which will be carefully overcome by Mexican companies leveraged by the momentum they have been experiencing for a couple of years and that, strategically, they have kept moving and channeled by the constant efforts of specialized technical preparation, both in companies and by individuals, for the migration/updating of traditional infrastructure towards modern technologies and innovations. And the timely adoption of regulations allows the country to operate within a disciplined framework and protect its workers.
Each industry has its rhythm, and each company sets its work plan. Still, only those who seek to operate under a world-class scheme are the ones who manage to navigate the current evolution of economic interaction between countries and manage to control their narrative by embracing the reality that the most successful companies are those that excel at innovating and with high-level characteristics. And not those that are steps behind adapting to changes.
The difference between "selling big today" and "selling all year round" lies in a world-class organizational culture. The difference between a floating and thriving industry lies in the collaboration between its members for the latter's benefit, all under a world-class culture of thinking. The surface finishing industry in Mexico is on the right track. It has shown signs of moving in this direction, driven, in large part, by the transnational companies that make it up, and beginning to echo in smaller companies when they understand that world-class is not a procedure or a standard; it is a lifestyle and work.