Leaders and the Nearshoring Opportunity.

In the last months of 2022, there was an increasing mention of "nearshoring." With that, the opportunities for Mexico also began to emerge.

I have been thinking about  what leaders in the companies that are already located in Mexico should do  to convince any new arrivals that we can supply them and what we should be doing on a  daily basis to make our company more attractive  so we can take advantage of whoever is looking for a supply of products or services from a company already located here to  become a supplier for these "seekers." Here are my reflections on this topic.

The leader of a company must ask himself: How should my company appear to potential customers who are already looking for a supplier of products and/or services in Mexico, due to the nearshoring?

I propose at least six tasks that leaders should be promoting today:

1. Have a full understanding of what customers want.

-Know what the client wants in the market segment to which it belongs, being clear about their needs, but also in which situations my product or service can generate greater satisfaction.

- Show you have costs under such control that your  price can compete very closely with what the potential client is paying today.

- Show periodic evaluations carried out by your company to define if the client is satisfied with your product or service provided.

- Show you have the "voice of the client" on the floor; that is to say that at the levels of the operation and all the personnel in the company know the opinion of the client, whether a client has experienced problems, defects or bad service from our company , but also when the company has received congratulations or positive recognition. That is the voice of the client on the floor.

- Show  evidence of collaboration with customers, in the development of prototypes or the solution of problems that a client has requested and that you solved or helped to solve.

2.  Show the company as a creator of innovations.

- A clear task for  a leader is to be innovating, as this shows that he challenges the current way of doing things, as James Kouzes & Barry Posner say in their book The Leadership Challenge. It is very good to show the innovations, in processes and products, that have been achieved over time.

-It will be important to highlight the manufacturing lines available in the company, since they will demonstrate the best practices of lean manufacturing or world-class manufacturing available.

-If you already have automation or robotization in the plant, this can be an important opportunity, as even the fallibility of producing or changing models efficiently, perhaps under the SMED system, could be a good sign for potential customers.

-Demonstrate  the training received by  our staff, and if we can demonstrate that our staff is  multiskilled it will be very valuable as that gives confidence to our visitors and potential clients.

3 Show the controls in three key areas: Quality, Maintenance and Production.

- The attractiveness of any company is that it can handle  JIT (Just in Time) to supply customers. Managing low inventories significantly supports this LEAN or world-class manufacturing model. Tyy to demonstrate it.

-If you use packaging for your customers, emphasize the care of the parts and above all that it has been designed to maintain the quality of the product.

-If you have online process controls, let the potential client know that and show the ability of your processes with the CPk in the manufacturing process.

-Show histories and trends or KIP for improvement processes in machine tools, tooling and product improvement as well as its reflection in costs, since this is a way to compete in lean manufacturing.

-Use current clients to show the efficiency of logistics and its costs for national or export transportation.

4.- Service with Sensitivity

- Advanced Technical Information is a task that is handled through the updating of specifications, plans, manuals and customer information in our hands as suppliers.

-Management of ABC Spare Parts in the plant. One way to not fail in customer service is to maintain spare parts — critical A, desirable B and remote C — for use in your application depending on the failures that occur.

-Explicit and clear guarantees about the responsibilities we have about the product and/or services, since this generates trust.

     - Immediate attention to complaints: A serious and agile company must show this control, since this type of response generates a great deal of confidence, but there must be evidence that shows these controls and records.

-Have data on the performance of the product at the client's house or in the field according to the application, since this makes us act quickly if a situation arises.

5.-Ensuring minimal operational problems.

-Operate with the necessary certifications. There are many clients who request certain certifications reflecting international standards as a rule. It is important to have them available .

-Superior Quality. An issue that is not negotiable is quality. We must show that we have processes whose CPK is greater than 2 and that we maintain field claims with rates of less than 5 PPM (Parts Per Million)

-Perfect supply to customers, management of the product mix and timing so that if there is a JIT situation, there will be no problem.

-Positive reaction to program changes, due to customer, market and other variables. Changes in programming happen daily, so welcome them with a positive attitude and resolve any issues quickly.

These are the tasks that  leaders must complete to conquer the client, take advantage of the potential of nearshoring and grow. But if, for some reason, your company does not have this possibility,, take these  as a challenge to install, develop or start doing right now as a Manual to Operate or a Guide to Improve.

Because this is how leaders make extraordinary things happen. Leaders use these practices to turn great challenges into remarkable successes.