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Courtesy
COURTESY
of Ayuntamiento
OF SOUTHWEST
de Ciudad
UNITEDJuárez
GALNIK
A Modern Aerospace
Agreement
By jesús estrada cortés
US company Southwest United Industries and Mexican company
Galnik have launched a new business: the result of a joint venture
to strengthen Mexico’s aerospace industry supply chain.
M
exico is positioning itself as one
of the main runways for the international aerospace industry,
benefitting on one hand with
the landing of multinational companies and
on the other with the takeoff of a Mexican industry, highly trained to service the demand
of the international market. On the runway,
the bond between producers and suppliers is
strengthened by the creation of a solid supply
chain. And it is in this last aspect where the importance and the uniqueness of the firm Southwest United Galnik lies.
“We’ve created the first aerospace joint venture between a company from the US and a
company from Mexico,” states Renato Villaseñor Mendoza, Operations Manager for Galnik.
The importance of this agreement resides
not only in its avant-garde nature but also in the
gates it will be opening for the development of
the aerospace industry in Mexico. Villaseñor
explains that, on some occasions, large international companies establish themselves in the
country, generating their own local supply chain,
while others, generally medium-sized international companies, those that supply the giants,
have a more limited capability to develop their
own local suppliers.
Hence, the importance of the agreement
signed in July 2009 by the American company
Southwest United and the Mexican company
Galnik - the creation of the first Mexican company dedicated to the manufacturing of special
processes to satisfy the growing needs of the
aerospace cluster in the country.
The Actors
In 1988, Sergio Villaseñor established Galnik.
For more than 22 years the firm has maintained
steady growth, to the point of becoming a renowned leading plating supplier for the automotive, appliances, manufacturing and electrical sectors in the Bajío region (central part of Mexico).
As for Southwest United Industries, it is a
leading aerospace processing company, providing
processing services to all major aerospace and
defense contractors. It was established by W.A.
Emery in 1953. For nearly 60 years Southwest
United Industries has grown to include locations
in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Gardena, California and Brampton and Concord,
Ontario, Canada.
MEXICO’S PARTNER SOUTHWEST UNITED GALNIK
The Process
As a result of the agreement, Southwest United
Industries has established, for the first time in its
history, a production plant in joint venture. “The
plant here is being established from scratch.
What we are doing is combining the experience
of the American company in the aerospace sector with the experience of the Mexican company in the plating business for a wide range of
industrial sectors, in addition to its knowledge of
the legal and regulatory framework in Mexico,”
explains Renato Villaseñor.
Villaseñor remembers that in September
2008 an announcement was made stating
that both organizations had decided to create
an alliance in order to establish a manufacturing plant in the state of Querétaro (central
Mexico). “By July 2009 we already had an
agreement to create the company and on August 19th of that same year we formally signed
the official charter to create Southwest United Galnik,” says Villaseñor.
From that moment on, they began working to set up the production plant, a process
that was completed between September and
October 2010.
The facility measures 1,600 square meters and in its first stage generated 25 highvalue jobs. “An added-value characteristic of
the plant is that the special chemical process
is fully automated. That is important since it
represents contributions Galnik has made to
the new company as part of its experience
and assets in manufacturing production lines
and its automation,” notes Villaseñor, who
also explains that in the aerospace industry
the automation of production lines is uncommon. Thus, Southwest United Galnik has in its
hands “a process that is reliable, competitive
and customer-oriented.”
One of the characteristics of special processing in the aerospace industry is that in
addition to having to comply with the AS
9100 certification that applies to this specific
sector, it also has to be accredited by Nadcap
(the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program), a certification issued by SAE (Society of Automotive
Engineers).
The company has already initiated the Nadcap
certification process and expects to obtain the accreditation by the end of 2010.
The Perspectives
After its first stage in which nearly 2 million usd
were invested, the company has started to study
two more phases for the manufacturing plant:
thermal spray processes that are frequently
used in the aerospace sector as well as special
applications and coatings.
Southwest United Galnik has already had
talks with several of the main aerospace companies in order to establish partnerships and do
business, with Bombardier, Eaton, Honeywell
and Kuo, among others.
“We have decided to invest in this sector because
we are very confident that it will develop in an interesting and rapid way,” states Villaseñor.
His optimism is based, partly, on the fact that
many of the most important companies in the
sector are announcing up to a 20% increase in
production, which in turn will spread throughout the rest of the supply chain. On the other
hand, “I think that what the federal government
is doing in order to promote the development of
this sector is important. We are confident that it
will grow rapidly,” asserts Villaseñor.
As to the strengths Mexico has in the aerospace
sector, Villaseñor points out the presence of a “quite
well trained and specialized manpower” which is
passed on to the companies’ capabilities.
“Another important advantage is that we find
ourselves in the Nafta [North American Free Trade
Agreement]/dollar region, where most of the main
manufacturers are present,” declares Villaseñor.
Villaseñor feels that two trends are developing
in parallel in Mexico. “Firstly, there are companies
migrating from the automotive industry to the aerospace sector, one example of that is Kuo–Aerospace
Division, a Mexican group very strong in the automotive sector that is now emigrating. And secondly,
we have these joint venture experiences, which I
trust will help convince more businessmen to establish these types of agreements, with benefits for
both parties, so that they may combine and add experience and knowledge.” n
www.swunitedgalnik.com.mx
Southwest
United Galnik
Timeline
July 2009
Galnik and Southwest United Industries sign an agreement to create a new company in Mexico.
October 2009
Southwest United Galnik is officially and legally established.
December 2009
The official design of the facilities
is published and in February 2010
the final design is concluded with
data from potential clients and
suppliers.
March 2010
The first employee, Eduardo A.
Castillo, is hired as Quality Engineering Manager.
April 2010
Offices are inaugurated at the new
facilities.
May – July 2010
Installation of machinery and processes in the manufacturing plant.
August 2010
The processing is set in motion and
the first tests are carried out in
the plant, in addition to personnel
training.
October 2010
The fully automated chemical processes are launched.
November 2010
Audit for the AS 9100 certification.
December 2010
Audit for the Nadcap certification.