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moldmakingtechnology.com 25 simple, four-cavity molds and some are larger, more com- plex unwinding stack molds with in-mold closing. Cockrell says that Fairway has shipped many two- and three-shot, high-cavitation molds to Mexico as well. "Fairway has long supported our U.S.-based customers that have operations in Mexico, but other opportunities have opened up over the years through networking, and because our existing key con- tacts relocated to new companies," he says. "Roughly 35 percent of our shipped work orders end up in Mexico to mold products for local consumption and for export to global markets." Fairway Injection Molds provides all sales and support services for the molds it exports to Mexico from its Walnut facility. The company has sales people, moldmakers and mold processing technicians who are fluent in Spanish, which has proven to be very helpful. Cockrell says there have been a few challenges. "We had to overcome the language barrier, which we have been proactive in solving by adding Spanish-speaking team members, but worker training is still an issue. For example, we had a couple of our moldmakers in a customer facility for mold start-up and training. They observed toolroom workers who poten- tially were causing damage to mold inserts during a mold PM. Apprentice moldmakers learn to use soft hammers and not steel hammers, to use brass or aluminum drifts instead of steel, to not wipe polished molding surfaces with dirty rags, etc. Our moldmakers discovered that their toolroom staff consisted of temporary workers who were rotated out after six months. Our moldmakers spent a little extra time showing their workers proper techniques, and we shared our concerns with company management. The company manage- ment eventually trained and retained full-time workers, but I'm sure they have the same struggles in Mexico to find qualified people that we have in the United States." Similarly, Ameritech Die and Mold (Mooresville, North Carolina) has been build- ing molds for produc- tion in Mexico since agreeing to supply a Tier 1 automotive customer that opened a plant there in 2005. Steve Rotman, president, says his company has shipped as much as 20 per- cent of its U.S.-built molds over the border, and all of them are for producing automotive parts that will be used locally and globally. Mold maintenance and repair occurs either at the Mexico customer's facility or with a nearby vendor, and usually Ameritech can ship spare parts if damage is severe. As with Fairway Injection Molds, the language barrier ini- tially challenged Ameritech's ability to do business in Mexico, but Rotman says that has improved greatly in recent years. International business inspired many locals to learn English, plus English-speaking transplants are becoming more com- monplace. Current challenges exist mainly with vetting cus- tomers and managing shipping and logistics. "We typically quote free on board (FOB) Mooresville, meaning all shipping costs are the responsibility of the customer from our dock forward," he says. There are freight-forwarding firms on the border with which a company could establish a contract to ensure safe and on-time delivery of molds once they are built, but Ameritech has not had any reason to set up a relationship like that. "Our customers already have their own methodolo- gies and contacts with whom they ship." Rotman says he believes that with the right business model, there are strong opportunities for moldmakers to do business in Mexico. "It's important to do business with estab- lished, successful, global companies that are well organized and staffed," he says, noting that these types of companies typically follow the general business model that U.S. compa- nies recognize and therefore are easier to vet. "We have had great relationships with the Mexican management teams we have worked with," Rotman says. Canadian Moldmakers Establish a Presence in Mexico It was easier to locate Canadian mold shops that have mold manufacturing facilities in Mexico. For example, Integrity Tool and Mold (Windsor, Ontario) established its first facil- ity in Queretaro in October 2012 to provide engineering changes, repairs and maintenance for molds that its Ontario, Canada, and Pulaski, Tennessee, plants made for use in Mexico. Wayne McLaughlin, plant manager in Mexico, says, "We started building new molds here in 2013 and today, 70 percent of our revenue in Mexico is generated from new molds. The value for our customers comes from knowing that the molds we build here will be supported here." Integrity specializes in building molds mainly for automo- tive products, including lighting, under-hood, interior trim and exterior parts. McLaughlin says that 99 percent of the molds built in Mexico are for Tier 1 automotive customers like Flex N Gate, Magna, Valeo, ABC Group, Hella, Faurecia and others. "We recognized the automotive growth potential for Mexico," he says. "GM, Ford, FCA, Audi, Mercedes, BMW and other automakers we work with are comfortable having access to our capabilities in Mexico." But it wasn't a matter of simply erecting a building and buying a few CNC machines, he says. "They were okay with us providing local support for the molds that we built and sent to Mexico, but it was a dif- ferent situation when it came to us designing and building new molds here. We had to prove to them, with world-class quality and on-time delivery, that we could meet their needs like we do in Canada and the United States. Once we did, our percentage of new builds in Mexico increased 70 percent." Integrity's first facility in Mexico had 20,000 square feet, It's important to do business with established, successful, global companies that are well organized and staffed.