Dometic settles its first plant in Nuevo Leon

The Swedish company Dometic, a global leader in the mobility market and solutions for the food, beverages, climate, energy, control, security, protection, and hygiene sectors, opened its new plant in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon.

The facilities are located at the American Industries Park in the highway to Dulces Nombres; several air conditioning models will be produced specially for recreational vehicles (RV,) which are exported to the United States.

The plant has 14,932 square meters of extension which will house 300 employees, who will perform a complete assembling process of the products. It is the first plant of the growth strategy of Dometic in Mexico.

Juan Vargues, CEO of Dometic, said at the opening that the Swedish company is seeking to increase the industrial development in the entity thanks to the production of different kinds of air conditioning.

Dometic operates in the Americas, EMEA, and Pacific Asia, and has 30 production centers in 12 countries. The company also offers products used on recreational vehicles, trucks, premium automobiles, recreational boats, work and other variety of uses.

Ivett Eguia, plant manager of Dometic in Apodaca, said that at the moment the entire product they are receiving for production is from China, but they are already working in finding local suppliers.

“There is a competitive advantage in importing products from China, but in operation, terms are much better for us to have local suppliers. We have participated in business meetings events such as the one of CLELAC to look for a way of having suppliers closer to us,” she explained.

The manager added that 100 % of the production is directly exported to the United States, where they cover the American market; besides, she added that for now, they will be producing about one thousand pieces per shift in one line, expecting to increase the digit and hire more employees.

Regarding the reason why the company decided to settle in Nuevo Leon, Ivett Eguia explained that one of the main reasons is the border proximity, as producing in Nuevo Leon provides them the logistics advantage of exporting to the United States in only seven days.

“Another important reason is talent. It is simpler to have qualified talent at an operative and administrative level here. The best schools and universities in the country are in Nuevo Leon and that was another reason that encouraged Dometic to open their plant in the State,” she noted.

For now, the plant still does not have special certifications, although their goal is to be ISO certified this and next year.

“Regarding environmental matters, we also have started to make some efforts.  Initially, our operators did not use straws nor any other kind of disposables in the entire plant,” she explained.

Dometic has a customers’ base with thousands of OEMs, retailers, and distributors worldwide. They have number one or two positions in 80 % of their market niches and their products are sold in more than 100 countries.

Highlighting the arrival of foreign investment

Meanwhile, the state governor, Jaime Rodriguez Calderon, was also present in the opening, where he underlined the importance of providing certainty to foreign companies to promote investment and encourage the industrial development of the entity.

“We are the machine pulling the train, although the train is heavier. Nuevo Leon has managed to go forward by attracting confidence, making those visiting us say that here is a good place to invest,” said the governor.

The state official added that thanks to job generation, with the arrival of important companies like Dometic, Nuevo Leon consolidated as the state with less extreme poverty in the country and one of the first ones in foreign investment arrival.

Cesar Garza Villarreal, mayor of Apodaca, expressed his satisfaction for Dometic arrival to the municipality and underlined that Apodaca has become one of the important industrial poles in the country, as it continuously receives investments of new world-class manufacturing companies.

“I welcomed Dometic on behalf of our municipality.  Apodaca has become the fourth most important industrial location in the country and we have very high competitiveness and productivity levels respected in the entire American continent. Currently, we have the presence of more than 1,400 international companies,” he noted.

Home Appliances Sector

Eduardo Elizondo Williams, president of the Home Appliances Cluster Nuevo Leon, underlined the importance of the arrival of new companies and assured that the state continues to be a leader in the production and export of products in the sector.

“Exportations are stronger. The market is stable in general with a little growth, we see it is going well. We continue growing at a path near 5 % per year and regarding exports in-home, appliances are reaching 90 %. It is the strongest sector in Nuevo Leon with a production level of about 40 % of the national level, followed by Queretaro with 20 %,” he ended.