Prolamsa has its largest and most modern plant in Escobedo

Prolamsa is characterized by having the most modern plant in Latin America in the manufacture of steel profiles, tubes and components

The Prolamsa  company was founded on August 25, 1954 by Mr. Juan Montemayor Martínez and Mr. Mario J. Montemayor García, who began with the production of metal products using manual machinery. Currently, the company's six plants (four in Mexico and two in the United States) total two million square feet, with 100% Mexican capital.  

For approximately 25 years, the vision has been to grow in the Escobedo plant, so some of the machines that were in the Monterrey plant were moved and, since then, equipment has been added and renewed. 

Today, their Escobedo plant is the largest in the entire group, with one million square feet and 1,300 employees. In it, they manufacture carbon steel products in thicknesses from 0.0299 "to 0.280":

• Round tubing from 0.50 "to 6.625".
• Square tubing from 0.50 "to 6.00".
• Rectangular tubing from 1.00 ”x 0.50” to 8.00 ”x 4.00”.
• Polines / montenes C and Z.
• Door and window profiles.
• Boards and staves.
• Oval and elliptical tubing.

The production volume of the entire group is around one million metric tons per year, and they supply Tier 1, 2 and 3 automotive customers, agricultural machinery industry, construction, storage, energy, furniture, and hardware wholesalers. Its products are destined for the Mexican market and exported to the United States, Canada, Central and South America, and Europe.

In Prolamsa they have a high degree of integration of technology 4.0 in the processes. They use it for monitoring, improvement, efficiency and predictive maintenance. 

Enrique Lozano Martínez , Group Operations Director, shared that they started the rollout seven years ago and, currently, all the group's teams have Industry 4.0 implementations.

"We are connected with the equipment remotely and we visualize the variables of the processes such as temperature, speed, dead time, changeover, among others. With this we seek to optimize and improve our processes," he said. 

In addition, they have technology for precision tube and profile forming processes, electric resistance welding, CNC laser cutting and bending, stamping, manual and robot-assisted MIG welding, among others. 

NEW PROJECTS

Grupo Prolamsa is characterized by seeking new opportunities for innovation, both in processes and in products. “We are constantly evaluating new investments in machinery and equipment depending on potential projects that we see with our clients. Almost every year, including the pandemic, we have made significant investments to increase our capabilities, "shared the director. 

Among its most recent projects is the investment in three new pipe and profile mills; In another of their plants, they have several bending and laser cutting pipe processing equipment. 

Enrique Lozano announced that they will receive two new machines at the Escobedo plant, in six months and one year, respectively . In addition, they have several investment projects for their plants in Laredo and Bryan, Texas.

Currently, they are working on various projects with clients in the automotive industry and OEM who are looking for high-quality local suppliers.

PROCESSES AND SUPPLY

In general, the manufacture of the products begins with the cutting of the steel rolls; These are cut into tapes and processed in forming mills where they are transformed into pipes and profiles. Additionally, value-added steps can be added for the creation of industrial components, such as tube bending, CNC laser cutting, pre-punching of profiles, among others.

Thanks to their excellence, they have certifications such as IATF 16949: 2016, ISO 9001: 2015, ASTM A 500, ASTM 513, ASTM A 787, API 5CT and CT PAT. 

Regarding the supply, it is worth mentioning that the group has a high national integration. “The vast majority of our supplies are national. We import less than 5% of our supplies, and they are special steels that are not manufactured in Mexico ”, said the director.

He added that they have a team that is dedicated to working on their specific needs with suppliers, with the intention of improving their raw materials. In addition, they are supported by associations such as the Nuevo León Automotive Cluster. 

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Grupo Prolamsa employs around 3,000 employees. For them, people are the most important asset they have; accompany and enhance talent to have the people, culture, competence and strategy that generates maximum value for  the group.

Gerardo Meza Garza , Director of Human Development of the group, indicated that they have many programs focused on their workers. "In addition to selecting people with a specific profile, we have all the tools to take them to a greater professionalization within Prolamsa," he said. 

Leadership system

This program has the objective of developing congruent and committed leaders to ensure the achievement of the vision and maintain the happiness of the collaborators, through competencies such as:

• Feedback
• Communication and customer focus.
• Development of your people (mentoring and coaching ).
• Delegation.

“We have worked in this system for more than eight years: we ensure that all leaders have the skills to develop their people. With that we achieve that people have greater confidence and feel happy, ”said Gerardo Meza.

Acknowledgments

It is designed to recognize the efforts of employees who show outstanding results in their daily work: on a monthly basis, they recognize high-performance teams; Quarterly, they recognize the areas with the highest score in 5S audits and the safest; Annually, they give recognition to loyalty, innovation projects, savings initiatives, and recognize collaborators as Example when living our values.

Pro Client Culture

It is one of the main focuses of the company. “We have to ensure that everyone in the organization is thinking and living for the customer. This program involves us in different activities and dynamics, we all get involved: from the general director of the entire organization, to the newly recruited assistant ", said Gerardo Meza. 

Cultural practices include A coffee with my leader, A day in the life of…, Pro-Client Innovation Forum  and Agents of Change Program.

Thanks to these initiatives, the Human Development area has become a strategic ally of the business, since they focus on their collaborators and align their objectives with the operational and financial results of the same.

As a result of their efforts, they have obtained certifications such as Great Place to Work. In addition, they were recognized as a Super Company, one of the best to work for in Mexico. 

Likewise, they are certified as Socially Responsible Company, Pink Company, Safe Company and Clean Industry, which reflect the way of living within the organization.