Advanced manufacturing is registering a growing trend in Mexico, or one that offers opportunities in the sector, according to the United States Department of Commerce (USDOC).
As a benchmark definition: advanced manufacturing is a family of activities that rely on the use and coordination of information, automation, computing, software, sensing and networking, and/or make use of cutting-edge materials and emerging capabilities enabled by the physical and life sciences, e.g., nanotechnology, chemistry and biology.
It involves both new ways of manufacturing existing products and the manufacture of new products arising from new advanced technologies.
While advanced manufacturing is at the intersection of technology and automation, companies that implement AM in their manufacturing increase efficiency and build more robust and resilient supply chains.
According to the USDOC, Mexico is among the top five importers of advanced manufacturing technology globally. Also, this sector has grown exponentially since 2020, as companies have begun to offshore to Mexico.
Through their adoption of AM tools, Mexican manufacturers are investing in the technological advances needed to stay and stay ahead of the competition, notes the USDOC.
Advanced manufacturing
The percentage of Mexican imports translates into opportunities for U.S. AM manufacturers.
AM allows companies to «see» every step of their process through the digitization of their factories.
So the visual factory concept involves the use of interconnected digital platforms currently in demand by Mexican manufacturers, such as enterprise resource management (ERP), computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) and Andon systems, among others. A fundamental part of this technology is supported by sensors of all kinds.
Advanced manufacturing is also supported through Engineering Research Centers, Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers and Advanced Technology Education programs.
In the United States, the Advanced Technological Education program, centered at two-year colleges, focuses on training technicians for the high-tech fields that drive our nation’s economy.
