Negocios ProMexico October 2010
65
JULIETA FIERRO A Vocation to Popularize Science X- 2010 MEXICAN AEROSPACE INDUSTRY Automotive Industry Revving Up Again i Reaching Higher Altitude
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Negocios ProMéxico magazine is one of the main Mexican federal government’s communication tools; it presents a competitive and successful Mexico that is also an active player in the global economy. This issue looks at the Mexican aerospace and automotive industries.
Transcript of Negocios ProMexico October 2010
julieta fierro A Vocation to Popularize Sciencex
- 20
10
mexican aerospace
industry
automotive industryRevving Up Again
iReaching Higher Altitude
Great investment opportunitiesin the best place to live
Economic Development Secretariat+52 (777) 313 [email protected]
MorelosM E X I C O
• Located only 50 miles south of Mexico City, by far the largest market in Latin America
• Straight in the middle of the inter-oceanic highway; 260 miles from the Seaport of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico
L d l 50 il h f M i Ci
Strategic location for global business.
• Highly skilled workforce• Steady supply of engineering and science graduates
Hi hl kill d kf
Highly qualified human capital
• Host to 39 research centers ready to support innovative projects like no other region in Mexico
• More than 1,500 scientists, many of whom are involved in highly relevant topics such as biotechnology, applied physics, energy & fuels, materials, science, water technology and others
An outstanding innovation environment
• Famous worldwide for its ideal climate and natural beauty• Known as the “city of eternal spring,” Cuernavaca — the state Capital —
and its surroundings have become a cosmopolitan metropolis• A wide array of high quality entertainment, cultural and educational options
F
Exceptional life quality
21 cm27 cm
2 Negocios
Contents
21
Briefs 6
Report / Monterrey’s Airport 12
Business Tips 14
Mexico’s Partners
AVntK 26
nAVistAr 28
soluciones tecnológicAs 30
Air design 32
ciAteq 34
Aerodesign 36
soutHWest united gAlniK 38
HydrA tecHnologies 40
Cover FeatureMexican
aerospace industry
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16speciAl report Automotive Industry: Revving Up Again
offices abroad
North AmericaRegional [email protected]
Offices in: Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, New York, Toronto and Vancouver
Latin Americaand South America Offices in: Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Guatemala, Santiago de Chile and Sao Paulo
Bogotá[email protected]
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Santiago de [email protected]
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Brussels [email protected]
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Beijing [email protected]
Singapore / New [email protected]
ProMéxico Headquarters
+ 52 (55) 544 [email protected]
www.promexico.gob.mx
4 Negocios
Interview
julietafierroA Vocation
to Popularize Science
58
51 Interviewfernando roMero: the new Museo souMaya
62 Feedback uniendo Voluntades por el bienestar
42 ArtGabriel oroZco at the poMpidou
44 Interviewhéctor GalVán
48 Architectureteodoro
GonZáleZ de león
proMéxico
sebastián escalanteManaging [email protected]
Miguel Ángel samayoa Advertising and [email protected]
Fernanda luna copy editing
taller México
Alejandro serratos publisher [email protected]
Felipe Zúñiga editor in chief [email protected]
orlando santamariaMarketing [email protected]
pilar Jiménez Molgadodesign [email protected]
Jorge silva design [email protected] dalia urzua orozcodesign [email protected]
paloma ló[email protected]
Vanessa serratosproduction [email protected]
Vanesa roblessenior Writer [email protected]
Karla Juárez sandra roblaguilucila ValtierraMauricio Zabalgoitiastaff Writers
translationAlejandra díaz AlvaradoJuan Manuel romeroluis cabrera
proof readinGgraeme stewart
contributorsMaría eugenia sevilla, Amy glover, ulises Hernández, Antonio Vázquez, cristina Ávila-Zesatti, Jennifer chan, gisela Vázquez, Jesús estrada córtes, Francisco Vernis, guadalupe castillo Aja, oldemar.
this is an editorial project for proMéxico by taller México (www.tallermexico.com).
Download the PDF version of Negocios ProMéxico at: negocios.promexico.gob.mx
proMéxico is not responsible for inaccurate information or omissions that might exist in the information provided by the participant companies nor of their economic solvency. title certificate of lawfulness 14459. text certificate of lawfulness 12032. number of title reserve 04-2009-012714564800-102. postal registry pp09-0044. responsible editor: sebastián escalante. printing: Moiño impresores s.A de c.V. distribution: proMéxico camino a sta teresa 1679, México d.F., 01900. phone: +52 (55) 5447 7000. negocios is an open space where diverse opinions can be expressed. the institution might or might not agree with an author’s statements; therefore the responsibility of each text falls on the writers, not on the institution, except when it states otherwise. Although this magazine verifies all the information printed on its pages, it will not accept responsibility derived from any omissions, inaccuracies or mistakes. october, 2010.
Art
a MuseuM beneath the caribbean sea
54
The lifestyle Contentsp
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[email protected]+ 52 (55) 5447 70 70
www.promexico.gob.mx
>> Log in to Mexico
Success is just a click away…
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www.promexico.gob.mx
>> Log in to Mexico
Success is just a click away…
6 Negocios6 Negocios Photos alejandro mejía greene / archive
FDI in Mexico Increases
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
According to figures from
the Ministry of economy,
Foreign direct investment
(Fdi) in Mexico rose 27.7%
in the first half of 2010
from a year earlier to 12.24
billion usd. the figure in-
cludes 7.36 billion usd that
Mexico received in Foreign
direct investment during
the second quarter, a 34%
increase from a year earlier.
the leading country of
origin was the netherlands,
As Mexico is the supply chain destination for US and European Aerospace OEMs, BCI Aerospace and the Mexican Electronics Telecommunications and Information Technologies Industries Chamber (Canieti) are organizing Aerospace Meetings Guadala-jara 2010, from October 4th to 8th 2010. The event will host more than 250 companies from about 20 countries and over 5,000 one to one meetings will take place.
BCI Aerospace is ABE (Advanced Business Events) specialized division for aeronautics and defense business-to-business events. It was established in 1996 and has become world leader in the activity. The company specializes in the organization of business-to-business events for industries and is strictly reserved to profes-sionals.
BCI Aerospace business aims to assist large firms and SMEs involved in the global aviation and space industries, having civil and defense applications, to explore specific markets and seize business and partnership opportunities.
Aerospace Meetings Guadalajara 2010 is the first event of its kind in Latin America. It is an outstanding and supply chain oriented business forum for Mexican and international contract manufacturers to meet through pre-planned business to business meetings and discuss partnership and business opportunities; OEMs and their Tier 1 suppliers to meet contract manufactur-ers willing to seize opportunities with them through operations in Mexico.
www.bciaerospace.com
AEROSPACE
Next Stop: Guadalajara
accounting for 6.96 billion usd.
investment from the neth-
erlands was boosted by an
acquisition as dutch beer giant
Heineken nV bought the beer
business of Mexican retail and
beverage company Femsa in an
all-stock deal. the deal closed
in the second quarter and was
valued at 7.35 billion usd.
the second source of foreign
direct investment was the us,
accounting for 3.51 billion usd, fol-
lowed by spain, with 960 million.
Manufacturing industries
received 63% of Mexico’s Fdi
between January and June,
reflecting the sector’s im-
pressive export-led recovery.
Manufacturing output jumped
12% in the first half of 2010, as
Mexican factories churned out
goods such as cars, electronics
and chemicals to meet rising
demand from the us and other
trade partners.
www.economia.gob.mx
briefs.
Green Solutions for Sustainable Businesses
VW’s New Plant in Mexico
SUSTAINABILITY
AUTOMOTIVE
Green Solutions COP 16 will be an impor-tant opportunity for businesses to share en-vironmentally friendly practices on a world stage. During this event organized by the Mexican Federal Government –that will take place from December 5th to 8th, 2010, in Cancún– leading private sector efforts in cli-mate change mitigation will be showcased.
Green Solutions will be held during the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 6th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 6) which will take place from November 29th to Decem-ber 10th, 2010.
www.greensolutionscop16.com
German automaker Volkswagen (VW) will build a 550 million usd plant with annual production capac-ity of 330,000 engines in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. The new engine plant will be located at the Puerto Interior Industrial Park in Silao, a city 353 km northwest of Mexico City.
Beginning in 2013, the new plant will supply next-generation engines to Volkswagen assembly plants in Puebla, Mexico City and Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the automaker will manufacture a new mid-sized sedan starting in 2011.
The world’s number three automaker –behind Toyota Motor and General Motors– will employ about 700 workers at the new plant, which will be bigger than the engine factories the company cur-rently operates in the US and other areas outside Europe.
www.volkswagen.com
Casaflex to Start Production
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
casaflex, a company es-
tablished through a joint
venture between icA and
controladora garcíavelez,
has inaugurated its first
production plant in the in-
dustrial park of Atitalaquia,
Hidalgo, which required a
178 million usd investment.
the plant will produce
prefabricated houses to
serve developers of entry
level and affordable hous-
ing in Mexico. its initial pro-
duction capacity will be of
8,000 houses per year.
www.ica.com.mx
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8 Negocios8 Negocios Photos courtesy of grupo bimbo / archive
FOOD
Mexican bakery giant Grupo Bimbo has opened a new factory at Con-tagem, Minas Gerais in Brazil, as it continues to court consumers in Latin America’s largest economy. The new factory will produce Bim-bo’s Pullman and Plus Vita brands. With the new facility, Bimbo do Brasil will have seven production facilities in the country.
www.grupobimbo.com.mx
Targeting Brazil
Mexican Flavored Expansion
FOOD
MegaMex Foods llc, a joint
venture between Mexican
Herdez del Fuerte and us
Hormel Foods corporation,
has entered into a definitive
agreement to acquire 100%
of the stock of don Miguel
Foods corp. from tsg4 lp, a
private equity fund sponsored
by tsg consumer partners
llc, and private investors.
don Miguel Foods is a
leading provider of branded
frozen and fresh authentic
Mexican flavored appetizers,
snacks and handheld items.
the company has a manufac-
turing and distribution center
in dallas, texas.
www.grupoherdez.com.mx
www.hormelfoods.com
Conquering New Markets
FOOD
Meat producer Procesadora y Empacadora de Carnes del Norte (Procarnes) has become the first Mexican company to export chilled beef to South Korea. The firm, based in Mexicali, capital of Baja California, has been exporting its products to Asian markets for five years and sent its first shipment to South Korea in late July. Pro-carnes expects to ship around 150 tons of chilled beef to that country each month by 2011.
www.donfileto.com.mx / www.sagarpa.gob.mx
briefs.
Getrag Invests in Guanajuato
Ready for Takeoff
AUTOMOTIVE
AEROSPACE
The German company Getrag, one of the world’s major manu-facturers of automatic transmis-sions, opened a production plant in Irapuato, in the state of Gua-
Textron opened its perma-nent facility in Chihuahua, a 122,000 square-foot building located in the Intermex Caro-lina Industrial Park, where the company invested over 85 million usd. Textron’s new plant in Chihuahua will manu-facture the cabin, nose and tail sections of the Bell 429 com-mercial helicopter.
www.textron.com
Electrifying Contract
ENERGY
A consortium encompassing
spanish company iberdrola
ingeniería, Mexican-based
siemens innovaciones and
colombian engineering firm
eléctricas de Medellín, has
secured a contract to build
two power lines of over 220
km (136.7 miles) and two
power substations, all linked
to the construction of the 750
MW la yesca hydroelectric
power plant, in the Western
Mexican state of Jalisco. the
cost of the project is esti-
mated at 70.1 million usd and
was awarded by the Federal
electricity comission (cFe).
www.iberdrola.es
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najuato, with an investment of 500 million usd. Whit the new facility operating, Getrag seeks to increase its sales to Ford Motor Company, among other buyers.
www.getrag.de
TOURISM
Starwood Hotels & Resorts marked the return of its Westin Hotels brand to Mexico City with the recent opening of The Westin Santa Fe, Mexico City. Managed under an agreement between Starwood and Heldan Hotels & Resorts, The Westin Santa Fe is the brand’s sixth hotel in Mexico joining The Westin Resort & Spa Los Cabos, The Westin Resort & Spa Puerto Vallarta, The Westin Resort & Spa Cancun, The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort Villas and The Wes-tin San Luis in Potosí. Overall, Starwood Hotels & Resorts now has 22 hotels and resorts in Mexico.
www.starwoodhotels.com
Welcome Back
Mexican Cement in German Plant
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
cemex received a contract to supply 350,000 cubic meters
of concrete for the construction of a coal-fired power plant in
Hamburg-Moorburg, germany, which will be one of the most
advanced and efficient coal-fired power plants in the world.
www.cemex.com
10 Negocios Photos courtesy of cemex / david cabrera 10 Negocios
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Mexico, a Main Target for Global InvestorsMexico holds its position as one of the world’s top destinations where global investors should consider to do business, according to the Great Expectations: Doing business in emerging markets report, led by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in cooperation with the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Great Expectations: Doing business in emerging markets explores the changing outlook for businesses already operating in emerging markets –or planning to expand into these markets– both in terms of which markets are presenting the best opportunities and the primary rationale for operating in these countries. The report –based on a wide-ranging global survey of 523 companies, representing all major industries, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit during July and August 2010– is the third in a series of annual reports from UKTI on emerging markets.
Mexico was selected by 11% of executives as their number one investment choice outside of de BRIC countries and, according to the report, the Mexican market is considered one of the main engines of global growth in coming decades.
2010rankinG
2009rankinG
2008rankinG
country
vietnam
indonesia
mexico
argentina
saudi arabia
south africa
nigeria
malaysia
united arab emirates
turkey
1
2
3
4
4
6
7
8
8
8
1
6
3
12
10
4
2
5
2
8
1
5
5
8
10
8
12
12
3
3
where to next?
aside from the bric countries, which emerging markets
will be your company’s main targets for new and/or
increased investment over the next two years?
source: great expectations: doing business in emerging markets, uKti.
top 10 inVestMent tarGets 2010
www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk
briefs.
Mexican Energy and South Korean Technology
ENERGY
A consortium formed by South Korean companies Ko-rea Electric Power Corpora-tion and Samsung C&T Cor-poration with Techint México won a contract from Mexico’s Federal Electricity Comis-sion for the construction and operation for 25 years of the Norte II 433 MW gas com-bined cycle power plant in the state of Chihuahua. The Norte II project is worth 420 million usd and its construction will start at the beginning of 2011 and will be completed by May 2013.
www.kepco.co.kr
www.samsungcnt.com
ingenieria.techint.com
Grupo México Expands its Molybdenum Production
MINING
Mexican copper miner Grupo México plans to produce molyb-denum –a metal used primarily in steel production– for the first time at its Cananea mine.Currently, the company –the world’s number three producer of molybdenum– operates four open pit mines in Mexico and Peru. Cananea is the only one that does not produce molyb-denum, so Grupo México will invest 30 million usd to begin producing 2,000 tons of the mineral annually by the first half of 2013.
www.gmexico.com.mx
Toyota Boshoku Expands
AUTOMOTIVE
With an investment of around
13 million usd and the creation
of 1,000 new jobs, toyota
Boshoku will start the expan-
sion of its plant in the munici-
pality of Francisco i. Madero,
in the state of coahuila. the
project includes adding two
hectares of land and 6,000
square meters of construc-
tion to the company’s current
facility, where it will produce
fabric laminating for vehicles
upholstery.
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12 Negocios
Monterrey, capital of Mexico’s northern state of Nuevo León, is the country’s third larg-est metropolitan zone and its
airport is the fourth largest in the country in terms of number of flights and passengers. 60% of the annual total of passengers using its facilities are business travelers.
Terminal B of Monterrey’s General Maria-no Escobedo Airport was inaugurated in Sep-tember 2010. Its cutting-edge architecture was designed for the comfort of those travelling on business and for whom time is precious.
This strategic project aims to improve Mon-terrey’s communications infrastructure and will consolidate the city’s role as the northern region’s principal connection point. The ter-minal will help travelers to access the capital of Nuevo León through a feeder line and then to transfer to practically any other destination.
“This represents a very important addi-tional asset to our strategic plan. We want to develop Monterrey’s potential as a transport hub, both for cargo and passengers, making it a much more important business center than it is today,” says Víctor Bravo, director general of Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte (OMA), the company that operates 13 international airports in nine states of the central-northern region of Mexico, including the airport in Monterrey.
A New Gateway to Mexico
The airport of Monterrey opens a new terminal and a new gateway to Mexico, catering especially to business travel.
“We are seeking to become the country’s most important pole of regional development because we have the capacity to transport two million passengers,” adds Bravo.
With the inauguration of the new building, Monterrey airport’s Terminal A will continue its operations while Terminal C will be used exclusively as a cargo terminal.
Preparing for Takeoff Over the past twenty-four months, the global aviation industry suffered the worst crisis in its history due to the effects of the global financial crisis combined with events like the volcano eruption in Iceland and the H1N1 flu outbreak.
“Up to April, traffic at our airports fell con-secutively, dropping by 20% in 2009. But in July we recorded an increase of 4.6% in traf-fic compared to July 2009. In Monterrey, the average month-on-month growth has been 4.1%; however it could take between two to three years to recover the highest levels that we reached in 2009,” explains Víctor Bravo. “It’s a slow recovery curve and everything will depend on the global economic recovery.”
Although the difficulties facing the global aviation industry have been reflected in the capacity-reductions of airlines and in pas-senger transit, there is a gradual recovery in demand. Therefore the opening of Monterrey
Airport’s Terminal B represents a positive short-term outlook.
“This year we have to define our invest-ments for the following five years and we are planning to continue raising them. Our growth will not be limited by the fact that the recession has affected the bottom line or caused slower growth rates than recorded previously,” confirms Bravo.
High-Flying ArchitectureThe design of Terminal B, by the firm Víctor Márquez Arquitectos (VMA), places Monter-rey’s airport at the cutting edge of Mexican airport design.
“Terminal B literally represents one of the highest points in Monterrey’s infrastructure,” says the firm’s director, Víctor Márquez.
“It’s the gateway to Monterrey and to design the image we wanted to give to this flow of pas-sengers we looked with much greater ambition at world-leading airports, especially in Asia and Europe, such as Madrid’s Terminal 4 and London Heathrow’s,” explains the architect, as for such projects the critical response to the air-port’s infrastructure is clearly important.
VMA partnered with ADP-I (Aéroports de Paris Ingenierie), one of the world’s larg-est airport planners to develop the project’s technical requirements. The construction only
by MArÍA eugeniA seVillA
Photos courtesy of oma
report Monterrey’s Airport
used locally-sourced materials and by following sustainability standards it is estimated to gen-erate 38% savings in energy consumption.
Built on two levels and a mezzanine, the building—spanning a total area of 21,000 square meters—will cater to an average of two million passengers per year on domestic and interna-tional flights.
“The design maximizes passenger comfort; most of its spaces are interconnected, it pro-vides specific and different circulations both for arrivals and departures, so that passengers
can rapidly transfer from the entrance to the boarding gate,” explains Márquez.
“We have made an effort in this design to treat departing and arriving passengers equal-ly. That is an innovation. The internal organiza-tion of the building challenges the conventional flows through airports,” he adds.
The new terminal –with an investment of 63 million usd– is the only one in Latin America to use dedicated runways: in other words, runways used exclusively for airplane takeoffs and landings.
It is also the first in Mexico to be equipped with an Operations Control Center for the airport’s entire security, operational and in-formation processes.
The building contains 2,100 square me-ters of retail floor space, including a wide range of stores, restaurants, services, a chil-dren’s play area, a business center, terminal aprons for 13 airplanes, taxi strips, a parking area for 594 vehicles with an access system, an automated payment system and an exter-nal road infrastructure. n
14 Negocios illustration oldemar
Converting North America Into A World-class Trade Heavyweightby AMy gloVer*
tHe tHree econoMies oF nortH AMericA Are inextricABly linKed And, in Keeping WitH A World-Wide trend toWArd tHe regionAliZAtion oF trAde, it is oF utMost iMportAnce tHAt goVernMents And tHe priVAte sector WorK togetHer to Forge A Winning strAtegy.
At his 2010 State of the Union Address, US President Barack Obama presented the Na-tional Export Initiative (NEI), which has as its goal the doubling of US exports in the next five years. The US will not be able to achieve this goal unless it takes into account Mexico –and Canada as well– as key strategic allies in the search for global competitiveness. The three economies of North America are inex-tricably linked and, in keeping with a world-wide trend toward the regionalization of trade, it is of utmost importance that govern-ments and the private sector work together to forge a winning strategy.
How can Mexico help the US achieve its goal? First, we must remember that Mexico buys more products from the US than both Japan and China combined and Mexico’s in-ternal market will only continue to grow in the coming years. Further, Mexican consum-ers are familiar with US products and have a high degree of confidence in their quality, making the market fertile ground for US ex-port expansion.
Further, there is a highly positive relation-ship between US export growth to Mexico and US Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For example, in 2008 approximately 150 billion
business tips
America compete effectively in the global market place. The question is how can we work together to ensure that this happens?
In order to achieve higher economic growth rates the public and private sectors need to work together. A first step was taken in this direction when Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón visited Washington D.C. in May 2010. He and President Obama defined four main areas of action: coordinated sec-torial policies; a 21st Century border; inno-vation and intellectual property rights, and clean energy and green economies. All of these key action items require input from the
companies that operate bi-nationally and have first-hand knowledge regarding what conditions need to be modified in order to facilitate trade and promote greater com-petitiveness.
The work toward achieving improve-ments in these four areas is progressing, but there is much work to be done and the risk exists that once again further eco-nomic integration may be frustrated by a lack of political will. The private sectors in both countries share a heavy responsibil-ity in ensuring that governments move for-ward and ensure progress on issues such as pre-screening of goods and regulatory cooperation, just to name two examples.
These goals are too important to fall prey to special interest groups that seek to prevent the flow of trade through protectionist measures.
We cannot leave our economic growth to chance and advancing the regional in-tegration agenda must be treated with a sense of urgency. Today we need to create the conditions in North America for great-er economic opportunities tomorrow. n
*National Director of External Relations and
Committees, American Chamber of Commerce
of Mexico
We Are in tHe sAMe BoAt And WHen export And econoMic groWtH occurs on one side oF tHe Border it HAs A positiVe eFFect on tHe otHer. tHAt is WHy it is so iMportAnt tHAt We roW tHe BoAt togetHer.
usd in US exports contributed to 300 billion usd of US GDP, according to data from the US Chamber of Commerce. In keeping with the preference that the Mexican consum-ers show for US goods, for every dollar that Mexico earns from its exports, 50 cents are spent on American goods. In short, we are in the same boat and when export and eco-nomic growth occurs on one side of the bor-der it has a positive effect on the other. That is why it is so important that we row the boat together; this way we can ensure that we will arrive at our desired destination much faster.
In focusing on export growth, the NEI also aims to increase the role of US small and medium-sized businesses in export growth. In this sense, the North American market –Mexico and Canada– is the target market for US SMEs. According to a study from the International Trade Commission, an average US SME has only one customer in a foreign country, which is almost always in Mexico or Canada. Mexico purchases 11% of US SME worldwide exports and close to one-third of US exports to Mexico are exported by SMEs.
When you look at these numbers, there is simply no way to deny that a well-coordi-nated trade strategy is just what we need in order to ensure that the economies of North
16 Negocios16 Negocios Photos courtesy of ford / general motors
A couple of years ago, Nemak, auto part manufacturer of the Grupo Alfa industrial conglomerate, was facing one of its toughest
ever periods. As a specialist in the manufac-ture of aluminum cylinder heads and engine blocks, the company was forced to halt pro-duction in its nine plants across Mexico. As the provider for large car manufacturers, Ne-mak fell victim to the international recession and the worst global automotive crisis of the past 35 years.
Today, two years later, Nemak has regained its footing and growth that had distinguished it over the past decade as one of Mexico’s largest multinational companies. In the second quar-ter of 2010, its consolidated revenue increased 74% compared with the same period in 2009 to reach a total of 730 million usd.
Nemak is a global company with a business presence in 13 countries across North Ameri-ca, South America, Europe and Asia—includ-ing China and India—and gives an example of how the Mexican automotive sector has got back onto the path of recovery and is taking advantage of the reduction in trade barriers.
revving Up Again
The reactivation of Mexican-assembled vehicles sales to
the US has brought good news for the Mexican
automotive industry: more investments, higher demand
for raw materials and increased sales of auto parts.
After having suddenly slowed down and then creeping forward during the recent reces-sion, the Mexican automotive sector is once again revving up its engines and accelerating, thanks to the recovery in sales of cars and SUVs to the US –its largest client– and to the reactivation of the internal market.
This new period is not only reflected in increased production and vehicle sales but also in the positive effect on the entire supply chain: from the production of raw materials such as steel, copper, and aluminum, to the manufacture of auto parts such as cylinder heads, cable harnesses, instrument panels and body stamping.
The recovery of the automotive sector can also be seen in the continuity of invest-ments and in the boost in sales of Mexican-made auto parts and components by foreign manufacturers.
“The outlook is definitely more positive. Our export figures at the end of the year are going to look very good. The internal market is also looking up again,” says Armando Soto, ex-pert in the automotive industry and president of Kaso y Asociados consulting firm.
by ulises HernÁndeZ
special report MexicAn AutoMotiVe industry
Major Manufacturers have reinforced their business presence in Mexico as a production center and increased their investments, especially in the manufacture of compact and energy-saving
vehicles to meet the increasing demand in the US market.
18 Negocios Photos courtesy of ford / general motors
Recovery in GearWith a production of around 1.5 million vehi-cles in 2009, Mexico reaffirmed its position as the world’s tenth largest producer of vehicles, according to figures released by the Interna-tional Organization of Motor Vehicle Manu-facturers (OICA, by its French acronym).
And the automotive industry is the second most strategic sector of the Mexican economy after the oil industry. It is also the most impor-tant branch of manufacturing industry (con-tributing 17% to domestic production) and its activity generates around 3% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Seven of the world’s largest manufac-turers have chosen Mexico as their center of production and export platform: some of them have been in Mexico for over eight decades. The “Big Three” Detroit car manu-facturers (GM, Ford and Chrysler), the lead-ing German company (Volkswagen) and the main Japanese companies (Nissan, Honda and Toyota) all have assembly operations in Mexico. Together, these manufacturers pro-duce 40 makes of vehicle in Mexico.
With the close geographical proximity to-gether with the economic and business ties between Mexico and US, 80% of Mexican automotive production (1.2 million vehicles in 2009) is destined for the US market. The
remaining 20% (281,000 vehicles in 2009) is placed on the domestic market.
Therefore, the automotive sector’s per-formance depends on the strength of the US economy. And so, when the northern neigh-bor’s automotive market sharply contracted due to the global recession and the industry’s own crisis, there was a drastic decline in ex-ports of Mexican cars and SUVs.
In 2009, sales of vehicles in the US fell to 10.4 million units, compared to the annual av-erage of 16 million vehicles in the 2000-2007 period. As a result, exports of Mexican-made vehicles to the US fell by 28%.
But this year the prospects have changed. From the end of the second quarter of 2009, the US economy has shown signs of recovery and that has been reflected in the performance of the Mexican automotive industry.
During the first eight months of 2010, Mexi-can vehicle production increased 73% compared to the 2009 level, totaling 1,463,474 vehicles. Also, exports of cars and SUVs increased by almost 76% with a total of 1,207,935 vehicles according to figures published by the Mexican Automotive In-dustry Association (AMIA), the organization that groups together Mexican manufacturers.
The domestic market has also shown signs of recovery. During the same period (January-August) of this year, domestic vehicle sales in-
creased by 6% (an increase of 28,199 vehicles), compared to the same period in 2009, accord-ing to AMIA figures.
Strategic PlatformDespite the crisis, Mexico reasserted its position as a strategic platform for the automotive indus-try. Its geographical proximity, wide range of free trade agreements, skilled workforce and an ex-port tradition dating back several decades all give the country significant competitive advantages.
In recent years that has led the major manu-facturers to reinforce their business presence in Mexico as a production center and to increase their investments, especially in the manufacture of compact and energy-saving vehicles to meet the increasing demand in the US market.
In February 2010, Chrysler, the US firm now controlled by the Italian company Fiat, con-firmed an investment of 550 million usd to start production of the Fiat 500, a compact model, at the Toluca plant in Estado de México.
In May, Ford reinaugurated its plant in Cuau-titlán, Estado de México, which was entirely refitted to install the production line of the new Fiesta, a model that will be sold throughout the Americas. That represented an investment of approximately 1 billion usd and, according to the company’s directors, it will generate 2,000 direct and 6,000 indirect jobs among providers.
special report MexicAn AutoMotiVe industry
In July 2009, the German company Volkswa-gen announced an investment of 1 billion usd at its Puebla plant to develop and produce a new compact sedan, which some analysts identify as the successor to the Beetle, as well as moderniz-ing other assembly lines.
The reactivation of automotive produc-tion and exports has caused a knock-on effect on the sector’s supply chain, which benefits the producers of raw materials and supplies such as auto parts.
During the first quarter of 2010, there was a 28% increase in iron and steel manufactur-ing in Mexico compared to the same period in 2009, to reach a total volume of 8.4 mil-lion tons, according to the National Iron and Steel Industry Chamber (Canacero). The de-mand was spearheaded by the automotive, construction and electrical appliance sectors, according to the organization that groups to-gether multinational companies such as Ar-celor Mittal, Ternium, Tenaris and the Mexi-can companies ICH and AHMSA.
The glass producer Grupo Vitro and electrical conductor company Condumex also benefited from the recovery in demand of the automotive sector. During the first quarter of 2010, Vitro increased its sales of automotive glass by 99%, consisting of rear windows, windshields and side windows. Condumex, meanwhile, which provides cop-per cables to manufacturers of harnesses and other automotive components, saw a 66% increase in sales during the second quarter of 2010.
Supply on the RiseWith some 1,500 companies and a workforce of around half a million workers, autoparts has been one of the manufacturing areas to have benefitted most from the recovery of the automotive sector.
After a 30% reduction in sales during 2009 and suffering a loss of 160,000 jobs between January 2008 and June 2009, the Mexican auto-motive part industry has shown signs of strength and capacity to recover.
During the first five months of 2010, the accumulated sales value of auto part sales in Mexico totaled 22.46 billion usd, a 55% in-crease compared to the same period of 2009. By the same token, by May the sector had re-covered some 60,000 jobs compared to the level recorded at May 2009. The sector cur-rently employs 487,898 workers.
“Despite being ‘sick’, our imports and exports have substantially increased,” says Agustín Ríos,
president of the National Auto parts Industry (INA), an organization that groups together man-ufacturers in the sector.
As of April, Mexico autopart exports reached 11.67 billion usd (57% more than during the same period in 2009), while im-ports reached 8.42 billion usd (50% more than the previous year).
According to Ríos, the manufacture of auto parts for export represents a large area of opportunity for Mexican manufacturers. In fact, several manufacturers are increas-ing their purchase of supplies in Mexico as a measure to improve their levels of competi-tiveness and efficiency.
In June 2010, BMW, the German luxury vehicle manufacturer, announced plans to implement a four-fold increase in its volume of purchases of Mexican auto parts, from the current level of 615 million usd to 2.4 billion usd for 2012. These auto parts will be sent to BMW’s various plants around the world, mainly in the US and Germany.
Also in June, Nissan Mexicana, cur-rently the largest automotive manufacturer in Mexico, reported that during 2010 it will increase its purchase of auto parts from Mexican suppliers by over 78 million usd, as it will shortly be adding a new model to its production lines. In total, Nissan Mexicana will make purchases of around 235 million usd from Mexican providers in 2010.
Exchange rate parity is another advantage for Mexico. The North American Free Trade
Agreement and the use of the dollar as a cur-rency makes Mexico a more competitive pro-duction platform.
“Whoever is producing in the Euro zone, the Yen zone and even the Yuan zone—all of which have seen their currencies become more expensive—and wants to sell their products in the Dollar zone (North Ameri-ca) are focusing on Mexico for their supply needs,” explains Ríos.
Short-term OutlookThe automotive sector has clearly yet to re-cover the levels prior to the recession that hit in 2008 and there are now rumors of a pos-sible deceleration or a double-dip recession. However, analysts remain optimistic consid-ering recent figures both for the foreign and domestic markets.
Kaso y Asociados estimates that the Mex-ican automotive industry will close 2010 with exports of around 1,560,00 vehicles, representing a 23% increase compared to 2009. Total production is expected to reach 1,860,000 vehicles, a 19% annual increase.
As regards the domestic market, the con-sultancy firm predicts that, taking into ac-count sales to the public over recent months, the sector may overtake the level of 800,000 vehicles sold in 2010.
“We wouldn’t yet be reaching pre-2008 lev-els, but at least the industry would no longer be in recession like in 2009,” concludes Armando Soto of Kaso y Asociados. n
20 Negocios inFograPhic oldemar
A Smooth-running Industry
638,829
1’124,213
Sources: Mexican Working Group on Foreign Trade
Statistics (Banco de México, INEGI, Tax Administration Service and the Ministry of
Economy) / Banco de México.
240,265
270,773
143,937
CarsBuses, trucks and
Tractor Trailers
1,066,3791,242,6411,394,986
782,766
873,234
369,407
1995200020052010
826,114
Mexican AutomotiveIndustry Exportsmillion USD
Percentage ofTotal Mexican Exports
AutomotiveExports
Total MexicanExports
17,249.84
1995: 79,541.55 21.6
Mexican Auto ExportsUnits
38,047.75
2000: 166,120.74 22.9 45,787.01
2005: 214,232.96 21.3
35,268.55
2010: 164,590.11 21.4
coVer feature MexicAn AerospAce industry
Chances are that much of the car you are driving was built in Mexico. Increasingly, the planes you fly on are too. Aerospace companies are
streaming to Mexico, drawn by lower wages, en-thusiastic government promotion, a safety agree-ment with the US and an increasingly sophisti-cated workforce.
During the last five years, Mexico’s aerospace-related exports have more than tripled and the number of companies established in the coun-try keeps on growing. Almost all of the Mexican aerospace sector exports are directed to the US market (81%); followed by France and Germany, each with 2.8%, and Canada and the UK come in third place with a participation rate of 2.6% each.
Mexican Aerospace Industry:Reaching Higher AltitudeThe development of Mexico’s aerospace industry took off over three decades ago and is now booming. Stimulated by diverse activities such as manufacturing, engineering, design and MRO, the industry is flying towards new altitudes: the complete assembly of aircrafts.
Currently, Mexico is the ninth largest provider to the US aerospace market and the sixth supplier to the European one. Exports are accelerating quickly as manufacturers move into big-ticket items like tails and fuselages.
Mexico is not a stranger for the global aero-space industry. The country’s participation in this sector took off almost 40 years ago, but it was in 2004 when it reached supersonic speed, with two-digit export growth figures and a three-fold increase in the number of established aerospace companies.
The evolution of exports and the increas-ing number of companies in the industry have progressed hand-in-hand with an in-tense diversification process.
In an initial stage, Mexico manufactured simple parts, autoparts and assemblies. To-day, the country is in a second stage, which includes manufacturing of turbines, fuselage, harnesses and landing gears, among other products.
The thrust not only comes from tradi-tional manufacturing activities, but from a growing diversification towards areas such as maintenance, engineering and design.
Presently, 80% of the aerospace compa-nies established in Mexico carry out manu-facturing and assembly activities; 10% offer engineering and design services, and 10% perform Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services.
The country envisions entering a third stage in which complete airplanes will be designed and assembled, and Mexico will be consolidated as a first class innovation center for the global industry.
More than 190 companies –both national and transnational– established in the coun-try; exports for 3 billion usd during 2009; a Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement signed with the US –which enables Mexican officials to certify new aircraft parts instead of ship-
Ph
oto
ar
ch
ive
22 Negocios
ping them to the US for inspection–; an ag-gressive promotion program fostered by the Mexican Federal Government, local govern-ments and the private sector; qualified hu-man resources; competitive costs; a growing supply chain; the geographical proximity to the US and a vast airport, seaport and high-way network infrastructure are some of the reasons why Mexico has become a unique platform for the aerospace sector.
Manufacturing the FutureIn a new plant in the central Mexican city of Querétaro, workers are building rudders and bundles of wiring for airliners. Across town, engineers at General Electric’s research cen-ter are designing jet engines. In a nearby in-dustrial park, workers are overhauling land-ing gear at a gleaming new plant.
One aircraft maker, Canada’s Bombardier, has announced it will eventually assemble complete jets in Mexico. For now, tail sections for Bombardier’s Global Express business jet
jut up from construction platforms like the fins of giant sharks at the company’s facilities in Querétaro.
Aernnova, a Spanish firm that makes wings, tails and other sections for Boeing, Airbus, Embraer and others is building an 84 million usd plant in Querétaro, while Cessna Aircraft and Hawker Beechcraft , both mak-ers of business jets, have both moved subas-sembly work from their Wichita plants to new factories in the northern city of Chihua-hua since 2006. MD Helicopters, based in Mesa, began making fuselages near Monter-rey, Mexico in 2006. Goodrich has invested in a 350,000-square-foot factory in Mexicali, Baja California to make engine nacelles for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The multinational firm Goodrich opened its plant in Mexicali, Baja California in Octo-ber 2008, with an investment of 92.5 million usd. The company began formal production in May 2009, with nearly 200 employees, almost 50 of which work in engineering and support.
Hot and cold metal parts for the plane’s na-celles are produced at this plant –the nacelle is a housing that secures the engine on the wing of the aircraft. These parts are finished at other Goodrich plants around the world, and later mounted on planes such as Boeing 787 and 737, Airbus A320, A350 and A380, and the CF 34 made by Embraer.
A Matter of TalentAccording to consulting firm AeroStrategy, in the past ten years, Mexico was the largest re-cipient of investment projects from the major manufacturing companies in the aerospace sector. It is clear, Mexico has become a world class aerospace manufacturing hub. But Mexico is also a large recipient of investment in engineering and design projects. Engineer-ing services are increasingly becoming one of Mexico’s most attractive advantages for the aerospace industry.
According to the United Nations Educa-tional, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Photos archive
(UNESCO) Mexico is the main source of engi-neering students in the Americas and nearly triples the number of engineering graduates per capita in the US. This has helped to attract a large number of aerospace companies inter-ested in taking advantage of Mexican talent to develop a wide variety of projects.
It’s not just aerospace manufacturing mov-ing to Mexico. Aerospace firms are snapping up Mexican engineers, as well.
Success stories of Mexican talent can be found in different industrial sectors. The Corvette transmission designed by Tremec in Mexico –which, according to the Motor & Trend magazine, is the best transmission for a Corvette– and the state-of-the-art vehicles designed by Mexican engineers and used by Bombardier for the Hiawatha Light Rail Line in Minnesota, are just a few examples on how Mexican talent is surpassing borders.
Similar stories are being written in the aerospace industry. EADS is currently devel-oping its first 6 advanced engineering services
suppliers in Mexico; Honeywell is operating a 40 million usd testing center in Mexicali, Baja California, where about 300 Mexican engi-neers perform system integration tests for the new Airbus model, the A350.
GE-IQ, is a General Electric company in Querétaro offering engineering services to GE Energy and GE Aviation, while ITR, also in Querétaro, uses Mexican talent to design low-pressure turbines. This is GE`s largest op-eration centre outside the US and one of the best turbo machinery engineering and design centres in Mexico (they obtained the National Technology Award in 2003).
In 2002, a group of engineers that had been working for a multinational bonded assembly plant that closed, decided to become indepen-dent and establish their own company. Volare Engineering is a 100% Mexican-owned aero-space firm.
With a staff of eleven engineers, Volare is a “small enterprise with big projects” that offers design, counseling and engineering services for
almost all the equipment used inside the passen-ger cabin of commercial and private planes, such as kitchenettes, closets, cabinets and furniture.
The company’s designs help reduce up to 30% of deadweight on aircrafts. Volare’s main client is Driessen Aircraft (Zodiac Group). The company’s products are used in planes such as Boeing 717, 737, 747 and 777; McDonnell Douglas Md80; Airbus A320, A340 and A330, among others, and its designs fly on board of airlines such as Aeroméxico, Iberia and Virgin Atlantic.
These are just some samples of how aero-space industry in Mexico is moving towards higher altitude. Both authorities and executives of the major aerospace companies in the coun-try share the same forecast: in 10 or 15 years a complete plane will be built in Mexico. n
Negocios gives special thanks to Manuel Sandoval,
Executive Director of Prospective Analysis and In-
novation at ProMéxico’s Business Intelligence Unit,
for the information and comments provided for this
article.
coVer feature MexicAn AerospAce industry
24 Negocios
Mexico: Main ProcessesIn Aircraft Manufacturing
EnginesGE
Honeywell
Goodrich
Snecma
ITRa
Landing SystemsMessier Services
Messier dowty
Meggit Aircraft
Zodiac
Rustless Steel BoltsHartwell Dzus
Harnessesand CablesLabinal
Viakon
Bombardier
Gulftream
Navair
Machining PartsTecmaq
Kuo
Mahetsa
Sego
Cambrian
Decrane
Rkern
Maquinados Programdos
Tecnum
Eckerle
G.S. Precision
Horst Engineering
Aviso
Javid
Grupo Sumex
Pencom CSS
Hemaq
Surface treatmentSouthwest United Industries
Galnik
Americas Plating
Aerospace Coatings International
Procesos Térmicos Especiales
ChemResearch
Crio
Audio and VideoClarion Electrónica
Rockwell Collins
Aircraft InteriorsAerodesign de México
Aeronáutica y Diseño
Volare
Fuselages forAircrafts andHelicoptersBombardier
Gulfstraem
Cessna
MD Helicopters
Daher
Cav Aerospace
Sheet Metal WorksGKN
Hawker Beechcraft
Aernnova
EZI Metales
Tighitco
Senior Aerospace
FlightControl SystemsHoneywell
BAE Systems
Tyco Electronics
Ametek
Harco Labs
Radial
Transistor Devices
Bourns, Switch Luz
Elmico
Jabil
Parker Hannifin
Capsonic
Docommun
Avntk
Gima
Engine PartsTrac
Frisa
Jaiter
Sargent
GKN aerospace
ESCO
Tolerance Masters
Chromalloy
Fluid Power ComponentsEATON
Crissair
Insulating PartsPlacas termodinámicas
Aerotechnologies de México
HeatExchangersHoneywell
Jigs andFixturesGlobal Vantage
EmergencySlidesZodiac
inFograPhic oldemar
Mexico: Main ProcessesIn Aircraft Manufacturing
EnginesGE
Honeywell
Goodrich
Snecma
ITRa
Landing SystemsMessier Services
Messier dowty
Meggit Aircraft
Zodiac
Rustless Steel BoltsHartwell Dzus
Harnessesand CablesLabinal
Viakon
Bombardier
Gulftream
Navair
Machining PartsTecmaq
Kuo
Mahetsa
Sego
Cambrian
Decrane
Rkern
Maquinados Programdos
Tecnum
Eckerle
G.S. Precision
Horst Engineering
Aviso
Javid
Grupo Sumex
Pencom CSS
Hemaq
Surface treatmentSouthwest United Industries
Galnik
Americas Plating
Aerospace Coatings International
Procesos Térmicos Especiales
ChemResearch
Crio
Audio and VideoClarion Electrónica
Rockwell Collins
Aircraft InteriorsAerodesign de México
Aeronáutica y Diseño
Volare
Fuselages forAircrafts andHelicoptersBombardier
Gulfstraem
Cessna
MD Helicopters
Daher
Cav Aerospace
Sheet Metal WorksGKN
Hawker Beechcraft
Aernnova
EZI Metales
Tighitco
Senior Aerospace
FlightControl SystemsHoneywell
BAE Systems
Tyco Electronics
Ametek
Harco Labs
Radial
Transistor Devices
Bourns, Switch Luz
Elmico
Jabil
Parker Hannifin
Capsonic
Docommun
Avntk
Gima
Engine PartsTrac
Frisa
Jaiter
Sargent
GKN aerospace
ESCO
Tolerance Masters
Chromalloy
Fluid Power ComponentsEATON
Crissair
Insulating PartsPlacas termodinámicas
Aerotechnologies de México
HeatExchangersHoneywell
Jigs andFixturesGlobal Vantage
EmergencySlidesZodiac
coVer feature MexicAn AerospAce industry
26 Negocios Photos courtesy of avntK
Marcelo Funes-Gallanzi can boast that he directs the only Mexican company to have sold technology to the US Depart-
ment of Defense.AVNTK, the company directed by Funes-
Gallanzi –of Argentinean extraction with Brit-ish and Mexican touches– has managed to achieve what even Boston’s Massachusetts In-stitute of Technology (MIT) was unable to do: create a “semantic tagging” program which makes it possible to extract precise informa-tion from intelligence reports.
“It’s a semantic tag which extracts, from a source, data about the person, the place and time at which something takes place, mak-ing it possible to cross-reference information from an intelligence report in a process that was previously done manually,” explains Fu-nes-Gallanzi.
Aerospace is another field explored by AVNTK in Mexico. With unmanned vehicles and programs that can reconstruct places in 3D based on a video, the company has entered a sector that in 2009 was worth 3 billion usd in Mexico.
Funes-Gallanzi arrived in Mexico in 1996 with a scholarship from the Royal Society of London, an institution whose first president was Sir Isaac Newton.
In 2002, after having worked as a con-sultant for British companies and other Eu-ropean companies, Funes-Gallanzi decided
The Mexican Company that Won Over the US Army
It took over two decades for Marcelo Funes-Gallanzi to invent a system of artificial intelligence, for which the US Armed Forces have paid over 500,000 usd.
to form AVNTK, together with another five technology experts. The company, based in Guadalajara, Jalisco, now has 20 employees and is a corporation whose decisions are tak-en by a board of partners from the aerospace industry. Its growth has led them to open offic-es in the state of Nayarit and in Austin, Texas.
After eight years, AVNTK is now invoic-ing around 1 million usd annually and its clients include –apart from the US military– Hitachi, Rolls Royce, Technicolor, Flextronics, and British Aerospace.
nuel were, what they were doing and a series of data which enables him to arrive at the in-formation he is looking for.
With this simple example, the scientist de-scribes the workings of the semantic tagging system, christened Simplish. In 2008, it led AVNTK to enter into a business relationship with the US Department of Defense in Fort Monmouth.
Two years ago, during a series of confer-ences between Panama and New Jersey, Fu-nes-Gallanzi met the authorities of Fort Mon-mouth. After explaining what he was creating, a “semantic tagger,” the Americans expressed their interest in finding out more about the technology.
“We created an artificial cognitive system, a computer that ‘thinks.’ The semantic tagger is attractive but it’s not something you can cre-ate quickly; it has taken me 22 years to make. We have incorporated theories from Kant to neuroscience. It’s very complex and it takes time to do. It’s not just a question of resourc-es,” says Funes-Gallanzi.
AVNTK’s program is able to reduce 100,000 words of specialized English to just 1,000. The US Department of Defense paid around 500,000 usd for the invention, in three phases.
In 2009 AVNTK was awarded a prize for the invention of the software by the Mexican Association of Directors of Applied Research and Technological Development (ADIAT).
by Antonio VÁZqueZ
AFter eigHt yeArs, AVntK is noW inVoicing Around 1 Million usd AnnuAlly And its clients include –ApArt FroM tHe us MilitAry– HitAcHi, rolls royce, tecHnicolor, Flextronics And BritisH AerospAce.
AVNTK and the US ArmyMarcelo Funes-Gallanzi explains how AVNTK’s artificial intelligence system works by using a simple phrase: “Pedro and Manuel climbed the mountain on Saturday.”
From this phrase, Funes-Gallanzi picks out a series of situations: where Pedro and Ma-
Mexico’s partner AVntK
In April 2010, representatives of the US Army visited AVNTK’s offices in Guadalajara. According to Milenio newspaper, “the foreign visitors —Adam, commander of the North American sector, and Wei-Jen Su, director of the Latin American sector of the US Army International Technology Center— stated that they had confidence in their negotiations with the Mexican developers.”
“We’re going to where the companies are located: if Guadalajara attracts companies like AVNTK, we’re happy to come back,” said Adam, according to the publication.
From 3D to Aerospace“This innovation is a new means of achieving domain awareness in 3D, which is a very de-sirable feature in many applications from mis-sion planning, forensics, video games, archeol-ogy all the way to disaster relief applications,” according to AVNTK’s website.
The technology developed by the Mexican company is able to extract a 3D model from video and photographic images. It has industrial, mili-tary, environmental and training applications.
“It’s used in countries like the UK, the Netherlands and Germany –in their police and firefighting departments– to recreate ac-cidents or crimes,” explains Marcelo Funes-Gallanzi.
The Government of the State of Nayarit has also implemented it for ecological purpos-es to measure the salinity levels of some rivers.
Industries such as Flextronics—one of the
world’s largest electronics companies—use it to check that its products contain every nec-essary component and to ensure there are no faults before being rolled out.
3D reconstruction is also increasingly used in aerospace vehicles, according to Marcelo Funes-Gallanzi. By installing a video camera in an airplane it is possible to reconstruct the entire area it flies over.
That is one of the market niches that AVNTK is betting on for the future. “Mexico’s aerospace industry has seen an annual growth rate of 20% over the past five years,” says Fu-nes-Gallanzi. In 2009, Mexico attracted more resources in this sector than any other coun-try in the world. More than China!”
As part of AVNTK’s expansion into aero-space, its Nayarit-based subsidiary arm was created, Ardita Aeronautica (www.ardita-aeronautica.com).
Raphael, one of Ardita’s programs, was unveiled for manufacturers of unmanned ve-hicles at Farnborough in 2008 and at the Paris Air Show in 2009.
“Current work includes enhancements such as the ability to analyze multispectral images, 3D reconstruction derived from real-time video,” says the company website.
One of AVNTK’s solutions, compatible with Raphael, is the multispectral camera that makes it possible to identify features such as vegetation, soil type, humidity, and other en-vironmental characteristics in a specific area.
“This device could be used in forestry, sur-veillance, archeological science and defense tactics,” according to the company.
The FutureFunes-Gallanzi knows that he has managed to jump the first business hurdle: the inven-tion of the technological platform. The second stage is the marketing of these inventions. The third –and final– stage consists of expanding toward niche markets.
The company’s director explains that AVNTK aims to create small subsidiary com-panies of no more than 20 people, to cater to each market niche. “A company with more people is more risky. You need to have more than eight contracts and a small mistake can leave you bankrupt. Keeping your companies sustainable and small gives you a technologi-cal advantage,” he says.
AVNTK’s strategy, according to Marcelo Funes-Gallanzi, will always be 50-50: half of resources will be invested in technological development, the rest on business activities. n
www.avntk.com
in April 2010, representAtiVes oF tHe us ArMy Visited AVntK’s oFFices in guAdAlAJArA. According to Milenio neWspAper “tHe Foreign Visitors —AdAM, coMMAnder oF tHe nortH AMericAn sector, And Wei-Jen su, director oF tHe lAtin AMericAn sector oF tHe us ArMy internAtionAl tecHnology center— stAted tHAt tHey HAd conFidence in tHeir negotiAtions WitH tHe MexicAn deVelopers.”
28 Negocios Photos courtesy of navistar
With more than 100 years in the market and after 12 years of actually manufac-turing in Mexico, Navistar
is pretty well known on Mexican highways. The company, a giant in the transport industry, managed to successfully tackle and overcome the global economic crisis of 2009 and out-lined the course it would take to keep on win-ning over market share and strengthening the activities at the manufacturing plant. The strat-egy has begun to pay off.
On April 22nd 1998, with over seven de-cades active in the Mexican market, Navistar inaugurated its plant in the city of Escobedo, in the state of Nuevo León (northeastern Mexico).
Since then, the company has invested close to 300 million usd in that plant, where recently “We celebrated the production of unit 250 thousand, which in this industry is quite a big thing,” Carlos Currlin, CEO of Navistar Mexico, announces proudly.
Navistar’s plant at Escobedo has the capac-ity to produce 70,000 units a year. “It’s very big,” insists Currlin. “To give you an idea, in 2007 the demand in Mexico for medium-sized and heavy trucks and buses was around 40,000 units.”
Navistar Drives strongAdopting strategies that included concentrating the production of the ProStar model in its Mexican plant, Navistar coped with the global financial crisis and managed to grow in sales, production and market share.
But the assembly plant focuses on servic-ing the Mexican as well as the international market. Out of its total production, 80% is exported –mainly to Latin America, the US and Canada.
In total, the Navistar group employs roughly 2,500 people in Mexico, spread out throughout the manufacturing plant, the commercial oper-ations and its own financing company, Navistar Financial. With the support of its personnel, the company has carried out a broad strategy that has allowed it to grow.
Driving Through the StormBy the end of 2008, when the world began to feel the strain of the incoming economic cri-sis, the truck and bus industry in Mexico ex-perienced a 60% drop in demand.
“We took action quickly in order to adjust the production levels of the plant. Shortly before that, the industry had gone through a period of very high demand, and the sector found itself with high inventories. We quickly managed to move the inventories and in six months we had adjusted to the right levels of the market, which then allowed us to launch new products by 2009,” explains Currlin.
The first of these launches was the Pro-Star model, a class 8 truck launched three years ago in the US and in which the com-pany invested close to 300 million usd and five years of development, resulting in the “most aerodynamic model in the industry.” Among its other advantages, there are the truck’s special features that make it easier to maintain and repair the unit, as well as good fuel efficiency. This product grew Navistar’s share in this market segment.
By the end of the same year the company also launched the TranStar, which is “a truck specifically targeted for regional transporta-tion, for companies running 300km routes or shorter distances, where the units leave and return to base on the same day,” so as to have a shorter cab for the driver, equipped with an 11-liter engine.
“During 2010 we launched a new minibus model, the 3100, targeting the market seg-ment of the urban public transport bus driv-ers, that has an interesting feature: there is a tendency to renovate minibuses in Mexico City and in other cities by replacing the older models with new, more efficient, more com-fortable and safer units,” says Currlin.
Mexico’s partner nAVistAr
The result of that series of launches is the expansion of product lines. “That has helped us raise our market share from 27% to 30%,” Currlin adds. In other words, one out of three large and heavy trucks and buses sold in the country are from Navistar.
At the same time, he continues, “production is on the rise: in 2010 we are experiencing a 50% increase in total production.” In that con-text, an important event took place: Navistar concentrated all production of the ProStar model in its Mexico plant, to export the units from there to the US and the rest of the world. For that, production lines were moved com-pletely from a plant in Canada to Escobedo.
Mexico plays a key role in the supply chain and in Navistar’s manufacturing network, in addition to being the base of its exports, ex-plains Currlin. “The quality and productivity indexes of the company’s plant in Escobedo, Nuevo León, are among the highest in the whole company,” he says.
“Another crucial element is the flexibil-ity of the workforce. That is very important because it allows us to manufacture almost all the company’s models in Mexico,” adds Currlin.
This “high-quality flexibility” was quite an important factor when weighing in the op-tions and finally deciding to move the ProS-tar production from Canada to Escobedo.
The company has also tried to raise the local content of its supplies. In 2010 it invest-ed 10 million usd in two cab assembly lines, many of which were previously manufac-tured in other parts of the world. “In this way we raised the local supply of certain compo-nents, such as stampings or plastic parts for the units’ cabs,” declares Currlin.
Another angle to Navistar’s strategy was having a broader focus on the product’s sup-port, meaning that new lines of spare parts aimed at the second and third truck own-ers were launched in order to service them more competitively. Likewise, its dealership network broadened the services it offered.
Results and PerspectiveThat series of strategies allowed the com-pany to drive safely past the economic crisis. The results can be seen not only with the 50% increase in the production of the plant in Escobedo but also through a 30% increase in sales during 2010.
Also, exports from Mexico have experi-enced a 50% increase and the company mag-nified its market share.
Currlin also pointed out that by concen-trating the production of the ProStar model in Escobedo, “the plant’s total production grew but the plant still has plenty of space to grow more.”
The vision of the future for Navistar Mex-ico’s CEO includes a 10-15% sales increase in 2010 and 2011.
“There are good signs to seriously con-sider that. Heavy haulage contractors state that they are close to using 90% of the current fleet. When the crisis broke, some of them had 30-40% of their fleet halted, which in other words meant that they were neither renovat-ing nor expanding the equipment. Now, with exports on the rise, they are using more and more of the fleet, there’s more work. With close to a 90% use of the fleet there is definite-ly the need to renovate the equipment and in some cases expand the fleet,” states Currlin.
“With that perspective, we envision con-tinuing to grow in Mexico. As long as the market keeps on growing, so will the produc-tion of our plant,” concludes Navistar Mexi-co’s CEO. n
www.navistar.com
Mexico, a strateGic export platforM
mexico plays a key role as an export
platform for navistar. vehicles
manufactured in the country are
sold primarily in latin america,
although the company also exports
to the us and canada. 85% of
the units that the company sells
in latin american markets are
produced in mexico. the presence
of navistar vehicles made in
mexico in countries like colombia,
venezuela, peru, ecuador and
chile, is strong. “in mexico, navistar
produces vehicles that meet the
specifications required by the latin
american markets. our units have
an insurmountable resistance and
are designed to run on the roads of
latin america,” says james soules,
regional vice-president for latin
america at navistar. according
to the executive, due to the
production capacity of navistar’s
plant in escobedo, the company
expects a growth of 15 to 20% in
exports in the coming years. so far,
during 2010 navistar has recorded a
100% increase in sales compared to
2009 and contracts keep coming.
“femsa, the largest distributor
of coca cola in latin america,
chose navistar to renew its fleet in
countries like colombia, panama
and costa rica. leading companies
in colombia, as postobón and
argos, have also relied on the
quality of our vehicles, as well as
large mining companies in chile, like
santa marta,”says soules. navistar
is also present in one of the largest
infrastructure projects in the region,
the expansion of panama canal,
were 100 navistar brand units,
many of them made in mexico, are
being used.
30 Negocios30 Negocios Photos courtesy of soluciones tecnolÓgicas
“So long as you believe in and are clear about the fact that the quality of neurons in Mexico is as good as or even better than in other places famous for excelling in these
[technological] areas, you can go ahead and of-fer what you do,” this is how Eduardo Ramírez Martínez, director of business development at Soluciones Tecnológicas (Technological Solutions, ST for its acronym in Spanish) sums up the suc-cess of this Mexican company. Automobiles from several companies, from General Motors (GM) to Volkswagen (VW), are sent through to ST for any number of safety tests.
Created in Guadalajara in 1991, ST offers ser-vices to clients mainly from the US, Canada and South America. Its core expertise is in engineer-ing and product development, covering design, development, integration and support of high performance data/image acquisition and instru-mentation systems. ST has gained a position as a trusty provider in the automotive industry. It is currently an active supplier of hi-tech instrumen-tation for customers such as Audi, Continental, Ford, GM, Robert Bosch, Takata, TRW and VW, to mention but a few.
As a small engineering and design firm, ST has 50 specialists and generates each year up to 5 million usd in each of its areas (a total of four areas); it works in close to 12 projects and has 30 loyal customers.
Two-headed MonsterSince it first opened shop, almost a decade ago, ST started out as an engineering house focused on the automotive sector.
Soluciones Tecnológicas, a Two-headed Monster
Located in Guadalajara, Jalisco, this engineering company is a provider of high technology for companies such as Audi, Continental, Ford, Robert Bosch, Takata, TRW and VW, among others.
by Antonio VÁZqueZ
“We’ve always worked in this area, specializing in vehicle safety: safety tests, dynamic and static vehicle testing, passive safety. In other words, we put to the test all components in a vehicle that help reduce the physical damage of the car dur-ing a collision, from the airbags to the crash,” ex-plains Ramírez.
Throughout the years the engineering house has moved into other low-level duties, i.e. more elaborate tasks in electronics such as designing electronic cards, active components, micropro-cessors and a range of products that design codes and carry out specific tasks based on the client’s requirements.
“By developing these applications we realized that we had a way to create intellectual added value. As an engineering house you add value to what is manufactured in Japan, Germany, the US, and all this integrating engineering has given us an important advantage, playing a key role in the sector. By working on development engineering we have visualized a way to incorporate this intel-lectual added value to what we do. We have be-come a beast with two heads,” explains Ramírez.
In this way, ST creates solutions by integrating technology and applications manufactured by third parties. The company creates everything, from a hardware device commissioned by a cli-ent to working packs in the design stages of ve-hicle electronics.
“In some cases we work with people that dedi-cate themselves to transportation services, with devices that allow them to save on fuel, better ad-minister their fleets and improve the driving sys-tem, all of which enable to reduce environment or noise pollution. These are clients of our design house. The engineering house is more focused on automotive parts, from reading devices with edit-ing systems and mechanical designs, to software that allows us to link up to the management sys-tems of the plant of the company that hires us,” specifies Ramírez.
Operational, functional, strategic, testing, tracking, electronic, execution segments and oth-ers make up the wide range of products that ST offers in the automotive sector.
“We are a company that takes part in the glob-al supply chain for car manufacturers. Among our special clients we have Volkswagen from Mexico and Volkswagen from Brazil. With them, we work on instrumentation for tests developed by themselves or integrated by a third party,” de-scribes Ramírez.
To mention but one of the technological so-lutions it offers, ST develops precision impulse generators designed for vehicle airbags and for testing aerospace manufacturing.
A Touch of SambaSince the beginning, ST has made international sales. It has set foot in the US and Canadian markets as well as to the South of the continent in countries such as Costa Rica, Chile, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina.
One of the corners of the world ST targets is Brazil, a market “very much prone to work locally,” according to Eduardo Ramírez.
“We have succeeded in a very local market. We have a subsidiary in Brazil because it has not stopped generating income, even in diffi-cult times like in 2009, which was practically a wasted year for the sector. Business went down tremendously,” recalls the head of business de-velopment at ST.
Part of the company’s growth in the Brazil-ian market is due to the trust that Brazilian cli-ents have in ST for being part of global strategic
ties to acadeMia
in 2006, mexico’s president felipe
calderón hinojosa inaugurated
the centro de tecnología
electrónica vehicular (center for
vehicular electronic technology;
ctev for its acronym in spanish),
a joint project by st and the
instituto tecnológico de estudios
superiores de occidente (Western
technological institute of higher
studies; iteso for its acronym in
spanish), in guadalajara.
the center is a business model
outside the company’s facilities,
located in the university campus.
there, students, professors and st
specialists carry out engineering
development projects.
“these are projects conceived in
the real world that allow students
to have a better idea of what goes
on in real life and to be better
prepared mentally for when they
go out into the labor market. it’s
an innovative concept created by
a local company and a university
with a great social responsibility in
order to have a positive impact in
technological domains,” explains
eduardo ramírez.
the technological center is
equipped with advanced
instrumentation, specialized
software and a fiber optics
telecommunications gateway.
partnerships. Teaming up and working hand in hand with companies such as Texas Instruments or NAC (from Cisco Systems) has allowed the small yet grand house of Mexican engineering to gain ground where others have failed.
“We believe that our success has everything to do with the company’s targeted strategic thinking that envisions where we want to stand in a determined period of time and its clear knowledge of where our strengths lie. The con-cept itself becomes a part of the foundations of the company’s mission, which is to extract value from knowledge. As such, this becomes something for the long run where we have a management model, a model focused on get-ting the best, the maximum value out of a per-son,” wraps up Ramírez. n
www.st-mx.com
Mexico’s partner soluciones tecnológicAs
32 Negocios Photos courtesy of air design
Although the global auto in-dustry was badly hit by the international financial crisis, Mexico’s market has already
started its recovery. Official figures show a growth rate of above 50% for new car produc-tion during 2010. This year, the country has produced more than 200,000 units and, com-pared with 2009, exports have also risen.
A Mexican family that has spent several years working in the automotive market knows that the benefits of the industry in Mexico are not limited to the assembly line. Each new unit that leaves a factory is an op-portunity for another booming sector: the components and auto parts industry.
The Adventure of Building Aerodynamics During the 1980s, the Ávalos family, whose father worked as a manager for several lead-
Air Design: the Business of Beauty on Wheels
For two decades, Air Design has created “customized auto models” as well as beautified and enhanced the performance of models from virtually every car manufacturer established in Mexico. It is now one of the leading companies in the industry across the continent yet it has greater ambitions: its goal is to strengthen its presence in international markets with a new generation of products by 2011.
by cristinA ÁVilA-ZesAtti
ing companies in the automotive industry, took on the challenge of creating an explora-tion car. It was a single model for an equally unique adventure. The goal was a round trip by road to the North Pole.
Not only was that goal met but also the Ávalos discovered the enormous business opportunities implicit in the creation of ex-ternal components to improve the perfor-mance of brand new cars. That is how they entered into the business of creating exter-nal devices to improve speed and stability, making a car more aerodynamic and thus reducing its fuel consumption.
“Saving fuel had a special relevance back in the 80s. Those were the times of the oil embargo and fuel was really expensive,” remembers Miguel Ávalos, director of Air Design.
The company was officially founded in 1991 as a result of that first family incur-
Mexico’s partner Air design
sion into the specialized design of automo-tive components. Today, nearly two decades after his first foray into the field, Air Design has become one of the most recognized lead-ers in the Latin American market and what started as a family workshop has become a design center and a factory where every year around 30,000 cars from several manu-facturers are equipped.
Air Design not only works with cars manufactured in Mexico but also with im-ported units. The company directly offers its services in Mexico, the US, Central and South America. But its presence can be found in more than 30 nations worldwide, where the components manufactured by the company are assembled as an integral part of the units made in Mexico.
Speed and Beauty: a Business on Wheels Globally, the automotive aftermarket is esti-mated at 150 billion usd annually. In Mexico, the more modest forecasts estimate a 40% growth in the sector during 2010, a signifi-cant increase for a country considered the 10th largest producer of cars in the world.
“It sounds logical that despite the crisis, the automotive industry has preserved its place as one of the strongest sectors of the world’s economy. After a home, the second most valuable material possession for a fam-ily is a car. For example, in the US it is esti-mated that for each pickup truck that is sold, an investment of 2,000 to 3,000 usd in equip-ment is made within the first six months fol-lowing the purchase,” says Ávalos.
For the Ávalos, the slowdown that alarmed the major automakers, and even the US Government, in fact meant an area of opportunity.
In 2010, Air Design estimates it will fin-ish the year with a sales level of 16 million usd, not only because its market niche did not suffer the crisis brunt directly but also, and above all, because the Mexican com-pany has spent the last three years improv-ing its performance and investing to renew the technology it uses to design, produce and manufacture automotive components.
Plans for 2011, when the company will celebrate its 20th anniversary, include open-ing an office in Spain, where the Ávalos aim to consolidate the internationalization of their business. They have already targeted some other locations to address that goal. By the end of 2010, their automotive designs, “proudly made in Mexico,” will reach Michi-
gan, in the US, where Air Design’s major cli-ents are based.
“We are ready to venture into the cre-ation of universal products. That is the new generation of products we want to take to the world’s largest automotive markets. We are aware that this industry depends significantly on the creation of added value and that is pre-cisely our business: knowing how to innovate with high, very high, quality. This is the only way in which medium sized companies can access the big markets. We know how to do so and we are doing it,” concludes Ávalos. n
www.airdesign.com.mx
Photos courtesy of ciateQ34 Negocios
In the first semester of 2011, the Re-search and Technical Assistance Center of Querétaro (Ciateq, for its acronym in Spanish) will have every right to cel-
ebrate because it will launch the Labora-tory of Aeronautical Technology (Labta, for its acronym in Spanish), hand in hand with its twin centers Cideteq (Center for Techno-logical Research and Development in Elec-trochemistry) and Cidesi (Center for Indus-trial Engineering and Development). “With Labta, we will offer a single, integrated, unit-ed front to the aeronautics industry. And everything that a center on its own cannot develop will be done in the laboratory. For example, preparing specific structures for airplanes and developing materials for aero-nautical application for very specific testing that we don’t have right now in our centers,” says the Executive Director of Ciateq, Víctor Lizardi Nieto.
Ciateq, Key in Mexico’s Aeronautical Development
Thirty-two years since its foundation, the Research and Technical Assistance Center of Querétaro offers support and assistance to all main industrial sectors located in the state, especially to aeronautics. In 2011 it will launch Labta, a laboratory of aeronautical technology.
by giselA VÁZqueZ
More than 3.1 million usd will be invested in the Labta project, which will offer various services to the industry. “For example, at Labta we will be able to do resistance tests at tem-peratures lower than 50-60 degrees Celsius –temperatures at which airplanes fly,” points out Lizardi Nieto.
According to Ciateq’s Executive Director, Labta operations will be of great importance since it completes the virtuous circle that has supported the development of the aeronautics industry in Querétaro over the last five years. There is an aeronautics industrial park that hosts leading companies in the sector, such as Bombardier, ITR Turborreactores (ITR Tur-bojets), Grupo Safran and Snecma. There is a whole research network tied to this industry, made up of the Aeronautics University, the centers Ciateq, Cidetec and Cidesi, the Univer-sity of Querétaro, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the Center of
Design and Innovation in Aeronautics and the Advanced Study and Research Center (Cin-vestav) of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN).
The bustling aeronautics operations in Querétaro are tangible evidence of the enor-mous rate at which the industry has flourished in recent years. Official data reveals that at the moment the sector is made up of more than 200 companies, employing around 30,000 people in the country.
In order to get an idea of the magnitude of the sector, out of the 217 established aeronau-tics companies in Mexico, 150 have arrived in only two years. In just a couple of years that has turned Mexico into the world’s number one destination for new investments in aero-nautics projects. That is to say, our country holds the first place in the world in attracting new aeronautics projects.
And amidst the drive in aeronautics that the country, and particularly Querétaro, is ex-periencing, Ciateq has remained close to the industry, not only due to its quickened growth rate in light of other important companies set-tling there but also due to the technological development that represents. All that seems to predict important growth, as well as a develop-ment of supply chains, thus creating new jobs. Ciateq collaborates in the design and develop-ment of special equipment for maintenance plants, as well as of different specialties in ther-mal treatments and devices for the manufac-turing of aircraft.
Its main client has been ITR Turborreac-tores (ITR Turbojets), a company dedicated to manufacturing tubes and modernizing aero-nautical engines. “We have developed special equipment for ITR, for example a vacuum fur-nace for the external treatment of the blades of the aeronautic turbines, as well as of the clean-ing systems of the equipment that they make up,” specifies Lizardi Nieto. He also points out that Ciateq’s services evolve around the devel-opment of equipment for the industry. Worth-while mentioning is the joint venture between Ciateq and GE International in engineering development for turbo machinery, including applications in aeronautics. More than 700 en-gineers are involved in that project.
This center is also very active in the aiport sector. For 10 years now, Ciateq has been of-fering the airport industry support in the de-velopment of engineering and technological development services, tending to clients in Mexico and South America. Among the proj-ects carried out, is the design for Aeropuertos
y Servicios Auxiliares (Airports and Auxiliary Services, ASA for its acronym in Spanish), for whom it developed measurement instru-ments for jet fuel in the country’s main air-ports. “Thanks to these developments, ASA can now keep track of its movements and its fuel inventories in real time in 87% of its op-erations,” mentions Lizardi Nieto.
At the same time, Ciateq carried out the automation of the fuel stations of the seven main airport terminals of the country, Mexico City, Cancún, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Tijuana, Puerto Vallarta and the city of Oaxaca. It also developed the so-called Scada (for its acronym in Spanish, Supervisory Control and Data Ac-quisition System) for these airport terminals. Using this system –consisting of screens and specialized software– operations in the termi-nals can be overseen and handled.
In the telecommunications sector Ciateq de-veloped something similar for TV Azteca. It’s a remote monitoring and control system for more than 180 local broadcasting TV stations.
32 Years Supporting Technological DevelopmentWith the intention of offering support to the industry established in Querétaro, which went through an industrial boom in the 1970’s, Ciateq was officially constituted on November 9th, 1978, with Federal Govern-ment involvement, represented by the Na-tional Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt) the National Laboratories for In-dustrial Promotion (Lanfi), as well as Queré-taro’s State Government and industrialists headed by top management from Grupo ICA and Grupo Spicer.
Its objectives were as follows: to provide technical support to new companies, indus-trial promotion and technical training for personnel, technical support in high quality control of raw materials and manufactured products, technical advice in design, manu-facturing methodologies, machinery and processes, production control and organiza-tion and applied research, innovation and technological development.
The range of industries that Ciateq sup-ports is very broad: hydrocarbons, communi-cations and transports, automotive and auto parts, machinery and equipment, electricity, water, food industry and, of course, the aero-nautics sector. For such industries, specialized engineering services are offered to different topics such as telecommunications and infor-mation technologies, special machines, mea-
surement instruments, process engineering and advanced manufacturing.
Thirty-two years after it was founded, Ciateq now handles a budget of almost 40 million usd, of which 25% corresponds to subsidies from the Federal Government. It employs 260 highly qualified people in full time positions, but sometimes it subcontracts the same amount of personnel, depending on the projects. Lizardi Nieto, who has been head-ing the center for 10 years now, maintains that already they are being considered as “a center of vanguard” in the technological development known for creating and strengthening com-panies. “We have always maintained a service philosophy towards the industry,” adds Lizardi Nieto, who in February 2011 ends his second term as Executive Director of Ciateq. n
www.ciateq.mx
Mexico’s partner ciAteq
excellent ally
Key services that Ciateq offers
its clients in the aeronautics
industry:
design and manufacturing of
processing equipment
process engineering and
advanced manufacturing
repair and modernization
of turbo machinery
analysis and simulation
through numerical mef
calibration of measuring
instruments
diagnosis of machinery and
equipment
Key services to the airport
sector:
supervisory control
and data acquisition
systems (scadas)
design and manufacturing of
support vehicles for airport
terminals
development of specialized
software
systems of process control
and handling of information
assessment of measurement
systems for the flow of gases
and liquids
design and development
of information systems
linked to measurement and
instrumentation systems
design and manufacturing
of testing, inspection and
production devices
calibration of measuring
instruments
diagnosis of machinery and
equipment
36 Negocios Photos courtesy of aerodesign de méxico
Aerodesign de México has not only been witness to the growth of the aerospace industry in the country; the company has also pioneered
and actively participated in it. Based in Tijuana, it is part of the C&D Zodiac group and produc-es components for interiors of the most impor-tant aircraft in the world.
It was in 1991 when the private US compa-ny C&D Aerospace decided to benefit from the qualified manpower at hand in Mexico, so as to reduce costs. One year later the first plant of Aerodesign de Mexico began operations in Ti-juana, Baja California, manufacturing furniture for the Airbus A340. Shortly after, it would be-gin producing for the Bombardier H200.
Fast forward to 2005: C&D Aerospace Group was acquired by the equipment and aeronautics systems supplier Zodiac, in a trans-action worth 600 million usd, according to re-ports from Reuters news agency.
Thus, C&D Aerospace became C&D Zo-diac. The group leads the sector and is well known for producing and integrating interiors for safe, comfortable and quality airplanes.
The Sky is the Limit
With years of experience and effort, Aerodesign, a company based in Tijuana that belongs to the C&D Zodiac group, keeps on growing at
the same time and rate as the aerospace industry in Mexico.
Paradise and Other Slim TouchesC&D Zodiac is made up of C&D Brazil, C&D Canada, C&D Europe, C&D Zodiac, in Cali-fornia, and the companies 4Flight Industries, Advanced Composites, Plasthec, Aerocell and Aerodesign de México. With a workforce of almost 5,000 employees, its sales in 2009 rose above 500 million usd.
Aerodesign, which started out in 1991 with 80 employees, has grown exponential-ly. Today, it holds two factory premises that together make up a surface of more than 600,000 square feet.
Furniture, fittings, dividing walls, wall in-teriors, doors and ceilings, interiors for cargo compartments, seat covers, tanks for bathroom fittings, trays and A/C ducts, are but some of the products that Aerodesign manufactures.
“We manufacture for the four heads of the commercial aerospace industry: Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer and Airbus,” states Raúl Pérez, VP and General Manager of Aerodesign for the last three years. “In Tijuana we have concentrated on servicing national airplanes, such as Embraer and Bombardier,” he adds.
“For the engineers working here, this is heaven,” points out the executive –who hap-pens to be an engineer–, when talking about the processes carried out in Aerodesign: from sphere-shaped machining to seaming, as well as 3-axis and 5-axis drilling.
“Our product also requires a lot of craft-work and that is why we have a highly special-ized manpower, for instance for polishing pro-cesses and for applying decorative materials,” explains Raúl Pérez.
Another innovative touch that the Tijuana company has brought to C&D Zodiac and that has been praised by corporate, is the imple-mentation of Lean Manufacturing techniques, common in the automotive industry and which are only now being introduced success-fully in the aerospace industry.
The Long Road to TrustThe aerospace industry represents one of the fastest growing sectors in Mexico, which to-day is the number one place in the world for manufacturing investments in this area. The sector has attracted investments of more than
by JenniFer cHAn
Mexico’s partner Aerodesign de MÉxico
30 billion usd between 1990 and 2009, and that positions Mexico above other countries such as Russia, the US, India and China. In 2009, exports from the sector reached 3 billion usd. Last year sales from Aerodesign de México were of around 50 million usd, representing for C&D Zodiac ap-proximately 8% of its total sales worldwide.
However, the path that led to trusting lo-cal manpower has not been easy. Raúl Pérez tells the story of how previously produc-tion in Mexico focused solely on processes with high volume and low level complexity: “There was no confidence in the potential to manufacture more complex assembled parts, let alone engineering development” he recalls. “It cost us a lot to convince them that we could produce any component and even design it here.”
Aerodesign is 100% Mexican. It operates as any other company in the country, self-sufficient and with its own accounting, purchase, logistics departments and, most important of all, its own design engineering department.
“For all the products that are manufac-tured in Mexico the engineering is Mexican. That is a very important accomplishment,” Pérez states proudly.
Acknowledging that the country and its companies have to develop complex processes has taken time, but it has arrived. Today corpo-rate C&D Zodiac considers Aerodesign to be its best plant and in 2009 it gave Aerodesign the an-nual award for excellence, distinguishing it from its other divisions in countries such as Canada and France. The company from Tijuana also has the AS9100 certification as well as the Nadcap certification for composed materials processes.
With that, two things have been proven to be true: Mexican manpower is highly qualified and the country’s focus on developing the indus-try by means of higher education programs, eco-nomic incentives and the creation of aerospace clusters, has provided good results.
Onward and UpwardMexico is now considered a strategic area in the eyes of the global aerospace industry. That
is why, after a year that included participations in the Querétaro Aerospace Forum and visits from Embraer COO Artur Coutinho, and from directors from Direction Générale de l’Aviation Civile (DGAC for its acronym in French), the fu-ture of Aerodesign shines bright.
“C&D Zodiac’s major growth expecta-tions are focused on Mexico,” points out Pérez. With a project in interiors for the Boe-ing 787 just around the corner, Aerodesign is preparing to extend its manufacturing sur-face by 50% and to raise its workforce to 200 by 2013. In addition, projects to manufacture components for the Airbus A350 have been confirmed, as well as interiors for the Bom-bardier C-Series.
That is the result of years of hard work from a company that has become a synonym for quality in the Mexican aerospace industry and whose motto can be summarized in the words of medical researcher and virologist Jo-nas Edward Salk: “The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.” n
Photo courtesy of ayuntamiento de ciudad juárez38 Negocios i The Lifestyle38 Negocios Photo courtesy of southWest united galniK
Mexico is positioning itself as one of the main runways for the in-ternational aerospace industry, benefitting on one hand with
the landing of multinational companies and on the other with the takeoff of a Mexican in-dustry, 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 im-portance and the uniqueness of the firm South-west United Galnik lies.
A Modern Aerospace Agreement
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.
by Jesús estrAdA cortÉs
“We’ve created the first aerospace joint ven-ture between a company from the US and a company from Mexico,” states Renato Villase-ñor 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 interna-tional companies establish themselves in the country, generating their own local supply chain, while others, generally medium-sized interna-tional 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 com-pany dedicated to the manufacturing of special processes to satisfy the growing needs of the aerospace cluster in the country.
The ActorsIn 1988, Sergio Villaseñor established Galnik. For more than 22 years the firm has maintained steady growth, to the point of becoming a re-nowned leading plating supplier for the automo-tive, appliances, manufacturing and electrical sec-tors 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; Gar-dena, California and Brampton and Concord, Ontario, Canada.
Mexico’s partner soutHWest united gAlniK
The ProcessAs 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 sec-tor with the experience of the Mexican com-pany 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 manufac-turing plant in the state of Querétaro (central Mexico). “By July 2009 we already had an agreement to create the company and on Au-gust 19th of that same year we formally signed the official charter to create Southwest Unit-ed Galnik,” says Villaseñor.
From that moment on, they began work-ing to set up the production plant, a process that was completed between September and October 2010.
The facility measures 1,600 square me-ters and in its first stage generated 25 high-value 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 uncom-mon. Thus, Southwest United Galnik has in its hands “a process that is reliable, competitive and customer-oriented.”
One of the characteristics of special pro-cessing 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 Con-tractors Accreditation Program), a certifica-tion issued by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers).
The company has already initiated the Nadcap certification process and expects to obtain the ac-creditation by the end of 2010.
The PerspectivesAfter 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 com-panies 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 inter-esting 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 through-out 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 aero-space sector, one example of that is Kuo–Aerospace Division, a Mexican group very strong in the auto-motive sector that is now emigrating. And secondly, we have these joint venture experiences, which I trust will help convince more businessmen to es-tablish these types of agreements, with benefits for both parties, so that they may combine and add ex-perience and knowledge.” n
www.swunitedgalnik.com.mx
July 2009Galnik and Southwest United In-dustries sign an agreement to cre-ate a new company in Mexico.
October 2009Southwest United Galnik is offi-cially and legally established.
December 2009The official design of the facilities is published and in February 2010 the final design is concluded with data from potential clients and suppliers.
March 2010The first employee, Eduardo A. Castillo, is hired as Quality Engi-neering Manager.
April 2010Offices are inaugurated at the new facilities.
May – July 2010Installation of machinery and pro-cesses in the manufacturing plant.
August 2010The processing is set in motion and the first tests are carried out in the plant, in addition to personnel training.
October 2010The fully automated chemical pro-cesses are launched.
November 2010Audit for the AS 9100 certification.
December 2010Audit for the Nadcap certification.
southwest united Galnik
tiMeline
40 Negocios Photo courtesy of hydra technologies
In December 2009, the weekly publication Milenio Semanal reported that the Mexi-can Navy was preparing to invest between 80 and 100 million usd in Ehécatl and Gavi-
lán vehicles for security operations along Mexi-co’s southern border.
Echécatl and Gavilán are two of the cre-ations of Hydra Technologies, a Mexican company based in Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco, that develops and manufactures Un-manned Aerial Systems (UAS).
The company’s history is as unique as its products. It started out as a pastime of young model airplane enthusiasts and over time de-veloped into one of the key players of a sector, which, according to data provided by the Mexi-can Aerospace Industry Federation, generates annual exports worth more than 3 billion usd.
UAS provide a technological answer to many of the daily needs of armies and police forces around the world, as well as for civilian applications. These unmanned aircraft repre-sent one of the most advanced tools used by the modern military as a complement to most of their operations.
Hydra Technologies Conquers the Skies
Hydra Technologies is a high flyer in the Mexican aerospace industry with its unmanned aerial systems, used both for civilian and military applications.
“The unmanned aerial surveillance sys-tems manufactured by Hydra have day/night and all weather capacity,” according to Hydra Technologies on their website www.hydra-technologies.com.
The main applications for these public secu-rity vehicles include: reconnaissance and pursuit of land and marine vehicles; air support opera-tions in urban operations; long and short range covert aerial surveillance; regular monitoring flights of high risk urban areas; locating people at night with thermal cameras; detecting activity in large rural communities and mountainous ter-rain; surveillance of highways, borders, demon-strations and emergencies; intelligence gathering operations; and strategic support in kidnapping situations.
The UAS manufactured by Hydra Technolo-gies are also used for environmental and civil protection work. For example, the Jalisco state government has used some of these vehicles to detect pollution along the Río Santiago which crosses the municipalities of El Salto and Juana-catlán, in Guadalajara’s metropolitan zone—the second most important of its type in Mexico.
During an interview with the Mural news-paper, on June 8, 2009, Álvaro Gutiérrez, a company representative, explained that some of Hydra Technologies’ aircraft were used to detect pests in forests and to monitor infra-structure works in specific cities.
“For civil protection, maps are drawn up of at-risk areas before the rainy season begins. Every year these aircraft are used to monitor stream beds. The Civil Protection agency uses them to make maps and identify areas that are at risk,” explains Gutiérrez. “They send in the unmanned aircraft, they make a photographic map of the area and that gives them better in-formation for their prevention work.”
After operating for just over five years, and with an initial investment of around 10 million usd, the Jalisco-based company –whose un-manned vehicles can cost between 500,000 and 8 million usd– is soaring the skies of an international market with a growth potential ranging between 3.5 billion to 55 billion usd in the next 10 years. n
www.hydra-technologies.com
by Antonio VÁZqueZ
The lifestyleT h e C o m p l et e G u i d e of t h e M ex i c a n Way of L i fe .
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Interview
julietafierro
A Vocation to Popularize Science
p. 58
Art
A Museum Beneath the Caribbean Sea
p. 54
42 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo trevor patt
For the first time, the Centre Pompi-dou (Paris) presents an exhibition by Mexican contemporary artist Gabriel Orozco. This exhibition fol-
lows shows at the Museum of Modern Art, (New York) and the Kunstmuseum (Basel), and will be followed by another one at Tate Modern (London). The Paris show is larger than the two preceding, in terms of both exhi-bition space and number of works exhibited, and will be open until January 3, 2011. This exhibition is a unique opportunity to discover an exceptional collection of his drawings, photographs, sculptures and paintings, most of which have never been shown in France.
Gabriel Orozco is now recognized as one of the leading artists of his generation, having begun to establish an international reputation in the early 1990s. Constantly travelling, and without any fixed studio, Orozco rejects na-tional or regional identifications, drawing his inspiration from the different places he has lived or stayed in. Born in Jalapa, Veracruz in 1962, he currently lives between Mexico, New York and Paris. His open and constantly de-veloping approach finds expression in works of widely varying scale in a great diversity of media, the artist showing equal ease, freedom
Gabriel Orozco at the Pompidou
and fluidity in photography, drawing, painting, sculpture and installation.
Orozco’s work is characterized by a lively interest in the elements of the urban landscape and the human body. His work is fed by the humdrum incidents of daily life, with their poet-ry of randomness and paradox. The boundaries between the objet d’art and the workaday envi-ronment are deliberately blurred, art and real-ity deliberately mixed. Movement, expansion, circularity, dialogue between the geometrical and the organic, have marked his ongoing visual quest for over twenty years.
For this exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, Orozco has come up with an original layout based on the idea of the studio. Doing without internal walls, labelling or commentary, the works are displayed in a simplicity that echoes the moment of their creation, before their ap-propriation by the museum and its apparatus.
Pieces of an ExhibitionOrozco has been closely involved in develop-ing the project, helping to design, together with Centre Pompidou curator Christine Macel, an exhibition of more than 80 works that offers an overview of his career from its beginnings to today.
Horses Running Endlessly is a chessboard enlarged and transformed, bringing together the characteristic themes of game, infinity and circularity. Black Kites, a human skull covered by a grid drawn in graphite, testifies to the importance of reflection in Orozco’s work. La DS is a Citroën DS that the artist cut in three, longitudinally, removing the central section and the engine before joining the two outer parts. Similarly, in Elevator, he cut an elevator cabin to the shape of his own body. In these works Orozco effects a reduction of habitual everyday space, which finds itself confined by its function. For Four Bicycles (There is Always One Direction) the artist took four bicycles, assembling the frames as a single unit. These three sculptures, all evoking movement despite their immobility, are based on a strategy of “extraction and re-configuration” frequently resorted to by the artist: he does not rob the object of its original function, nor turn it into something else, but rather offers a reinterpretation.
The exhibition includes many works deal-ing with the body. My Hands Are My Heart is a small sculpture made by the artist’s press-ing a ball of clay between his palms to form an object in the shape of a heart that bears the
tHis exHiBition is A unique opportunity to discoVer An exceptionAl collection
oF oroZco’s drAWings, pHotogrApHs, sculptures And pAintings, Most oF WHicH
HAVe neVer Been sHoWn in FrAnce.
art gABriel oroZco At tHe poMpidou
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impress of his body. The sculpture is placed op-posite a photographic diptych in which one sees the hands closed around the clay and opened to show the heart, revealing the way the work was made. There are other works of terracotta moulded by hands and fingers, bearing the trac-es of the encounter between the artist’s body and the material (Torso, Three arms, Four and Two Fingers…), as well as a number of works on paper in which the hand figures as motif or tool or both: palm prints on paper, outlines of hands filled with flourishes. First Was The Spitting is a series of four drawings produced by spraying toothpaste spit onto squared paper and then surrounding the marks so made by little black circles drawn in ink and pencil. The artist’s interests in the organic, in circular form, expansion and the cosmos here find epigram-matic expression.
The photographs taken in the early 1990s are the product of Orozco’s walks through the city, either simple snapshots of things encoun-tered, or records of the artist’s intervention in manipulating found objects to form poetic or humorous assemblages.
Another medium in which Orozco works is painting. The series Samurai Tree, executed in tempera (red, blue and white) and gold leaf on wood, are the fruit of the artist’s investigation of the circular form and rotary movement that have been a concern from the very beginning. They follow on from the coloured circles drawn on airline tickets and banknotes in 1995 and the later images of sportsmen in the Atomist series, also exhibited here. For the artist, these paintings are diagrammatic representations of a structure in constant development.
Spherical forms, too, are scattered through the exhibition: Recaptured Nature is a giant rub-ber balloon made from truck-tire inner tubes found at a flea market: a memory of its old role is inscribed on the scuffed surface of the mate-rial. Orozco often works with objects or mate-rials found in the street. There are also balls of plasticine, among them Yielding Stone, of the same weight as the artist, rolled through the streets until it acquired a patina of debris across the whole surface.
Other small sculptures evoke exchange, circulation, movement: Shoes is a pair of shoes with their soles glued together; the Two Socks are stuffed with papier mâché; Seed’s light, organic form of steel mesh holds polystyrene balls; and Soccer Ball 7 is an incised football.
The exhibition also offers an opportunity to see recent sculptures made from vegetal el-ements collected in the Mexican desert: Drops
on Trunk is a piece of mango trunk on which the artist has drawn a system of interlaced cir-cular forms, while Eyes under Elephant Foot is a section of beaucarnea trunk with glass eyes embedded in the cross section. Two sculptures hanging from the ceiling seem to float in space, creating rhythms in different dimensions: Spume Stream, an organic form in polyure-thane foam, and Toilet Ventilator, a revolving ceiling fan with streamers of toilet paper. The artist also presents his Working Tables, bear-ing an accumulation of materials, found objects and maquettes reflecting ten years’ sculptural experiment that offer an unprecedented insight into the artist’s work process while revealing connections between different projects. n
oroZco has been closely involved in developing the project, helping to design, together with Centre Pompidou curator Christine Macel, an exhibition of more than 80 works that offers an overview of his career from its beginnings to today.
44 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo courtesy of omelette
interView HÉctor gAlVÁn
the relationship between design and cooking forms the basis of Héctor Galván’s work. Born in Mexico’s North-eastern state of Tamaulipas, the designer uses the con-cept of food culture when developing his projects: he explores culinary art and applies it to his designs, from
boutique hotels to chocolate products.He drinks coffee from a kind of bowl and says that he prefers creat-
ing experiences rather than designs. Perhaps that explains why 10 years ago, without thinking too much about it, he named his design company Omelette.
“Everything we do, this whole new approach toward design, planning, and constructing, is for someone to come along and put down a cup of tea or coffee. It is the great architectural bridge. Everything is made to be illuminated. It’s about condensing a vegetable garden and a patio into a piece of bread, therefore creating a typography that brings to mind a vegetable garden and a loaf of bread. It’s a way of finding a meal and eat-ing it with your hands. The whole project is a combination,” says Galván, interior designer for the Deseo and Básico hotels in Playa del Carmen in the state of Quintana Roo, two projects developed by Grupo Hábita.
Both projects have been awarded prizes by architectural and design specialized magazines and institutions, making them a magnificent call-ing card for Galván. But it has been a long and winding road.
Galván says his vocation has always been architecture and although he has yet to fulfill his dream, he has not abandoned it.
He began to study design in Michoacán, where he learned about crafts such as textiles and ceramics, but before finishing he traveled to Guadalajara to work in fashion design.
Despite finishing his degree, he admits that he learned most during his seven-year stint in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco at the workshop of Greek de-signer Irene Pulos.
“I went back to work with the same craftsmen who were my teachers in Pátzcuaro (in the western state of Michoacán) and I designed fabrics with them,” says Galván. “We produced collections for a market of 30 to 70 year olds but I tried to target a younger market to make the col-
Héctor Galván: Héctor Galván’s design career has been prepared like a sophisticated dish made of seemingly unlikely ingredients that combine for a unique flavor.
lection more contemporary, to get people to catch onto this taste. I worked with indigenous commu-nities, with the Huichol, the Za-poteco, with traditional weavers. At the same time I was travelling to and from Italy as well as study-ing. I had to familiarize myself with other ideas to take the brand out-side of its ethnic box and be able to also make more contemporary designs. Part of my job was to give the brand a younger image.”
At this juncture he began to branch out from fashion design. He helped Irene Pulos to acquire and interior decorate a large house in Tlaquepaque –a town that contains everything from the most traditional to the latest trends in Mexican art.
“That workshop taught me to become more sophisticated, to create an unexpected idea directly or indirectly from atmospheres or intentions. I have lunch with Jorge Wilmot, Mexico’s top ceramist, every Friday; with Gabriel García Márquez’ personal assistant; with writers; with the Huichol gover-nor or with the Huichol witch-doctor who slept in our house. It was an incredibly sophisticated world,” remembers Galván.
by FrAncisco Vernis
sloW-cooKed design
46 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of omelette
Galván left Pulos’ workshop and went to Oaxaca and from there to Europe to continue his training. His career as an interior designer could be said to have officially started during a holiday to his hometown of Tampico in Tamaulipas. After helping an architect friend to design a gar-den, Galván became the same friend’s consultant in the purchasing of art for his house.
“The client asked me to do the interior design of his house and so I stayed on,” he recounts. “I rediscovered by region, my home.”
On trips to Mexico City, where he went on some courses, he made contact with someone who had seen his first job in Tampico and wanted him to do the interiors of his house.
Six months later, others became interested in Galván’s work but he had to cope with the zeal of his first client who had brought him to Mex-ico City. That was where he learned that a large amount of his work is based on his approach to business.
“It’s not just a question of design but the whole caboodle of a work process. I threaten clients like this: Yes, you’re going to hire me, but I’m not in this on my own. I want to spend serious time working with you be-cause I’m going to go and leave a 20-year-long responsibility that you’re either going to tolerate or hate. I want to know what sort of suit you wear for business, the function of the space, the communication of an idea,” explains Galván.
—How well developed is interior and object design in Mexico?It’s in the early stages. We have just delivered two objects for Deseo and Básico: a lamp that I made because eight years ago there was nothing that could be bought for Hotel Deseo. Grupo Hábita is not just a hotel group. It made design fashionable for the 21st century. They sparked and revealed a trend that breaks with the status quo and creates a global movement. They opened up the market and the stores followed in their wake. Now there is design all around the world that you can buy
from a catalog, over the Internet, in a store. Everyone has got in-volved and we are competing. I’m not doing just local projects any more, I’m thinking about what’s on offer in London, if they’re going to give me a prize in New York or Madrid. That is where my com-petitors are located and where the markets are open.
Now you can set about design-ing and purchasing whatever takes your fancy. Now, for in-stance, we’re designing a lot of things for a new hotel but at the same time we’re buying objects that we like to combine with our design.
—How have you found work-ing with the famously design-oriented Grupo Hábita?They are real visionaries, incred-ible partners. You can suggest anything you like without holding back. They are people who like to take risks, always on the look out for new things, ahead of the curve. They pay close attention to design and the relationship between food and design with stylistic concerns.
dictador
galván has not
forsaken fashion, as
shown in his design
of this pair of glasses:
right down to their
wooden case, these
glasses poke fun
at latin american
dictators. the designer
pulls narcissism into
focus with this simple
object.pr
oje
ct
s
interView HÉctor gAlVÁn
Style is the culmination of an image, the image of service with a graphical image, with the architectural image, the way of wrapping up an entire experience.
—Hotel Básico, for example, breaks away from a number of paradigms. To what extent does what you want to project de-rive from these paradigms and how much does it come from your own ingredients?It’s all about teamwork. It begins from the moment when the company’s coordinator decides on the staff that is going to participate in creating an idea. In this case it is Carlos Couturier who decides who is involved. He is a real visionary. He doesn’t like using a one-size-fits-all formula, that’s what makes him special. One of the things I’ve most enjoyed about working with him is that he defines the limits to this work. Before I complained about limitations, my own ones, and these are the things that have helped me devise a work “path,” to deliver a good result or one that gives a surprise. So they might say, for example, that they want a typically Mexican hotel but without the colonial niches and more related to other aspects of Mexico. Something that no one else is seeing, like our way of life. That gives me a path, so I’ll say “like the sandals with tire-rubber soles that Mexicans use.” Imagine a hotel lobby with 100 meters of tire-rubber flooring. It’s about oil, about the Olmecs, about rubber trees, the whole endemic cultural process. He’ll say: Do what you want, because he knows that you’ve already pictured what you want. He encourages you and you have a clear, limitless road ahead.
—There has always been that Mexican angle to your work.It’s an art of removing sacredness. We have constructed a cliché-ridden image of the country for tourists and we have to take away that sacred-ness in ourselves and say that we are also something else. Create a lan-guage and speak it.
hotel deseo
located in the beach resort
town of playa del carmen,
this small 15-room hotel
that opened its doors in
2001 has every possible
luxury for a hotel catering
to a younger crowd, while
retaining a minimalist and
delicate touch. part of
grupo hábita, which also
owns the condesa df and
hábita hotels in mexico city.
hotel básico
following the success of
its hotel deseo, grupo
hábita inaugurated
another project in playa
del carmen, which also
involved galván. the
design aims to combine the
comfort and sophistication
of the more recherché
mexican tradition, winning
travel & leisure’s prize as
the best hotel in the world.
andador reGina
as part of the renovation
work in mexico city’s
historic central district,
galván designed the
image of the new
andador regina, with
the refurbishment of 23
restaurants and stores that
creates an interplay in the
urban context between the
city’s historical tradition
and its modernity.
el coMpadre
this wooden beach
chair, weighing just two
kilograms, has been one of
omelette’s great successes.
after spending 10 days on
listings of the international
architecture and design
website design boom, it
was selected to participate
in the company’s show
organized in melbourne,
australia, in 2009.
I could continue reheating the same old things from 20 years ago. But the key is to use all that to continue evolving, and you yourself have to shake up your theory to make something incredible, that doesn’t have to stop being very Mexican but that is more real from an anthropological perspective.
—You have learned a lot from experience. How much influ-ence has on-the-job training had on your work?It’s vital and something I learnt from Irene Pulos. She didn’t design but she had an incredibly well developed visual education. I’m on the design side, I learned how to draw on graph paper to work with an engineer, but you have to provoke in people certain things for each project. Provoke, administer and inspire.
The challenge is what I can do to prevent myself being supported by everyone’s needs. I want to de-sign habitable spaces with interior design and sell them: to start from scratch, explore and develop new chapters, directions and ideas. n
48 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo julius shulman
Teodoro González de León’s work features in
the urban landscapes of cities such as Mexico,
Villahermosa and Berlin, with some of his creations becoming vital landmarks
for contemporary architecture and daily life
in every city where they are found.
teodoro GonZáleZ de león
In the Renaissance, architects were the all round artists who possessed the technical and cultural knowledge necessary to pro-duce timeless works.
To a certain degree, Teodoro González de León is a “renaissance figure” who has both these qualities and applies them equally to his art, his architecture, his words and his writings.
Born in Mexico City in 1926, González de León graduated in architecture from the Nation-al Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1947. After finishing his education –not with-out first having been a member of the team that drew up the blueprint for the UNAM’s Mexico City Campus, the “Ciudad Universitaria”– he moved to France where he worked for Swiss architect Le Corbusiers firm for 18 months. That was a defining experience for him. González de León returned to Mexico and began to practice
His buildings always project a powerful, sensi-tive and functional image. They possess the qual-ity –coldly calculated by their creator– of success-fully navigating through the passage of time, tak-ing over and incorporating its marks so that they form an intrinsic part of their construction.
González de León is both Mexican and uni-versal in his spatial and formal references. He can use a pre-Colombian ramp as well as man-age a Renaissance perspective.
Faced with the impossible task of sum-ming up his entire work, we have chosen three examples from three different decades: the eighties with the Museo Tamayo, the nineties with the Escuela Superior de Música, and the first decade of the 21st century with the Centro Cultural Bella Época. Here are three public buildings that form part of Mexico City’s urban landscape.
Teodoro González de LeónA Universal Mexican Architect by guAdAlupe cAstillo AJA
his profession independently. Over the course of almost 60 years he has helped shape the land-scape of his native city. Some of his buildings, such as Conjunto Arcos Bosques and Reforma 222 have become urban landmarks, indispens-able reference points in Mexico City’s landscape and skyline. But the architect has also left his mark in other places around the country, such as in Villahermosa, Tabasco, with the Tomás Garrido Park and the Public Library, and he has also managed to transcend borders such as with the Mexican Embassy in Berlin.
González de León’s constructions are some-times the product of teamwork. This has led him to collaborate with other leading Mexican architects, like Abraham Zabludovsky (Museo Tamayo, Auditorio Nacional) and Francisco Serrano (Mexican Embassy in Berlin, Parque Tomás Garrido).
architecture teodoro gonZÁleZ de león
Museo tAMAyo Arte conteMporÁneopAseo de lA reForMA & gAndHiMexico city
www.museotamayo.org
Museo Tamayo Arte ContemporáneoUndertaken together with architect Abraham Zabludovsky, the project for Museo Tamayo, a museum of contemporary art, began in 1972 and was inaugurated in 1981. Nestled within Mexico City’s Chapultepec Park, adjacent to the Museo Nacional de Antropología, the mu-seum houses the collection that Oaxacan art-ist Rufino Tamayo bequeathed to Mexico and to which the building itself belongs.
The museum is hidden among newly planted trees that surround it. It is set back 150 meters from Paseo de la Reforma –one of Mexico City’s main thoroughfares– and its design based on planted slopes on three of its sides is clearly influenced by pre-Columbian architecture.
The building’s walls and floor are made of exposed chiselled concrete. To enter the building, you walk up some stairs and pass underneath a massive cramp iron structure positioned at 45 degrees to the facade’s vol-ume. Once inside you find yourself almost im-mediately entering one of the exhibition halls, or if you descend a ramp, you will land at the central courtyard, a double-height space cov-ered and illuminated by three skylights, which span its entire length.
The museum has aged gracefully. Its con-crete walls bear witness to the passing of time.
The needs of the museum have motivated the trustees to plan an extension designed by
Teodoro González de León himself and which will be concluded later this year, giving the ar-chitect the chance to work on his own building after a gap of 30 years.
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50 Negocios i The Lifestyle
Centro Cultural Bella Época - Rosario Castellanos Bookstore of the Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE)At the far South of Mexico City’s hip Colonia Condesa neighborhood, this is a renovation of a former cinema called the Bella Época that was built in 1942 by American architect Charles Lee. The “Californian Colonial” and art deco style of the original facade includes a circular entrance crowned by a turret. González de León decided to retain and accentuate the sim-plicity of the construction with a monochro-matic approach, integrating a circular awning over the entrance and fusing the interior and exterior spaces through the use of large show-
Escuela Superior de Música of the Na-tional Arts Center The National Arts Center (CNA) complex in the South of Mexico City opened its doors in 1994. It is a showcase of the period’s architec-ture, as it combines the work of seven leading Mexican architecture firms of the time. Te-odoro González de León’s contribution to the complex is a building that represents a typically Mexican architectural style, despite its lack of color –it is almost completely white due to its marble-aggregate concrete– and its contempo-rary look.
The Escuela Superior de Música (Music School) is located at the eastern end of the complex and finishes it off masterfully. The ar-chitectural use of pure shapes –a sloping cube for the concert hall, a barrel vault that marks the entrance and penetrates to the rear of the building, a silver arch that contains the circula-tions in a triple-height space, classrooms and music room– becomes almost abstract.
A scale of its facade’s total height makes it look magnificent. On entering the barrel vault the scale becomes more human and opens up onto a courtyard that is bordered at its north-ern tip by the skylights in the practice rooms, with a slope and movement as if they were the keys of an unassembled piano. The result is welcoming. At the end of the courtyard, where it meets the vault, there is a small auditorium incorporating stairs evocative of a pre-Colum-bian design.
You need authorization from the Escuela’s offices in order to visit the building. However, that is a straightforward process and the visit is well worthwhile.
escuelA superior de MúsicAnAtionAl Arts centerrÍo cHuruBusco 79country cluBMexico city
www.cenart.gob.mx
case windows along the building’s perimeter.The centre of the bookstore retained the
height and dimensions of the original cinema. Two large skylights provide lighting for various reading oases – palm trees included –encour-aging the public to sit down and leaf through a book.
The furniture was designed to maximize visibility. A special mention should be made of the soffit composed of 250 frosted glass panes etched in black with a bamboo design by Dutch artist Jan Hendrix.
Bella Época is more than a bookstore and cultural center. It is a sample of Mexico’s archi-tectural wealth. n
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architecture Museo souMAyA
Curves and open plan spaces are the hallmarks of the cutting edge archi-tectural work that will house the Museo Soumaya (Soumaya Muse-
um) art collection at its new location.The new museum, named in honor of the
deceased wife of businessman Carlos Slim, will be housed in a landmark building that will be the jewel of the Plaza Carso architectural com-plex located in Mexico City’s exclusive Ampli-ación Granada district that is currently under construction.
With an investment totaling around 750 million usd, Plaza Carso will house residential buildings, commercial and recreational cen-ters, as well as the headquarters of Telcel, Mex-ico’s largest mobile telephone company, and it is estimated that it will create 15,000 jobs.
An aluminum mesh consisting of 16,000 hexagons gives the Museum’s façade its unique look. Sponsored by the Carlos Slim Founda-tion, the irregularly shaped design by Fernando Romero, director of Laboratory of Architec-ture (LAR), is based on a cube with elongated ends which rotates upon its own axis.
As a graduate of the Universidad Iberoameri-cana, Romero is a Mexican architect who has collaborated with Rem Koolhaas, winner of the Pritzker prize in Rotterdam, and is the creator of projects such as Puente and Casa de Té in Jinhua, and the headquarters of Inbursa bank in Mexico.
tHe new museosoumaya:
Fernando Romero inaugurates his most ambitious project, the new Museo Soumaya.
a cultural icon of the architectural vanguardby MArÍA eugeniA seVillA
the new MuseuM, will be housed in a land-mark building that will be the jewel of the Plaza Carso architectural complex located in Mexico City’s exclusive Ampliación Granada district that is currently under construction.
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52 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo archive52 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of lar
Romero spoke to Negocios about his most ambitious architectural project to date, which will display over 60,000 pieces of art dating from between the 11th and the 19th centuries, as well as the world’s second largest collection of Auguste Rodin sculptures.
—This project is a magnificent feat of engineering.This building is a reflection of Mexico’s proud engineering tradition. It consists of a tensile structure of 28 steel columns around the perimeter, each one with a distinct curvature. The interesting thing is that we invited a Mexican company that had already produced tubular steel platforms and structures to develop the project. It proved a very success-ful partnership for the construction of this
enormous steel skeleton for the museum. The layout essentially makes for a medium-sized museum, with an auditorium, storerooms, a cafeteria, a multi-purpose foyer and six levels of varying heights. The final hall is the tallest with a height of six meters without the use of columns.
—What is the origin of the design?The building’s geometry shows that it could not have been built anywhere else: the plot’s boundaries, the city’s zoning restric-tions, these all define a part of the context and how the ground and upper levels of the building rotate on themselves. We par-ticipated in a competition for a landmark building in Beijing, China, with a similar concept. In that project, a building rose up
from a plaza but it did not include a mu-seum within the plan. It was a much more symmetrical and uniform building. A year and half later we were asked to undertake a museum project and we analyzed the possibilities of taking a similar approach, to heighten art’s profile in society. Architecture has that power to build memories, to build culture.
—And to build the city.Of course! And also to represent a historic moment. During the 1950s Mexico was a powerful country that leveraged its economy to produce excellent architecture. It created a city and enriched the architectural context with iconic buildings. But then came what to me seemed like a very obvious crisis in which the little architecture that existed was in the hands of developers as a speculative real es-tate business. This project created an extraor-dinary opportunity, given by a visionary client who believes strongly in the country, asking us to build a team of Mexicans to carry out a project that is a little more contemporary.
—Is it a building that is only feasible today, given its use of the latest technology?It’s one of the most cutting edge buildings in Mexico in terms of the application of the de-sign and the new technologies used in defining its structure and form.
Design tools have been evolving such as the interfaces, devices, platforms and hardware, so it was a quick process. We had defined the structure two years ago and we were asked to lower its cost and change the plan. We changed the plan in three or four months. Re-planning a building at a structural level would probably have taken two years at another
“We WAnt to continue MAKing Boxes And continue MAKing curVes. We do not WAnt to ABAndon rAtionAl ArcHitecture For tHose WHo MAy need it, nor stop producing cutting-edge ArcHitecture For tHose WHo Are looKing For it.”
fernando roMero
architecture Museo souMAyA
moment in history.—How did you insert the building within the Plaza Carso complex?We did the entire master plan of the com-plex that includes three office buildings, two 400-apartment buildings, a car park for 8,000 vehicles, a theater that is located underneath the plaza and a shopping mall that includes cinemas and restaurants. Future constructions include a hotel and a new museum to house the Colección Jumex art collection. I think that part of the success of the context was not just to construct a building for the Museo Soumaya but also to persuade Colección Jumex, which has Mexico’s most important collection of contemporary art, to install its museum on the same site. That gives the project the potential to become an attraction in Mexico City. It is inter-esting that Jumex should have chosen a foreign architect, David Chipperfield, opting for a clas-sical, controlled, almost modernist architecture, while displaying a contemporary collection. On the other hand, Museo Soumaya has a classical art collection yet it decided to go with a more contemporary building.
—How many people are estimated to come?That is defined by what is known as the build-ing’s capacity. For example, there are 400 apartments and there’s Telcel, which is going to have almost 5,000 employees. Of that known critical mass, it is estimated that at peak hours this will translate into the number of parking spaces, of which there are 8,900.
—How does the building reflect the mu-seum collection’s vocation?The Museo Soumaya is distinguished by its diversity. It began as a collection of historical and traditional art and later became a collec-tion of collections, producing a very eclectic result. What the building does with this sec-tion that is compressed toward the middle is to create different floor plans which we think gives a good reflection of the collection’s diversity.
One of the purposes of the Museo Souma-ya collection is to take art to those who can-not travel. The project’s mission was to make a contemporary building to house a private collection within the public’s reach and with no admission fee, thanks to the Fundación Carlos Slim.
—What will be the inaugural exhibition?It will be a selection of the most outstanding
artworks from the Soumaya’s collection.—How have you handled road transport access, given the rapid development of the Ampliación Granada district?Work has been underway on road access, per-haps not as quickly as the projects themselves, but using innovative solutions to resolve the issue of vehicular access. They are very complex projects. An urban transport infrastructure project for the area is being worked on. For ex-ample, there’s an interesting project that would involve building a bicycle and pedestrian link to Chapultepec. Other important works will be carried out, in line with the project’s size.
—Why did you decide on this shape? How did you arrive at this idea?It has the rotation of Rodin’s sculptures, the organic quality of contemporary architecture and its new tools and a skin that represent a very baroque outer membrane. Those 16,000 hexagons evoke traditional art, it is a very ornate architecture and such ornateness is present in the collection itself.
With new tools, one can create a distance from modernity as this rational and modern-ist object of post-war awareness that produces these box-type constructions that are very ef-ficient in terms of real estate development but which do not evolve.
—Will you continue exploring the cur-vature?Yes. We want to continue making boxes and continue making curves. We do not want to abandon rational architecture for those who may need it, nor stop producing cutting-edge architecture for those who are looking for it. n
an aluMinuM mesh consisting of 16,000 hexagons gives the Museum’s facade
its unique look.
54 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos jason decaires taylor
A Museum Beneath the Caribbean SeaWith his underwater sculptures, Jason de Caires Taylor explores the interrelations between modern art, man and the environment. His work in the Museo Subacuático del Arte (MUSA) in the Cancún Marine Park, promotes the potential for a sustainable future, framing human intervention in nature from a regenerative perspective.
“Since we came from the sea, I think humans have an intrinsic wish and a fascination about returning to it,” says artist Jason deCaires Taylor, one of the
founders, together with Jaime González Cano and Roberto Díaz –both of Cancún’s Nautical Association–, of the first Museo Subacuático de Arte (Subacuatic Art Museum, MUSA), in Cancún’s Marina Park in Mexico.
Taylor, born to an English father and Guya-nese mother, grew up in Europe and Asia. He spent most of his childhood entranced by the coral reefs of Malaysia where he developed a deep love of the sea and a fascination with na-ture. That led him to spend several years as a diving instructor around the world he developed a keen interest in the preservation of nature un-derwater. During his adolescent years he worked in an urban environment, such as with graffiti, which sparked his interest in art’s relationship with public spaces. In 1998 he graduated from the London Institute of Arts with a specialization
in sculpture and ceramics. Later in Canterbury Cathedral he learned traditional stone carving techniques and later did stage and installation designs for concerts, gaining experience in han-dling cranes, machines, logistics and completing large scale projects.
Art for Nature“Extracting art from the white walls of a gallery gives the viewer a sense of discovery and par-ticipation,” says Taylor. His first artistic work out-side these “white walls” took place in May 2006 when he installed the first underwater scupture in Grenada’s marine park. Moilinere Bay, on the east coast of that Caribbean country, is home to 65 sculptures which cover an 800-square-meter area. In recent years this ecosystem has suffered considerable damage due to natural phenomena such as hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Emily (2005). The installation of artificial sculptures estab-lished new possibilities for marine life. The most recent images of these sculptures have shown
that the artist’s intention to promote coral growth is not an empty promise but a positive measure to benefit endangered ecosystems. That moti-vated the artist to continue producing unique art works serving a practical purpose.
That was the premise on which Taylor based the MUSA project which will consist of over 400 normal-sized sculptures that will create artificial reefs. “By creating an artificial reef out of sculptures,” explains Taylor, “the ul-timate aim is to create a platform from which to promote the regeneration of marine life and use sculpture to transmit hope and environ-mental awareness.”
Cancún’s Marine Park attracts over 750,000 visitors each year, placing a lot of pres-sure on the reefs living there. With this initia-tive, Taylor is seeking to re-route visitors to-ward the museum, meaning that the artificial reef can be observed in clear, shallow waters by divers, snorkelers and passengers of glass-bottomed boats.
art Museo suBAcuÁtico de Arte
eVolución silenciosa (The Silent Evolution) is the title given to the underwater sculpture installation that will act as MUSA’s permanent exhibition. This installation aims to bear witness to the living organisms cohabiting together with humans and seeks to evoke man’s close dependence on nature and the respect that we must have for it.
56 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos jason decaires taylor
The first three sculptures were installed in November 2009 with great success: they have attracted more tourists and coral almost im-mediately began to grow in the area.
Hombre en Llamas (Man on Fire) is the sculpture of Joaquín, a local fisherman. He is a solitary and imposing figure submerged at a depth of eight meters. The cement used for the sculpture was perforated in 75 locations to implant live cuttings of fire coral. And at a depth of just four meters, La Jardinera de
la Esperanza (The Gardener of Hope) repre-sents a Mexican child surrounded by plant pots filled with living coral. At the base of the sculpture, special spaces have been created to attract marine creatures such as moray eels, juvenile fish and lobsters. El Coleccioni-sta de Sueños (The Archive of Lost Dreams) shows an underwater archive of hundreds of messages in bottles that, kept by a type of librarian, contain contemporary values and aspirations awaiting future discovery.
Science, Art and NatureThe sculptures are made from a special pH-neutral concrete (a mix of marine-grade ce-ment, sand and micro-silica) and reinforced using glass fiber. Some incorporate additional elements such as mosaic and glass. 95% of the materials are inert.
To stimulate the colonization of the sculp-tures by marine life, Taylor is currently work-ing with scientists on coral propagation, in a procedure consisting of taking a species grafts,
tHe sculptures Are MAde FroM A speciAl pH-neutrAl concrete
(A Mix oF MArine-grAde ceMent, sAnd And Micro-silicA)
And reinForced using glAss FiBer. soMe incorporAte AdditionAl
eleMents sucH As MosAic And glAss. 95% oF tHe MAteriAls Are inert.
art Museo suBAcuÁtico de Arte
as you would do with a plant, in order to in-crease the reef’s biomass. These are then in-serted into the sculptures. That technique, the established method of preserving coral, saves small fragments of damaged coral and provides them with a new substrate which is ideal for stimulating growth.
The installation of the sculptures depends on their individual weight and design. Most are put in position by using a boat equipped with a crane. Once submerged in the water, air bags are used to lift them up and maneuver them into their final location. The largest pieces are made in separate pieces, then assembled un-derwater. Anchor bolts are used to fasten the base of the sculpture to the seabed. The entire operation can require a team of 10 supporting personnel and five divers.
Much of the background research for the sculptures was undertaken in partnership with marine biologists of the Parque Marino Nacional de Cancún and with ReefBall, an ar-tificial reef company based in the US. That is a key point for the project since the materials must have the exact pH level to attract coral; they have to be submerged during the season when the coral is naturally reproduced. And, of course, they must be placed in the pre-defined place based on its depth and location in order to attract various species.
“It’s a completely different experience being underwater than on firm ground,” says Taylor. According to the artist, objects underwater appear 25% bigger and therefore seem closer. Colors are changed with the increased depth and “as light gets absorbed and reflected at dif-ferent levels,” explains Taylor.
The installation is lit from the surface, pro-ducing kaleidoscopic effects regulated by the water’s movement, currents and turbulence. Water is a malleable medium in which to
travel, turning viewers into active participants of the underwater art. The sculptures can be seen from a wide range of angles and perspec-tives and that dramatically intensifies the expe-rience of finding them.
The Silent EvolutionEvolución Silenciosa (The Silent Evolution) is the title given to the underwater sculpture in-stallation that will act as MUSA’s permanent exhibition. This installation aims to bear wit-ness to the living organisms cohabiting togeth-er with humans and seeks to evoke man’s close dependence on nature and the respect that we must have for it.
Over 400 life-sized sculptures will make up a complex structure to be colonized and in-habited by marine organisms: 300 sculptures,
located in Cancún’s Marine Park, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc, were installed in August and those remaining are scheduled to be installed in November 2010. Upon completion of the installation the work will become one of the world’s largest and most ambitious attractions. It will occupy an area of 420 square meters, with a total weight of 180 tons.
Generating an artificial reef that is large enough to offer a significant alternative to nat-ural reefs offers the possibility that these eco-systems can regenerate. The project is unique and proposes a fusion between public art and large-scale environmental conservation.
“Scientists predict that by 2050, at the cur-rent rate of destruction, we will have lost 80% of coral reefs. I hope my work brings attention to that real and terrifying hypothesis,” says Taylor.
Evolución Silenciosa depicts a set of people who represent how humanity is facing differ-ent environmental problems and their im-pact on the natural world. The molds for the artwork were taken from people all over the world, mainly Mexicans, and from different sectors of society. The age ranges vary from four-year-old Santiago to 85-year-old Rosario.
The sculptures will change appearance over time, as the coral grows and marine life takes over. The aesthetic control is left in nature’s hands: she will give the work’s final message.
Evolución Silenciosa is an interactive piece of art. Visitors can swim around the sculptures, explore and observe them.
Artists, biologists, sailors, divers, engineers and construction workers are working with Ja-son de Caires Taylor to complete various parts of the installation. “You can use sculpture to trans-mit hope, to inspire people to consider their inter-actions with nature and therefore build a sustain-able future,” concludes the artist. n
oVer 400 liFe-siZed sculptures Will
MAKe up A coMplex structure to Be
coloniZed And inHABited By MArine
orgAnisMs: 300 sculptures, locAted
in cAncún’s MArine pArK, islA MuJeres And
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And tHose reMAining Are scHeduled to Be
instAlled in noVeMBer 2010.
58 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo courtesy of campus party
Julieta Fierro’s office in the Astronomy In-stitute of the National Autonomous Uni-versity of Mexico (UNAM) seems more like a toyshop than a scientist’s workplace. It is filled with typical Mexican toys, skates, ballet
shoes, puppets and even a drawer full of candies that are offered to all her guests.
Despite their appearance, all these unlikely objects are her work tools. Astronomy is her field of expertise –at UNAM she studied a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics and a Master’s Degree in Astrophysics– but her true vocation is to popularize science, a field in which she has gained a strong reputation.
“A long time ago, I became aware that I was cut out for communication rather than research, despite people who might say that I have no future in popularizing sci-ence. When I realized that this was my vocation, I decided to focus on it completely, and that has been my problem. For example, the National Women’s Institute (Inmujeres) has just asked me for a curriculum for the National Sci-ence Prize and however much I try to explain to them that I don’t do research, they tell me it’s because I’m the most well-known,” says Fierro, who is also a member of the Mexican Academy of Language.
She has received many awards for her work: in 1992 she was given the National Science Popularization prize; in 1995, the UNESCO’s Kalinga prize for popularizing science; in 1996, the Primo Rovis Gold Medal from the International Centre for Theoretical Physics of Trieste and in 2001 the Latin American Prize for Popularizing Science in Chile.
tHe director oF unAM’s AstronoMy institute is using BAllerinAs, MAMBos
And All Kinds oF tricKs to Bring science WitHin tHe reAcH oF More people.
Apart from her teaching work, at UNAM she works on other projects such as Commission 46 of the Interna-tional Astronomical Union (IAU), focused on teaching as-tronomy, and she was President of the Mexican Academy of Natural Science Teachers.
Julieta Fierro’s name is on everyone’s lips when talk-ing about science in any media. She is always appear-ing on radio and television programs and she has given conferences in 34 countries, as well as having around 40 books on popularizing scientific knowledge published.
—When did you begin to question reality?My mother died when I was 13 and home life became quite tough. My father was completely overwhelmed: we were three adolescents and two babies suddenly left motherless. That was when I became a rebel, I was always arguing with my father and I learned how to teach; I was convinced that my little brother could learn languages, science, or anything else for that mat-ter. So then I developed these tools to help with teach-ing. If it weren’t for my younger siblings I would have left home earlier but in 1968 there was a revolution in Mexico and I staged my own one. We used mini-skirts, contraceptives, AIDS didn’t exist, we had love and peace, communism and we all had the right to a decent life, so that was my revolution. My father didn’t let my sister study at UNAM because it was where “appalling people” went, but he let me study there because he reckoned I’d fail. And fail I did. I left home and did what I wanted to.
A Vocation to Popularize Science
JULieTA fierrO:
by FrAncisco Vernis
interView JulietA Fierro
60 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of julieta fierro
—Which do you think is the best medium for popularizing science?I’ve no idea. No formal research has been carried out into that field. I have asked the National Council for Sci-ence and Technology (Conacyt) about undertaking such studies, because with their involvement we could make better use of the money spent on popularizing science, but nothing has happened yet. Television definitely plays an important role. I can notice immediately when my programs are screened on airplanes because in airports people recognize and greet me. But it’s a tiring medium as each week you have to come up with something new and my style is not just telling things but doing some-thing too.
—Do your children share your passion?No, my children are grown up and live in the US. They think that I’m just a normal woman. When someone tells them that they have a fantastic mother they think it’s strange and wonder what is so fantastic about me, after all I’m just a mother. My elder son is a philoso-pher, he develops metalanguages, languages that have no internal contradictions. That makes him a harsh critic of my conclusions, with the way I communicate science, because he says that I simplify [things] too much. I understand what he means but I always an-swer that communication is a map, never a country or a territory.
My other son has been a real help. He is an econo-mist, researching why people spend so much with their credit cards –even when they know that they’re not going to be able to pay them – and he models hap-piness, which has been a great help to me because it involves important things: you feel happy when you’re with your family, your friends and when your work has been recognized.
My children have helped me a lot in what I do, giv-ing me positive criticism, teaching me new tools to help me popularize science.
—You say that you popularize science rather than do research. What do you do exactly?I try to popularize science in every possible way that occurs to me. I write books, some of which have been translated into other languages. I have a web page, where I post once a month. I have set up science centers and exhibitions for science centers. I have worked on televi-sion and radio programs and developed workshops for children, adults and teachers. But I think I’m best at speaking at conferences. Unfortunately, that is limited to small groups because I’m making things more compli-cated each time.
My conferences have become much more active. For example I have incorporated dance; I use ballerinas doing the waltz to explain the movement of stars and I also use a range of other things to explain the heavenly bodies. We have a mummy too but it’s out of use at the moment. We hand out serrano ham, cheese and olives to the audience to help them understand the mummifica-tion process and that makes them feel more involved. But that means a lot of extra work, especially when there’s dancing.
One of my greatest achievements was in a book fair, during the International Year of Galileo [2009]. I com-missioned a mambo called Y sin embargo de mueve, (And yet it moves) so I brought along my friends with whom I dance –Mamberas de Minerva–, and after this particular presentation I asked the audience to come and dance with us –even some nuns began dancing.
JulietA Fierro’s nAMe is on eVeryone’s lips WHen tAlKing ABout science in Any MediA. sHe is AlWAys AppeAring on rAdio And teleVision progrAMs And sHe HAs giVen conFerences in
34 countries, As Well As HAVing Around 40 puBlisHed BooKs on populAriZing
scientiFic KnoWledge.
interView JulietA Fierro
—Who would be your popularization guru?I once spoke with Carl Sagan and I told him I popular-ized science and that I sometimes copied his work. He said that it was fine that I copied it; he was really kind. But I have tried to follow my own path because when I began to do this work there weren’t so many people do-ing it and that’s one of the advantages of popularization, it’s free and it frees the mind. As far as I know, no-one uses ballet shoes to give a conference and I always do. I have some here in the office and I put a piece of elastic on them so they are easy to put on.
Science can be fun and you can understand it, even the most complex things can be simplified for explana-tion. The International Year of Einstein [2005] was a real challenge. People thought that Einstein’s science couldn’t be understood, so I wrote a book and articles so that teachers could teach his science in a simple way. My big experiment was when I gave a conference on Einstein and there were four eminent physics experts present. They all said that they couldn’t have done what I had done, and they said so at the end of the conference, which was very embarrassing for me.
—How do you handle your success?I don’t know. I ask myself the same question all the time. I never disappoint anyone: if I commit myself to some-thing, I do it; if I say I’m going to give a conference, I do it; I train my ballerinas and I spend the money needed; I turn up on time; I honor my commitments.
In Mexico not everyone is that dependable, so I think that part of my success, and the novelty of what I do, is due to the fact that it’s something fresh.
My brothers and sisters have always said that I’m a fool, that it can’t be true that I don’t understand simple, everyday things. I’m no genius but I recognize quality and I recognize those who are –and have been – able to do great things. My work is about explaining other people’s major achievements.
—What would be your worst nightmare?Having nothing new to say.
—Do you think popularization is a vocation or an obligation?It’s the way in which adults learn, it’s an education. The way in which I learn is through popularization. We should all take important decisions about our health habits and if we don’t know about modern science it’s going to be difficult to take those decisions. Unfor-tunately, popularization isn’t given the same level of importance as formal education which at the least is about knowing what you didn’t know before. When you go to school and you see the course program, you realize which books you are supposed to have read and so you know what you haven’t read. With popularization work you don’t know that, it’s impossible. n
2009De planetas, estrellas y universos (About planets, stars and universes)Editorial Antares
Nebulosas planetarias: La hermosa muerte de las estrellas (Beautiful death for a star: planetary nebulae)Co-author: Silvia TorresFondo de Cultura Económica
2008Pirámides y estrellas (Pyramids and Stars)Co-author: Jesús Galindo TrejoEditorial SITESA
Cuentos de estrellas (Tales of Stars)Various authorsCSIC and UNAWE
Newton: la luz y el movimiento de los cuerpos (Newton, the light and the body movements)Co-author: Héctor DomínguezUribe y Ferrari Editores
2007Galileo y el telescopio. 400 años de ciencia (Galileo and the telescope. 400 years of science)
Co-author: Héctor DomínguezUribe y Ferrari Editores
2006Cartas astrales, un romance científico del tercer tipo(Astral charts, a scientific romance of the third kind)Co-author: Adolfo Sánchez ValenzuelaEditorial Alfaguara
La luz de las estrellas (Starlight)Co-author: Héctor Domínguez Correo del Maestro, ediciones la Vasija
2005Lo grandioso del tiempo. Gran paseo por la ciencia (Greatness of time. A great journey through science)Editorial Nuevo México
Albert Einstein: un científico de nuestro tiempo (Albert Einstein: a scientist of our time)Co-author: Héctor DomínguezEditorial Lectorum
Palabras para conocer el mundo (Words to know the world)Co-author: Alberto VitalSantillana
froM julieta’s shelfSome books written by Julieta Fierro
62 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo archive
feedback uniendo VoluntAdes por el BienestAr
promoting health under a comprehensive approach
stress relAted illnesses And A signiFicAnt increAse in cHronic degenerAtiVe diseAses Are proBABly tHe MAin cHAllenges For gloBAl HeAltH todAy. Mexico is no exception And Uniendo VolUntades por el Bienestar WAnts to tAKe cAre
oF tHese proBleMs WitH An innoVAtiVe ApproAcH: coMBining nAturAl tHerApies WitH tHe lAtest tecHnology And oFFering tHese serVices At A loW cost to tHe
generAl populAtion.
astudy from the Epidemiologic Division of the Public Health Unit of the Mexican Social Secu-rity Institute (IMSS for its acro-
nym in Spanish) reports that chronic degener-ative diseases are currently the leading health problems suffered by Mexicans.
In fact, these health problems are a global phenomenon related to dietary habits, sed-entary jobs and high doses of stress. There-fore, it is no coincidence that many countries are increasing their investments to fight con-ditions such as obesity, overweight, diabetes and hypertension.
Uniendo Voluntades por el Bienestar (UVB) is a civil association that has detected the social problem and has decided to mitigate the long-term negative effects that those diseases can cause among the population.
“Unfortunately, people in Mexico, both adults and children, face serious risks in terms of obesity and diseases like diabetes and blood
pressure conditions are also causing serious health disorders among the population. Not always, but very often, emotional disorders like anxiety, stress or depression accelerate the process of these diseases. So we decided to join forces and contribute our grain of sand to help Mexicans face these problems, especially among the low-income population,” says Jaime Santana Campos, vice president of UVB.
Comprehensive HealthUVB offers virtually free services on nutrition, psychology and physical rehabilitation to peo-ple with low incomes. Although it may sound strange, the association also offers legal advice.
“We decided to include the services of vol-unteer attorneys within our scope of action be-cause we have found that when a person faces a legal problem his health might be directly affected, especially when that person does not have the financial resources needed to address such situations,” explains Santana Campos.
So far, UVB has been operating in the capi-tal cities of the states of San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas. For now, two nutritionists, two psy-chologists, two physical rehabilitators and two lawyers serve an average of six people per day in each of their specialties.
“Of course, we want to reach more people, especially in the more remote locations of the states we are working in, so we are seek-ing the necessary resources for this project, involving the private sector and municipal governments as well as state and federal au-thorities. Working towards wellbeing means not only serving those who are already suf-fering but also, and most importantly, pre-venting diseases. We have to take care of our country’s productive force and we must think about the future. If today Mexico has the world’s largest child population obesity problems, we must start thinking on who will take over leadership in Mexico in 15 or 20 years,” said Santana Campos.
by cristinA ÁVilA-ZesAtti
uniendo voluntades por el Bienestar:
64 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo archive
Natural Therapies and Technology The peculiarity of UVB is that the specialists working in the association, all of them volun-teers, use so-called “alternative therapies,” natural methods such as homeopathy, herb-al medicine, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, physical rehabilitation and acupuncture.
Combined with the natural approach, the association also offers its users access to cutting edge technology brought in specially from Germany, Japan and China.
“It is scientifically proven that our body has a high capacity for regeneration and re-covery. What our treatments do is stimulate the innate ability of the body to ‘heal.’ We do so by paying attention to nutrition and emo-tions management but with the assistance of new technology based on ancient heal-ing methods such as applied heat, induced movement and the use of electromagnetic pulses to preserve balance of the central nervous system,” explains Santana Campos.
The use of “alternative technology”
makes it more expensive for UVB to pro-vide its services. But many municipal gov-ernments in Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Aguascalientes have already begun to feel the benefits of the kind of preventive natural based medicine offered by the institution.
For example, the government of Fresnillo,
in Zacatecas, has invested about 95,000 usd to set up its own center, focused on the senior population. Today, that center serves about 60 elderly people, with magnificent results.
According to UVB, the estimated cost of a “natural health center” is about 160,000 usd, a minimal investment when compared to the high costs of degenerative diseases in terms of reduced productivity, therapy and medicine required to treat them.
Recent reports from the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimate that chronic diseases and deaths among the young, causes the loss of up to 4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while poor oc-cupational health and reduced capacity for work performance, carries economic bur-dens of between 10% and 20% of GDP.
What UVB intends is to reverse that trend caused by the “modern lifestyle” by of-fering people, especially those with low or no resources, health services with a natural and comprehensive approach. n
so FAr, uVB HAs Been operAting in tHe cApitAl
cities oF tHe stAtes oF sAn luis potosÍ And
ZAcAtecAs. For noW, tWo nutritionists, tWo
psycHologists, tWo pHysicAl reHABilitAtors And tWo lAWyers serVe
An AVerAge oF six people per dAy in eAcH oF tHeir
speciAlties.
