Mexico's foundries show strengths, larger trade potential.

International conference attracts audience eager to explore opportunities in expanding Mexican economy.

According to a recent article in Journal, under the able leadership of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexico is changing rapidly from a typical third world nation to one of growing international stature. Inflation has been controlled, the national government's policies on industrialization are free from the burdens of the past and the pending free trade agreement FTA) with the U.S. and Canada holds promise for even faster change and economic expansion for Mexico's economy.

The truth of these observations was never more evident than at the recent FUNDI EXPO '91, the 11th International Foundry Congress and Exposition held in Monterrey, Mexico (October 21-25,199 1). More than 4500 foundrymen from around the world gathered to celebrate and take part in the Mexican foundry industry's share in the country's industrial emergence.

The foundry industry is now a major player in Mexico's economic and industrial renaissance. it has come of age under the leadership of the Mexican Foundrymen's Society (MFA), the AFS affiliate that sponsored FUNDI EXPO '91 and that has steadily crafted the foundry industry's technical competence and guided its productivity growth. That expertise is evidenced by the fact that many of the country's foundries are valued suppliers and/or joint venture partners with some of America's leading corporations.

Blenvenidos-Welcome

Raul Maciel, chairman of the FUNDI '91 organizing committee, said in his welcoming remarks, that his country's foundry industry is an essential part of the strong industrial infrastructure of Mexico. Conferences like FUNDI '91 are necessary if his country is to meet the quality and quantity demands of the proposed FTA.

Maciel recognized the ubiquitous nature of foundly products and spoke with enthusiasm of the position of the Mexican foundry industry, faced as it is with its own burgeoning domestic market demand just now beginning to stir and the long range prospects of FTA. He pointed to Mexico's 5-6% GNP as an indicator of the vigor of his country's current economy, but cautioned that time and foreign credit would be essential to maintain that growth rate.

Sergio Cuevas, MFS vice president, told attendees that the goals of MFS include closer integration between it and other world foundry bodies and spoke of its commitment to work toward solving ecological, quality and workersafety problems.

Cuevas acknowledged that the proposed F7A presents the participants with some drawbacks, but added that the advantages of the pact far outweigh its dangers. He sees Mexico's greatest need as the protection of its environment. But he said that the combined cooperation of North American industries and governments could surmount the environmental problems in time.

R. Conner Warren, AFS president and Citation Corp. executive vice president, spoke on behalf of AFS, American firms and guests attending FUNDI '91 and pledged the continued support of AFS. He affirmed the solidarity of the U.S., Canadian and Mexican foundrymen in working to improve the industry's technical expertise, product quality and ecological responsibility.

Trade Agreement Panel

The panel that delved into the pros and cons of the FTA drew more than its share of attention from a large crowd of foundrymen concerned about the implications of such a large free trade agreement encompassing, as it does, both the highly industrialized American and Canadian markets contrasted with the much smaller, struggling Mexican economy. Composed of industry and government experts, panelists fielded a number of questions that covered a wide range of concerns ranging from the acquisition of technology to the training of workers.

One government analyst said that the Mexican foundry industry urgently needs to modernize its facilities and upgrade it technology as rapidly as is economically possible just to remain in its present position relative to its northern competitors.

He said that Mexico must find and exploit its advantages to the fullest now while it catches up with international foundry advances. Currently, he said, the country's paramount advantage is its cheap labor, but predicted that, that will not last long.

He also said that Mexican foundries must forget the competitive myth that big is better. They do not need to be big or even be leading edge producers or necessarily have the ability to penetrate large lucrative markets. It is important to recognize niche markets, those particular areas where the Mexican foundry can compete successfully. During the next decade, Mexico's foundries should focus on a carefully selected market mix where they can compete and be good at what they do and that should be enough, he cautioned.

Mexico has a highly trainable workforce that must be mobilized through training, mechanization and, ultimately, compensation. The foreign challenge now for Mexico is quality and competitiveness.

A strong case was made by another industry specialist who warned that there is an environmental price to be paid for advancing the Mexican foundry industry. He said that pollution control can no longer be postponed and it will be costly. As in the U.S. and Canada, the drive to make the environment safe may cost more than some of the smaller Mexican foundries are able to pay. That means closed foundries and lost jobs, but the effort to curb pollution must be made. In the long run, ecological responsibility will pay major downstream dividends.

A question from the floor to the panel involved assumed changes in Mexican cultural values resulting from FTA. The answer from one of the panelists was that changes would not occur as the result of the FTA, but because of the global political changes that are overtaking every country. Mexico's changes would pertain primarily to attitudes and not culture.

Some Mexican customs will change but the world is changing and with the higher level of global communication those changes are inevitable for Mexico. The country will have to change, not because of the pact, but because Mexicans have to change their work habits to a more competitive level if the country expects to compete in the world marketplace. Low prices through low pay is a poor advantage to exploit in today's trading environment. Product quality should be Mexico's first priority.

AFS Technical Participation

Among the technical presentations were a number by AFS members who are experts in their respective fields. Excerpts of several are given here.

Mary Beth Krysiak, technical director, George Fischer Foundry Systems, Inc., told attendees that conservation of sand through recycling is now a foundry burden that must be accepted as a major cost of doing business. She outlined a number of steps that can be taken to prepare, use and reclaim sand. They range from controlling molding operations by careful testing, to careful application of additives to match sand uses and to the correct bonding clay/moisture mix.

Leo Baran, AFS director of membership services and an acknowledged specialist in nonferrous casting, discussed the latest trends in copper-base casting as an example of niche marketing. Though copper-base usage is down largely as the result of contaminating lead used as an alloying metal, many foundries have substituted other metals for lead and have enjoyed a degree of business success.

He said foundries that have been successful with copper-base alloys are those that use engineered alloys (aluminum-bronze, silicon-brasses/bronzes, manganese-bronze) and found new markets and new products to accommodate them.

The advantages of computerized solidification modelling were the subject of a paper delivered by David Schmidt, AFS manager of software services. He said that foundries are in a never ending battle to reduce the numerous variables present in the design and engineering of castings. He reported on some of the many computer programs over a wide price range that can reduce drastically the time and engineering effort required to eliminate uncertainties inherent in the metalcasting processes.