How To Find Contract Manufacturers In Mexico

If all you want to do is find contract manufacturers in Mexico, you can use Google or any one of the many consulting companies that specialize in matching contract manufacturers with clients in the US or Canada.

However, if you want to find a good and reliable contract manufacturer in Mexico, you need to go a step further by following this simple process.

1. Do Research

Research is extremely important when it comes to contracting a manufacturer. Contracting a questionable and unreliable manufacturer may end up costing you a lot of money, and it might hurt your company’s reputation. For example, a contract manufacturer that chronically delivers orders late will cause you to miss your deadlines and make your company look bad to your clients.

By conducting thorough research, you’ll be able to weed out the questionable manufacturers and end up with a short list of solid and reputable manufacturers. While researching manufacturers, you’ll get well-rounded results by covering the following attributes:

• Experience: How many years has the manufacturer been in business? How many years of cumulative experience do the manufacturer’s employees have?
• Technology: Does the facility continually update its equipment? How cost effective is their equipment?
• Employees: Does the manufacturer invest in its employees? Are the employees trained and educated people who can bring ideas and innovation to the table?
• Partnerships: Does the manufacturer have a good roster of clients?
• Quality Certifications: Does the manufacturer exceed the industry quality standards? Which quality certifications do they have?
  (like the ISO 9001:2015 and IATF 16949:2016)
  Labor and Environmental Standards: Does the manufacturer adhere to proper labor and environmental standards?
• Assets: Does the manufacturer have its own facilities and assets?

2. Ask Questions

Once you have a short list of reputable manufacturers, it’s time to ask them some questions to narrow down which ones are the best fit for your company. Here are some good questions to ask:

• What’s your financial health like?
• How often do you invest in new equipment?
• Do you have experience making the part(s) we need, or similar parts?
• What are your practices for managing intellectual properties?

3. Carefully Review The Supply Agreement

When a manufacturer sends you a supply agreement, take the time to carefully review it. If the supply agreement leaves out a lot of important details and/or if it’s not as thorough as you’re comfortable with, you’re within your rights to request revisions or move on to the next manufacturer. A good supply agreement covers the following:

• Your detailed business requirements
• The manufacturer’s business requirements
• Any legal recourse you may have against the manufacturer in case of a breach
• A detailed bill of materials
• An approved vendor list
• Quality requirements
• Product warranty
• Contingency plans for delivery delays

Additional Resources

The steps outlined above are great and detailed enough to follow on their own, but if you want to do additional reading on finding the best Mexican contract manufacturer for your company, we recommend the following articles: