CHIHUAHUA, Mexico (Border Report) The aerospace industry is flying high in Chihuahua despite COVID-19.
Forty-five American and European airplane and helicopter parts manufacturers now have a presence in the state, and Paris-based Safran just announced a $10 million expansion in the capital.
These factories churn out anything from turbines to landing-gear components, from airplane seats to life rafts and sliders. The industry now employs more than 60,000 workers in Mexico and most of that countrys $8 billion in aerospace exports wind-up in the United States.
Industry officials attribute the growth to various factors. Being close to the U.S. border cuts down on transportation costs. Automotive maquiladora suppliers have been able to adapt and serve the aerospace sector. And, above all, states like Chihuahua are getting good at developing a skilled labor force.
When I go recruiting companies in advanced manufacturing, they ask about land and infrastructure, of course. But the main concern is having a trained workforce, said Jerry Pacheco, president and CEO of the Border Industrial Association.
He said states like Chihuahua which borders Texas and New Mexico have a 50-year track record of working with U.S.-run maquiladoras and are getting very good at providing skilled employees for each industry.
Aerospace has taken off in Chihuahua for two main reasons: the supply base and that skilled labor force, Pacheco said. We have lots of young people with technical skills. And we have copper-wiring companies that supply the auto industry and that overlaps into aerospace. In essence, the aerospace industry is piggy-backing on the auto industry.
Mexican universities graduate thousands of engineers a year. But the bulk of the work remains manual. Vocational schools and training centers bear responsibility for making sure young people out of high school and older workers with limited schooling can use and service million-dollar machinery and reliably put together airplane fuselage.
Keep driving south on Mexican Highway 45 (the old Pan-American Highway) and you might miss the earth-toned buildings of an industrial park in the outskirts of Chihuahua City.
The park is home to half a dozen maquiladoras and Cenaltec, the state-owned Center for High Technology. Its an institution that prior to the pandemic was training an average of 2,500 workers per month.
We have lots of students from technical schools, but most are between 20 and 35 years old and are production workers, said center Director Aaron Olivas Ochoa. Many people work in maintenance or production lines. But when youre servicing a machine you need to know electricity, when youre working with helicopter rotors, you need very specific skills.
The center played a pivotal role in the Safran expansion. A company official earlier said one of the conditions for opening a new plant in Chihuahua City was for the state to provide trained workers.
The center resembles a maquiladora, with wide, open aisles and machines neatly spaced. Inside, instructors teach factory workers how to do plastic-injection molding, program tool and die machines and apply rivets to metal thatll become the body of an aircraft.
Olivas said he realizes that some people may find learning in a classroom difficult. Thats why the center is 80% hands-on.
We make sure they have the practice they need to be productive when they (step into) the plant. Otherwise, they might spend six months learning how to operate a machine, said Jorge Luis Fernandez, one of the instructors at Cenaltec.
If a worker applies the wrong amount of force on a mock airplane part, no one gets hurt and the worker just learned what to avoid the next time. Electrical pods give workers supervised training without the risk of electrocution or damaging an expensive machine at a factory.
On a corner of the building, Jose Ramiro Cedillo taught maquiladora worker Jorge Cano how to program a tool and die cutting machine.
The student seemed tentative at first, but quickly caught on.
Victor Acosta, another worker, watched from the sidelines.
Making airplane parts is a big responsibility. You must make a quality product and you feel proud knowing that what you make at the factory is used all over the world, Acosta said.
The Chihuahua City native said hes worked in maquiladoras since finishing school. We learn the processes before going on to the production line. They have very strict quality controls, he said.
Cedillo said hes been involved in worker training for several years. His students range from young Mexican engineers to skilled workers in California, Arizona and Texas.
All of us (instructors) have experience in the industry. What we do here is provide accelerated training programs in regards to machining, dimensioning, milling, turning, he said. They go from zero to being able to get the job done and move on to a higher salary.
Cenaltec officials say maquiladoras have donated many of their training machines and raw materials.
Some even bring their personnel for specialized training at the center, while others allow the trainees to complete their instruction at the plants, under the supervision of Cenaltec instructors.
The training can take anywhere from 25 hours for some certifications, to 350 hours to turn production-line workers into skilled aerospace manufacturing specialists. The state runs four campuses, one each in Chihuahua City, Juarez, Cuauhtmoc and Parral.
For more information on Cenaltec, visit its website or the state of Chihuahua Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation.
Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border.
Continued here:
Aerospace industry takes off in the Chihuahua desert - KGBT-TV
- why can't i print in the message area? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- smoke detectors - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Insulation drawings - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Boiler. - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Electrical Harmonics - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- axial thrust - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Pl inform which make suitable for this specification - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- CapsLock - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- How to Calculate Drag Reduction Factor for surge analysis - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- cable..pls help - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- 11Kv joints - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- how to calculate required torque? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- IP rating for enclosures - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- 11kv JOINTS SPACING ON PARALLEL CABLES - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- beep sounds - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Increse speed of pneumatic cylinder - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Pipe fittings-Manufacturing/Quality Assurance - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- kango memolition hammer - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Loss calculation in undergound Transmission Cables - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Design in ASP.NET - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- axial pump - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Auger bit - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Pipe - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Centrifugal oil filter ideas - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- When to install Horizontal Condensate Pot (Probably also called Spun Type) ?? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Confusion about a Resistance Bulb - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Loop testing for a NON-HART 4 wire instrument - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- My VAWT Project, next phase - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- voltage doubler - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- How to build corners and joints using Red Oak timbers? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- THERMAL OIL BOILER - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- How Do You Get a Degree in Green Energy? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- deareator pegging - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- 99 ford ranger with no brake pedal at all - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- CAD tool for electronic circuitry design - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- hvac - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Unfinalized video miniDVD data recovery - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- eletronics - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- codless phones programming - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Effectiveness in cooling a drink with ice than water? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Free Vibration Analysis of Tapered Composite Wings - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Can You Treat Composite Beams or Wings Mathematically like Isotropic Wings? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Particle, Particle in Space, Tell Me About Earthquakes - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Russian Rocket Engine – Best in the World - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- New Online Evaluation of Laminated Composite Stiffnesses - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- 'Autonomous' helicopters teach themselves to fly - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Next Target – Jupiter - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA's FERMI, Space, and Time - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Lunchtime Salon Today in L.A. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- A vote for McCain is a vote against science - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Study Investigates Mental Overload in Pilots - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Releases Columbia Crew Safety Report - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What the Stimulus Package Means for Science - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- All Scientists Have Conflicts of Interest (Duh) - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Congress Considers Killing Open-Access Journals - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Transmission Swing Angle - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Long Weld Neck Flanges - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Super Critical Fluid Extraction for Rose Oil - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Capacitor Bank Calculations - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Power Supplies and Dummy Loads - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Standards for Piping Vibration - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Automatic Generator Changovers - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Synchronous Generators - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Suzuki Swift Brakes - Squeaks and Whistles - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Flange Serration - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Hydraulic Shapes and Reciprocating Machines - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- No Shortage of Engineers After All! - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Delta Starter Diagram - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- 2002 Chevy Duramax Diesel - Low Voltmeter Reading - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Energy Survey and Consumer Mapping Methodoogy - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Setback for Geothermal Energy - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Darlington Amplifier - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Diesel Storage Tank Design - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Car MPG Questions - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Dark LCD Display - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Calculating the Strength of Concrete Floors - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Hitachi Projection TV - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- WW II Water-Injected Engines - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Soap to Prevent A1H1N1 Contamination - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Car won't shift out of first gear - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]