Mattel
Assembly Line
Mexico’s Industrial Hubs Grow as Part of Trade Shift Toward Nearshoring
“Being able to hire enough people at our U.S. plants to support our growth was a real challenge. That was a major interest for us to open up a facility in Mexico,” said Sam Rosen, president of Ollin Plastics, the plastic molding unit of Minnesota-based ATEK Companies.
Mattel Inc., the maker of Barbie dolls and Mega Bloks, expanded its Monterrey plant into its largest manufacturing facility worldwide with an investment of $47 million between 2020 and 2022. The toy maker more than doubled its workforce to 3,500 at the plant as part of a global supply-chain restructuring to boost output and productivity, with immediate access to the U.S., the world’s largest toy market, said Roberto Isaias, Mattel’s chief supply chain officer. The company exports toys from Mexico to nearly 30 countries.
As demand for industrial space picks up, insufficient electricity infrastructure is limiting the speed at which manufacturers can move into Mexico, said Alberto Villarreal, managing director of Chicago-based Nepanoa, which does project management and consulting for U.S. companies setting up or expanding in Mexico.