By Pedro D. Castillo
The Mexican industry experiences a duality resulting from the strategy of companies and the training pillars of their specialists.
Companies tend to simplify indicators based on fundamental academics by representing them on a two-dimensional axis (“x” and “y”, typically), even though these indicators often need to be correlated with other indicators to create scenarios and make decisions based on a particular perspective. A third axis or dimension (“z”, typically).
The economy’s behavior is three-dimensional, as are the companies’ actions and decisions that navigate it. In its fundamental programs, university academy leads students to develop their intellect with two-dimensional mathematics and then plunges them into the terrifyingly fascinating world of three-dimensional mathematics, differential equations, and a variety of advanced numerical theories, the basis of everything around us.
The eternal student question, «…and what good will this do me in my professional working life?» Among its many answers, the one that goes beyond technical applications and macroeconomic scenarios is that strategies are designed in three dimensions, interrelating exact sciences, plausible economic models, and estimated intangible values to be able to circulate and respond to the global economy, which behaves in a multidimensional manner.
Every company is different, even those in the same industry with identical products. The way each approach situations vary according to their operations management, their innovation developments, and their short- and medium-term growth strategy.
Economic indicators are represented in two dimensions for executive presentation purposes and explanations and/or single-page reports, but in the development of strategic operations management, these same indicators arise from a multidimensional interaction, where a rise or fall of one indicator can be maneuvered on another axis, with greater or lesser intensity.
A two-dimensional graphical representation, comparing two similar companies, could misleadingly show one company growing or declining more slowly than the other, when in reality “the speed” of the rise/decline is a representation of a third axis moving away from/toward the benchmark.
The best analogy is piloting an airplane, which not only goes up and down toward its destination but also takes left and right turns that can shorten or lengthen a trip between two points. A three-dimensional journey that can generate an exponentially impressive number of options and scenarios.
The year 2025 began with uncertainties in Mexico, a series of decisions and events within the global geopolitical framework that demanded changes in the strategies of companies and industries, a change of plans that came to overshadow the continued commercial abundance experienced during the previous two years, forcing companies to rethink their supply and go-to-market strategies to maneuver and cushion the constantly changing scenarios.
This year, so far, the global market continues to see a steady stream of sudden changes and volatility in macroeconomic, political, and regulatory factors, the impacts of which are felt in each region and industry in different ways.
Mexican industrial activity is composed of a mix of investments from various nationalities all integrated along the own domestic investment. Foreign-invested companies are influenced by the effects of their home economies, which govern their global supply and go-to-market & side access strategies. These factors make it impossible to compare the effects of the current economic framework on individual companies in the industry.
Vertically integrated companies continue to maintain better control over their strategies by minimizing their dependencies and monitoring the narrative of the potential effects caused by unavoidable factors, staying several steps ahead. While companies that rely on third parties for their operations live a completely different reality, uncertainty is catapulted and extended to their direct vendors, making it nearly impossible to take measures to counteract the magnifying whiplash effect of intermittent production scheduling.
The finishing industry in Mexico is a mix of companies with vertically integrated processes and companies dedicated to outsourcing services. The latter are the majority in terms of quantity, yet the vast minority in terms of wealth generation and its virtuous reinvestment. The best-prepared companies continue to advance and grow their operations, while the less focused continue to focus solely on selling more.
The training of technicians, professionals, and specialists in the surface finishing industry in Mexico continues to be largely the product of experience acquired in their workplaces, with the main goal of learning enough to enable them to operate, initially surviving and subsequently optimizing. Only a minority have had access to specialized training with formal academic foundations, which are the pillars of all the innovations the industry experiences as a result.
The difference in results between operational managers and innovative managers is directly reflected in the way both companies and industry organizations face this year’s challenges, achieving a variety of real-world results. There are people and companies that still confuse innovation with research and development. While the two concepts are strongly correlated, innovation can be generated, and ultimately validated, in the operational and executive areas of companies.
Innovation in the finishing industry is the differentiator between leading companies that manage the market narrative and those that suffer the whiplash that global uncertainty generates in sudden waves. The added value obtained from products and services that stem from a culture of innovation is very tangible for their end users, beyond a low cost associated with questionable reliability.
The constant need to keep costs low and to promote cost-cutting programs has led unprepared operating managers to, in effect, implement «cost-cutting» programs—a way of describing excessive reductions that undermine the value characteristics of a product or service.
The Mexican industry is experiencing a dual reality regarding the remnants of the nearshoring effect driven by recent changes in global policy. While on the one hand, abundance continues to rise without losing momentum, on the other, the impact has led to exploring commercial and organizational restructuring of companies seeking to keep pace with the changing rhythm.
The impacts of unexpected situations will continue to occur, which requires maintaining flexible operations and keeping innovation as one of the tools that keep businesses moving forward in times of global uncertainty. The difference is that, now, the pace of the economy isn’t slowing down; it’s just changing pace and direction three-dimensionally.
Pedro D. Castillo currently serves as Managing Director for Mexico and Subsidiaries at TTX, and has more than 30 years of experience in diverse industries. He is the author of the book OPERATIONAL STRATEGISTS: Tools, Strategies, Models, and Concepts for Modern Operations Management. He is a founding partner of INQ Strategic Partners LLC and serves on the boards of directors of companies in the United States and Mexico. He is a member of the national board of the Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI), a member of the academic board of FABTECH, president of the CCAI Capitulo en Español, an active member of the Powder Coating Institute (PCI), an active member of the AIST Mexico Chapter, an active member of the Electrocoat Association, and an active member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), among others. He is a member of the executive board of Empresa Positiva®️ initiative, a member of the executive board of Guerreros de Troya FC®️, and a member of the board of the Laptops with a Cause®️ initiative. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s degree in Manufacturing Systems, both from ITESM Campus Monterrey. He currently resides in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, USA.
