WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW TO GET STARTED?

That’s a great question!

After 20+ years in manufacturing, when I started my first manufacturing plant in Mexico in 1999, I felt it would be like starting any plant in the USA. Basically all I needed to do was decide on a location, find or build an appropriate facility and hire a good local manager. Sounds simple right?

What I have been learning over the last 10 years is that it was not quite so “simple.” Besides the obvious language hurdle, there are also many cultural and regulatory dissimilarities, with the foundational differences coming out of a unique cultural world-view. A good understanding of the Mexican culture is essential.

For example, in the USA, our regulatory agencies assume compliance. (While I appreciate this assumption has begun to change, it still remains fundamental to many of our regulatory agencies.) In Mexico, however, regulatory agencies assume non-compliance from the start. This fits with a basic Latin world-view which assumes that people will cheat, and the Mexican regulatory systems are constructed in such a way as to catch them doing so. This mindset and reglatory structure results in significant liabilities in Mexico which few USA managers, and surprisingly few Mexican mangers, fully understand.

Over the next several postings, I will begin to share some of the cultural differences which result in significant regulatory risks and some of the ways in which we have learned to minimize our exposure. Richard Roche, President of ROCHE Industries