Austin Business Journal
Published: 10-20-08
Will manufacturers who chose to stay in the U.S. rather than moving operations overseas have the upper hand in coming years?
That is one of the questions that will be addressed in a federally-funded study by the Texas Engineering Extension Service in partnership with Texas A&M University’s Global Manufacturing and Distribution Research Initiative.
The U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration awarded a $350000 grant to TEEX to engage in a study of the critical success factors for manufacturing along the Texas-Mexico trade corridor. TEEX and Texas A&M will deliver the findings from their study in a series of conferences targeting industry and economic developers throughout South Texas and Northern and Central Mexico.
The initial results of the study suggest that manufacturers who moved their operations to China and Southeast Asia are now having problems with quality assurance an increased inventory in the supply chain currency risk and logistics due to the great distance they are from their markets. But the question remains whether this creates opportunity for developing regional manufacturing opportunities along the Texas-Mexico border.
The joint study called the South Texas Trade Corridor Competitiveness Study: Leading Global Supply Chain Throughput in South Texas will focus on the role of the region’s ports transportation routes and maquila industries in establishing the trade corridor of choice for targeted industries.
The A&M-established Mexico-Texas Trade Corridor Consortium a membership organization comprised of major manufacturers and logistics providers will serve as the catalyst for this research. The consortium is contributing more than $150000 of research funding to the overall effort.
The first meeting of this consortium — the Texas-Mexico Trade Competitiveness Conference — will take place Nov. 13 2008 at Texas A&M International University in Laredo. The conference is free and open to the public. Three additional conferences will be scheduled through 2009 in South Texas and Mexico.
