Leoni has opened a new Mexican wiring systems plant in Merida, which will serve customers headquartered in Asia and the US with the supplier recruiting around 2,600 people for the new facility.
“The new plant in Merida is a clear sign of our dynamic growth in the Americas”, said Leoni board member with responsibility for the Wiring Systems Division (WSD), Martin Stüttem.
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“We are the first foreign investor to build up a production facility involving such a high number of industrial jobs in the Yucatan region.”
The plant in Merida is Leoni’s third site for wiring systems in Mexico. The company already operates locations in Hermosillo and Durango, which produce wiring harnesses for commercial vehicles and passenger cars.
The production scope in Merida comprises harnesses for a series of passenger car models from an unnamed US-based customer and a manufacturer from Asia. Today, Leoni employs around 500 people in the new facility.
In 2018, when the plant will run at full capacity, the company expects to count up to 2,600 staff. The new location has a total production area of around 25,000 sq m.
The plant will be equipped with more than 1,500 solar panels, which will provide around one third of the total energy required. Moreover, the location in Merida uses a water recycling system, resulting in a daily reduction of needed fresh water of almost 100,000 litres.
Currently, Leoni is going through the BREEAM certification process, one of the world’s leading sustainability assessment methods for masterplanning projects, infrastructure and buildings.
Next year the Merida plant expects to contract not only a large number of employees with an operational profile, but also industrial, logistics and quality engineers, technical specialists as well as administrative support personnel. Moreover, Leoni will establish a shared services centre for the human resources department in Merida, which will support all the plants in the Americas.
The Merida plant is the supplier’s fifth location in Mexico, with the Wire and Cable Solutions Division also operating two sites in the country, which are specialised in automotive cables.
The company is present in other North and South American countries operating production facilities as well as offices for research and development as well as sales in Canada, the US, Brazil and Paraguay.
