I am excited to share with you that last October RESCO moved into its new home in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. You may be thinking why wait six months before writing a blog about this new facility? Well, the short answer is that we didn’t want to make a big to-do about our new place until the move was complete and most all the transition pains were behind us. In other words, we didn’t want to be too quick to brag. Now that the move is behind us and things are running smoothly, brag we will! So here are some particulars about our new home, our staff and Acuna, Mexico.
About the Building
Our new facility is approximately 40,000 SF spread across three floors. This makes the facility over three times the size of our previous home. The first floor, which includes about half the total space, houses shipping, receiving, warehousing, offices and some production. Most all of our heavy manufacturing equipment is housed in the first floor production area. So our wire processing equipment, crimp presses, and our automated lead maker can all be found on this floor. The second floor includes employee break and training rooms and a large assembly area. All of our wire harnessing and inductor winding operations are on this floor. Right now, the third floor, which is about 10,000 SF is reserved for growth.
RESCO’s Acuna Facility
We Bought the Building
Perhaps one thing that is unique about RESCO is that we own both our US facility in Baltimore and this new facility in Acuna. Although we are not fundamentally opposed to renting, we have the financial strength to purchase the facilities that we occupy and, as a result, have been able to choose the best facilities to meet our current and future needs. I underlined “future” since it was the long-term flexibility of the space we chose in Acuna that led us to select and buy it.
First Floor Production Area
Our Team in Acuna
We are very proud of our team in Acuna. The core of this team has been with RESCO and Cables Y Mas, the predecessor company we purchased in 2011, for many years. Led by Fred Morr, our General Manager and a thirty year veteran of the cable harness industry, our Acuna team now numbers over 150. Rounding out our leadership team in Acuna are JP Garza, Plant Manager, Rosy Morr, Accounting and HR Manager, and Alma Ramos, Quality Manager. JP, Rosy, and Alma also have many years of experience in their respective areas.
Warehouse Area
Why Acuna, Mexico?
I guess the simple answer to why we are in Acuna is that is where Cables Y Mas was located when we bought it. However, it turns out that Acuna is an ideal location for a contract manufacturing operation serving customers throughout North America. First off, Acuna is located just across the US border from Del Rio, Texas which is about two hours west of San Antonio. Acuna is a city of about 180,000, big enough to have all the resources, human and otherwise, that we require but absent many of the problems such as crime and union activity that have plagued other larger Mexican border cities like Juarez, Tijuana, and Reynosa.
Our new facility is centrally located in Acuna less than a mile from the border crossing, a border crossing that is generally easy and quick to cross. The central location helps with recruiting and retaining staff since commute times are short relative to most other major employers in the city. Our proximity to an uncrowded border crossing means that we can quickly import raw materials into Mexico and get finished assemblies exported within a day of completing them. The result is that shipping times out of this facility are essentially no different than if the plant were located in Texas. Once we have exported into Texas, the ground shipping time to most locations in the continental US is three days or less. Not bad considering all the cost advantages that Mexican production can offer!
Acuna is Centrally Located
About the Author
David Copenhaver is President of RESCO Electronics, a Baltimore based manufacturer electronic assemblies and value added reseller of auto ID equipment to original equipment manufacturers. Before joining RESCO in 2003, David was the Senior Vice President of Operations and member of the Board of Directors for US Office Products, a publicly traded distributor of office products that is now part of Staples. Beginning in 1989, David co-owned and managed The Smith-Wilson Co., an Orlando based distributor of office products that was sold to US Office Products in 1996.
David has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration both from the University of Virginia. He is married and lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and three sons.