Grupo Industrial Saltillo creates global engineering arm for its automotive division

19 October, 2018

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Grupo Industrial Saltillo, S.A.B. de C.V. (GISSA), the Mexican manufacturer of auto parts, housing equipment and kitchenware, announced that Draxton, its automotive division, will set up a research and development department to better adapt its production processes to the requirements of its customers.

The Global Engineering, Research and Development Center is part of the company’s long-term Technology Plan, which “offers a complementary vision to the business units’ corporate strategy by identifying trends and challenges within the sector, as well as emerging technologies and materials in current and future products, generating greater profitability and competitiveness,” said the company in a filing to Mexican stock market regulators (PDF).

GISSA already allocates US$ 7 million annually to research and development, which represents 1% of Draxton sales. This line item includes all expenses and investments related to key development areas such as: smart plants, processes and technology, products and tools, materials and environment. By structuring and formalizing these initiatives, GISSA estimates that Draxton could increase this investment to 2% of sales in the coming years.

Mr. José Manuel Corrales, an official with over 30 years of experience in the automotive industry, was appointed as head of this recently created global office. He will directly report to the global head of Draxton, Mr. Jorge Rada.

This initiative will serve as catalyst for the following changes: ensure the capturing of synergies, management of processes and technology transfer, develop product proposals with value added processes, operational excellence and competitive costs, enable design and R+D capabilities, boost talent development and rapidly launch new products.

The new department will seek to address sector challenges and technological trends in various areas, such as energy efficiency, environmental, electrification, autonomous driving, lightening and automotive digitization.

Draxton manufactures more than 6 components families and serve more than 100 customers in various markets. The company employs more than 4,000 workers in 14 plants and 3 world-class Research & Development centers known globally as Draxton 4 Competitiveness (D4C).

The production sites are located in Mexico, Spain, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy and China.

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