By: Luis Manuel Hernández G.
Several years ago, while studying, I immersed myself in lean management, operations, and leadership. The more I read, the more I realized how ignorance influenced my business decisions, not from a lack of intelligence, but from not being able to connect the dots. That is the magic of learning: not everyone walks away from the same lesson with the same insights.
One book, Learning to See, helped me understand how to map and analyze what was happening on the shop floor of a manufacturing company, and how to connect that to the financials. This lesson comes to mind today and raises an important question: Do we really see what we have in front of us?
From Stand-Alone Businesses to Pipelines
In recent months, as companies struggle to improve profitability and understand their key drivers of success, we often look at how government policies affect us. The truth is, there are elements in our businesses we believe we understand, but rarely do we see them as part of something bigger.
What if we began to treat our businesses not as stand-alone entities, but as part of a pipeline? This shift may create new tasks inside organizations, but it also provides security and continuity, offering more than a single product or service.
In Baja California, our strength is not just the number of suppliers we have, but the resilient, interconnected pipeline that has proven to be a driver of productivity. A few strong players have consistently lifted the state’s output. Owners and boards must start asking: What is the value and profile of the pipeline we are part of?
Beyond Cheap Labor: Raising the Bar for Baja California
For too long, Mexico’s manufacturing has been labeled as a “cost center.” Some boards of nonprofit organizations still insist that cheap labor is the main attraction. But if we continue to sell ourselves cheap, we will only attract cheap companies, cheap suppliers, and cheap results.
It’s time to change the game. Baja California is not about being cheap, it is about being cost-effective and productive, with the ability to manufacture a vast array of products at world-class standards. We are one of Mexico’s major hubs of capabilities and possibilities.
The Tijuana pipeline has demonstrated resilience and offers manufacturers faster time-to-market solutions than many other regions. While innovation and patenting are often challenged by regulatory issues in Mexico, our suppliers in Tijuana and Baja California continue to compete globally, delivering quality and adapting to new market demands.
At the end of the day, our businesses do not run on tax deductions, regulations, or leaders’ opinions. They succeed because we do things right, by recognizing the assets we already have, by connecting the dots, and by elevating the value of our pipeline.
