Mabe bets on the truck in its logistics to Central America
October 8th, 2013
Puri Lucena, T21
At first it was a necessity. After the passage in 2005 of Hurricane Stan through the south of
Mexico, which took away part of the railway infrastructure of Chiapas-
Mayab, the appliance manufacturer Mabe had to get off the train and get on the
truck to move their export merchandise to Central America. A change that
recognizes the logistics manager of the company, Héctor Corona, it is already permanent due to
because it has brought them greater efficiencies in delivery times.
“Before, we left directly from our plants or consolidated in our
distribution center in Mexico and from there to Central America. The circumstances have
changed for us, but also in modes of transportation [after the passage of
hurricane]. For us there was a greater integration in our participation in the
Central American market. Before, when we used the railway, we had a 25%,
now an 85% and that circumstance has led us, in addition to the fact that there was no way to move
by rail, to do it by truck”, explains Corona.
This greater penetration has made it difficult for the company to bet on
the railway already the time factor has become important and deliveries must be made
in shorter periods. On board a truck, electrical appliances produced in
Mexico by Mabe takes six days to reach San José, in Costa Rica. By train, it would take
nine to reach the southern border, plus an additional four to cross Central America.
Despite this advantage over the railway, Corona pointed out that motor transport
still has many areas for improvement in Mexico. “It is not fully mature, there is still
a lot of truck man, the offer of the joint stock company is very short and we have to
complement the rest. This does not mean that there is a bad service, but if there is a
certain margin of risk”, he mentioned. Therefore, he added, users are asking for more
professionalization, security, certification, standard processes and that evolve to
offer a differentiated service.
Insecurity is also an issue to consider. The South and Southeast area is a
of those that present the most risks in terms of theft, along with others such as the state of
Michoacán or Tamaulipas, acknowledged the manager.