Guanajuato is consolidated as the country's logistics center

Guanajuato

By Lizete Hernández

Logistics activity will be strengthened after the pandemic and will be driven by technology; For this, Guanajuato prepares with strategies and concrete action plans

 

 

Thanks to the industrial activity has been constant, Guanajuato has maintained its economic dynamism and continues to position itself as the sixth largest exporter nationwide.

According to official data, Guanajuato exports to 132 destinations, among which the United States, Canada, Colombia, Germany, China, South Korea, Brazil, Italy and Japan stand out.

From January to December 2020, 1,088 companies exported 20,004 million dollars from Guanajuato. Large companies (150) concentrated 75% of the amount, medium (314) 12%, small (398) 37% and micro (226) 27%.

The auto parts industry is the main export sector in the state, with 5.251 million dollars, which represents 26% of the total participation; It is followed by agribusiness, with 1,866 million, and metalworking, with 1,101 million.

Yazmín González, Coordinator of Foreign Trade and Logistics at Cofoce, said that at the beginning of 2020 the world began to close economic activity , several countries established mechanisms within their customs where they allowed the dispatch of merchandise only of agro-food and products that they made in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the supply of raw materials remained inside the warehouses or in enclosures inside the ports.

“We had a stagnation of containers and spaces not only in Guanajuato and in the country's ports, but throughout the world. In addition, the ports were operating with fewer personnel and the dynamics generated that at the sea level merchandise could not be moved and by air has an increase in costs. As the dynamics progressed, all the containers  continue to stay inside the ports because companies must pay for storage and delays, which is expensive and unfeasible ”, he commented.

“We will have to keep up with the experience that we already have at the international level, that is, in the blockchain, where the information that is generated by companies has a traceability through technological trends and generate regulatory strategies that allow companies to be able to establish mechanisms to improve logistics ”, he reiterated.

For his part, Yiovan Reynoso, director of the Logistics Committee at the National Council of the Maquiladora and Export Manufacturing Industry in Guanajuato, said that in the face of the shortage "bubble" existing in companies in the sector, an alliance is being worked on in coordination with index Occidente, to obtain preferential rates in cargo airlines, as well as space preferences.

“We are making a pull of everything we need in Guanajuato and we will work in coordination with the industry of Guadalajara, since the strategic advantage that this state has are the direct flights from Korea, Hong Kong and Shanghai, as well as from Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Paris, this, for companies that require it, is important and we are about to have this logistical support ”, he explained.

Given the saturation of the logistics chain , many companies are on a waiting list in order to know the departure date of cargo planes; However, he said that relying on states that have the same concern is essential to speed up the regional and national economic recovery.

He also reported that they are relying on logistics operators in order to guide them on how to have stocks sufficient , improve strategies with suppliers and attract raw materials and inventories.

"We are looking for a just-in-place strategy, that we have the material not only on time, but enough stock as close as possible to where it is required to have enough materials and not stop production," he said.

 

FERROENLACES JOINS THE LOGISTICS CHALLENGE 

The Ferroenlaces general cargo transfer terminal, located in Celaya, Guanajuato, was inaugurated in December 2020 and adds to the outlook for the entity's industrial sectors.

In this regard, Samuel Delgado, general manager of the railway, explained that this project began with its construction seven years ago, as a proposal given the logistics demand of the center of the country, mainly, the automotive sector.

The installed capacity of the side (road where maneuvering work is carried out), has a capacity of 32 tank cars and within the railway, there is a capacity for 27 with two available routes.

Additionally, there are four hectares for transfer, unloading and loading maneuvering tasks. It is a rail port to approximate the load in general, that is, you can have vans and lower decks or unload tank cars and in the future they plan to transfer hydrocarbons.

“We have a territorial reserve of 12 hectares on both sides of the railway and in one of them you can put up to a comb and tousled tracks. In this area we could install a distribution center, flat warehouse, among others ”.

In its first phase, this infrastructure has the capacity to move up to 360,000 tons per year of different products; that is, 30,000 tons per month. Grupo Aceitero del Bajío is the first client of Ferroenlaces, in February another company with which it moves cement joined. However, they are already negotiating with new companies that will be added in 2021.

“There are two ways of looking at the railway business, one of them is by approaching the companies that are established and operating, to verify how they solve their logistics problem and see if we can give them a solution at a better cost. Or, if we work hand in hand with the state government to detect the opportunities with those who come to invest and detect logistical issues that are going to be presented to design ad-hoc solutions before someone puts the plant down. In the end, what you want is to be inserted in the last mile , due to its proximity ”, he explained.

He reiterated that Ferroenlaces seeks to add real and added value to the economy and the benefit-cost of the end customer. Being commercial partners of Kansas City Southern, important opportunities open up, as this company recently signed an agreement with Canadian Pacific, that is, with a single train line it will be possible to bring material from Quebec to Mexico without making a switch of days. which will represent considerable savings for companies.

 

LOGISTICS 4.0 IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN

Traditionally, production is based on the manufacture of large volumes of standard products; Nowadays, incorporating intelligent production lines, it is possible to produce in a personalized way, since only the necessary products are manufactured and these, in turn, are adjusted to the requests received from customers.

Orders for raw materials, supplies to the production line and shipments to distributors and customers are carried out efficiently based on current needs and sales forecasts; the stock is reduced to the maximum, therefore, large storage infrastructures are not required .

Joaquín Reyes Vallejo, Director of Information Systems at CEPSA, announced that traceability throughout the value chain gains in efficiency thanks to smart labeling that allows better control of the product, its location and its characteristics.

“An example of interaction with the end customer is with the distribution and rewiring of butane gas bottles, where the circulating cost associated with the bottle stock is very high; therefore, it is necessary to obtain the location of the bottles at all times to maintain control. Each bottle carries a tag that allows a re-marking at every moment that it passes through the packaging chain and that is how complete traceability is configured throughout the transport chain. to the end customer in this product ”, he explained.

Picking –or order preparation activity– is carried out through the use of voice or through augmented reality, saving time and reducing costs. Information is accessed through mobile devices. Merchandise, devices and humans interact in the performance of different logistics tasks, but, in addition, the operator generates information in real time, providing feedback in real time control of the entire logistics process.

The use of mobile technologies and GPS systems allow to know precisely and immediately, the situation of each unit of the logistics process. Route optimization, risk reduction and merchandise control are some of the processes that are optimized.

Logistics networks will be able to enhance their efficiency considerably by making use of the concepts and technologies of logistics 4.0 and providing an unprecedented reduction in time, costs and errors.

 

CHALLENGES AND LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS

Jesús Campos, executive director of Apix Mexico chapter, stated that, although last mile delivery grew exponentially in 2020, time must be given to know and evaluate the size of the demand, since the cost that this represents may not be sustained in the long term. .

“Currently, unemployed or underemployed people have volunteered to do this last-mile function, but this will not be permanent; when everything is normalized, means of transport will be required to do this work and we must all be prepared for it ”, he commented.

He said that logistics operators will have to analyze the future outlook in terms of volumes, schedules and available service providers.

In the specific case of Guanajuato, he recommended considering the economic vocation of the area, (as it is in the automotive sector), which will change drastically in the future, therefore he appealed to continue promoting investment and generating certainty.

“There is a lot of opportunity to grow in the Bajío, as it will receive investments soon thanks to the T-MEC if and only if the appropriate guarantees are applied. The relevant sector of the economy is the automotive industry and Guanajuato is well positioned in this, despite the fact that there is still an uncertain outlook in the logistics sector, ”he reiterated.

Meanwhile, Gustavo Equihua, president of the National Council of Executives in Logistics and Supply Chain, said that the distribution centers (Cedis) will have to modulate the service level, in the face of a demand that faces variability. Issues such as collection and redistribution to other Cedis, as well as distribution to the point of sale or end customer are issues that will become more important to provide a good level of service both in time and cost.

He said that one aspect to consider is the time to market focused on logistics operators where through these types of companies, they can have a faster approach to the market taking advantage of existing logistics networks, in addition to expanding market coverage in a more efficient way . 

“The logistics cost is currently under pressure, especially due to the resources that are no longer available, a shortage in transport and e-commerce, the latter, driven by the increases in orders that have been made by buying online. In this sense, the Cedis, through good planning in the supply and use of existing channels , can be an effective tool to improve this cost ”, he explained.

He commented that the strengthening of operational processes is another challenge to face in the next five years; For this reason, processes with a high level of reliability and that can be technified must be sought and this is a step towards digitization and automation.