Honeywell consolidated its truck turbocharger production into this facility in Mexicali. The $16 million plant will eventually employ 400.

Honeywell Consolidates,
Maytag Expands

Honeywell International's Garrett Engine Boosting Systems Division opened a new 230,000-sq.-ft. (21,400-sq.-m.) factory last May in the border city of Mexicalli in Baja California, to build turbochargers for diesel engines for large trucks. The facility consolidates four Honeywell facilities scattered around the city, plus production from a plant the company closed in Torrance, Calif. The new plant will make all the turbochargers Honeywell sells in North America.
        The consolidation of Mexicalli operations will save Honeywell about $16 million, says Terry Hicks, Honeywell's corporate manager of operations and construction. The facility, which will eventually employ 400, also includes a childcare center and a full-service cafeteria on the inside and a basketball court and soccer field on the outside.
        Since Honeywell had long been familiar with Mexicalli, the site search to consolidate didn't take long--just a week, Hicks says.
        "Most of our employees don't drive, so we looked at where they live," Hicks says. "We are now located next door to the Institute of Technology. That's a very big plus because we will have a lot of potential employees coming out of there. The site fits our needs absolutely perfectly."
        In Reynosa, appliance maker Maytag opened two subassembly facilities, one in late 2001 and the other in May 2002, and announced plans to build a new factory there to manufacture side-by-side refrigerators. All three facilities are in what has become a corporate campus. The first two facilities employ 1,000 each and the new factory will employ 1,000-1,600. All moves are designed to lower costs, company officials say. Maytag is phasing out production at its Galesburg, Ill., plant.
        "Our new expansion in Reynosa will allow us to achieve the important quality improvement and cost benefits in our new assembly facility that we are already realizing in our Reynosa component production," said Bill Beer, president, Maytag appliances.