مطالعه تجربی از صدور گواهینامه استاندارد ISO در صنعت maquiladora

The maquiladora industry is a manufacturing system that utilizes the Mexican workforce and foreign investment and technology on the border region between the US and Mexico. This paper conducted an empirical investigation of ISO certification practices by distributing a questionnaire to maquiladora plants in El Paso, TX and Juarez, Mexico. Descriptive statistics (by questions and types of industry) and hypothesis tests based on the data were performed. Also, extensive interviews were conducted with maquiladora managers. The questionnaire and analyses explored the prevalence of ISO certification, the length of relationship with suppliers, the employee training time, and the development of quality manuals. The analyses were conducted within the context of mature versus newer and ISO-certified versus non-ISO-certified maquiladoras. Finally, insights and perspectives of the results were provided.

Many manufacturers understand that improved quality systems are extremely important in gaining greater global competitiveness. Customers also continue to be more discriminating in seeking only those products that are of high quality. One of the important means of attaining high product quality is the achievement of ISO certification. In order to successfully complete an ISO certification program, managers should understand the important role that organizational and supplier systems play in achieving ISO Certification. This paper studies the importance of organizational and supplier issues in the achievement of ISO certification in maquiladora industry.

This paper investigated the importance, the role, and the prevalence of ISO certification in the maquiladora industry. This is important given the impact that ISO certification has on international trade and the ability of the maquiladoras to effectively compete in the global market place. Although the number and importance of maquiladora industries have grown over the years, there has been no research that has directly focused on the role and implications of ISO certification in maquiladoras. The survey-based research was further enhanced by interviews conducted with several maquiladora managers who had expertise in the field of quality and ISO certification. The survey covered different industries, different quality experts, and different aspects of ISO certification most relevant to maquiladoras. These were intended to shed light on the challenges of attaining ISO certification in maquiladoras. Here are some insights and assessment of the results gained as a result of this research: 1. Only 30% of the respondents indicated that they do not have ISO certification and that they are not in the process of obtaining it or planning for it in the future. This trend of increasing interest in achieving ISO certification in maquiladoras was corroborated by in-field interviews with the quality experts. The impetus behind seeking ISO certification in the maquiladoras in order of priority was: customer requirements and demand; competition with local, host, and regional industries; and globalization of manufacturing trade and operations. Trade with EU countries is an example of necessity to obtain ISO certification. It was found that the older, more established firms had a much higher proportion of ISO-certified firms than did the less established firms. 2. The length and the nature of relationships with suppliers in maquiladoras were considered to be important for ISO certification. Maquiladoras, as manufacturing-centered operations, appear to be very sensitive regarding the availability of the source and the continuation of their supply. The length of main/core supplier relationships were not found to be statistically significantly longer for ISO-certified companies than for non-ISO-certified companies. Similarly, the length of main/core supplier relationships was not statistically related to the maturity of the industry. These results were in contradiction to the results of field interviews. The interviews pointed to the significance of supplier relationships for both mature and ESTABLISHED maquiladoras. While further investigation of this subject is warranted, some of the respondents might have viewed the supplier relationship as a routine purchasing matter conducted by maquiladoras. In this sense, supplier relationships have not carried much weight by some respondents. 3. Employee training was viewed to be important by the maquiladoras. The training cost, logistical issues, and implementation aspects of training, however, appeared to be prohibitive for many of the respondents. While the average length of quality training was longer for ISO-certified firms, it was not found to be statistically significantly higher for ISO-certified than non-ISO-certified firms. Also, the length of quality training was not found to be statistically significantly higher for ESTABLISHED maquiladoras than it was for NON-ESTABLISHED maquiladoras. The transient nature of labor jobs in maquiladoras makes training costs expensive and in many cases counter productive if employees take their newly acquired skills to a competitor. 4. Although many maquiladora companies had developed or engaged in developing quality manuals, their development posed a great deal of difficulty for many of the respondents with regard to organizational culture, normal operating practices and the company mind set. Most employees were not required to document many of their processes, practices, and procedures in the past. Documenting these aspects correctly also appeared to be a problem. The percentage of firms for quality manuals/procedures was found to statistically significantly higher for ISO-certified companies than for non-ISO-certified companies. In contrast, there was no statistically significant relationship between the longevity of the maquiladoras and the development of quality manual/procedures. These two facts point to two important facts. First, it appears almost mandatory for firms to develop sound quality manuals and procedures in order for them to obtain ISO certification. Second, documenting quality systems and procedures posed the same challenge for both mature and newer maquiladoras alike. Longevity of maquiladoras did not help or hinder these companies to develop quality manuals. The results of the interviews with the maquiladora managers indicated that there was a strong inclination on the part of non-ISO-certified companies to seek certification. It appears that this trend will continue well into the future. The results of this study could assist these companies to improve their practices in order to have a better chance of achieving ISO certification.