Flexible production in the auto sector: Industrial reorganization at Ford-Mexico

Abstract

Ford-Mexico is pursuing a single philosophy of flexible production in its Mexican plants, but with markedly different results. An analysis of three plants, one a new assembly plant in the North, another an established manufacturing plant in Central Mexico, and the third a labor-intensive maquiladora plant in the Northern border region shows how the factors of labor relations, local labor markets, complexity of production, and whether the plants are new or established affect the implantation of flexible production. The resulting systems implanted do not correspond to the ideal lean production model.