Hire consulting help to get moving fast

A lot has happened in the 10 years since Nafta. Consultants can offer you a quick entry and perhaps get you past the learning curve.

I recommend: A couple of the many manufacturing consultants for the country include Made in Mexico Inc. and the Mexico Consulting Group.

Work with the government

State and federal governments in Mexico are anxious to bring jobs over the border. Get in touch with the right agencies early to find opportunites and learn about incentives.

I recommend: Mexico's Economy Ministry oversees the assembly plant industry known as the maquiladora sector (now considered a slightly pejorative term). A good place to start is its First Contact counseling service for first-time investors in the country. The U.S. Commercial Service operates a good starting page for understanding doing business in Mexico.

Consider farming out the work at first

If your company is small or new to foreign manufacturing, a simple way to take advantage of Mexican talent is through a subcontract manufacturer or a "shelter" manufacturer.

I recommend: In short, shelters offer a quick way to do business in Mexico through an existing company. A detailed explanation of how shelters work is  here. Some companies that provide this service include Roche,  Tecma, Javid, Offshore Group, Prodensa and QMS. The general site Maquila Portal has a directory of subcontract manufacturers and shelters, as well as a detailed print directory of suppliers.

Find space for your operations

If your manufacturing needs are light or need to be near an urban area, consider an industrial park.

I recommend: The Mexican Association of Industrial Parks has a dismaying number of pages under construction in the English version, so read up then click over to Spanish to use maps and directories.

Be sure you can get suppliers on board

If you want to get a real price advantage, you'll need to source the components for your products locally, too.

I recommend: MEXonline operations a database of buyers and suppliers who work in the manufacturing business in Mexico.

Ready to go big? Then talk to the big manufacturers for scale

You won't be the first over the border by a long shot. If your operations are of the right scale, it helps to work with established, large contract manufacturers.

I recommend: Solunet maintains a big, free contact database for nearly any kind of manufacturer in Mexico. They sell a CD-ROM with detailed data.