Mold maker Rocand Industries Inc. of Quebec City has extended its reach with the opening of a technical support facility in Monterrey, Mexico.
``Mainly it is for making an engineering change on the mold, or for the maintenance of a mold that we built or another manufacturer built,'' said operations Vice President Sarah Begin in a March 26 interview at MassPlastics, held March 26-27 in Fitchburg.
She said that Rocand continues to be a mold designer and manufacturer of injection and blow molding molds in Quebec. However, the 13,000-square-foot Monterrey operation that opened in June gives its customers another alternative.
The Monterrey plant has about 10 employees, one five-axis machining center, and three computer numerically controlled machining centers.
Begin said the Monterrey operation supports Rocand's customers in Mexico. It also presents some cost savings, in that parts can be machined in Mexico and returned to Canada for final assembly. Or, she said, the parts can be completed in Mexico.
The setup allows the sites to exchange files so designs and projects can be fashioned in Quebec and worked on in Mexico. Some of Rocand's Canadian workers have followed their projects to Mexico until they were completed. Rocand recently brought two workers from Mexico to Quebec to learn machining and programming, according to Begin.
Rocand, founded by current President Peter Rochette in 1996, operates a 20,000-square-foot facility in Quebec City with 30 employees.
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