According to Eduardo Villalaz, president of the Board of Directors of the Mexican Association of Machinery Distributors (AMDM), "Mexico is an attractive destination for the nearshoring trend due to its competitive advantages, which will imply an increase in the demand for machinery and high technology, as well as an increase in production. The arrival of transnational companies forces us to concentrate our efforts on the development of the industry for the growth of Mexico as an emerging economy".

Currently, Mexico is the 8th largest consumer of machine tools in the world. "However, with the advent of nearshoring we are expected to start producing more than what we currently do."

Based on data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), in the last quarter of 2022, exports of manufactured products amounted to 44.275 billion dollars, representing an annual increase of 10%. Those with the highest growth were professional and scientific equipment, with 20.4%; machinery and special equipment for diverse industries, with 15.4%; electrical and electronic equipment, with 3.6%; and automotive products, with 9.6%.

The industries that use machine toolsthe most range from automotive, aerospace, power generation, oil & gas, medical devices, military, among many others .

According to AMDM data, the demand for machinery has grown with large companies that have settled in the national territory, especially in the north of the country, but from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to transnational companies, they can buy a machine every one, three or five years, depending on the sector.

"An important part of the market is focused on maintenance and customer service, for which we require technical experts in the field who can review the machinery and prolong its useful life," he said.

As for the processes, the AMDM president said that these are very varied, depending on each industry. "We have manufacturers of cutters in five-axis grinding machines, but also importers of machinery for laser cutting, bending parts, welding, assembly."

He explained that most of the market in Mexico, in terms of metalworking, are distributors of foreign brands, however, several of the members of the association manufacture tools in Nuevo Leon, Jalisco, Puebla, among others.

Among the main countries exporting machinery to Mexico are: China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Spain and Italy.

He explained that Germany satisfies part of the world's demand for machinery, along with the five or six major powers in the current market; however, he said that the Asian market has grown, especially machinery from China.

Imported machinery includes machining centers, lathes, milling machines, presses, EDMs, measuring and quality control instruments, laser machines, injection molding instruments and sand blast machines.