Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1546383
44 SMT007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2026 What seems to be the overarching theme in Mexico's electronics in- dustry right now? Initially, there was significant buildout in the EV power elec- tronics space. That continues as the EV market stabilizes. I wouldn't necessarily consider it a ramp down. It's continuing at a steady state of production volume. Now, there's a ramp as these hyperscalers build out infrastructure and rack assemblies for the cloud business. Mexico has been a major beneficiary of that. Was some of the capacity that had been planned for EV market growth redirected to hyperscaler infrastructure? The way the business is trending, there's very minimal reallocation from the EV to the AI infrastruc- ture buildout. At Heller, we're seeing a huge uptick in overall equipment sales, which tells me that there is true capacity coming online rather than reallocation of existing capacity. Because of past cycles of boom and bust, there was always a tendency for compa- nies to add capacity based on projected demand. Now, though, companies are a little bit smarter about it. Customers won't preemptively put in capital inventory in anticipation. They'll put it in the inventory when it's needed. As an equipment supplier, though, lead times have decreased, and we need to respond quickly. Among the three or four enclaves of electronics manufacturing around Mexico, where is the most active growth? We're seeing it countrywide. Guadalajara, gener- ally speaking, would always lead any time there is a growth cycle in Mexico. It's the center of anything electronics assembly-related. However, there's healthy activity along the entire border from Tijuana to Juarez, Matamoros, Reynosa, and everywhere in between. The greatest volume is still centered in Guada- lajara, where you have the largest installed base of electronics assembly lines, and the labor force to match. But the Maquiladora area in the border region is also experiencing growth and expansion. Is Mexico moving up the capabilities chart from mostly final assembly into something much more sophisticated and strategically placed in the elec- tronics and semiconductor supply chains? I definitely see Mexico growing in terms of technology advancement, going from standard reflow applications to more advanced manufacturing applications. For SMT-related projects, there are more advanced types of processing. These boards are increasing in their complexity and size. The board itself is chal- lenging. The natural follow-on is to augment that capability with a void spec that requires vacuum assistance to minimize voids. Vacuum-assist ovens are very complex, and Mexico has stepped up and grown in this regard. The next evolution for Mexico is the advanced packaging sector. Having the fab locally but not the packaging doesn't make sense. Now we're starting to see movement into Mexico from the packaging world. It's still very early days, but it's a good signal. Mexico has a lot of capability, and other companies are recognizing that. Of course, Mexico is a friendly country to the U.S. Keeping your work on the same continent and in the same time zone makes delivery easier and doing business less challenging than with over- seas partners. Do you foresee Mexico becoming the advanced packaging specialist for the Americas? Yes, they have that opportunity. It's hard for me to say if it will develop in the U.S. or Mexico. It makes a lot of sense for Mexico to do that type of work. Mexico has much of the infrastructure and labor force needed to support that type of manufacturing at scale. There's some potential U.S. augmentation for advanced packaging, mostly near top-tier fabs. It will be a healthy split, but I think the majority will end up in Mexico. Has the current U.S. administration's policies on tariffs and trade agreements affected Heller's abil- ity to do business in Mexico? Not so much. There's always a drawback to policy Paul Lancaster