Hitchiner's Mexican Operations consists of two companies, Hitchiner S.A. de C.V., providing front-end casting services, and Hitchiner Manufacturing Company de Mexico, a finishing and component assembly plant.
Hitchiner S.A. de C.V.
Hitchiner S.A. de C.V., located in Santiago Tianguistenco, 50 kilometers southwest of Mexico City, became the company's first offshore production facility when production commenced in 1988. The engineering quality that is the hallmark of Hitchiner production is as much in evidence in Mexico as in the company's stateside operations. Primary sales are in the high-volume automotive market.
The modern facility boasts 20,400m of manufacturing space, the latest technological advances with robotics, conveyorization and automation, as well as Hitchiner's revolutionary countergravity casting process. Facilities for tooling, layout, non-destructive testing and heat treat are provided on-site.
The division is TS16949 and ISO14000 certified and utilizes Six Sigma methods, lean manufacturing and synchronous manufacturing principles throughout the operation to ensure quality parts and to continually improve control of the process. Installed capacity allows the casting of 2000 molds/day with the pouring of 54 metric tons of alloy/day.
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Hitchiner Manufacturing Company de Mexico
Hitchiner Manufacturing Company de Mexico is located in San Luis Potosi, 300 miles from Hitchiner's Santiago Tianguistenco plant.
Production began at this facility in 2002, signaling Hitchiner's transition to a full-service, TS16149 certified component manufacturer. First-in-first-out scheduling is the rule throughout the process at this facility, and applies to raw materials as well as finished product. Six sigma process control methods are used throughout the process to insure that production always remains well within tolerances and to maintain product quality and integrity. A fully equipped lab is used to certify incoming raw materials and in-process components, using coordinate measuring machines and other forms of non-destructive testing. Finished products are packaged and shipped in accordance with customer daily requirements.
Working closely with customer counterparts, Hitchiner engineering can assist in component and assembly design to ensure effective and economical manufacturability, using advance quality planning and a total systems approach. One example of this cooperative engineering approach is the Ram Rocker Shaft Assembly designed for the Dodge Hemi engine. Rocker arm castings are produced by Hitchiner's Santiago Tianguistenco foundry and are shipped to the san Luis Potosi assembly plant with other subcomponents on an as-required basis where high-volume machining and assembly are services are performed.
At one end of the facility, the rocker arms are machined, heat treated and finished. At the other end, the shafts are cut, drilled chamfered and machined according to precise tolerances. The number of stations for each operation has been determined to prevent bottlenecks and to maximize throughput.
At the final assembly operation the processed shafts are mated with the finished rocker arms. Assemblies are packaged in matching intake and exhaust engine sets, and are shipped to the Dodge engine assembly plant just-in-time and ready to be bolted bolted into the Ram engine.
Watch the Hitchiner Mfg. Co., de Mexico video.
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