Navico expands its Mexican plants
Marine electronics specialist Navico, a subsidiary of the Brunswick Group within the Advanced Systems Group (ASG), has announced major investments in its Ensenada, Mexico facility. The manufacturing facility will expand its buildings with a new 4,680 square meter facility, including 4,385 square meters dedicated to the production of B&G, Simrad, Lowrance and C-Map equipment. To operate the new facility, more than 100 new employees are expected to be hired. The site's production capacity is expected to increase by 35%. Construction is expected to be completed by September 2023.
For these important investments, Navico relies on the Bruinswick Group, which acquired it in October 2021. The American leader in the yachting industry is strongly focusing its efforts on its ASG division and its developments in electronics, automation and equipment.
Vertical integration
The new production capabilities should enable Navico to meet the growing market demand. A vertical integration process is also underway to produce and design more components in-house. Electronics manufacturers have had to face since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis related to their dependence on subcontractors in the manufacturing of components. The small size of the marine industry compared to other markets has made sourcing problematic in some cases.
Beyond supply-chain issues, product availability is also essential for customer service. "We have been experiencing very significant growth for several years and particularly strong in 2021 with incredible demands on all Navico brands. Today, lead times are abnormally long in the marine electronics industry and we need to be able to respond instantly to our customers. There was therefore a need to increase production capacity", summarizes François Renault, Country Manager at Navico France.
