Successful transfer is not a one-way street

Technology transfer versus know-how transfer – perspectives for sustainable markets in Central America
Mexico offers tremendous market potential. With the exception of the automobile industry, German and European companies have hitherto left this potential relatively untapped. In many cases this was because the financial and technical demands and the time involved in establishing business activities in Mexico were overestimated – and then Mexico is so much farther off than eastern Europe. The basis for successful projects is excellent: Mexico’s heritage from Spain means that Mexico is culturally very close and NAFTA is the market par excellence – and this also holds for the future. Admittedly, if projects in Mexico (Latin America) are to be successful some things do have to be tackled in the preliminary stages and one personal quality is essential: the absolute will to commit oneself to the Latin-American market and to be prepared to adapt to it.

A look at the export statistics shows that the bulk of Germany’s exports in the past decades were products (cars, automobile fittings and accessories, and chemicals) and machines – in other words: technical know-how. When visiting German subsidiaries or Mexican companies, almost everywhere one is confronted by German machines (from the 70s and 80s). By contrast, German technology, by which is meant the integration of technical know-how into the work and life of the users, is conspicuous for its relative absence (the exceptions being complete refineries, chemical plants and power plants).
European automation systems: sometimes a hit, but not infrequently a flop
In companies, European automation systems are sometimes a hit, but not infrequently a flop: despite repeated advice that they require numerous adjustments, whether this be the program language or the height of control consoles or a multitude of other things, even nowadays this tends to go unheeded by European manufacturers and suppliers. Every manufacturer in Latin America knows that only in exceptional cases can technical know-how be taken over 1:1 (voltage, ohmic drop, corrosion, earthquakes, etc.).
A recent experience in July 2004: A German automobile supplier dismissed 200 workers to have the production taken over by robots. The programming was in German. Between 4 pm and 6 pm in Germany (in Mexico it was then 8 am to 10 am) the Mexican users equipped with a smattering of English discussed the matter with the German programmers in an endeavor to solve the problem. If they did not manage to, two to three shifts would be lost. A senior executive of the German subsidiary calculated that no savings could be expected over the next few years from a change-over from man to machine: the additional expatriates needed from Germany plus more qualified personnel from the USA would soon offset the costs of Mexican workers. Not all examples are so extreme, but this is certainly not an isolated case.
Successful transfer is not a one-way street! It is necessary to adapt, but in most cases this is expected of the Latin-American partner, not, however, from the developer. The German developer “thinks” how he can further perfect, automatize and streamline his unmanned technical products – and in most cases will probably fail in the effort (exception: refineries, etc.).
The Latin-American plant manager needs straightforward machines that he can repair with a flat wrench so that despite adverse conditions and with a workforce of trainees he can, by and large, produce good quality products. In tricky situations Mexicans are great improvisers and can even produce goods from machines that no German would conceive as possible.
Knowledge transfer – a forum for the exchange of ideas and experience”
If we can succeed in bringing together Germans and Latin Americans at production facilities as partners there is a chance that we can mutually benefit from the qualities and potential of the two cultures economically, ecologically and sustainably. Mind you, every Latin-American country has its own specific characteristics, ‘Mexico’ is used here vicariously. The first step is for German managers to become more familiar with Mexican culture and with the production scene. To this end, a Mexican knowledge transfer centre, based at CONACYT (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologie) will shortly be set up. The aim is to provide a placement service for German researchers and developers, and for German students in the framework of a practical semester, in production companies in Mexico and for Mexican employees of production companies and Mexican university staff, researchers and students in production and research institutions in Germany. These personal contacts are intended to render the ideas and experience of each other more accessible and understandable and to foster mutual understanding of the possibilities and constraints in ‘real life’. Today’s practical semester students can become tomorrow’s manufacturers. Equipped with this experience, they can develop technologies, market them and create jobs