Changing of the Guard at SMTA México-Guadalajara Chapter

By Luis Fernando Gazcon
President of the SMTA México-Guadalajara Chapter

 

First things first. On behalf of the whole SMTA México-Guadalajara Chapter Committee and all our active members I would like to thank enormously all the work that Ivan Romo has been performing for more than 10 years within the Chapter and the whole SMTA Association at a local and national level in México. Ivan’s leadership and vision were truly crucial in the buildup of the SMTA México Chapters and without him they would not have developed and succeed as it did.

Ivan’s resignation was part of a Strategic Succession Plan for the Guadalajara Chapter that has been brewing since I took the presidency in 2021.  He wanted to make sure that there was a strong and stable structure before he stepped down.  After 11 years of serving as an active officer he wanted the new generation to bring the Chapter to the next level.

As he stated in his public letter, he and his company SMarTsol Technologies will continue supporting the SMTA but now from the other side as a supplier. He also keeps several of his key employees as active members of all SMTA Chapter Committees in México: Jessica Velasco and Juan Luis Tarin from SMarTsol Technologies keep active within our chapter.

Personally, I have been an officer for the SMTA México-Guadalajara Chapter Committee for eight years and I had the opportunity to serve in different positions within the organization. I can happily say that I had the good fortune of witnessing Ivan’s hard work and enthusiasm to develop the Chapter not only in Guadalajara but in all the Mexican territory. He took the SMTA Guadalajara Expo & Tech Forum to the next level, positioning it as the most important Electronics Manufacturing event in the country. I do not forget that when we were the only SMTA Chapter formed in México it was Ivan who pushed the committee to bring small table top and Tech Day events outside of Guadalajara to other important manufacturing sectors in the country like Querétaro, Chihuahua, Monterrey & Tijuana. After a couple of years of hosting them, those seeds germinated into the development of newborn Chapters in the country; Juarez & Queretaro Chapter respectively; we even currently have a new Chapter in formation in Mexico’s Northeast Area (Monterrey, Reynosa & Matamoros area). I have no doubt in my mind that a key factor to achieve the actual success and level of interest that the SMTA generates today had a lot to do with Ivan Romo’s selfless labor within the Association.

Obviously, there was, is and always will be a whole team beside the President of a Chapter. The committees are formed of selfless volunteers that served the association as officers and are the real magic behind any of the Expos, Tech Days, Tech Forums, webinars or any type of event organized by the SMTA Globally. I strongly believe it is of the utmost importance that the SMTA as an international Association recognize the labor that each one of the officers performs volunteering along all Chapters Globally. Without them none of what we do would be possible and the SMTA would not exist.

New slate of officers supporting SMTA Mexico Chapter committee elected in December 2022

A key step for the Strategic Succession Plan of the SMTA México – Guadalajara Chapter is to bring new blood to the core of the Committee, which is why at the end of my first cycle (2021-2022) as president the Chapter, Committee members decided to prepare a new Call for Officers Campaign.

Nine Officers remained from the old guard and 10 new officers were signed during this campaign to maintain a perfect equilibrium of 19 individuals that bring different perspectives and views to the discussion table and help support all our decisions. Six of the current officers are from companies like Jabil, Plexus, Sanmina, Molex & Solar Edge. Thirteen officers come from Suppliers to the Electronics Manufacturing Industry.

 

 

The group is compact; everyone has integrated smoothly, and all have been supporting the organization and operation of the chapter. The old guard has guided and taught all the new talent how things have been handled, managed and operated in the past years, and the new Officers have been enthusiastically learning and are already contributing new ideas that will certainly improve the events and help us maintain the confidence and momentum of the Electronics Manufacturing Community in México.

For me personally one o the greatest challenges is to maintain the well positioned image of the Chapter and keep and improve the confidence and perception that the industry has about the SMTA. I am confident that with the current team, that goal will be achieved and surpassed without any doubt.

I would like to take this opportunity to share how our committee is currently structured, and I would like to emphasize that you can contact any member of the Committee mentioned below to solve any type of inquiry, we are always more than happy to help all the SMTA community.

 

 

The collaboration of the Thee Chapters of Mexico (Guadalajara, Queretaro and Juarez)

The formation of the SMTA Chapter Front in Mexico

Back in 2022 the presidents of all the current SMTA Mexico Chapters; Victor Madero, Juarez Chapter President, Flor Ortiz, Queretaro Chapter President and myself, gathered in Denver, CO at the 2022 SMTA Officer Leadership Forum organized in a bi-annual format by the SMTA Headquarters.

We had a very nice and productive conversation about how the SMTA Chapters in Mexico had been historically working individually and with not a lot of coordination between chapters. We all shared the vision and necessity to unite the chapters’ efforts and start collaborating to create a natural synergy that will strength our association in México/. That is how the SMTA México Chapters Front was born which is integrated by the Querétaro, Guadalajara and Cd. Juárez Chapters respectively.

National Sponsorship Campaign details

In November & December 2022, each Chapter President assigned a group of officers from each committee to start working on a joint project to standardize the event formats, sponsorships and coordinate the whole 2023 agenda in México.

In an effort to provide a clear and better value to all the interested companies that have historically supported our three chapters in the past years, and for the first time in the SMTA History in México, it was officially announced the collaboration of all 3 Chapters to offer a: National Chapters Annual Sponsorship campaign.

 

 

This option allowed each company/brand to reach ALL EVENTS organized by all three current SMTA Chapters operating in México [Querétaro, Guadalajara & Cd. Juárez] for all 2023 in a single payment and with a -25% discount when comparing the prices per individual Chapter Annual Sponsorships.

The Campaign was launched at the beginning of 2023 and was active through 31 January and I am very proud to confirmed that it was a complete success! A total of 37 of the strongest and most recognized supplier companies & brands participated as National Sponsors and are the ones that you see on every communication sent out about events organized by the SMTA México Chapters Front.

Due to the good response and acceptance obtained from this campaign, I can confirm that this National Campaign will be again launched at the beginning of 2024, so stay tuned, subscribe to our data base or social networks to ensure you receive all future communication about the National Sponsorship Campaigns and all the events organized by the SMTA México Chapters Front.

I consider it very important to remind the whole community that this type of campaigns is how the Chapters in México collect economical resources to finance the operation of each chapter and allows us to prepare and organize all the Tech Days, Webinars, Expos & Tech Forums, SMT Processes Certifications and when possible, we even offer scholarships for the certifications. The scope and objective has always been to return everything we can to our Electronics Manufacturing Industry looking to grow and prosper in all the Mexican Territory.

 

SMTA events calendar for 2023 in Mexico

The following is the official Calendar of Events that the SMTA Mexico Chapters Front prepare and committed to develop along 2023.

 

Local Support from  SMTA Corporate in Mexico (Ana Mendoza)

One of the most important steps for the continuous development and stable growth of the SMTA in México, was the necessity of a local SMTA HQ person that could support and coordinate all three current chapter activities and events and serve as the direct local link and representative of SMTA HQ in México. Thanks to the approval of the SMTA Board of Directors and the always supportive Tanya Martin, SMTA Executive Global Director Mrs. Ana Mendoza was hired as SMTA Headquarters Chapter and Events Manager – Latin America.

Naturally the person best suited for this new position had to come internally from one of the chapters formed in México. Ana Mendoza was a proudly active officer of our Mexico – Guadalajara Chapter for 12 years, and kept a close relationship with SMTA HQ participating as a volunteer for the SMTA International Expo in USA operations and the biannual SMTA Officers Forums. Ana Mendoza was the perfect fit and we were very happy to recommend and promote her as the strongest candidate.

Since she was hired in December 2022 her contributions have noticeably impacted have the events planning and execution during 2023. I appreciate all the passionate and excellent support, hard work and effort that she has provided toward our chapter and the SMTA at a national level.

You can reach Ana directly for any inquiry or request about all the SMTA México Chapters.

Ana Mendoza
SMTA Headquarters Chapter and Events Manager – Latin America

e-mail: ana@smta.org

phone: +1 (952) 920 7682

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to invite all the community of the Electronics Manufacturing Industry in México to become members of the SMTA and encourage everybody to support and participate in the events that we as an Association prepare and bring to all of you. At the end of the day, we organize these events, and they are possible thanks to the direct or indirect participation of each and every one of us who make up the Electronics Manufacturing Industry in Mexico.

Follow the social networks of all three Chapters in México on LinkedIn & Facebook and subscribe to our email news to keep informed of everything we are working on for you all.