In the "Blue Sky Aviation Maintenance Facility" on the outskirts of Mexico City, mechanic Carlos is staring at a large fuselage frame with a frown. This 1900×1300mm part was imported from the U.S., taking 8 weeks to arrive by sea, and the freight cost accounted for 28% of the total part cost. Worse still, the frame was slightly deformed during transportation, requiring recalibration, which caused the aircraft to be grounded for 11 days, resulting in a $1.3 million loss for the airline. "If there was a local factory capable of machining such large parts, we wouldn't be in this mess," Carlos sighed.
This is a common problem in Mexico's aerospace industry. Large complex parts (such as fuselage frames, wing skins, and engine nacelle components) rely heavily on imports, leading to three major pain points:
• High transportation costs: Parts over 2000mm in size cost 45% more to ship than regular parts, and the damage rate during transportation reaches 12% (according to data from Mexico's Aerospace Industry Association FEMIA);
• Long lead times: Importing from Europe or the U.S. takes 8-12 weeks, severely disrupting production and maintenance schedules;
• High costs: Imported parts are 30% more expensive than locally produced ones, squeezing profit margins (a Mexican wing component supplier reported that imported parts accounted for 65% of its total costs).
To address these pain points, a Chinese factory specializing in large-scale precision machining has provided Mexican aerospace enterprises with a "capacity coverage + localized service" solution. The core logic is straightforward: use large machine tools to cover size requirements, use localized production to shorten lead times, and use strict quality control to meet aerospace standards.
The factory's gantry machining center has a travel range of 2000×1500×800mm, perfectly covering the common sizes of Mexican aerospace parts (such as 1800×1200×600mm fuselage frames and 1900×1400×500mm wing skins). Equipped with 5-axis CNC machines, it can process complex, streamlined surfaces of wing skins with a machining accuracy of ±0.01mm—fully compliant with the AS9100 quality standard (3 times stricter than regular industrial standards). "Our machines can precisely machine the curvature of wing skins with an error smaller than a hair strand," said the factory's technical director. "This is the core requirement for aerospace parts."
To completely solve the lead time problem, the factory established a local warehouse in Mexico City, storing common aerospace materials (such as 7075 aluminum alloy and TC4 titanium alloy). When a customer places an order, materials are retrieved directly from the local warehouse, and the gantry machining center produces the parts quickly—reducing lead time from 8-12 weeks to 3-4 weeks. In addition, the factory provides third-party inspection reports (such as SGS precision verification) to eliminate customers' concerns about "local production quality." "Our parts are not only fast but also as good as imported ones in quality," said Laura, a procurement manager at a Mexican aerospace manufacturer. "This makes our production plans much more stable."
A Mexican wing component supplier (serving airlines like Aeroméxico and Volaris) previously relied on imported large wing skins from the U.S. In 2023, they tried the Chinese gantry+CNC localized solution, and the results were surprising:
• Shorter lead times: From an 8-week import cycle to a 3-week local production cycle, ensuring the airline's maintenance schedule (the number of groundings due to late parts decreased by 90%);
• Lower costs: Freight and tariffs accounted for 22% of imported parts' costs, which were completely eliminated with local production, reducing overall costs by 30% (the supplier's net profit margin increased from 8% to 15%);
• Stable quality: The machined wing skins achieved a precision of ±0.008mm, compliant with AS9100 standards, and there were no installation issues due to dimensional errors (customer complaint rate dropped from 15% to 0).
For Mexico's aerospace industry, the "import dependency" for large, complex parts is a thing of the past. The Chinese gantry+CNC solution, with its large capacity to cover size requirements, localized services to shorten lead times, and strict quality control to meet standards, provides local enterprises with a more efficient and economical choice. As Carlos put it: "Now we don't have to wait weeks for a part. Local production is fast, reliable, and high-quality—this makes our job so much easier."
If you also face challenges in machining large aerospace parts, welcome to visit our website www.simituo.com to learn more about the localized gantry+CNC solution.