• Company: Wunder-Bar
  • Established: 1971
  • Headquarters: Vacaville, California, USA
  • Industry: Liquor and food dispensing systems
  • Distribution: Worldwide
  • Established Mexican Operations: 2008

Why Mexico?

Driven by cost concerns, Wunder-Bar management started looking into establishing an out-of-country manufacturing operation in 2005.  Open to any location in the world that served their needs, the company looked into locations from China to the Czech Republic.  Following an exhaustive study commissioned by them from the UC Davis Graduate School of Management Consulting, Wunderbar chose Mexico.  Some of the reasons:

  • Transport time is shorter
  • Lower Chinese labor costs were offset by higher transportation costs
  • NAFTA provides a significant cost savings in favor of Mexico
  • Existing component suppliers could be used in Mexico with little change in supply chain.
  • Cultural obstacles were perceived to be a high probability in China, but low in Mexico.

Why IVEMSA?

Given their size and type of products, the Wunder-Bar team decided that it made the most sense for them to go with a shelter vs. starting their own Mexican company. This allowed them to concentrate on the move and quality issues, and let someone else handle all the foreign legal, Human Resources and governmental issues.  After interviewing a number of shelter companies, Wunder-Bar chose IVEMSA.  “We realized that with IVEMSA we would be dealing with not only a highly experienced company, but also with a professional and honest group who reflects our own values and emphasis on integrity,” stated Rick Martindale, President of Wunder-Bar.

Results

Once in Mexico, Wunder-Bar was careful to build up output capabilities slowly and ensure that the quality was always maintained.  Today, their Mexican operation continues to grow as the IVEMSA team acts as an extension of the Wunder-Bar organization. And best of all, as Rick says, “Technically speaking Wonder-Bar doesn’t exist in Mexico – IVEMSA handles it all. They step in, take over and get it done.”