In Mexico, Schneider Electric Showcases “Lighthouse” Accomplishments
Founded in 1836 when two brothers, Adolphe and Joseph-Eugene Schneider, took over the Le Creusot foundry in Burgundy, France, Schneider Electric today is a €38 billion energy management and automation provider with 150,000 employees doing business in more than 100 countries.
The company manufactures its broad array of electrical and automation products at 200 factories around the globe, seven of which have achieved the distinction of being awarded World Economic Forum Lighthouse status. The WEF Lighthouse program measures adoption of advanced 4IR technologies, the financial and operational accomplishments, and its set of transformation enablers. There are 189 Lighthouses worldwide.
Approximately 100 Manufacturing Leadership Council members and guests toured one of Schneider Electric’s Lighthouse facilities earlier this month in Monterrey, Mexico. Known as Monterrey Plant 1, the seven-year-old, 450,000-square foot facility makes, warehouses, and distributes electrical products such as circuit breakers, panel boards, and numerous electrical distribution products.
The Monterrey factory’s digital management backbone is Schneider’s EcoStruxure platform, described by the company as an open, Internet-of-Things-based system that combines embedded connectivity, intelligence, and standard communication protocols to generate operational data, analyze that data, and make control decisions.
The EcoStruxure system has enabled the Monterrey plant to reduce downtime by 25% while achieving a 29% reduction in energy consumption. Schneider Electric says the Monterrey factory is the first factory in Mexico to achieve zero waste to landfill. The factory’s sustainability effort is part of Schneider Electric’s corporate goal to achieve Net Zero by 2050.
The tour for MLC members consisted of 10 stops on the factory floor. At each stop, Schneider Electric team members explained how they work, the systems they use, and how their particular work area fits into the factory’s overall flow. Among these stops, visitors witnessed data center resiliency, the company’s Lean Digitization System, deep learning vision for quality, IoT and Machine Learning for metal finishing operation uptime, and standardized MES for panel board assembly operations. Advanced MPH was also on display with the use of drone technology for warehouse cycle count and AGV utilization.
After the tour, a panel discussion with plant management, moderated by MLC, was held to allow MLC members to ask questions about what they had seen on the plant floor. Breakout sessions on brownfield plants, the Schneider supply chain, and the WEF’s Lighthouse program were also held during the day.
The MLC’s next plant tour will take place at United Scrap Metal on August 12-13, 2025 in Cicero, Illinois. Register for this tour and learn more about all of MLC’s plant tours: https://manufacturingleadershipcouncil.com/event/plant-tours.
About the Authors:
David R. Brousell is founder, vice president and executive director of the Manufacturing Leadership Council
Steven Moskowitz, Ph.D., is the senior director, event content at the Manufacturing Leadership Council.