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Molex’s Principled Approach to Compliance Influences Local Contractor in Guadalajara, Mexico
What’s more difficult than building a 645,000-square-foot (60,000-square-meter) manufacturing facility? Doing it during a global pandemic. But that’s exactly what the team at Molex, a Koch company, set out to do when it began constructing its new state-of-the-art facility in Guadalajara, Mexico. Despite the challenges, Molex’s application of stewardship — including their commitment to complying with all laws and regulations — enabled the team to complete the project without major injuries. This had a lasting influence on the contractors working on this project, affecting how they worked on future projects. “There is only one way to go, and that’s the principled way,” says Max Markvicka, an operations manager who was also on the design team for the Guadalajara project. Principled approach Construction contractors are often pressured to do the job as quickly and cheaply as possible. So, Molex’s strict adherence to creating a jobsite where each individual worker could complete their work safely and in compliance with regulations came as somewhat of a surprise to many of the contractors. “It was about changing their paradigm,” says Javier Sanchez, director of operations during the project. “They knew how to do it one way, but we were trying to demonstrate that there is a better way.” For example, he says the crews could find fill material around the corner at a lower cost than material from approved sites, which were much farther away. But the cheaper alternative didn’t meet environmental quality standards. “It was another shocking moment for them,” he says. “For other companies, it was OK; they’d just say, ‘Let’s bring in the cheapest’ because cost was the biggest factor, but we were committed to compliance and acting with the proper regard for others — including the use of clean fill.” To connect everyone to the fact that safety and compliance was foundational to the success of the project, site leadership emphasized three things: Set clear expectations with contractors from the beginning. Established daily safety meetings for all workers. Immediately followed up on any near misses — even if that meant stopping work on the whole site. Max says the safety meetings and other interventions might have extended the project timeline, but the results proved that pursuing mutually beneficial outcomes for everyone involved was well worth the investment. They completed the project, which had as many as 900 workers on-site at a time, with no major injuries and only one lost time incident — a remarkable and far better result than most construction projects this size in this region. “We want to make sure you go home the same way you came to work that morning,” Max says. Molex also worked proactively with the local government to make sure that all the necessary permits were documented and approved before starting any work. Occasionally, this would take government officials by surprise. They weren’t used to companies proactively seeking approval. The collaborative process ultimately helped build better trust between Molex and the government.
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In the past year, seven Koch facilities were recognized as ENERGY STAR certified plants. To become ENERGY STAR certified, a plant must be in the top 25% of its industry, according to the ENERGY STAR industry-specific Energy Performance Indicator. Koch Ag & Energy Solutions Koch Fertilizer – Fort Dodge, Iowa 2021, 2024 Koch Fertilizer – Wever, Iowa 2024 Koch Fertilizer – Enid, Oklahoma 2020-2024 Georgia-Pacific Integrated Paper Mill – Big Island, Virginia 2024, 2025 Containerboard – Brewton, Alabama 2021-2025 Leaf River Pulp Mill – New Augusta, Mississippi 2020-2025 Integrated Paper Mill – Toledo, Oregon (First time recipient) 2025 Challenge for Industry
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