Our Story
Learn our story, leadership, and mission shaping manufacturing in Mexico.
Shelter vs Standalone Manufacturing in Mexico
Both paths end in a plant you run. The difference is what you build first. A shelter is a legal and administrative mechanism: you operate under a provider’s Mexican entity and import program instead of forming your own. Standalone keeps it all in house. Tetakawi delivers that mechanism on five Manufacturing Campuses, run to one standard.
Why Manufacturers Rethink Going Standalone
A standalone launch starts with nothing in place: no entity, no IMMEX program, no building, no crew, no customs broker. Most of the first year goes to assembling that structure, and production waits for it.
30 days vs 8 to 18 months
As little as 30 days to get started on a Tetakawi Campus, against the typical time to build your own entity and plant from scratch.
Comparison
Shelter vs Standalone at a Glance
Compare speed, setup, control, cost at scale, and overhead.
| Standalone Model | Tetakawi Campus Model | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed to Launch | 8 to 18 months before you can operate | Get started in as little as 30 days |
| Setup Requirements | Your own entity, applicable IMMEX/VAT approvals, and labor relations | Already in place, under one U.S.-law agreement |
| Control | Full control, plus every legal and administrative function | Full control of production, quality and your IP |
| Cost at Scale | Own overhead can win at sustained high volume | Shared scale favors most operations, not every one |
| Overhead | Full fixed cost, sized for one plant | Up to about 30% lower through shared scale |
Testimonials
Manufacturers Already Operating in Mexico
A launch that skips the incorporation queue, an administrative layer run by one partner, and full control of the plant itself. Here is how some of the 60+ manufacturers operating on Tetakawi Campuses describe it.
“We run both models. Ensenada is a standalone operation that we carry ourselves, and we have grown for years alongside Tetakawi at another Campus in Mexico. When it was time to expand into Mazatlán, we knew which one we wanted: we partnered with Tetakawi, looked at locations across Mexico and selected Mazatlán.”
Jeremy Main, Senior Vice President, Consolidated Precision Products
“Until I ran a company without a shelter partner, I didn’t understand how complicated it is to operate in the legal and HR ecosystem: getting your people to work safely, running your own bus systems, managing daycare and medical services. If I had known at the beginning how good I had it, I would have rethought some things.”
Jon Jensen, Manufacturing CEO, repeat Tetakawi client since 2001
Campus Pillars
Everything You Need to Reach Your Potential in Mexico
Predictable manufacturing in Mexico requires reliable space, people, logistics, and compliance. On a Tetakawi Campus, one partner runs all four, so you don’t have to coordinate a patchwork of vendors.
Industrial Space
Set up in a Class A building on a Tetakawi Campus, move-in ready or adapted to your process. Tetakawi runs the Campus and maintains the buildings, so the building is never your project.
Workforce
Define the roles and the standards, then run the plant. Tetakawi recruits, hires, and employs the people, runs payroll and benefits, and holds the union agreement, so your managers stay on production.
Logistics
Bring materials in and ship product out with a U.S. broker you select. Tetakawi holds the Mexican import and export permits your shipments move under, and stages your freight at its U.S. cross-docks.
Compliance
Operate under Tetakawi’s IMMEX shelter program, without forming your own Mexican company. Tetakawi holds the permits and registrations and answers to the authorities for the entity’s filings.
FAQs
Shelter vs Standalone Manufacturing FAQs
Deciding whether to launch under a shelter or build standalone in Mexico? The questions we get most often from manufacturers comparing their options.
What is the difference between a shelter and a standalone operation?
A shelter is a legal and administrative mechanism, not a type of factory.
You run your own plant under a provider’s Mexican entity and IMMEX program, without incorporating in Mexico. Tetakawi provides shelter services; what Tetakawi runs is a Manufacturing Campus. The mechanism is one layer of it. The rest is Class A space, utilities and on-site teams already running across five Campuses, with amenities on select Campuses. Compare what surrounds the mechanism. That is where providers differ.
What does building standalone actually require?
Everything the shelter path requires, plus the structure around it.
Every greenfield launch has to solve the same four things: space, workforce, logistics and compliance. Standalone adds establishing your own Mexican entity, arranging IMMEX and VAT treatment as applicable, and managing labor relations, with the necessary providers to assemble and coordinate. That structure, not the plant, is most of the timeline. Standalone suits manufacturers ready to run a permanent legal and administrative organization in Mexico as a core competency.
Who controls the plant under a shelter, and who employs the people?
You control the plant. Tetakawi is the employer of record.
Tetakawi hires the people who staff your operation, on your instruction, and carries the employer’s obligations under Mexican labor law. You define the roles and the staffing plan, select from the candidates presented, set the standards, and direct, supervise and train the team. Production, quality and your own systems stay yours to run.
How fast can we be operating under a shelter versus standalone?
In as little as 30 days on an established Campus. Standalone, 8 to 18 months.
The building, the workforce systems and the legal framework already exist, so a well-prepared operation can get started in as little as 30 days. Most operations go from deciding on Mexico to producing in Mexico in three to six months. Building standalone typically takes 8 to 18 months before you can operate. Operating is the first milestone, not the last: first shipment depends on your equipment, your certifications and your part approvals, and we map that calendar with you.
Is a shelter more cost-effective than going standalone?
On overhead, for most operations, substantially.
A standalone setup carries the full fixed cost of its own entity, certifications and administrative staff, sized for one plant. On a Campus that structure already exists and its cost is shared across the 60+ manufacturers operating with Tetakawi: up to about 30% lower overhead than standalone, in the cost models we build with clients. Direct labor, real estate and utilities vary by role, region and building under either path.
What does it take to find out whether the shelter path fits?
Four steps, in order.
1. Get in touch. A conversation about volumes, processes, headcount, timing, and which functions you want to own in Mexico five years from now.
2. Measure ROI. We model both paths side by side: what standalone requires you to incorporate, certify, negotiate and staff, what runs inside Tetakawi’s entity on a Campus, and what each costs at your headcount. If standalone is the better fit, we will say so.
3. Site visit. Walk the Campus, meet the people who would run your account, and talk with manufacturers who weighed the same choice.
4. Launch and grow. When you give the green light, the same team that helped you build the case guides the launch, and the people who run the Campus are a phone call or a short walk away.
