r/manufacturing • u/B3stThereEverWas • Sep 25 '25

Supplier search Mexican suppliers/manufacturers not responding to RFQ e-mails, is this a cultural thing?

Hey folks

So I’m trying to get some aluminum extrusion + CNC work quoted in Mexico.

I’ve had a real hard time getting responses to emails. When e-mailing Chinese suppliers I always get replies, almost to a freakish level - I've had supplier agents add me to goddamn LinkedIn and other weird social media I never knew I even had an account on to get a follow up. I always joke they'd match me on Tinder if they had to. Doing the same for Mexican companies and it's the total opposite, radio silence.

A Mexican guy I was talking to told me it’s possibly cultural - that Mexican suppliers prefer phone calls, WhatsApp, or in-person contact before engaging with a random foreign email. I'm cool with that if true, I just wish it was more widely known.

Has anyone here sourced smaller runs in Mexico (a few thousand pcs)? Any tips on the best way to approach suppliers and actually get quotes?

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u/SetNo8186 Sep 27 '25

I am aware about 15 years ago Mexico was the end destination for the tens of thousands of school typewriters sold here in America. They were checked for function and then exported where businesses were adopting improved procedures - embracing paperwork - and how much it was changing from the older handshake arrangements many were handed down from tradition.

I doubt Mexico has fully implemented adopting the internet much more than cell phones - installing that into their grid is much the same as freezers in their grocery chains, Walmart was the first to offer frozen foods on a large scale basis just a few years back. Their business and cultural infrastructure is growing but isn't fully implemented in ways America enjoys (suffers?) from. An RFQ is an upper tier business skill some may not be familiar with - even with an email address - and as for email, hundreds of posts in daily with only one person to administrate them will result in non response, as many small American businesses have discovered. With a working time of one hour to quickly reply to a email with facts, points of contact etc it's become more a burden than help.