Why CPP Chose Mazatlán: Building a Scalable, High-Precision Aerospace Operation with Tetakawi

When aerospace demand accelerates, manufacturers face a simple but daunting question: Can you grow without compromising quality? For Consolidated Precision Products (CPP), a global producer of mission-critical castings, this challenge came down to one central issue: people.

“Our customers are all knocking on our door asking us how much we can produce,” says Jeremy Main, Senior Vice President of CPP. “And to grow and meet our customers’ demand, we’ve got to find the people to do it.”

CPP knew it needed to expand its finishing and inspection capacity. But the company also knew that the location, and the partnership structure, would determine whether that growth was sustainable.

Two Operating Models, Two Lessons

CPP has operated in Mexico for decades under two very different models.

• Ensenada: a standalone CPP facility, built and run independently.
• Guaymas: a facility inside Tetakawi’s Manufacturing Campus, where CPP experienced a fully supported operating environment.

These two approaches revealed a clear difference. In Ensenada, CPP built out infrastructure, administrative functions, compliance systems, and workforce development on its own. In Guaymas, CPP benefited from Tetakawi’s integrated support across infrastructure, labor, logistics, compliance, and day-to-day administrative execution.

That contrast shaped their expansion strategy.

“When we were looking to expand, we knew we wanted to partner with Tetakawi based on the success we’ve had out of the Guaymas operation,” Main explains.

CPP wanted a partner who would walk hand-in-hand with them from due diligence to launch to scaling,  not just a facility provider, but a true execution partner.

Why Mazatlán Rose Above Traditional Manufacturing Hubs

With Tetakawi engaged early, CPP evaluated multiple cities across Mexico. CPP wasn’t simply looking for an industrial cluster. The company needed something far more strategic: a large, motivated workforce they could afford to train — and could not afford to lose.

Mazatlán delivered on every front.

A workforce worth investing in

CPP’s technical roles require long learning curves. Employees trained in radiography, penetrant inspection, weld repair, grinding, and dimensional inspection represent a significant investment. In traditional manufacturing hubs, competition for talent is high and turnover can be costly.

Mazatlán was different.

“When we first started talking about expanding into Mazatlán, visiting Mazatlán, there were people coming up with applications ready to go right away,” Main recalls.

This level of enthusiasm and engagement signaled something CPP had not seen at the same scale in other regions.

A labor market built for retention, not attrition

Where many hubs struggle with constant recruitment cycles, Mazatlán offered a stable workforce ready to commit. CPP quickly experienced strong retention and a workforce eager to embrace technical challenges.

“As we’re working through issues with startup- ‘what about this, what about that?’ — the employees come with ideas,” Main says. “It’s an engaged workforce that helps us drive solutions.”

A location with room to grow

CPP’s goal wasn’t a temporary increase in capacity. They needed a multi-decade growth platform — and Mazatlán offered it.

“The only downside we’ve had is I just can’t grow it fast enough,” Main notes. “We’re hiring more people, adding equipment, and sketching out plans for the next expansion with the Tetakawi team.”

Building Aerospace-Level Capability from Day One

To meet aerospace and defense requirements, CPP invested heavily in up-front workforce development. The company leveraged its facilities in Guaymas, Ensenada, and Minneapolis as training hubs.

“We brought those people back to Mazatlán ready to go,” Main explains. “Now we’ve got people in Mazatlán who are the trainers.”

That shift, from trainees to trainers, proved that Mazatlán offered not just initial capacity, but the foundation for a long-term, self-sustaining technical workforce.

Inside CPP’s Mazatlán Operation

CPP’s Mazatlán facility supports aluminum and magnesium castings, performing back-end processing and inspection for parts up to six feet in size. Operations include:

• Fluorescent penetrant inspection
• X-ray and radiographic inspection
• Ultrasonic testing
• Borescope and visual inspection
• Weld repair and grinding
• Sandblasting, etch, and cleaning operations
• Dimensional inspection and final finishing

Each process requires discipline, precision, and deep understanding of aerospace quality requirements. The performance of the Mazatlán workforce allowed CPP to confidently build out these capabilities quickly and effectively.

How Tetakawi Partnered with CPP from Concept to Full Operation

CPP’s work with Tetakawi in Mazatlán began long before equipment ever arrived. Tetakawi collaborated with CPP on workforce strategy, facility configuration, logistics planning, compliance, and day-to-day operational setup.

“Tetakawi gives us all of the things that we don’t know,” Main says. “There’s a lot that happens when you move a business to Mexico and start that up.”

From early planning through ramp-up, Tetakawi played four critical roles.

Workforce recruitment and cross-border mobility

CPP needed to send new employees to multiple facilities in Mexico and the U.S. for training. Tetakawi managed all visa processing, travel coordination, and compliance requirements, removing a major operational burden.

A facility built for aerospace

Rather than handing over a generic industrial building, Tetakawi worked with CPP to configure the facility around NDT and finishing requirements. This included routing utilities, preparing X-ray areas, coordinating equipment installation, and ensuring the flow of operations met aerospace standards.

As Main puts it, Tetakawi “didn’t just provide an open shell of a box — they worked with us to tailor the building to what we needed for our specialized processes.”

Import/export of sensitive equipment

Aerospace-grade finishing requires highly regulated, calibrated equipment. Tetakawi supported CPP through the entire import/export process, ensuring systems arrived on time and ready for use.

Operational continuity during early growth

As CPP built out its Mazatlán leadership team, Tetakawi stepped in to bridge gaps and keep operations moving. From HR and compliance to procurement and onsite support, Tetakawi ensured the start-up progressed without interruption.

“If there was a question on anything, Tetakawi was able to step in and help us cover it while we were growing the business,” Main says.

A Long-Term Platform for Growth

Mazatlán gave CPP what traditional industrial hubs could not: a scalable, stable, motivated workforce worth investing in  and a partner fully committed to operational execution.

The workforce embraced technical challenges, developed quickly, and demonstrated retention levels that unlocked long-term capability. Tetakawi provided the backbone that allowed CPP to stay focused on precision, throughput, and growth.

“Mazatlán has really talented people who are excited to come to work for us,” Main reflects. “And we’re trying to grow as quickly as we can.”

For manufacturers evaluating Mexico, his advice is simple:

“You don’t know what you don’t know. Going to a place where something is already set up and running successfully can be a big part of the decision.”

CPP’s experience shows how the right location, paired with the right partner, can transform workforce limitations into a scalable, future-ready manufacturing platform.