Projects

Our over 125,000 employees in 60 countries are united in a common mission: To help people everywhere live longer, healthier, happier lives.

Engineered as if someone’s life depended on it because it does…

The Challenge
The medical manufacturer built on the revolutionary idea of sterile sutures and bandages to treat wounds needs an impeccable plant to produce catheters for the worldwide market – requiring manufacturing and hygiene standards never seen before in Mexico. As well, it had to be ready for expansion – while staying state-of-the-art for at least a decade.

The Think
How do you stay on top for ten unpredictable years? Adaptability. Lintel re-imagined the placement of mechanical, electrical and structural systems to avoid rework down the line, while maintaining required redundancy in backup systems, yet still improving overall performance efficiencies.

The Design
As regional experts, it was up to Lintel to figure out how to meet international standards for performance, humidity, temperature, particle count for a clean room and numerous other client demands. J&J gave us the numbers, but Lintel Design Intelligence created the road map to get there. The final design provided J&J with its highest worldwide return-on-investment ever. Even though initial investments were recouped ahead of schedule.

The Build
20% faster than anything J&J had previously done and even at that speed, Lintel exceeded the client’s in-house per-man-hour safety standards. Ultimately, the Lintel/J&J partnership produced three separate buildings during three distinct phases. Subsequently, all three were integrated into a single structure—but we challenge anyone to figure out where one began and the other ends.

Bottom Line
With Lintel, Johnson & Johnson was able to reduce its systems commissioning/validation times and start production ahead of schedule. And the project’s entire duration – from ideation to delivery – was reduced to less time than J&J had spent on previous projects of the same size, worldwide.

Whatever the environment under which it operates, Mitsui Kinzoku ACT will strive to be a company of sustained growth and development on a global scale.

What happens when you’re everything they’re not looking for?

The Challenge
The automotive door-locking systems manufacturer was making its first foray into the Western Hemisphere. And they knew exactly what they wanted: to build where we don’t yet have a park, on a perfectly flat lot (virtually unheard of in this part of the world), and by all means with a Japanese contractor, even if it cost them more. Lintel had the know-how. But how do you change corporate culture from the opposite side of the planet?

The Think
Thinking includes listening. We heard a client with an impeccable reputation for precision who didn’t want to fix what wasn’t broke. Fair enough. But as we started the research and numbers crunching, we saw that Lintelligent thinking enhanced client outcomes and reduced bottom-line expenditures. Locating at Lintel’s Las Colinas Guanajuato property offered an abundant, eager workforce as well as enviable quality-of-life for both management and labor. Just as important, our solid knowledge and regional experience allowed the client to see the real advantages of terracing an irregular topography. Not least of all, our tight bottom-line was something Japanese competitors couldn’t match.

The Design
Terracing innovations, at first resisted, became a return-on-investment through cost-efficient drainage and the plant’s high-profile sitting. We replaced business-as-usual metal siding with cast concrete walls (another first for the client), to increase durability, reduce maintenance costs and provide superior aesthetics that matched Mitsui’s prestigious corporate profile. No, you can’t put a price on beauty. But the built installation looks like a million bucks.

The Build
As walls tilted up, our clients came to appreciate the advantages of the design. Lintel flexibility meant an eleventh-hour request for no right angles in executive offices was easily accommodated. Even when we were hit with a government red-tape delay, our local knowledge and innovative solutions allowed us to comply with environmental regulations, keep bureaucrats and clients smiling, and provide an on-time, on-budget delivery.

Bottom Line
Our clients come from all over the world to leverage the Lintel way for their most serious industrial investments. Then they reap the added advantage of Mexico’s labor market and dynamic climate for business.

You never know when you’re being tested…

The Challenge
The company that practically invented chewing gum was looking to build facilities for the entire Latin American market. But it keeps a very watchful eye over its technologies and systems, which are proprietary and used by Wrigley alone. How to wrap our minds around the specs? We only got a couple of visits to one factory – no access to plans, to corporate numbers, or even the people who knew the technologies. The proposal had to emerge from what Lintel experts could observe with their own eyes and remember the day after.

The Think
Only the Lintel Engineering Partners, with their years of shared experience could have responded to this one. The in-house team, accustomed to working together and, more importantly, inventing together, leveraged knowledge no other construction company had, to propose systems that met the highest standards for hygiene and climate control in Silao, Central Mexico, or anywhere else. With few specifics from Wrigley’s, the design proposal was ours alone. It turned out we’d not only understood their systems and equipment, but in fact, improved them. Lintel design innovations are now part of Wrigley’s global standard operating procedures.

The Design
First we offered a delivery strategy and lump-sum pricing that meant zero risk-exposure to Wrigley’s, in spite of all the unknown variables. The team also designed a unique curing chamber whose hygiene, temperature and humidity controls eliminated process redundancies, reduced costs and sharply increased production efficiencies. The starch control mechanisms we developed for air quality and fire prevention, as well as HVAC innovations, were unlike anything Wrigley’s had used before. This Lintel Intelligence is now an integral part of the Wrigley’s worldwide manufacturing process.

The Build
The hallmark of the Wrigley’s/Lintel Engineering Partnership is flexibility, since exact locations for certain systems were not even known as construction began. Among other innovations, we produced an original steel roof structure which – as it is almost entirely free of crevices and sills – proved to be remarkably effective in reducing starch accumulation, a serious fire hazard.

Bottom Line
The innovations that emerge from your Lintel Engineering Partnership could end up being your worldwide manufacturing standard.

Lexmark’s commitment to corporate social responsibility is global in reach, balancing economic, environmental and social concerns.

Lintel Intelligence sees opportunity where no one else can…

The Challenge
The circuit, ink and printer producer was ready to build a major industrial campus. But where? It was one of many details we needed to define. Later projects required LEED certification – a Mexico first.

The Think
Our initial partnership with Lexmark involved site assessment. Lintel saw gold where others saw a garbage dump, and we facilitated acquisition of unoccupied property that was to be improved and developed by local authorities. It dramatically reduced employee commutes, and employees rewarded Lexmark with record lows in turnover.

The Design
On other projects, meeting technical requirements was critical, especially in relation to local conditions. Our design for a Class 1000 clean room, for circuit production, was so successful that Lexmark used Lintel designs to later build in the Philippines. On still another, emerging from entirely new Lexmark production processes, we had to design a three-story facility for toner production – including explosion-proof areas – as well as entirely original designs for HVAC and electrical systems. The client set LEED certification as a must-have requirement for our most recent Engineering Partnership, consistent with Lexmark’s worldwide sustainability program.

The Build
One of the few things we knew for sure was that the deadline wasn’t negotiable. A lot of the rest was yet to be determined. Lintel intelligence identified critical tasks and prioritized them to make it work. We delivered Mexico’s very first LEED certified industrial facility on time and on budget, with everything in its place and ready to go on day one.

Bottom Line
The Lintel-Lexmark Engineering Partnership, one of the most enduring, has led to impeccable construction and performance on six distinct, challenging projects.

We have worked hard to earn this leading position – with more than 80 years of industry experience, a clear customer focus, a distinct understanding of global markets and the capability of precisely satisfying even the widest variety of demands.

We weren’t sure how we were going to convince them. It came down to world-class know-how.

The Challenge
The German transmissions manufacturer insists on precision, passion and partnership. And may have been our toughest customer yet. They were dubious that New-World standards could deliver European performance. They weren’t sure anyone in Mexico could handle the job. And they weren’t going to take anyone’s word for it.

The Think
Though we needed to convert their specs to Western-hemisphere standards, we always had to “think” German. Present plans and materials in formats Getrag knew. With a level of detail and precision no other client had ever demanded. Even if it looked good on paper, that wasn’t enough. Getrag flew a planeload of their top engineers to Mexico and each one grilled his Lintel equivalent in all-day sessions. But we knew what we were talking about, and since then, the Engineering Partnership has moved forward based on complete client trust.

The Design
It was all in the details. Safety, order and scientific-level cleanliness had to be built in. Every door required a coded lock. Wiring and duct work couldn’t veer by a single degree. Plus every fixture, fenestration, or door jamb required three viable options, all presented in full-scale models.

The Build
For once, our client wasn’t in a hurry. Why? Simply because everything had to be perfect the first time, with airtight security and impeccable order at job sites. All overseen by a squad of OSHA inspectors – not common in Mexico, but a Lintel standard on every project. After all that groundwork, Getrag is so comfortable with the Lintel commitment that their most senior execs don’t demand to see things for themselves – a word from the Lintel site-supervisor is all the guarantee they need.

Bottom Line
Bring us your toughest specs, from anywhere in the world. Lintel Intelligence is up to the challenge.

We work with myriad clients to provide cost-effective, tailored solutions to meet unique client criteria. Owners, architects, contractors, developers, educational facilities and property managers are all clients who benefit from ADC Engineering’s service array.

Technical superiority that reinforces corporate philosophy.

The Challenge
After years of paying “contract manufacturers,” the company that helps the world communicate was ready to capitalize on local cost advantages by constructing its first proprietary plant in Mexico. But it had to meet US technical requirements as well as ADC corporate philosophies of openness, transparency, and life-work balance. In Chihuahua’s climate of extreme temperatures.

The Think
Without a lot of information to go on – were we being tested again? –, Lintel intuitively proposed human-scale designs and smart physical layouts that maximized efficiencies at the same time translated the ADC philosophy to the Mexican environment. But it wasn’t just window dressing: Lintel was also a key partner in site-assessment and acquisition. Our local knowledge allowed for a seamless purchase process as well as real environmental efficiencies.

The Design
Beauty and efficiency. In addition to laying out green spaces to improve campus aesthetics, we designed them for rainwater capture and soil percolation. And the green stays green because of reclaimed water treated in a Lintel-designed and built waste-water treatment plant. Our design for an on-site child care center easily received government approval and at the same time made ADC one of the area’s most sought-out employers. Designing with curved and non rectilinear tilt-up elements, pioneered by Lintel for ADC, proved to the whole world that tilt-up construction doesn’t have to be a shoe-box.

The Build
Lintel’s tilt-up innovations and expertise allowed for maximum architectural flexibility in the construction of three individual, but integrated installations, and have been recognized for their excellence in numerous trade publications. Site-specifics and timing concerns lead to a whole new approach with regard to tilt-up walls – we poured wall panels one next to the other in continuous casting beds, instead of just stacking them in one place. It was yet another first in tilt-up construction and now it’s a recognized strategy for time savings, industry-wide. As simple as it may sound it allowed for continuous casting and not least of all, finishing ahead of schedule.

Bottom Line
Lintel innovations slashed three weeks off the construction calendar and delivered huge savings to the client.

Lear is always on the lookout for new and exciting innovations that help us better serve our customers and consumers.

The bad news – we’re changing construction sites halfway through The worse news – no change in the deadline.

The Challenge
In addition to building its car-seat production facility, the corporation that sees the automotive world in seven dimensions needed help with an eighth, finding a developer. The selection process had to be squeaky-clean. Not so tough. But what do you do when the entire site changes and you’re already well into the design phase and have even begun site preparation? Our final delivery date couldn’t be pushed back a single day.

The Think
Lintel Value Engineering put the project on parallel paths. And the Lintel commitment took the Engineering Partnership to a whole new level. At the same time we helped select the developer, we started the design work. It saved us a month. The value engineering advice we offered Lear over a six month period was so sound, that months later, Lear specifically asked their broker to follow Lintel’s lead on a second investment plan for northern Mexico.

The Design
When the site was changed from one side of town to the other, the Lintel commitment went into overdrive. Round-the-clock work was the easy part. We also applied extraordinary Lintel Design Intelligence to re-imagining the entire plant in the new physical environment. The efficiencies we created meant we delivered on time, in spite of losing a month’s work when the site changed.

The Build
Only Lintel’s experienced and integrated teams, working simultaneously, could have made up for all the lost time. The facility’s location in remote Monclova, Coahuila, meant keeping a watchful eye on wholesalers 200 kilometers away in Monterrey, Nuevo León, to ensure the timely arrival of supplies and resources to the building site.

Bottom Line
The Lintel Engineering Partnership keeps you on time and on budget – even if you lose a month of work far from suppliers at your remote location.

Motorola engineers thrive on invention and on finding new solutions. We never stop improving people’s lives through the magic of mobility.

How do you give every stakeholder exactly what he wants?

The Challenge
The electronics giant needed a huge, nearly half-million sq. ft. facility – in just five months. For three divisions: consumer products, automotive, and telephony. Each division had a separate, multi-party stake in what we did, and each had its own set of priorities. How to make sure that everyone plays nice?

The Think
Lintel Intelligence Engineers responded from the first organizational meeting. As regional experts we took the lead, helping teams focus and establish priorities, we enhanced decisions, and even negotiated compromises between conflicting corporate interests. Our experience and integration capacities let us identify and initiate critical tasks even before their final dimensions had been established.

The Design
Lintel negotiated a mutually favorable rent-to-property-improvement mechanism between the client and the developer. And among numerous technical innovations, a Lintel-created, rubber-based waterproofing system permitted us to begin construction and safeguard materials even though their exact placement was still to be determined.

The Build
Lintel took ownership of problems most builders leave to their clients. Noting an uptick in steel prices, we partnered with Motorola to acquire materials in advance and keep to our budget. Then we took charge of delivery logistics emerging from the remote site. Lintel’s on-the-ground teams – the most integrated and experienced in the business, and veterans of dozens of Lintel partnerships – pulled together and got it all done in just five months.

Bottom Line
Working parallel design paths at the same time construction began, Lintel experience meant the Motorola Engineering Partnership never compromised on think.

From the world’s first LED headlamp, in 2007, Koito keeps upping brightness and performance when it comes to white LED.

There’s only one way to beat out five top Japanese contractors, all aiming to snag your Japanese client’s business. You’ve got to be better.

The Challenge
The world-power in automotive head- and tail-light manufacturing had never done business in Latin America before. They’d never worked with a non-Japanese engineering partner. And they weren’t too comfortable with Western-Hemisphere specs and measurements. How do you reassure your client on a project this big—and in unknown territory?

The Think
Trust is one thing—and we knew we could build it—but smiling and saying yes isn’t enough when you’re bidding against five major contractors. Yet we knew our own specialty teams would roll up their sleeves to discover advantages we ultimately brought to bear on multiple, highly-complex systems: compressed air, process water, state-of-the-art electrical, steam, reverse osmosis, DI water, wastewater treatment, communications, fire prevention, bridge cranes… So while it started with trust, Lintel technical knowledge was what closed the deal.

The Design
It began with close collaboration between Lintel and client technicians/engineers, and led to one of the smoothest projects we’ve ever completed. And even if it meant scrutiny from the hard-liners in Tokyo, we were happy to convince them of some money-saving innovations in concrete that they’d never seen before. Green-lighted without a glitch.

The Build
As things were put into place, our clients came to value the intelligence, efficiency and cost savings of Lintel materials, standards and specs. At the same time, we adapted to client mandates like a ventilation system, monitoring system and other details rarely seen on this side of the Pacific.

Bottom Line
Lintelligence is up to any challenge that any client—from anywhere in the world—is ready to throw our way. Then we throw in Lintel efficiencies, innovations and local advantages—for absolutely free.