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The Innovative Brazil

EXAME MAGAZINE – Research from EXAME/Monitor institute displays the Top 10 Brazilian innovations in the past 10 years, and the most valuable business examples of each one.

We are back to 1881, when operators of a steel company in Philadelphia, PA USA, were surprised by receiving the information that the company’s operating procedure was about to change. The manager decided to incorporate a new tool to the assembly routine: a stopwatch. Unhappy with the old-fashioned work method of your employees, the manager – a certain Frederick Taylor - set a standard of productivity, based on the time spent by workers on each one of their tasks. The beginning of an innovation, named “Taylorism”, which transformed the American industry and soon the production methods of the entire world. From the start of the serial production to the latest release, the iPhone, the innovation keeps on being an obsession in the business world.

Currently, the biggest European and American companies are yearly investing more than 500 billion dollars, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. 30 countries are members of the group. This current amount is almost 40% bigger than the total invested in the 90's. It is a movement that has been reducing borders between markets, producing many different versions and products, creating completely new subdivisions.” Innovation is the central issue in the economic prosperity”, says Michael Porter, a leading authority in competitiveness and economic development of nations, states, and regions.

In Brazil, this race for innovation increased the annual investments in R&D in over 6 billion dollars from 2003 to 2005, according to the latest statistics from IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). In partnership with the Monitor Institute, the Brazilian magazine EXAME presented a survey to find out the main innovations created by these investments in the last ten years. 228 projects, registered by 112 companies, were applied in this survey. Further on the study of the originality criteria, market impact and financial result, a group of 14 advisors was appointed. The economist Arminio Fraga, the ex-president of Embraer Ozires Silva and the professor Silvio Meira of the Federal University of Pernambuco were in this group. They elected the 10 most significant innovations in the country. The selected ideas came from companies with different sizes, sectors and origins: Volkswagen, Visa Vale, Banco do Brasil, Embraco, Audaces, BASF, Ampla, Tetra Pak, ArcelorMittal, Tubarão, and 24X7. The companies prove that innovation is not all about products, but also can be on technology and furthermore on models of total quality business. “The result shows that Brazilian companies are beginning to grow and investing on research”, says Gustavo Zevallos, Junior Director of Monitor institute and responsible for this survey. “The scenario for innovation is becoming increasingly more positive, with a dynamic economy, smaller risks and breakthrough opportunities”.

Contact:
Claudio Vasques de Souza
AUDACES Automação e Informática Industrial Ltda
Rod, SC 401 KM 01, Nr. 867
CEP 88030-000 - Florianópolis - SC – BRASIL
Phone: +55 48 2107-3722 Fax: +55 48 2107-3738
Web: www.audaces.com.br
Email: vasques@audaces.com.br

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