{"id":118193,"date":"2013-05-15T18:40:52","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T21:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=118193"},"modified":"2015-10-29T15:55:57","modified_gmt":"2015-10-29T17:55:57","slug":"profitable-plots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/profitable-plots\/","title":{"rendered":"Profitable plots"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"070-071_enalta_206\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Brazil is getting ready this year to\u00a0harvest its biggest ever crop of\u00a0grains. But that is not the only\u00a0good news from the countryside.\u00a0Enalta, an agricultural automation\u00a0company based in S\u00e3o Carlos, in\u00a0the inland region of S\u00e3o Paulo State,\u00a0was chosen as one of the world\u2019s 50\u00a0most innovative companies by the U.S.\u00a0technology magazine Fast Company.\u00a0The only representative from Brazil on\u00a0the list, which is headed by multinationals\u00a0like Nike and Amazon, Enalta\u00a0ranked 43rd, ahead of giants like Microsoft\u00a0(48th) and Tumblr (50th). In the\u00a0South American sectoral ranking, the\u00a0company captured first place. According\u00a0to Fast Company, Enalta earned its\u00a0position for \u201csupporting the biofuels\u00a0industry in Brazil by introducing GPS\u00a0sensors and software applications that\u00a0monitor seeding and irrigation so that\u00a0farmers can obtain a more abundant\u00a0harvest.\u201d This is the second consecutive\u00a0year that Brazil appears in the\u00a0ranking, which is published annually.\u00a0In 2012, the start-up firm Bug Agentes\u00a0Biol\u00f3gicos, from Piracicaba (SP), appeared\u00a0in the 33rd spot (see <\/em>Pesquisa\u00a0FAPESP issue n\u00ba 195<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last two years, we have been\u00a0recognized as one of the fastest-growing\u00a0companies in Brazil. Engineer Cl\u00e9ber\u00a0Manzoni, Enalta\u2019s owner, says \u201cOur goal\u00a0is to market two new solutions every\u00a0year.\u201d Founded in 1999, the company is\u00a0one of the pioneers in the field of agricultural\u00a0automation in Latin America.\u00a0It specializes in developing tools\u00a0to optimize production processes and\u00a0in designing managerial software for\u00a0agriculture that helps improve crop\u00a0productivity. The main focus is on the\u00a0sugar\/alcohol sector, but the firm also\u00a0provides equipment for the forest products\u00a0industry. Its portfolio includes automatic\u00a0controllers and pilots for precision\u00a0farming and onboard computers\u00a0for agricultural machinery and vehicles.\u00a0Those technologies are bringing about\u00a0changes to the processes involved in\u00a0planting, growing, cutting, harvesting\u00a0and transporting various crops. Jos\u00e9\u00a0Carlos Hausknecht, an agronomist and\u00a0director of the consulting firm MBAgro,\u00a0in S\u00e3o Paulo, says Enalta\u2019s innovations\u00a0can help reduce costs and crop losses.\u00a0\u201cAutomation is important, primarily\u00a0in sugarcane growing where, historically,\u00a0the degree of mechanization has\u00a0been low,\u201d he says. According to Enalta\u2019s\u00a0Manzoni, products sold by his company\u00a0can result in productivity gains\u00a0as high as 15%.<\/p>\n

Confident that demand for its products\u00a0by the sugar\/alcohol industry will\u00a0increase, Enalta estimates its sales will\u00a0amount to R$15.8 million this year, 30%\u00a0higher than the R$12.2 million in 2012.\u00a0About 10% of sales are made to foreign customers, notably in Colombia. One indication\u00a0that innovation is at the foundation\u00a0of the company\u2019s growth is the fact\u00a0that 60% of the growth in revenues in\u00a02012 came from products that had been\u00a0introduced in late 2011. The company calculates that it will invest R$2.5 million\u00a0in research and development this year,\u00a0the equivalent of 16% of its forecasted\u00a0sales for the period. Major sugarcane\u00a0growers in Brazil, such as Odebrecht\u00a0Agroindustrial, Grupo S\u00e3o Martinho and Grupo Nova Am\u00e9rica are on the list of\u00a0Enalta customers, which includes about\u00a060 companies.<\/p>\n

Enalta\u2019s flagship product is the onboard\u00a0computer known as EES (Enalta\u00a0Embedded System), used to manage agricultural\u00a0machinery. When coupled to the\u00a0e-Manager system, also manufactured\u00a0by this firm, the computer improves the productive performance of the cutting,\u00a0loading, and transportation of raw materials\u00a0for agroindustry. Reading data\u00a0from more than 20 sensors installed on\u00a0tractors and harvesters enables the farmer\u00a0to trace a productivity map of a cane\u00a0field. One of Enalta\u2019s newest products\u00a0is a voice-command software program\u00a0that warns truck drivers about critical\u00a0points along the shipment route, thereby\u00a0preventing accidents and making farm\u00a0work safer. That device is used on vehicles\u00a0that transport cane seedlings, vinasse\u00a0(liquid waste from cane processing\u00a0used in cane field irrigation) and the\u00a0cane itself as harvested from the field.<\/p>\n

Strategic advances<\/strong>
\nEnalta\u2019s success is due in large part to\u00a0partnerships forged with universities\u00a0such as the University of Campinas (Unicamp),\u00a0from which it licensed a patent\u00a0for a scale invented at the School of Agricultural\u00a0Engineering for use in the\u00a0company\u2019s sugarcane productivity system.\u00a0In another partnership, with Embrapa\u00a0Instrumenta\u00e7\u00e3o Agropecu\u00e1ria in\u00a0S\u00e3o Carlos, it developed a precision irrigation\u00a0system. Funding from research-sponsoring agencies also played a decisive\u00a0role. \u201cIn 2001, only two years after\u00a0the founding of Enalta, we were able to\u00a0move our headquarters from Catanduva\u00a0to the business incubator at Funda\u00e7\u00e3o\u00a0Parque de Alta Tecnologia de S\u00e3o Carlos\u00a0(ParqTec) because we were granted\u00a0approval of a FAPESP Innovative Research\u00a0in Small Businesses Program\u00a0(Pipe). The objective was creation of a\u00a0system to manage crop spraying. That\u00a0support was vital in enabling the company\u00a0to strengthen its position in the\u00a0market,\u201d says Manzoni. After that, Enalta\u00a0had four more Pipe projects. In all,\u00a0FAPESP invested more than R$1.2 million\u00a0in the company.<\/p>\n

Enalta also received funding from the\u00a0Economic Subsidy Program administered\u00a0by the Brazilian Innovation Agency\u00a0(Finep), a federal government agency, for\u00a0a project designed to fertilize cane field\u00a0soil by controlled application of vinasse.\u00a0In 2010, the company received financial\u00a0support from the Criatec Fund, which\u00a0specializes in providing seed capital to\u00a0emerging and innovative companies.\u00a0Francisco Jardim, representative of the\u00a0Criatec Fund on the Enalta board of directors, pointed out that \u201cEnalta is the\u00a0second company our fund has invested in\u00a0that has appeared on the Fast Company\u00a0list of innovative companies. Both are\u00a0in the agricultural technology segment.\u00a0This is clear recognition that Brazil is not\u00a0an agricultural power merely because of\u00a0its natural resources, but also because of\u00a0the ability our entrepreneurs have for\u00a0bringing high-impact innovations into\u00a0the countryside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Projects<\/strong>
\n1.<\/strong> System for management of \u201cspraying\u201d in agriculture using\u00a0automatic date-acquisition technology in the field (n\u00ba 1999\/11662-5<\/a>); Grant mechanism<\/strong> Innovative Research\u00a0in Small Businesses Program; Coordinator<\/strong> Cl\u00e9ber Manzoni\/\u00a0Enalta; Investment<\/strong> R$203,105.57 (FAPESP).
\n2.<\/strong> Development of a technological platform for precision\u00a0irrigation in perennial crops (n\u00ba 2003\/07998-5<\/a>); Grant\u00a0mechanism<\/strong> Innovative Research in Small Businesses\u00a0Program; Coordinator<\/strong> Andr\u00e9 Torre Neto\/Embrapa; Investment<\/strong>\u00a0R$399,054.49 (FAPESP).
\n3.<\/strong> Development of a sugarcane-productivity monitor to\u00a0obtain productivity maps for self-propelled harvesters (n\u00ba 2004\/08777-5<\/a>); Grant mechanism<\/strong> Innovative Research\u00a0in Small Businesses Program; Coordinator<\/strong> Domingos\u00a0Guilherme Cerri\/Unicamp; Investment<\/strong> R$290,230.40\u00a0(FAPESP).
\n4.<\/strong> Development of a system for monitoring the cutting,\u00a0loading, and transportation of sugarcane for fleet management\u00a0(n\u00ba 2006\/56606-0<\/a>); Grant mechanism<\/strong> Innovative\u00a0Research in Small Businesses Program; Coordinator<\/strong>\u00a0Domingos Guilherme Cerri\/Unicamp; Investment<\/strong>\u00a0R$328,866.32 (FAPESP).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Agricultural automation company gains international recognition","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1560,169],"tags":[153,225],"coauthors":[116],"class_list":["post-118193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-innovative-research-in-small-business-pipe-en","category-technology","tag-agronomy","tag-economy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118193"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=118193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}