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Innovation

May 2, 2006 / Number 1

A way of life

By Antonio Zárate

We currently face a harsh reality in our country: most of our products and services have become commodities, that is, they only compete by price.

Some exporting companies are still expecting the economic model of the past, when the all too common devaluation would reduce prices of products and services established in foreign currency, and would bring back "lost competitiveness."

However, the Mexican economy has become stable and has positioned itself as North American within NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), albeit not all firms have achieved that yet.

Even a supplier with the best performance has a small margin of profitability if its product or service is a "commodity"; so the only option to achieve differentiated competitiveness is to launch innovative products and/or services into the market, or reach a better margin of profitability through innovative production or service processes, in addition to protecting those innovations intellectually, something Mexicans seldom do.

In the electronic field, continuous improvement has been replaced by continuous innovation. A typical example is that of cellular phones: if a model shows a defect, they don't improve it; they simply launch the next one.

The culture of continuous innovation is critical in all business sectors if they are to compete with healthy profit margins. The " Monterrey, International City of Knowledge" program is specifically aiming to create a culture of innovation in our State, and to support businesses that develop new products, new services, and new patentable processes.

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CIIDIT: the University's (UANL) support to the City of Knowledge

By Carlos A. Guerrero Salazar
General Director of Graduate Studies at UANL

Convinced that the Research and Technology Innovation Park of Nuevo Leon will give a decisive boost to the creation and development of knowledge firms, the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon is building, as part of the Park, its Center for Innovation, Research and Development in Engineering and Technology: CIIDIT

Nuevo Leon is currently undergoing a transition process, from a manufacturing center to a service provider economy. This is why it is an ideal platform to trigger a new age supported by a knowledge economy.

It is in this context, and as part of the " Monterrey, International City of Knowledge" project, that the Research and Technology Innovation Park (PIIT) was conceived. The park will make scientific and technological research available to companies that require it for their own development.

This is the reason for the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon to join in this effort and build its Center for Innovation, Research and Development in Engineering and Technology (CIIDIT) within the Park's facilities.

CIIDIT will be a multidisciplinary and integrating Center that will have state-of-the-art laboratories for the various disciplines, in addition to multiple-use rooms equipped with avant-garde technology, offices for researchers and students, continuous education and administrative areas, and other services.

This 6,500-square-meter Center will deal with strategic emerging areas for industrial, economic, and productive development both regionally and nationally.

Furthermore, it will decisively strengthen the University's academic bodies, graduate studies, and multidisciplinary research networks. It will also foster internationalization for the institution through the signing of link agreements with other prestigious centers and institutions from around the world.

Its areas of knowledge generation and application will focus on advanced materials, nanotechnology, IT, and software; and it will be closely related to micro, small, and medium businesses in the region by supplying technological and research services to them, as well as highly specialized human capital.

In its first stage, the Center will have 10 researchers with experience in the areas the institution deals with, who will be part of the National System of Researchers or will have a profile that will allow them to join it in no more than two years.

They will participate in teaching activities, giving classes and forming specialized human capital, as they direct thesis in graduate programs of the Departments participating in the Center. That's why they must also have - or obtain in the near future - recognition from the Ministry of Education (SEP) as professors with the PROMEP profile.


ESTIMATED NUMBER OF :	1 YEAR	5 YEARS	10 YEARS

Researchers	10	20	50
Technicians	2	5	10
Administrative personnel	3	5	10
TOTAL	15	30	70

The Center offers

BASEMENT

Processing of Materials Laboratory

GROUND FLOOR

Administration
Auditorium
World Trade Center Module
Multimedia and Videoconference Rooms
Info Library

FIRST LEVEL

Thermal Analysis
Rheometry
Mechanical Characterization
Inorganic Synthesis
Spectroscopy
Spectrophotometry
Surface Analysis
X Rays
Researchers Offices

SECOND LEVEL

Mechatronics
Software
Information Technology
Safety and Risks
Researchers Offices

THIRD LEVEL

Controlled Atmosphere Module - Class 100
Nanolithography and Photolithography
Controlled Atmosphere Module - Class 1000
Deposit Forming and Growth
Microscopy
General Chemistry

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Neurons in action

Manufacturing customized solutions

Currently, through its engineering department, Equitek is serving Mexican and transnational companies in the food, pharmaceutical, chemical, and industrial sectors, by developing specialized equipment for each one of them.

Carlos Rosenzweig

His company designs and manufactures packing, bottling, and canning equipment, but, for Carlos Rosenzweig, his business is the creation of solutions.

With that philosophy, he has managed to diversify his customer base, by adapting to market needs for more than 15 years.

His broad vision, which includes the combination of trends and technologies, has driven Equitek's growth, the company he established in 1985.

His innovative capacity was evident since his years as a student, in the late 70's. He was then an Industrial Engineering student at Universidad Iberoamericana, but in between terms, he would go as a "wet-back" to the US and work there.

While he was there, working at an assembly line in a factory, he acquired hands-on knowledge about valve controls and hydraulic power plants for oil platforms.

After graduating, he went back to the US and worked as design engineer in a Texas company, where he eventually became production engineer.

"I stayed there for two years, but became bored and returned to Mexico," he explains, "where a partner and I opened a small business dealing with hydraulic and pneumatic equipment."

"We obtained some equipment almost for free, which consisted of two, "home-made", vacuum thermoforming machines; but it wasn't a very good business and soon after I leased them out."

He got married in 1986 and moved to Monterrey, where he started another business, working from a small section of a warehouse that he rented from a relative.

Little by little, clients began to come with very specific problems or needs, and thus, he ended up doing reengineering for a cream packing machine and a shirt folding machine.

Around this time a client came with a very strange request: he wanted to bottle water. Carlos reacted in surprise, (who was going to buy water, if it came straight from the faucet?), but he met the customer's need. Time would show him that he had met another innovator.

Afterwards, he designed machines to pack juices, food, agrochemical products, and detergents. Some time later, he designed machines to place screw-on caps on bottles, followed by labeling machines.

In 1994, they moved their factory to its present location in Santa Catarina, where they have a lot more space.

"We have been buying more machines for part manufacturing. We have machines that are connected to each other via Internet, and we also service laboratory equipment, which requires great precision."

In order to continue growing, they have learned how to move with the market, "in order to be there when they need us," he points out.

"Our responsibility is not only to manufacture machinery, but to sell solutions. This is why, if we do not solve a customer's problem, we reimburse him/her 100% of the down payment."

Here is the advice he gives to any person wanting to make his/her business grow, "develop your own ways."

"Do not copy, because you will lose ground; he who copies does not know why he does the things he does."

"Furthermore, you need to be responsible, punctual, polite, and always act with honesty; the customer will always notice that."

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FROM HERE AND THERE

GONZALEZ-PARAS BROUGHT THE WORLD CONGRESS ON IT TO A CLOSE

Nuevo Leon is playing a very active role in the World Congress on IT currently taking place in Austin, Texas.

The State Governor, Jose Natividad Gonzalez-Paras, is one of the keynote speakers, along with Colin L. Powell, former Secretary of State for the United States, and Michael Dell, founder of the Dell Corporation.

Besides presenting his keynote speech before more than two thousand people, Gonzalez-Paras will be the host for the "Cinco de Mayo Breakfast", attended by more than 800 guests from all over the world.

In the exhibition area, the State has representatives from various sectors. Associations like AETI, ANADIC, and CANIETI are present, as well as companies like Neoris, Softek, and Internacional de Sistemas.

On the academic side, UANL, Monterrey Tech, UDEM, and Universidad Regiomontana are represented.

This congress, the most important in the world in the area of information technology, has been organized by the World Information Technology and Services Alliances (WITSA), whose members represent more than 90 percent of the world market in this sector.

To learn more about this event, which will conclude on May 5, please visit the following page: www.nl.gob.mx.