From Mar del Plata, Deitres creates solutions for electronic security and renewable energy
Ten years ago, a group of Mar del Plata students from different branches of engineering began innovating in electronic product development, with a focus on the Internet of Things (IoT). Today, after years of continuous development and now established as a company, they are positioned as technology innovators in electronic security and renewable energy.
Speaking with LA NACIÓN, Bernardo Martínez Saenz, CEO and founder of Deitres, explains how the company became an IoT benchmark by using wireless Mesh technology to build smart networks (also known as Smart Grids): “In 2009 we launched CityMesh, the first wireless communicator for alarm panels on the market built with Mesh technology. This innovation not only made us a benchmark in Argentina's electronic security market, but also served as a springboard onto the international stage.”
“By 2014 we had the Mesh wireless networks with the largest number of installed units in Latin America,” Martínez Saenz continues, “which opened the door to a joint development with Microchip, the world's leading microcontroller manufacturer, to produce a communication module built on our technology.” Following that alliance, in 2017 Deitres stopped importing communication modules from the United States and moved production and assembly to China, with 100% in-house technology, becoming competitive worldwide.
And it was that leap in competitiveness that opened the door to other projects, such as their work in renewable energy. “In 2018 we launched our Smart Meter Mesh, an electricity consumption meter designed specifically for emerging countries, which is also a revolutionary product and key to adapting power distribution networks to the renewable energy model,” says Martínez, adding that since last year they have had a distribution company in China through which they began opening markets. In the region, they started with Mexico and Colombia and are developing Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Brazil.
Alejandro Burone, the company's export manager, explains that “Deitres' export mix focuses on selling and distributing products in Latin America and exporting IT services in Asia,” given the nature of its business units.
“We have kept a close eye on every current initiative to promote exports,” he continues, noting that they are part of the associative export development program run by the ICBC Foundation and the Argentine Investment and International Trade Agency (Aaici), where they form an export consortium with other Mar del Plata technology companies.
On product development, product manager Santiago Marinella says that “in general, the more disruptive the technology you want to launch, the longer it takes to develop, in both software and hardware. In our case, it takes us between three and six years to launch a product.”
The company is currently working on a launch that, they say, “will be disruptive for the world of electronic security and will have regional reach.”
“These processes involve other equally important initiatives related to growth and international positioning. We are currently closing our first investment round to leverage that positioning, and we plan to open branches soon in two of the world's leading innovation hubs: California and Barcelona,” Martínez concludes. •
Andrés Carrizosa Source: https://www.lanacion.com.ar/economia/comercio-exterior/innovacion-la-empresa-que-desarrolla-tecnologia-iot-y-produce-en-china-nid2306178/