As part of its ongoing global partnership programme, ALPHR Technology has recently welcomed Brazilian automation company, ARV Systems as their latest Systems Integration Partner. Located in Mogi das Cruzes, near San Paulo in south Brazil, ARV Systems are expert innovators and well placed to support ALPHR and its clients in the region.
ARV Systems was founded in 2009 by its Technical Director, Andre Constantinou. Initially, the company produced mechanical equipment, but then discovered that clients wanted to increase the use of technology in their manufacturing processes. In response ARV started to bring in more engineers, with different skills, to be able to provide cost-effective automation solutions, using brand new technology, particularly robots and machine vision.
To support this growth, ARV Systems has expanded over the last twelve years to become a dedicated team of fifty, comprising engineers, technicians and support staff. The team are able to provide wide ranging automation solutions, predominantly to the food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, consumer goods and electronics, and automotive sectors.
Andre Constantinou says, “Over the last few years, I realised that a lot of people want to automate their company, but they don’t have a clue why they want to do this. I really invest a lot of time to try and teach people why they should automate; what the benefits are; and why they are going to sign a contract with us to change their entire process. When people know why they want to automate, the cost is no longer important, because we are providing a solution with a very solid payback for the investment. This is what ARV is able to offer – productive, cost-effective solutions.” This way of working to understand a client’s needs and provide innovative solutions using the best available technology, is something they share with ALPHR Technology.
When ARV Systems was approached via a mutual contact in Brazil, to discuss a partnership with ALPHR, Andre Constantinou, as an enthusiast for technology, was keen to explore this. He says, “We wanted to have a partnership where we could work on high-end engineering for the automotive industry. ALPHR has very specific solutions for this industry. Although ARV are able to build and manufacture, we do not have ALPHR’s experience. Partnership means that ALPHR can spread their technology in Brazil, using our local support and our capability for integration. Partnership is part of our strategy – to have strategic partners so that we can spread the use of technology, and we can share our research, to deliver something cost-effective and very high quality.”
One of ARV Systems recent successes has been using a new approach to find a solution for a client in the agribusiness – a new market for ARV. The client wanted a turnkey solution to automate a bug picking process. No machine in the world existed to do this, so ARV signed a contract with their client to develop a prototype, using technology to create a bespoke solution. Andre Constantinou says, “The solution did not exist, so we first had to understand what the client really needed and then develop a prototype, which I am proud to say, succeeded.” The project is now moving on to the second stage of development.
As to the future, Andre Constantinou is looking forward to working with ALPHR, and also to the next engineering challenge. “I am always excited about the next problem and how I am going to use technology to solve it.” He adds, “We learned a lot of good things as a result of the global pandemic. We have changed the way we look at and treat opportunities. It is in the hard moments, that you come up with really good ideas.”