Pequenas Exportam
05/10/2006 - 10:20
Dentist exports mobile office to the Middle East
The equipment produced by Consuldent, established by dentist José Miguel de Lima, is sold to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, as well as Algeria and Egypt. Still this week, seven units will be shipped for use on an oilrig in Algeria.
Lima and his wife, Sandra, with the portable equipment made by Consuldent
Geovana Pagel*
São Paulo - The mobile office produced by Consuldent Equipamentos Médicos Hospitalares, based in the city of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, is already exported to 19 countries, among them five Arab: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Up to the end of this week, the Brazilian company is going ship seven mobile offices to Algeria. The equipment, imported by Algerian distributor Promodenta, will be used to treat workers on an oilrig.
The mobile office was developed by surgeon José Miguel de Lima, who is a grandson of Syrian immigrants on his mother's side, the owner of Consuldent. The dentist-entrepreneur explains that the need for equipment adequate for domestic treatment arose in the 1980's, when he was sought by the daughter of a patient who had suffered a CVA (Cerebrovascular Accident).
"I went to their house and noticed that it was necessary to treat him with the equipment at my office. Coincidentally I had replaced some of my equipment little before that, so I took some of my previous material," he explained. As he already had electric training, he experimented and reduced until he reached the ideal portable equipment.
Lima then patented the prototype for a portable dentistry office, with chair and equipment that fits in bags and, in 2001, established Consuldent Equipamentos Médicos Hospitalares. The small industry, which started operating in an area of 14 square metres at the dentist's house, now covers a total area of 700 square metres, employs nine people and produces around 100 items a month.
Foreign sales, which currently represent between 35% and 40% of production, started with the creation of the company and with promotion of the products on the Consuldent Internet site. "The Brazilian dentistry industry is very respected abroad. Apart from our site being visited, we also managed to make many contacts at international dentistry congresses, in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, which work as windows to the world," he said.
Consuldent exports are through Unicon Shipment Importadora e Exportadora Ltda., based in the city of São Paulo. "We take care of the prospecting new markets and are responsible for all the contacts with clients abroad," explained Ana Martins, a specialist in international marketing and one of the export coordinators at Unicon. "The great novelty regarding the Arab market is that we have started operating with distributors, as is the case with this export to Promodenta. Up to now, sales were directly to dentists," she explained.
According to Ana, apart form the shipment to Algeria this week, the company is negotiating the sale of two more full mobile offices to an Arab dentist who lives in Canada. "He is going to use one office in Canada and the other in Saudi Arabia," he explained.
Nowadays Consuldent exports to 19 countries: the United States, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uruguay, Venezuela, Portugal, Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, Ivory Coast, India, Iran, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and New Zealand. Among the clients on the domestic market are the Armed Forces, the Fire Brigade, the Ministry of Health and the National Indian Foundation (Funai).
Contact
ConsulDent
Telephone: (+55 21) 3332-2332
E-mail: consuldent@consuldent.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
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