São Paulo – Brazilian company Intelbras signed a deal to export its body temperature cameras to Mexico and is in talks to sell it to other countries. The equipment identifies people with high body temperatures and has been used to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. When it detects a high temperature in someone, the camera generates warnings that can be conveyed through alarms, access control, warning to operators, message to medical teams, and other possibilities.
“Sales were up by 1,000% in March and April compared to the entire year of 2020. We received BRL 50 million (USD 10 million) in proposals for the body temperature cameras in March and April. The demand is so high that we assigned around 10 professionals to meet the sale demand,” Intelbras commercial director Márcio Ferreira told ANBA in interview by email. The figures don’t include exports.
Intelbras has found a large market for cameras in Brazil but wants to grow abroad too. In Mexico, the purchaser is a large company. “We are negotiating with several other countries, and that makes us quite optimistic,” Ferreira said. The executive says that, for each country, it is necessary to assess if the sale is viable due to the exchange rate and the warehouse necessities, but he sees a potential in the Arab countries. “Intelbras has never exported CCTV (closed-circuit television) to Arab countries, but we believe that they have potential to buy our body temperature solutions,” he says.
According to Ferreira, the camera can be used in several situations, including malls, hospitals, meatpackers, airports, ports, industries, schools and companies. The equipment features an artificial intelligence that, besides identifying fever, which is a COVID-19 symptom, helps detecting the lack or incorrect use of face masks. It uses face recognition to identify people quickly and effectively. Intelbras has three types of body temperature cameras.
“Last May, we installed body temperature cameras and other equipment at the entrance of our headquarter and subsidiary in the city of São José, Santa Catarina. It aims at preserving the health and well-being of almost 2,000 employees that work every day in the two buildings of the company,” he said. The body temperature solution has been part of the company’s portfolio since 2019 and was first released to detect incipient fires or high temperature in industrial equipment. When the pandemic arose, however, the demand for the equipment for the new function grew significantly.
The company’s market is focused on Brazil. “We believe that the availability of the products and the after-sale will make us lead this line of products too, but it’s still hard to estimate the size of the market as it’s a solution that is still being developed in the domestic market and expands rapidly,” Ferreria said.
According to the executive, the technology was created abroad. He says that Intelbras has one of Latin America’s largest research and development centers, with over 300 professionals, and seeks out innovations with its partners around the world, even having an office in China, where over 50 people work with a focus on the development of technologies such as the body temperature cameras, targeting the needs of markets and consumers.
Intelbras is the world’s third largest camera manufacturer. Founded 44 years ago, it develops and manufactures solutions in electronic security, access control, networks, communication and energy for residences, condos and companies. The company started with telecommunication equipment but has expanded its portfolio since then. Now, the solutions include plug and play products such as cameras, smart boxes, smart speakers, hard locks, digital and electric locks, PABX, headsets, cloud communication, audio and video conference, nobreaks, optic fiber solutions for internet providers such as OLTs, ONUs, routers, access points, radio outdoors, and others.
The company says that it is present in 98% of Brazilian cities. It has 200 distributors and 120,000 resellers working for the company. Exports go to Latin America. It has four industrial plants – two in the city of São José, Santa Catarina, one in Santa Rita do Sapucaí, Minas Gerais, and one in Manaus, Amazonas, as well as an office in China. Overall, Intelbras has 3,300 employees. The company fetched BRL 1,9 billion (USD 372 million) in revenue in 2019.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
