Two South African technology companies have joined forces to introduce local technology to the South American market.
The listed company Digicore Technologies and DexData Technologies are entering the fleet management market in Brazil. Digicore, a leader in the field of fleet management systems in SA, has concluded a distribution agreement with DexData Technologies. DEX has been actively involved in risk management and technology in Brazil for more than 10 years.
The first prototypes have already been installed and tested, and agreements have been concluded with service providers.
"The technology is specifically designed to enable fleet owners to control the costs and risks associated with the maintenance and movement of their vehicles. The DEX team in Brazil consists of trained Brazilians who know and understand the local market, language and culture. After more than 10 years in Brazil, the DEX working model has proved its ability to deploy new technology from SA in the South American market," says the Managing Director of DexData, Jans Wessels.
"Most organisations in Brazil are sceptical towards new companies trying to palm off technology on this fast-developing economy. They consider a proven track record of success and expertise as critical qualifiers." The successes that DEX has achieved in the field of, inter alia, technology for the medical, insurance and security sectors, were decisive for South America," says Wessels.
DEX will market, sell, install and fully support the Digicore systems in Brazil. The DEX team in SA will handle all communications and acquisitions by Digicore SA. DEX SA will then monitor and manage the Brazilian team and strategy.
The systems utilise GPS satellite technology to determine position and the GSM network to communicate to a central point. The position of each individual unit can be monitored. The technology has furthermore the ability to monitor and report on various other parameters. These include speed, engine revolutions, opening and closing of freight doors, hitching or unhitching of trailers, prohibited areas, speed limits, engine temperature as well as oil and water pressure. The system connects the driver with the control room in various ways. One of the distinguishing aspects of the technology is the ability of the unit to communicate only selected information to the control room. This way, communication costs are limited and operators can concentrate on matters that require attention.
Market analysis by DEX has indicated a remarkable resemblance between road transport systems in Brazil and SA. Both are geographically wide-spread and utilised mainly by private fleet operators. And like SA, Brazil also battles with an enormous problem of theft of goods and vehicles, in addition to extremely high vehicle maintenance costs. "The difference lies in the fact that the Brazilian market is 10 times bigger than the South African market, which makes it that much more attractive," Wessels says.
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