09-07-2019

Innocon’s CEO: “This year has been extremely positive for the business”

The CEO of the group highlights the acquisition of many new customers, both national and international. The biggest innovations have focused on animal, pet and human food.

Since we moved into our new headquarters, many new customers have approached us in search of innovative solutions to their problems,” says Carlos Sepulveda, Chairman of the Setop Company Group and CEO at Innocon, who inaugurated their new premises over a year ago.

In an interview with Diario Concepcion, the CEO makes a positive assessment regarding management, but also he mentioned among the challenges that “we have had to face a large increase in the services we deliver and we have had to integrate new knowledge to specialize in other industrial areas as well.”

-What are the main advances made to date?
-To date, we are serving more national customers and we have also managed to reach companies in other countries. This means that the company is positioning itself as a benchmark for innovation, and that our efforts to make ourselves known, added to our high technical quality and great commitment, have paid off.

-What goals still need to be met or what pending is there to be solved?
-Our goal is to reach long-term relationships with our customers, which allow us to actively participate in the continuous improvement of their products and thus improve the competitiveness of the country. There are some companies with which we have reached this degree of confidence, but there are others that are just starting with us, therefore, we have to continue working hard every day to achieve it.

-Have you made use of the Law on R&D?
-As a company that provides services for Research, Development and Innovation for third parties with Corfo certification, we do not qualify to make own use of the R&D law, but we do help our customers so that they can make use of this law. In general, it is a good tool when the amounts of investment in R&D are greater than 100 million, since the resources required to manage and deliver these projects are significant.

-What importance do you give to the alliance with the University of Concepcion in this year working together?
-The alliance with the University of Concepcion, as with the other universities with which we also work, has been a fundamental pillar to offer quality services during this year.

-Has some of the US$ 3.5 million invested with 100% private and regional capital been recovered this year?
- Our future project has never been to invest and make a profit in the short term. Currently, we are reinvesting everything in more people, more facilities and more equipment to continue growing. We are still in the expansion stage.

-What have been the areas of greatest innovation since June of last year to date?
-In this year we have addressed new challenges, such as the metalworking area and, very strongly, the environmental area, however, our greatest innovations have focused on the animal, pet and human food industries.

-What have been the most important factors in your project success?
-The most important factor has been to bring together the best human team, with outstanding capabilities in various areas, and give them enough tools so that they can develop their virtues individually, but, more importantly, collectively. Teamwork is essential.

-In your experience, is it difficult to innovate in the Bio Bio region and why?
-In the Bio Bio region there are the ingredients to innovate, but it is difficult to do so due to the corporate fear of doing things different from the usual, and the lack of investment in innovation by private companies and the Chilean state.

-What innovation opportunities does the Bio Bio region offer today?
- The Bio Bio Region currently has the human talent to innovate and has the infrastructure to do so.
In addition, the fact of having a company like Innocon here in the Region provides a highly professionalized way for any interested party to achieve it.

-In these 12 months has the market value of Innocon increased?
- Yes, in these months the market value of Innocon has increased a lot, beyond its infrastructure, due to the industrial experience and technical knowledge of the human group that integrates it.

-How do you project the growth and challenges of the company in the next 5 years?
-Currently, we are still seeing Innocon’s adolescence.
In 5 years, the size of the company and the number of our collaborators will surely double, generating better, more innovative products with greater commercial value.