Unicom Engenharia: Concrete Projection and Geotechnical Engineering

Interview with Denilson J. A. Bezerra de Menezes, Director-Partner at Unicom Engenharia

Could you please start by introducing the construction sector in Brazil?

The construction and engineering sector in Brazil is of good health, but its growth has dropped slightly. The request for budgets and the demand has gone down. This is our vision of the current construction market in Brazil.

In my opinion, this drop is due to the lack of an organized policy in terms of building schedules. There is always a very tight schedule to execute, and the elapsed time until the next schedule is too long and we are not able to invest in the qualification of the labor to have a process continuity.

Could you tell us a little bit about the company’s history?

Unicom has been on the market for 18 years. The idea appeared due to my former experience as a construction representative.

We saw the need to project concrete by wet processing with dense flow, which was an innovative method different from everything else made in Brazil. For that, we searched for international partnerships and I went and took a course in wet projection. I started researching if there was any other Brazilian that had attended this course, but there was none. I found out there was an Argentinian and I brought him here and made him partner. He was a partner for some time. In that period (beginning of 2000), we brought that technology into Brazil.

Nowadays we are also incorporating geotechnical technology as part of our services.

How does all that translate into numbers?

The company’s revenues have been growing each year. For a company like ours (small to medium size) we have an excellent revenue. Our team is also growing and has reached 120 employees.

How would you define the company’s philosophy and what are your competitive advantages?

Unicom’s philosophy is to search permanently for new technologies. We are always searching for ways to improve the quality of our work using the equipment available on the market. This year I went to the USA with my partner to search for new technology.

Which are Unicom’s major clients and success cases?

We have a wide range of clients with which we work, and I will not be able to say the name of every single one of them. We work, for example, with Odebrecht, Camargo Corrêa, Mendes Júnior, and other local companies. A local company called Rimobloco (Sao Paulo) is also a great partner and every year we do something together as partners. These partnerships work very well and, together, we are able to execute bigger projects.

In 2006, we had a very interesting work for a Finnish company that decided to settle in Uruguay. This company needed to coat the inside of its cellulose pulp tanks, and we were accredited to execute this construction. It was a pleasure to execute it, due to the complicated work it represented, due to the diameter of the tanks, and also due to the temperature in Uruguay during the execution (-2 to -3°C). It was a very well planned and scheduled work.

Another interesting work we did was Itaipu (Usina Hidrelétrica de Itaipu). To create a fire department, Itaipu needed a lot of rock cutting and its protection through projected concrete. We were able to do the part of the projected concrete.

What are the company’s current projects?

We have an interesting project in Goiânia in terms of slope stabilization. This work was well planned and it has all the possibilities to be done within the schedule.

How would you define the growth strategy of the company?

Unicom today is opening new units. We already have another independent unit that uses the structure and the name Unicom Engenharia (Unicom Vale do Paraíba). This unit is still small with just 15 employees and meets the regional demands of Vale da Paraíba. Vale da Paraíba is a highly productive region that represents a high percentage of the country’s GDP.

We are also predicting an expansion to the North of Sao Paulo with another unit in Bauru that is still in an implementation phase.

We are also thinking about expanding to the South and the Northeast in the next 3 years.

What challenges do you have to face on a daily basis?

We have to look at the market without looking at the crisis. We have to look ahead of the crisis that will almost certainly happen and try to overcome it and make our country grow a lot (growth is very low). People are predicting a 2% growth each year for the next three years, but we want to grow 10% per year. Geotechnical is indirectly connected to the structures sector and road constructions. Very good clients for us are the road concession holders. We have several partner on this sector like, for example, CCR, Rota das Bandeiras, Renovias, Ecovias, and many others centered in road geotechnical restraints.

Is your company open to new partnerships?

We are always looking for new partners with new working methods. If a company is interested in a partnership with us, and that interest is mutual, we think it would be a good thing.

We are interested in acting on the tunnels construction and that area needs a very high investment. An international partnership in that area would be very interesting – a partner that could bring equipment and technology. The quantity of roads, railways, harbors and tunnels in our country is enormous.

What is your vision for the sector and for your company 2 or 3 years from now?

Unicom is a company that has always believed in itself and in its brand as a company of more segments. It is obvious that the construction sector is going to remain well for a few years, but we cannot bet on a single card. That is why we are already searching for new development side by side with universities for new technologies.

I hope that in 2 or 3 years I will be able to see my company and its brand in other segments.

What would be your message to a foreign investor that wishes to come to Brazil and work in your area?

Seek the right partner; an honest, serious and transparent partner.

Brazil has the potential to be great. I believe deeply in my country. Whoever needs an opportunity to really grow can definitely come to Brazil.

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