Brazil stops for the World Cup

Well Brazils World Cup dream may be over now but this just shows the passion Brazil has for its football. The photo below was taken outside of a major (international) DIY store. Its says:

Dear Customers, Due to the Brazilian Team playing on 02/07, xxxxxxx will close at 10.30 and reopen 15 mins after the game has finished.

I have blanked out the name of the store to protect the guilty. Shops closed, schools finished early and the streets were deserted. Football really it a passion down here, it was just green and yellow everywhere, the national colours.

It's not really my sport but everyone gets caught up in World Cup fever.

Give me Formula 1 or the Ryder Cup any day.

Carnival time in Brazil

Well in case you mised it last week was carnival week here in Brazil. The world famous carnival once again got under way. What a lot of you (outside of Brazil) probably may not realise is that the main Rio carnival that we all know is actually a fiercely fought competition held over 3 days between 12 main samba schools and is held in closed off area called the Sambodrome. It's 700 mtrs long and has tiered seating for 70,000.
Carnival in Rio has become a big tourist attraction and everybody says that the true carnival spirit lies in the smaller towns where it is held on streets and anyone can join in.

Maybe one day I will go and see it. Yes, i've lived in Brazil 6 years now and never seen it. So I have to admit that the pictures are not mine but they do show what a great event it is. The costumes and whole spectacle is quite amazing from what I have been told, told from a very reliable source, my wife, who actually participated in it many years ago now, but that's another story.
Enjoy the photos.

New Office in Brazil

At the start of this year Fundisoft Consultoria Ltda, Synchro's arm in Brazil moved to their new office. Our new address is

Raja Work Center

Av. Raja Gabaglia, 4859, Sala 233

Sto. Lucia

Belo Horizonte

This has been a significant investment and shows the level of commitment we have for expanding Synchro in Brazil. We can now offer training in the quiet of our offices where customers can sit and concentrate on their training without the day to day interuptions that do tend to happen on site. Fast internet connection and telephone services are supplied so you can always keep in touch with the foundry.

Located in a purpose built office block, with parking facilities and all amenities close by. 10 mins from the Anel Rodaviário, and 5 minutes from BH Shopping, very easy to find.

We have a lot of leads to follow up and can now concentrate on turning them in to sales. All the signs here are good, Brazil seems to have weathered the recession well, business is starting to look up again and a number of foundries that I have visited recently are investing in new equipment, always a good sign.

Until next time

Kevin

Post FENAF

The last few weeks have been really busy preparing for FENAF in São Paulo. FENAF is the biggest Exhibition in South America and is held every two years. Stand designs to approve and all the rest that goes into providing a smart professional looking stand.

To keep us on our toes, just the week before the show Chris decides to stop over on his way to New Zealand and Australia. Always nice to see him though and we did have a meeting arranged with rather a large foundry in my local area so it was well worth it.

By the time he finished his travels i'm sure he didn't know where he was or which time zone he was in.

Having said goodbye to Chris then Heleno and I got ready to travel down to São Paulo for FENAF. We left my home at 6 a.m. Monday morning and drove to SP with all the gear loaded up, laptops, brochures etc. We arrived, as planned, around 4 p.m. giving us plenty of time to sort out all those last minute things that crop up.

Everything was ready in plenty of time for when the Exhibition started on the Tuesday.

A few pictures of our stand are below -

FENAF this year was excellent for us, we made some very good contacts from foundries large and small - Synchro applies to all sizes, and I can see that we are going to be very busy over the next months.

Wednesday I fly down to Rio, sounds exotic doen't it, but I assure you it's all work. Being picked up at the airport taken to the foundry to give a presentation and fly back home that night, could be anywhere really, just happens to be in Rio de Janeiro this time. Another excellent FENAF contact made.

See you all next time.

New Team Member for Synchro Brazil

I would like to welcome Elson Marson Jr. to our growing little Synchro family. Elson lives in Timbó, Santa Catarina and will be responsible for sales in the southern Brazilian states. Elson has a wealth of experience in the foundry industry having previously worked in a foundry in Timbó. He also has experience in the banking sector, that could prove very useful when it comes to trying to understand Brazils complex tax laws.

I first met Elson at the exhibition Metalurgia 2008 in Joinville/SC and it was there that he found the ERP software that he had been searching for for 4 years.
Onward and upward to better things, Elson left the foundry and went independent. As part of that he wanted to continue being involved with Synchro (he liked it that much) and hence our agreement to act as a Sales Rep.

Elson spent 3 intensive days at the Fundisoft offices in Nova Lima, MG being trained in all aspects of Synchro and how to present it. Well done Elson, good luck and here's looking forward to many sales. I am sure you will do well.

Elson's the one on the right, being trained at the foundry when Synchro was installed there.

Synchro in Brazil

Well you might wonder - what is an English guy doing running the Synchro Brazilian operation? Let me explain a little about my background. I have been working in and around foundries since I graduated in Metallurgy in 1977. The company I worked at was one of the first to use the Dewtec Synergy system and then was also one of the first to change over to Synchro when it was launched, so i have known the system since its very early days.

Sometime during that period I met a wonderfull Brazilian lady, we married and now have two children, Vanessa 18 yrs and Philipe 14 yrs. The first 14 years we lived in the UK down in Sutton, Surrey but then decided to up everything and move to Brazil.
Before I moved I agreed with Chris Collins to become the Synchro representative for Brazil. That is over 5 years ago now. I spent the first two years translating Synchro into Portuguese, getting to know the Brazilan foundry industry and the way it works and also trying to learn the language. Unfortunately I am not as fluent as my two kids, they are bilingual now and put me to shame.

With the Brazilian and now Latin American customer base growing I am kept busy enough to stop me playing golf, which is my passion, as often as I would like, but then I have never played it as often as I would really like which is why my handicap is so high.
Note to Shane - when we eventually meet for a game you can give me some shots.

See you next time....