Dental News - Stronger together: Brazilian association supports local dental manufacturers

Dental Tribune International

Sun. 14. May 2017

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COLOGNE, Germany: With around 2,300 exhibitors and 155,000 visitors, the International Dental Show (IDS) in Cologne once again proved its importance as a platform for companies to introduce their products, promote their brand and network with other manufacturers and dental professionals from all over the world. Supported by ABIMO, the Brazilian Medical and Dental Devices Manufacturers Association, and Apex-Brasil, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, a number of companies from the country took this opportunity and presented their product portfolios at the Brazilian pavilion.

Exhibiting at IDS can be the pathway to expanding an already successful business and boosting new projects. This opportunity to discuss potential deals with international distributors and introduce the latest products to dental professionals only comes along every two years. To support local companies and encourage them to pursue new opportunities through IDS, ABIMO offered Brazilian companies exhibition space at its almost 350 m² pavilion at the trade fair.

Founded in 1962, ABIMO is the largest association of its kind in Brazil, representing all fields of health care other than pharmaceuticals. “Among our more than 250 members, which together generate over 85 per cent of sales in the segment in Brazil, are manufacturers of dental products, hospital products and several implant systems,” Paulo H. Fraccaro, Superintendent at ABIMO, recently told Dental Tribune Online during IDS. “The dental industry is a very important one, recording more exports than imports.”

Long-standing partnership with Apex-Brasil

ABIMO, based in São Paulo and with an office in the country’s capital of Brasilia, aims to support aspiring national businesses financially and through valuable advice. To drive this, the association works closely together with Apex-Brasil. For more than 16 years, “Apex has been supporting the vision of the future that we have for the industry,” Fraccaro said. ABIMO is part of the top five projects the agency supports financially. Others include manufacturers of footwear, textiles and machinery for production.

“Apex-supported projects usually run for 24 months,” Clara Porto, Marketing and Exports Manager at ABIMO, explained. Apex-Brasil itself is financed by company taxes and other agencies.

Brazilian dental market expected to grow

In Brazil, the dental business has great potential, since citizens are very concerned with oral health and the appearance of their teeth. “The companies do very well in the country,” said Fraccaro. “National industries have the largest share of the dental market in the country, with only a few imports, and after the US, Brazil is the nation that conducts the most dental research. Twenty per cent of all dentists in the world work in Brazil. Two million implants are placed every year.”

Taking its members to exhibit at trade shows all over the world, including organising use of their products in hands-on workshops presented by prominent Brazilian dental specialists, is one of ABIMO’s ways of supporting them. To make full use of companies’ potential and help expand their business to global markets, ABIMO offers a number of other services, such as help with international certification, provision of marketing advice and support in finding distributors in target markets. The association consults the International Organization for Standardization about the relevant ISO standards and works together with the FDI World Dental Federation. “Our regulatory advice team puts a great deal of effort into researching international standards and advising manufacturers accordingly,” Fraccaro explained.

To drive research, ABIMO honours local companies with its health innovation award. A technical and scientific jury choses the most outstanding innovation. The competition has been run for eight years already and is open to all health care manufacturers in the country, not only ABIMO members. The association is not involved in the actual award process, but acts as an independent host.

Positive feedback from members

At this year’s IDS, 36 ABIMO members exhibited their products—27 as part of the Brazilian pavilion and nine independently. Among them were Bionnovation biomedical, a provider of implants and bone graft biomaterials, and Angelus, a manufacturer of endodontic and paedodontic products. Both companies have been with ABIMO for some time and benefit from its support. “We joined ABIMO in 2014. Our first trade show together was in Russia and we sold products straight away,” Celso Marques, managing partner at Bionnovation biomedical, told Dental Tribune Online. “Before we joined, we were active in six or seven countries, but now we distribute in 30 countries. On top of that, the international success has boosted our national business in Brazil.”

Angelus has a similar success story. “We have been with ABIMO for years. Fifty per cent of our revenue now accounts for export,” said Sidarta Cypriano, head of international business at the company. “With ABIMO’s help, we have even been awarded several prizes.”

Successful IDS

IDS was one of 13 shows ABIMO has on its exhibition agenda for 2017. Its return to the world’s largest dental event for the ninth time was once again worth the effort. “This was the most successful edition of IDS for the Brazilian group ever,” Porto said a few weeks after the fair. “Business perspectives are very good and all Brazilian companies evaluated the event positively, expressing interest in coming back in 2019.”

From 9 to 12 June, ABIMO and its members are participating in Sino-Dental in Beijing. “This is the first time we are attending a trade show in China,” Porto said. The association and its partners will also be at the FDI Annual World Dental Congress to be held in Madrid in Spain, from 29 August to 1 September.