GHI: What is the background behind the joint venture with Portia LAC in Brazil?
Gabriel Roque: For INFORM and Portia it was quite natural to create this joint venture in São Paulo. Portia has already been a successful partner of INFORM in Brazil for the past four years, so this joint venture is a continuation of INFORM’s expansion strategy, which is very important to us. The benefit of having a local presence here, is that we can speak the local language, be in the same time zones of our customers as well as have the same knowledge of the local legislation and same way of doing business.
GHI: Why is South America an important market for INFORM?
GR: South America is a very large continent, making up 14 countries. We have two joint ventures, an office in São Paulo and another in Santiago, Chile. To put it into some context, in São Paulo where we are based, Brazil makes up 50% of South America’s GDP. South America does not have any road or railway infrastructure like the US and Europe, so the economics of the region really does depend on aviation. Therefore, there are many airports and commercial passengers travelling by plane, which makes it a very interesting market for INFORM.
There are fewer challenges than a couple of years ago because people are more eager to implement IT solutions.
GHI: Which airlines / handlers are interested in implementing INFORM’s software solutions in South America?
GR: LATAM and Azul Airlines are among our airline customers but we are in contact with other major airlines in the region as well as with handlers and airport operators. Actually since we are focused on the turnaround in aviation we can provide services for basically any business, small or large, which is working in the turnaround process.
GHI: Do you see a greater demand following Covid to optimise operational processes?
GR: What we have seen following past major economic crashes of 2008 and 2011 and more recently with the pandemic are work reductions on the ramp. So it’s important to have a solution that can bring operational efficiencies at whatever scale. However, interestingly, for airports and handlers that haven’t reduced in size we have observed something else, a shift in demand whether it be the times of the day or days of the week as well as a shift from one type of behaviour to another. Then, it becomes a matter of not only adjusting the size of the operation but how it is carried out, making sure you have the correct number of people working each day and hour of the week, and assigning tasks accordingly to be more productive.
In other words, our solutions match these demand requirements into an optimized roster, taking into account limitations such as staff shortages or short-term sickness and personal preferences, which allows teams to plan more efficiently.
GHI: What are the key challenges in ensuring a greater uptake of IT solutions on the ramp ?
GR: There are fewer challenges than a couple of years ago because people are more eager to implement IT solutions. They have more data available now about their equipment and staff.
GHI: Why should customers choose INFORM’s GroundStar solution over other IT providers’ software?
GR: GroundStar is one of the most comprehensive software solutions on the market today used by 170 airports worldwide. INFORM has such a broad base of customers that the software is mature and flexible enough to accommodate the requirements of the ramp and airport operators in South America as well. GroundStar is the perfect hybrid AI machine learning solution that combines data and knowledge created over decades of development, that is why we are better than our competitors.
Looking further ahead, we also want to introduce our IT solutions to other industries such as banking/fraud and logistics. South America has a large coastline so ports are also one of our focus points. We have already successful projects in health and retail.
GHI: Anything else that you would like to share with our readers?
GR: South America is a potent market with large companies, eager for efficiency that is why we believe in bringing our best-in-class technology and solutions to the sector and to the region as a whole.
