Jul 27, 2021Brazilian steel company Gerdau has launched a Sales Accelerator Program that seeks startups to submit their innovations for Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. The company, one of the leading suppliers of steel globally and a user of RFID technology, is accepting applications through this Friday, July 30, and will announce the winners in September. The program is aimed at smart and sustainable technology startups in the United States and Canada that can provide solutions for industrial market challenges. The company is accepting applications from startups with hardware and software solutions involving IoT, RFID and other technologies.
Gerdau will accept six U.S. and Canadian startups. The applicants selected will take part in a two-step program, beginning with a sales focus and then execution. Phase one's sales portion will include coaching, mentorship, a sales workshop, introductions to Gerdau's clients, a customer summit and investment evaluations. Phase two, execution, will provide continued mentorship, case study support, international expansion evaluation and global networking. The best-performing startups may earn investment and opportunities to create joint ventures with Gerdau and its partners.
Fernanda Bordin
The 120-year-old Brazilian business maintains a presence in 10 countries. It claims to be Brazil’s largest steel producer, as well as the largest recycler of metallic scrap in Latin America, with 73 percent of its steel produced from recycled steel. It is also one of the leading suppliers of special and long steel globally. The Sales Accelerator Program is focused on companies that can provide solutions in five areas: carbon dioxide and carbon capture, recycling and upcycling, warehouse technology, smart buildings, and value chain or supply chain integration.
The last three areas are expected to be well suited for innovation by RFID and other IoT technology companies, Gerdau notes. The firm has a history of adopting technology to solve challenges (see Gerdau Increases Security, Reduces Human Error via RFID). The steel company won RFID Journal Awards for "best logistics and supply chain implementation" in 2017 and 2019 (see Award Finalists Session: Best Logistics/Supply Chain Implementation: Gerdau and Transforming Logistics in Steel Manufacturing With RFID).
The company says its mission is to further foster innovation to solve the industrial problems that Gerdau and its partners experience. "We're trying to bring innovation closer to our business," says Rafael la Porta de Castro, the North American director for Gerdau Next, the firm's year-old business arm focused on developing new products and businesses. At the same time, the firm has been expanding geographically, with an office opening in California's Silicon Valley in 2018.
Gerdau now maintains a presence in 10 countries, and the company is expected to grow in the future. Its expansion has included investments in 3D printing in Torrance, Calif., as well as in graphene sales, renewables and recycling. The company has been diversifying its portfolio, la Porta de Castro says, with an aim "to bring vitality and energize the company for the future."
The North American-based Sales Accelerator Program is the second such program, the company reports, following a similar one offered last year in Brazil. With this effort, says Fernanda Bordin, Gerdau's senior manager of innovation, who leads the North American program, "I feel we are going one step forward," and doing so with a focus on building partnerships rather than acquisitions. "If you take traditional corporate acceleration programs, the company becomes a client and the startup becomes the supplier."
With Gerdau's accelerator program, Bordin reports, "We're really focused on the partnership." She adds, "We have an interest in growing our portfolio at Gerdau, and we are looking for partners to help us grow." Those selected will begin with a sales phase during which Gerdau will work with the startup's own sales team to develop a plan for making its technology available not only to Gerdau but to its client network. "On day one, we will give them a list of selective clients and ask, 'How can you add value to two of them?'"
The company will also put its sales team "in front of the people who make decisions for these companies," Bordin says. That process is expected to help startups bypass the process of reaching out to engage with potential customers, she explains. " Once we have that first sale, we move into the execution part." At that stage, the startup will build a case study with the results of the executed work and a business case to take the solution international. "We want to look into building a business case to have presence internationally."
Rafael la Porta de Castro
When selecting candidates for the program, Gerdau is seeking technology companies focused on industrial business-to-business solutions with a market-ready product and an existing sales team with whom Gerdau can work. Beyond that, the company does not intend to put many limitations in place. Gerdau will continue to accept applications until July 30, followed by several weeks of interviews with top applicants. A selection pitch day will take place on Sept. 9 to bring in Gerdau's executives and clients to select the winners.
When it comes to the five focus areas, Bordin says, Gerdau hopes to attract applicants offering IoT-based solutions for smart buildings, warehouses and supply chains. For instance, she states, "I see huge potential for RFID in value chain integration for smart building and warehouse technology."
With regard to warehouse solutions, the company is seeking technologies for inventory and picking optimization, as well as those that can enhance sustainability. "The technology needs to work with heavy and bulky items as well," Bordin says. "We are seeking industrial-scale-type solutions." La Porta de Castro adds, "It's one thing to talk about managing small packages, but let's talk about steel or other large, often metallic items on the industrial level that need to be managed and tracked."
Another challenge Gerdau is targeting, according to Bordin, is the queueing of trucks at dock doors that would benefit from loading dock optimization, as well as improved truck turnaround times as goods are delivered and vehicles return to a facility. For smart buildings, the effort is to find technology-based solutions that will improve utility use transparency in commercial or industrial buildings, as well as systems for modular construction. The company is also looking for supply chain integration solutions, since many existing systems are internal and cannot be viewed by other stakeholders.
Typically, Gerdau's suppliers and clients are midsized businesses that would benefit from integrated technologies which could be shared with their own partners. "It's amazing how many opportunities you see out there for integration," la Porta de Castro says. "Many of them don't have the IT infrastructure" to develop their own supply chain management solutions. Bordin agrees, noting, "Very often you see solutions that can integrate," but only if supply chain participants purchase a fellow stakeholder's software. That goal, however, would be unrealistic for most companies.
Gerdau's goal, la Porta de Castro says, is not just to identify potential startups with which to partner, but to facilitate connections between mid-sized companies with a strong need for disruption. The program is open to both hardware and software firms and full solution providers, he says, and there will be additional such programs offered in the future. "We want to run batches on a regular basis," he states.
