Health

Brazilian "frugal engineering"

Latin America

Latin America

Brazilian companies could benefit from a significant competitive advantage in the global market: their mastery of frugal engineering. Cutting costs and increasing access to good-quality healthcare are twin imperatives worldwide. In this environment, the dissemination of cheaper technology is a winning proposition. Despite a lack of resources, many companies have successfully developed equipment that uses simple technologies to achieve the same results as more sophisticated devices. The Brazilian dental device sector has performed particularly well, and is the only sector of the medical devices and materials industry that has an international trade surplus.

Acquisitions of Brazilian companies by multinational corporations are testament to the country’s potential in this arena. Philips alone has made four major acquisitions in Brazil in the past three years. One such deal allowed the company to begin producing high-tech magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines locally, based on locally developed technology. This suggests that Brazil can establish a strong presence globally through reverse innovation, a process by which inexpensive products developed in emerging markets are offered as low-cost innovative solutions in industrialised nations.

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