El NORTE NEWSPAPER / BUSINESS SECTION 23/062006

Monterrey Company Exports Technological Development
By César Sánchez

Monterrey-based company IDZ, developed a software by using technology from its American partners, and is participating on a global level in the industry of radiofrequency tracking (RFID).

Eduardo Ruiz Esparza, IDZ (Identification Zone) CEO, informed that they are currently participating in projects to develop solutions on a global level in several countries, with technology that allows them to track people, products and assets and connect them all to a company's processes.

The company is currently competing for projects in China, Canada, the United States and Qatar, in a global market of several million dollars.

"Fortunately we've been finding highly diverse applications, in hospitals, in the health care sector, for patient control, for babies and vehicles, so they do not get lost". He explained that they initiated a project in China two years ago, together with his partner, in order to apply RFID to the exports and imports of a Chinese company.

"When we came back to Mexico, we realized things could not be done here the same way, and so we found it would be better to focus on two customer groups: the industrial one, and applications so that the Government becomes more efficient in control and for transparence, and RFID makes it possible".

Mr. Ruiz Esparza said that they started creating RFID products and solutions for the Government and industries and they expect to have sales between 2 and 3-million dollars this year.

"We started to see that, when global automobile industries heard of our solutions, they began to find out if there were any global competitors with a particular solution and, in many cases, they did not find it. This gave them an edge and the possibility of creating intellectual property in the products".

"We felt that was a great value for the company and for Mexico. We believe there is a great deal of talent here. That talent will be fully evident if original things are created in Mexico." The firm has more than 10 clients and has been creating initial events and pilot plans for the Government; they have been the first Latin American firm to conduct a full project based on electronic product code.

"We have been fortunate to compete against and defeat international firms in Mexico and abroad." Gordon Westwater, CEO at Ipico, an IDZ partner, remarked that their technologies makes it possible to read the position of cars moving a 250 kilometers per hour, which no other technology can do, and they have over 15 patent claims in process.

They also manufacture chips that can be used to control pigs, sanitation, genetics and vaccination.