The exhibitors and attendees of the second version of TecnoMultimedia InfoComm in Mexico stressed that education is a fundamental part of the growth and maturity of the audiovisual industry in Latin America.
AVI LATIN AMERICA
The growing interest of an industry that works every day to gain more market and to be better able to respond to the demands of customers and technology, which lives in constant evolution, was what could be observed in TecnoMultimedia InfoComm Mexico.
A clear example of the industry's interest in improving is the 40% growth of the Congress and Commercial Exhibition organized by AVI LATINOAMÉRICA and InfoComm 2012, in which more than 70 brands with 42 exhibiting companies were present.
During the three days of the fair, 2,200 attendees were able to learn at the World Trade Center in Mexico City the latest technologies that the most important manufacturers in the audiovisual industry exhibited at the Commercial Exhibition.
Education, key to growth
The number of installations carried out and planned, the available technology, countless options, opportunities and customers interested in having professional facilities, make the market require increasingly better trained integrators and installers.
"If people are not educated, they go for the empirical and anything can be more expensive. As people are educated, they get to know better technologies and even better prices," said Raúl Fernández, of the Double Trading company, when asked about the subject.
And that is why it is becoming increasingly important that Latin America has events such as TecnoMultimedia InfoComm and its Academic Programming. "There are already interesting projects, people are learning more and with this type of events the great need we have is being met, which is education," added Raúl Fernández.
Manufacturers have also identified in education a good niche to expand their products. Ernesto Montañez, from the company Bosch Mexico, commented that they are betting on convergence with new technologies, which requires a broader knowledge of installers.
"Today integrators and the industry in general are preparing much more because of the amount of information that is available. We see a maturity in the integrated of Latin America that surprises because 10 years ago it was a milestone or taboo to talk about IT with them, but I feel that today the convergence of audiovisual specialists and integrators towards the IT market and vice versa is a reality, "he said.
Education, business niche
For Mauricio Escobar, from Congress Colombia, "when the staff is qualified it makes the difference, makes better events, gives more quality and gives more peace of mind to the client". That is why several distributors have found training as a niche market, not only with technical talk about new products, but also in technology.
This is the case of Audio Representations, which has a school open to all people who want to be educated, from a student to industry professionals. Alejandro Celis, one of its representatives, highlighted the importance of training.
"In order for people to make good installations, it is more important to have the foundations of what technology is, then the product trainings that manufacturers do help you to take better advantage of them. But it is essential to know the technology and that is why the work that TecnoMultimedia InfoComm does with its training and certification is very important, and we who maintain permanent courses throughout the year, "he said.
But for Mauricio Escobar, one of the problems in the education of the AV industry is the lack of information about the existence of courses. "I don't know if they're not getting the information or if they don't want to make the investment of training their people."
With state-of-the-art technology
Until a decade ago, in Latin America we were used to the latest developments in technology being presented first in the United States and Europe, then we had to wait months for them to reach the region. But now things have changed.
This situation is presented by various factors pointed out by Rodrigo Casassus, of InfoComm Latin America, "prices have dropped a lot in most products, making them much more accessible: On the one hand, because of the high growth of Chinese products of very good quality and, on the other hand, because there are many more people trained to install and implement the equipment.
Another element of consideration is that the global economic crisis of the last four years has affected countries that are traditionally the first to adopt cutting-edge technologies, and that is why manufacturers have had to look for new markets in Latin America, a region that has not been so affected by these turbulences.
Alejandro Celis stressed that "it is a fact that the industry has been growing by leaps and bounds, there are many brands, a lot of things can be done, but we have to adapt because the industry is behaving like a computer industry, that's why we have to train"
Cost-benefit ratio
Having professional audiovisual facilities allows end users to make their investment of quality and, above all, long-term. Ernesto Montañez pointed out that "the cost-benefit ratio is becoming more accessible. I think that the modularity that occurs with the products and solutions allows a guaranteed return on investment for end users in the next 10, 15 or 20 years, allowing us to bet on more complex, more integrated projects".
For his part, Raúl Fernández indicated that in this field it benefits that manufacturers are in competition to get better and better products with a cheaper price. "I recommend that you go to the companies and ask the technicians about the different products and qualities and why one product can have a higher price than another. Thus they understand that being more durable, in the long term it is a greater benefit for the projects in terms of returns on investment".
But the cost-benefit ratio also depends on each country. "In Mexico a transition is taking place and in the coming years we expect to grow more. In addition, convergence and integration with other industries also allow a possibility of growth, so we must evolve," concluded Alejandro Celis.
From now on we have begun to work so that TecnoMultimedia InfoComm Mexico 2013, which will be held between August 21 and 23 at the World Trade Center, continues to accompany these processes of the AV industry and is a reference for the region.
