More of a manufacturer than a distributor, Cetec completes 24 years

Cetec, a Brazilian leader in industrial painting equipment, completes 24 years this month. Among the reasons to celebrate, besides its unusual longevity for a Brazilian company, is the fact that Cetec has been managing to overcome the economic crisis. The secret? Combining a robust local manufacturing structure with a growing number of resellers, which ensured a sales increase of nearly 100% in the first half compared to the same period last year.

"At the beginning, a significant part of our business was focused on the distribution of imported equipment. In recent years, however, we decided to invest in the development of our own models. As a result, we managed to expand the range of potential customers, who started having access to products with international quality but at prices adjusted to the Brazilian reality,” said Eduardo Cernic, Director of Cetec.

By strengthening its profile as a manufacturer, Cetec helped, for instance, to popularise airless paint. "With approximately US$1000, painters are able to get an SM-10, a machine we internally call ‘my first airless’”. It allows professionals to paint an area measuring 1000m² in a single day. With roller and brush, very few painters are able to paint 200m² within the same period of time. Thanks to the success of the SM-10 – which has been listed as a best-seller for the past two years –, Cetec launched the SM-10 Plus Black Edition, a more robust machine with capacity to apply 2.2lit/min of paint.

"We also distribute the airless paint machines produced by the US company Titan and the European company Exel Kremlin Rexson & Sames, which currently account for a little less than 40% of our liquid paint operation,” said Cernic, noting that this year the company also joined the road marking segment, with the launch of Tecline. "This is another project fully developed in-house.”

The powder coating segment has also benefited from the improvements promoted by Cetec in its manufacturing structure – the company has, for example, a 3D printer for the development of prototypes. "The new displays of the Unique Plus machines provide the painter with all the information about the settings. This improves machine performance and reduces ink consumption.” In the gun, it is also possible to adjust the voltage and electric current, and the machine also features a vibrating base, a device that increases the speed during the color change process. "It is the only equipment of its kind in Brazil to have these technologies,” observed the director of Cetec.

Network expansion

To sell out the launches that are continuously being produced at its plant, Cetec’s sales department started looking for new resellers. This effort has been yielding positive results, and Cetec’s machines are now available in 81 addresses across Brazil – it was only 50 a year ago.

Only in the past couple of months, Cetec entered into distribution agreements with Tintas MC, Tintas Verginia, Casa do Pintor, Amarelinha Tintas, Baratão das Tintas, Tintas Royal, Tintas 3 de Maio and Tintas Palmares. "We aim to close the year with at least 30 more addresses in our network of distributors,” added Cernic.

Holder of the quality certificate ISO 9001, Cetec has supplied more than 20,000 machines to over 10,000 customers throughout South America. For more information, please visit www.cetecindustrial.com.br