His father's story taught Alberto Blanco that the Argentine entrepreneur must quickly adapt to changes.Today it is among the largest providers of electric generators in the country.But he is already thinking about what is coming: renewable energy.KiloWatt is among the top five providers of large electric generators in the country.He was born 20 years ago with Alberto Blanco and today he is in the hands of his son, who has the same name.But the history of this Cordovan SME goes much further back;a trajectory that includes falling, getting up, learning that in Argentina the key is to quickly adapt to changes and get ahead.After years of being on Juan B. Justo avenue, Alberto Blanco (h) has just inaugurated the new plant in Polo 52, a 1,500-square-meter warehouse where he invested 80 million pesos.There, where he manufactures his generator sets, he has a plaque that remembers his father as "a tireless worker."–How are they now?-We are working even with extra hours to fulfill the orders.We are not enough.We have been growing for a year and a half.–What is that due to?–With the opening of the new plant, we went out to communicate more.But also with the official low dollar, many companies are taking advantage to make purchases.In addition, it is true that there are sectors with surplus pesos and that they are investing.For example, disc jockeys, who did not buy before, now buy generator sets.–We are doing between 10 and 11 monthly groups.In the previous plant, we did five to six monthly.Before the end of the year, we have to grow 20%.Today I see that we can meet the objective that we set when we arrived at this plant, of doubling production.Then we will have to see if we can maintain sales.-Why?Is it a cyclical business?-No, you have to be very careful in this country.This is the learning that the years left us.–KiloWatt was founded by your father.What was he doing?-He was an engineer.He was born in Mendoza.He started in the metallurgical activity.He worked at IKA Renault and later at Iame, manufacturing Puma motorcycles.In the 1970s, he set up an air compressor factory, working 24 hours a day with 70 employees.-Yes, but (the former Minister of Economy) José Martínez de Hoz arrived, opened the importation and the national Deutz engine that he used was more expensive than an imported compressor that had a much more advanced technology.He fought her a lot, but he “reconfused”, we lost everything.At that time, the national businessman was not used to these current ups and downs of not knowing what happens next week.My old man resisted to try to stay;so, by not changing, we lost everything.It was etched in us that this country is a bomb, you don't know what happens tomorrow.-You were a boy at the time.-But I lived it in the bosom of my family.If we had a very good pass, we stayed on the canvas.I had to change schools, we lost property, everything happened to us.And I don't forget this anymore: you have to monitor the country very closely and know how to change everything on time.And another learning was: we no longer make checks to date;if there is money, we write checks;if not, we do not give checks to date.We want to sleep peacefully.-And what happened next?–We assumed the representation of generator sets of the Marsiglione and Bounous brands.Since there was no internet, the manufacturers had a representative in each province.We only sold and we did quite well.Today they are our competition, but we have such a good relationship that if they have a problem and we can, we give them a hand.–Why did you start manufacturing generators yourselves?–Because the internet changed the market.Before, a manufacturer from Buenos Aires did not sell in Córdoba.With the Internet, customers began to buy directly from the manufacturer.Currently, the market is "all against all".-Yes.First, we started building with Perkins engines.Then we became exclusive to John Deere, Scania and now we also build equipment with FPT Industrial engines.If the client does maintenance, it lasts 30 thousand hours (three years).–Whoever buys a generator chooses for the engine or for the service?-What he sells is a combination of the motor brand with the service offered by the manufacturing company.Today we are harvesting the good track record we had.-How is this market?There are two big markets.One is the emergency generator sets, which are small and gasoline, for family homes or kiosks, equipment up to 15 KVA (equipment power indicator).The rest are groups of continuous use, for small, medium and large establishments, from bars, theaters, industries, hospitals, to large shopping centers.We have equipment up to 1,000 KVA.Our strength is in this second market, but we also have small teams because many times the same clients who buy from us for their companies also take a small one for their home.–How big is this market?-There are no precise numbers, but it is estimated that 400 to 500 pieces of equipment are sold in the country per month, about half of which are nationally manufactured with five large factories in the country.More and more companies are buying generators.-Because the employer has changed.Today no one can stop, no one can give room to the competition.A theater or a bowling alley loses power, and what do you do with 500 people inside?A software developer never stops.Pig farms, chicken farms or livestock establishments have added so much technology that if the power is cut off, the animals die.–Are there more problems than before with the energy supply?-There were times when there were more problems in the electrical service than today, and it was not sold as much as it is now.Today no company can stop.It has to deliver on time or provide a service with a certain quality, then the electricity supply is assured.Today a bank cannot be left without electricity.In the world it is the same;In the United States the electricity never goes out and everyone has generators.–What is happening with the import of components?-She's very slow.We normally import two or three times a year.But we already bounced two imports.Our teams have between 15% and 20% foreign components.It will be difficult this year.Thank God, we were able to stock up to cover our entire production.But our engine and component suppliers also depend on imported parts.Our diesel tank supplier kept us the price for only three days, so we had to buy more, with delivery in 60 days, because we don't know what's going to happen.–Does the competition with China complicate them?–There are groups or motors that come from China, but they are of poor quality.They have a good price, because the control levels of the Chinese industry are not good.We have to fight against that.That is why our service area has grown so much.We don't just sell equipment.We have a lot of people with a maintenance subscription to whom we give the service, so that they stay calm;it is so important that it has managed to cover the fixed costs of the company.Our equipment rental unit also grew.In addition, we started working on the implementation of ISO 9001 quality standards, both in manufacturing and in service.This helps build loyalty.– Where does the future of KiloWatt go?-Because of renewable energies, something in which Argentina is very late.We are working on a Renewable Energy department, it is a business unit that we must have.The future goes through a mixture and it is what we are currently working on.What happens is that we are so bad with the exchange rate and so far out of the circuit that everything is very expensive.What is normal in the world, for us it is impossible to pay.–What do you want to do in renewable energies?–The business is to be suppliers of companies that do distributed generation.When a user exceeds 300 KW (kilowatt), Epec charges you more.For a home it is not profitable, but it is for large consumers.–And that is generating a new change in the business.-Of course.Before, a cattle farm had a generator set to pump water from the cows.Today, with a photocell and a light bulb the problem is solved.The advantage that we have is to combine our large groups with the generation of solar energy.Sons.Matías (22) and Rocío (16).Likes.Ride a boat and motorcycle enduro.Business.Grupelec SA, manufacturer of KiloWatt.Production.Build an average of 10 to 11 teams per month.Before the end of the year, you must increase the rate by 20%.E-mail.info@grupokilowatt.com.ar.Members of Grupo Clarín:The voice of the interior.Founded on March 15, 1904. 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