Interview: Together we can do more

Claudia Duschek, DTI

Thu. 23. March 2017

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Alliage is the result of the merger of two companies, Gnatus and Dabi Atlante, which was first announced in early 2015. The Brazilian company operates in the dental health care sector worldwide, serving more than 150 countries through its various brands. At this year’s IDS in Cologne in Germany, Dental Tribune Online spoke with Alliage’s Head of International Markets and Business Development, Alvaro Menezes.

Dental Tribune Online: Alliage is the result of the merger of two companies, Gnatus and Dabi Atlante, which was first announced in early 2015. After the conclusion of the merger begun in 2015, what is Alliage’s situation now?
Alvaro Menezes: We have now successfully finalised the first phase of integrating the two operations, including our information technology systems and administrative and commercial structures. We have invested about US$2 million (€1.9 million) in a new SAP HANA information technology infrastructure and we are in the process of moving to integrated production, an additional US$4 million (€3.8 million) project. These investments demonstrate our commitment to transforming the company into a truly global competitor in the dental industry.

On Wednesday at IDS, Alliage hosted a major event on board a ship. What were the objectives?
Our objective was to introduce Alliage to the global dental community as a new company, offering 110 years of combined experience. We celebrated the success we have achieved to date and are aiming at an even brighter future, as Alliage brings to the market all the best from the previous companies’ heritages.

It has been rumoured that Alliage is currently building new headquarters. Is this true?
Yes, we are moving to new headquarters, where we are establishing our factory and will be implementing best management practices. We are focusing on technological development and planning to foster innovation at this modern new site, designed to inspire our engineers and other staff, all aligned with our vision of the future.

Are you planning to invest in other areas?
In addition to the plans already mentioned, we intend to continuously invest about 3 per cent of our annual turnover in R & D.

What are Alliage’s challenges in the next five years?
Our greatest challenge is improving our customer experience through strong service and quality processes. We believe that, by having more satisfied customers, we will achieve our solid growth plan. We plan to achieve these goals by truly listening to our customers.

Alliage already has a strong presence in the Latin American market. Which markets will be the focus of the company from now onwards?
Alliage’s brands are very well known in Latin America and the company is looking forward to exploring other regions in which we have a good market fit. We would like to further expand our businesses into Europe, Africa and Asia, especially through our dental imaging unit Eagle.

How will the focus on service, especially for the foreign market, affect Alliage’s business?
Service and customer care are the core aspects of our strategy. We believe this is a key differentiator and we are consistently reviewing our processes and policies.

The panoramic and CBCT line Eagle has been enthusiastically received by the dental community. How has the device performed on a global level?
From the beginning, our goal with the Eagle product line has been to offer the best image quality in the market. Being near to our clients, we have gradually learnt from different markets the need to develop a faster and more efficient workflow. There is much more to come from this business through our R & D and market focus.

What’s new for IDS 2017?
We are bringing a new CBCT device, a new intra-oral X-ray plate reader and a new full portfolio of dental units. In addition, we are introducing an image plate reader, which will become available in 2017.

Given the many mergers and acquisitions the dental market has seen recently, does Alliage have any plans for further business expansion?
Our business culture is based on solid principles and one of them is the belief that together we can do more. Alliage was created from this principle and we plan to move forward with the same philosophy. We strongly believe in business cooperation, as is necessary for mergers and acquisitions, especially if we can find business partners aligned with our values.

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