News

São Martinho creates Innovation Center

to boost the development of new products and business

São Paulo, March, 2023 – Think of an agro-industrial logistics operation that, in one single harvest day, considering the journeys of all machines, vehicles and other implements, covers, within its 350,000 hectares of crops, a distance equivalent to four laps around the globe. Now, imagine that this entire operation is connected and allows machines to talk to each other, and that each routine is monitored online and in real time. This is the reality of São Martinho, one of the largest bioenergy groups in Brazil, which has just inaugurated its Innovation Center, a hub dedicated to thinking about and developing technological solutions that will not only benefit the Company itself, but the entire agribusiness ecosystem, based on partnerships with startups, companies, universities, and other agents, using its four plants as a field for experimentation, which, together, have capacity to process 24.5 million tons of sugarcane per harvest.

Located in the heart of Usina São Martinho – in Pradópolis (SP) [State of São Paulo], with grinding capacity of 10 million tons of sugarcane per harvest, producing ethanol, sugar and electricity –, the Innovation Center is a physical structure designed by the Company to a link with different agents of the national and international innovation ecosystem. It also represents the Digital Transformation that is applied to leverage value, paving the way for the use of technologies that will enable an even more connected future, reinforcing São Martinho’s pioneering spirit in Brazilian agribusiness.

“São Martinho has always been innovative and has built its history from a pioneering and overcoming vision and performance. We have recently defined, through our strategic planning, the guidelines of São Martinho Inova’s Thesis, which establishes that innovating is imperative to remain competitive. We understand that this innovation must focus on the development of new technologies, so that we can guarantee the continuous production of renewable carbon with maximum efficiency and lowest cost in the market; transform this carbon into new products with high added value; and develop new business opportunities based on the Company’s tangible and intangible assets,” explains Agenor Cunha Pavan, São Martinho Vice-President and Agroindustrial Superintendent.

In this context, the Company is investing in innovation initiatives that are driving, among other projects, the company’s digital transformation. These are projects such as the development and implementation of a 4G network at Usina São Martinho, in Pradópolis (SP), between 2015 and 2018; the development, implementation and rollout of the São Martinho Agricultural Operations Center at the Company’s four units, between 2018 and 2021; the rollout of the proprietary 4G network at the units of Santa Cruz, in Américo Brasiliense (SP) and Boa Vista, in Quirinópolis (GO) [State of Goiás], between 2020 and 2021; implementation of a public 4G network at Usina Iracema in partnership with CNHi and Tim (2020-2021); implementation of SAP S4 Hana (SMTO 4.0) at Grupo São Martinho, starting in 2021; the project for expansion (phase 2) of Agricultural Operations Centers to all the Company’s units, focusing on extracting intelligence from the data collected from the “lighting” of agricultural areas, since 2021; deployment of the 5G network for structuring the Innovation Center (2022); and development of the Digital Platform and Datalake Agroindustrial SM, starting in 2022.

It is worth mentioning that all these projects, as well as the launch of Cubo Agro, in 2021, an initiative to encourage the technological development of startups that provide solutions for the agribusiness chain, in partnership with Corteva Agriscience, Itaú BBA, CNHi and Suzano, prepared the Company to consolidate its position in the innovation ecosystem with the creation of the São Martinho Innovation Center.

“When we look at all these projects that are being carried out by the Company, we can better understand the transformation process in which we are inserted and seek to be a reference. Based on updated information available at the São Martinho Operation Centers (COA – Agricultural Operations Center, and COI – Industrial Operations Center), the Company has illuminated its operations to act with precision, doing the right thing, at the right time. The next stage in this digital journey has already begun from the moment that São Martinho has integrated and concentrated this information in one single place (Datalake Agroindustrial SM), from where it can systematize this agronomic and industrial knowledge in the form of artificial intelligence algorithms, supporting decision-making in the 350,000 hectares that it operates in its four units. Now, with the Innovation Center, we seek to open up our expertise to partners interested in developing agribusiness solutions, based on 5G technology and the Internet of Things, that may be transformative for São Martinho, and for global agribusiness, our partners and the innovation ecosystem in which we are inserted,” says Pavan.

São Martinho Innovation Center

Installed at Usina São Martinho, in Pradópolis (SP), the Innovation Center offers the ecosystem a physical, logical and cultural environment highly conducive to the open innovation model and fully connected in all its extension to carry out projects. With the creation of this space, São Martinho also opens up all the knowledge of its specialists with extensive experience and know-how accumulated over decades, as well as the data of its operations, in an environment that encourages the development of digital solutions with opportunities to scale them, in a disruptive way, linked to the strength of São Martinho’s brand.

“The Center was born from the understanding that investing in innovation and adoption of pioneering technologies in the segment continues to be imperative to maintain the competitive edge of our operations. Only then we will be able to own the products from these Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) projects, generating new business and revenues. Therefore, we are making this move to outside the company, looking for innovations in earlier stages of maturity and new partners. Together with Corteva and Itaú BBA, we launched CuboAgro, which now also has Suzano and CNHi as sponsors; we reinforced our position in the National Association for Research and Development of Innovative Companies (“ANPEI”); we became partners of ibiTech, in Israel; of Enrich, in Europe; and a member of the Brazilian Association of Bio-innovation (“ABBI”), among other ongoing initiatives. The Innovation Center is an icon that crowns this strategic positioning, an inspiring environment, fully connected and enabled by our digital platform inside the largest sugarcane mill on the planet,” says Marcelo Eskenazi, São Martinho’s New Business Innovation Advisor.

Structured to be an inclusive and horizontal environment, with shared spaces for ideation, training and project development, São Martinho’s Innovation Center brings together, in the same building, the areas of Innovation Management, Environmental Management, Sustainability, Continuous Improvement, Agroindustrial Technologies and the Company’s Project Management office. “And from the point of view of logical infrastructure, the Innovation Center is illuminated by 4G and 5G networks dedicated to RD&I, and it is also enabled by our Digital Platform, which has a modern Datalake project, in which data is made available for projects with all the necessary governance and control for this new stage of maturity of our innovations,” adds Walter Maccheroni, São Martinho’s Research and Innovation Advisor.

Partnerships to dream and build the impossible                                

The hub is a symbol of the Company’s digital transformation movement, marked by building partnerships and strong ties with companies and institutions in the innovation ecosystem, which have largely contributed for this process led by São Martinho. “It is important to highlight the CPqD (Center for Telecommunications Research and Development), when we refer to the development and implementation of São Martinho’s proprietary 4G network; Ericson/Vivo, in the construction/ideation of the 5G Roadmap for the agroindustry; CNHi/Tim, in the deployment of the 4G network at the Iracemápolis unit; Ericson/Tim, in the deployment of the 5G network; KPMG, in the development of the Company’s SAP S4 Hana project, as well as KPMG/Microsoft, in the design and implementation of our Digital Platform,” as detailed by Maccheroni.

At this time, with the creation of the Innovation Center, several partners continue to interact with the Company in the development or provision of technologies and solutions, in different projects, including startups that were recently integrated into Cubo Agro, such as AgroScout, Arable, IBBX, and others.

“In addition to being a symbol, the Innovation Center was conceived to be São Martinho’s Digital Transformation HQ and a base for development and integration of our projects and new digital businesses. Our expectation is that it will provide us with new partnerships of great relevance in the global outlook, decisively contributing to pave the way for more autonomous operations and making ultra-precision agriculture feasible. We are innovating in order to continue building a future that allows us to dream of what is still impossible. We invite technology companies that believe that the impossible is what someone hasn’t done yet, to be part of this journey and build this future with us. Welcome to the newest home for innovation in the world’s agribusiness sector, the São Martinho Innovation Center,” concluded Agenor Pavan.