Belgium’s I-care reinforces Brazil operations to grow in Latin America

I-care is strengthening its Brazilian team to serve Latin American subsidiaries of existing international clients and win new industrial customers.

Côme Lainé has been appointed regional development manager for Latin America. The company did not disclose an investment amount or a timetable for entering additional countries.

Founded in 2004, the Belgian group specialises in predictive maintenance and industrial performance. Its business combines equipment monitoring with engineering support to help companies identify deterioration before it leads to a breakdown.

Its services cover industries including mining, food and beverage, chemicals, oil and gas, and pulp and paper. Across these activities, the availability of production equipment is a central operational concern: a malfunction can interrupt processes beyond the affected machine.

Predictive maintenance uses operating data to anticipate problems and inform the timing of repairs. It differs from replacing components solely according to a calendar or waiting until equipment fails before intervening.

I-care’s technology includes Wi-care wireless sensors, which measure vibration, impact and temperature in rotating machinery. These measurements provide information about equipment condition and can reveal changes that warrant further investigation.

The data feeds into I-see, the group’s software platform. According to the company, its artificial intelligence tools classify readings, flag potential faults and help prioritise analysis. Specialists review the resulting information and develop maintenance recommendations.

The distinction between detecting a warning and acting on it is important. Monitoring can identify a developing problem, but avoiding a stoppage also requires maintenance teams to assess the diagnosis, organise the intervention and carry out the necessary work.

I-care packages its hardware, software and expert support through Predictive Maintenance as a Service. The subscription approach is intended to make monitoring expenditure more predictable and reduce the need to organise equipment purchases, software and specialist analysis separately.

For industrial customers, that changes how the proposal is evaluated. Alongside sensor performance, the relevant considerations include the scope of technical support, compatibility with existing systems and whether recommendations can be incorporated into everyday maintenance routines.

The company also highlights its local experience with equipment imports and Brazilian taxation, practical considerations for deploying a service that combines physical devices with digital analysis.

I-care offers different levels of involvement, from taking responsibility for monitoring activities to working alongside internal teams or training them. That flexibility allows the service to be adapted to the technical resources already available at each plant.

The commercial test is whether the combination of technology and engineering support produces measurable improvements in equipment availability and maintenance planning. For customers, the value lies in converting operating data into timely interventions, rather than simply increasing the number of connected machines.