Vague but important question

Hello All,

I wanted to get the opinions of some of the people here. So here is my question.

What kind of automation, that if implemented in a third world country, would be a highly lucrative business??

I know this is fairly vague because one has to spend the time and research to see whats in demand, by the public, country etc...

However their are certain types of automation, could be in the processing, Cosmetic, pharmaceutical, bottling etc industries that if one were to start an automation company that produces these in these corresponding categories,no matter what that category you pick will always be high in demand.

I guess what I'm really asking is as an example if a person gave you the opportunity to start your own automated company what can of company would you start? handling what kind of product for what kind of industry? primarily in a third world country where automation is not up to par as most of the other parts of the world.

Looking forward to the replies.

"street pharmaceutical" processing.

On a more serious note, I see maybe offering supports to existing installations since there are usually a lot of equipment installed by foreign vendors.

Some context of the question might be helpful.

I'm sure there are exceptions to this but for the most part big business is already producing most of the products overseas that would require automation and they use companies like the one I work for to design and install.
I think of all the traveling I've done and I don't see anything being hand-made over seas. All the souvenirs are made in a factory and all the food is just as processed as it is here.

As far as what business to get into.....food and water are going to become obscenely scarce in many parts of the world over the next 20-50 years as overpopulation takes its hold. So....you could get into business making something that would alleviate the problem or get into business making the war machines that will be needed as countries struggle to feed their population......

Luke_Mages said:

As far as what business to get into.....food and water are going to become obscenely scarce in many parts of the world over the next 20-50 years as overpopulation takes its hold.

Click to expand...

Water purification.

Simpler things would be appliances that don't run on electric power like small ovens, or pedal powered washing machines.

Any kind of farming implement that doesn't require power.

All must be simple, reliable and easy to maintain or repair.

~ An automated guillotine may go over well in certain mid-eastern countries.

The biggest steps towards prosperity revolve around getting beyond subsistence farming. Anything that moves people beyond spending all of their time just barely surviving then frees time to direct effort toward improving quality of life.
So the big hitters are

• irrigation and farm automation.
• water purification and distribution.

Then

• Solar powered absorption chillers - making ice with no moving parts for food preservation.
• Communication.
• Food preparation appliances
• waste water treatment
• Solar and wind power
• Transportation infrastructure - you cannot have growth without trade. This will include pavement batching plants and mechanized road making.
• Textile manufacturing.
• All resources are either harvested or mined. Anything to automate those processes.

I can't think of a way that automation can address corruption though, which is the biggest obstacle.

Some really good insights here

@Luke
You are mostly right in that most of these third world countries get systems built / designed overseas, once its installed systems runs fine for some number of years till problems arise, parts going bad etc, for something that is quickly fixed here takes so much time to fix simple things in these third world countries.

@ Peter
"Simpler things would be appliances that don't run on electric power like small ovens, or pedal powered washing machines"
Great idea, their are countries out there that electric power is not available 2 to maybe 3 times a week on a regular basis, i can see how this can be beneficial. If you have some links and resources for those appliances please send it my way.

@ Russ
AN automated guillotine for what exactly? Guillotine can be used for a number of applications, maybe you have something more specific?

@ Tconnolly

Thanks for all those points

Keep them coming guys this is all good stuff.

I live in Colombia, drugs and violence are present everyday but corruption is our biggest problem rather than any other. Peter and Tconnolly made an good radiography of what we need the most.

Concrete and steel. These are heavy things with low value per kg, and so are usually made in the country itself. The poor quality of these two things causes big problems. Of course, local oligarchical power would probably crush you. For instance, India's Tata group would have you jailed and/or killed if you moved in on their concrete monopoly.

The 3rd world is supplied with 2nd hand machines from Europe/USA, so an alternative business could be to retrofit existing machinery with low cost controls. A lot of companies buy their old machines back and do these retrofit/resales in house, so it could be a hard market to get into.

China has the market cornered in Africa for things like water pumping/treatment and roads, but those could be money makers elsewhere.

There are few untapped markets. The best thing is to find a weird regional product that locals actually like (as in, it isn't desperation that drives them to consume the product) and then mass produce that product. For instance, south west India, they drink Toddy because regular alcohol is too expensive; no one actually likes toddy and if you found a way to legally (or otherwise) mass produce it, you wouldn't make any money. On the other hand, if S.Korea was not an advanced country, and made bubble tea by hand, being the first to mass produce it would make you very rich.

@CapinWinky "The best thing is to find a weird regional product that locals actually like (as in, it isn't desperation that drives them to consume the product) and then mass produce that product. For instance, south west India, they drink Toddy because regular alcohol is too expensive; no one actually likes toddy and if you found a way to legally (or otherwise) mass produce it, you wouldn't make any money. On the other hand, if S.Korea was not an advanced country, and made bubble tea by hand, being the first to mass produce it would make you very rich"

That is exactly the area or better worded part that im trying to figure out, unfortunately that's the hard part.

Thanks on the info guys

"India's Tata group would have you jailed and/or killed if you moved in on their concrete monopoly"

Thats another big problem specially in a third world country, don't want to be found dead on the street lol.