On Innovator’s Day, uniting talent for the benefit of tourism.
It was a difficult assignment… We had no experience whatsoever. There aren’t many professionals in this field in Cuba. We thought of calling abroad to consult some colleagues, but everything is in the hands of the companies, and that, Yuri explains, is a bit cumbersome.
There is still a belief in the economic power of entities within the Ministry of Tourism, of not suffering from technological or equipment problems, of having excess money to purchase parts or invest here and there, in the name of the priority given to the strategic sector.
Fortunately, this hypothesis has long been disproved daily in this industry, a favorite victim of the United States economic, commercial, and financial blockade, where innovation, rationalization, and creation take place as much as in any other sphere of production of goods, and/or in the provision of other services.
Perhaps for this reason, Amado Acosta Hernández, deputy general manager of the Meliá Internacional Varadero hotel, decided to trust engineers Yuri Figueredo Caiñas and Francisco Díaz Cervantes.
In them, he saw the solution to the 94 rooms that were excluded from the sales scheme due to faulty electronic door locks, which was highly detrimental to one of the most in-demand facilities in the main Cuban resort.
It was a difficult assignment… We had no experience whatsoever. There aren’t many professionals in this field in Cuba. We thought about calling a foreign company to consult with some colleagues, but everything is in the hands of the companies, and that, Yuri explains, is a bit cumbersome.
They are Vingcard electronic locks, which are opened and closed by a radio frequency signal, identified by a code transmitted by a PVC card, which contains a microchip with an antenna inside. The carrier frequency is phase-modulated and contains the customer’s information.
They wasted no more time. From observation, they moved on to an exhaustive study, and from there, we began removing the rubber seals, disassembling the parts, and finally removing the circuits. At this point, we were able to verify the current draw and voltage, he recounts with the pride of someone who knows the magnitude of what he has done.
He identifies as a key step the replacement of polaroids (the metal where the battery makes contact) for others that are more conductive, malleable, resistant to humidity and saltpeter, and have a low corrosion rate in the environment.
We also repaired mechanical parts, switches, and serviced the handles on the outer cover. We found the solution… and we did it with recyclable materials, Yuri points out.
The valuable contribution doesn’t end there. The sustainability of the innovation could be jeopardized by the lack of parts inside these locks. Faced with this new dilemma, Yuri and Francisco created several machines, one of which manufactures the necessary parts.
And not only that. Their device, dubbed AMAELEC, indicates the problem if there is any problem and immediately replaces the damaged part. They claim the room is ready again in 15 minutes.
Yuri and Francisco pooled their knowledge to bring those 94 rooms back into operation, and also prevented the disposal of many ARREGUI brand safes.
According to Francisco, the total investment is around 15 million pesos, and although they have had a contractual relationship with the Meliá Internacional Varadero hotel for four years, the Yuri Group SME workers have put a sauna, which had been closed for 11 years, into operation at a Gaviota hotel, as well as the inverter air conditioners in the Plaza América stores.
They even arrived at the Meliá Cayo Santamaría at the end of December last year to restore service to 86 rooms, and we are able to go wherever we are requested.
The important thing is to avoid rooms that are out of order due to electronic locks or safes, so as not to affect tourism revenue, which is essential to the country’s economy,» says Yuri, who will attend as a delegate to the Third Provincial Conference of the Association of Innovators and Rationalizers in Matanzas, scheduled for November.
In Amado’s opinion, thanks to the intelligence, dedication, and commitment of Yuri and Francisco, and a group of other colleagues, significant progress has been made in the hotel’s operations, because almost all innovations improve customer perception.
On this October 8th, Innovator’s Day, Yuri and Francisco congratulate all those who overcome the impossible to save the production of goods and services and preserve jobs.
To them, we pay our daily tribute, said Osmar Ramírez, general secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Cuban Workers’ Union.
Written by Eva Luna Acosta.
