14 February 2014

PRESS RELEASE – ÉrabliTEK (www.erablitek.com), a young Sherbrooke company in the key sector of information and communication technologies, has just launched the marketing of its innovative computerized maple grove management system.

Developed after four years of research and development, the ÉrabliTEK system helps to improve the performance of maple groves by making optimal use of maple syrup production equipment. It features remote monitoring and control functions, as well as data analysis.

Founded in 2013, ÉrabliTEK and its promoters, Martin Chicoine and José Halée, have received support from Pro-Gestion Estrie. They have also benefited from financial assistance through Sherbrooke Innopole’s New Entrepreneur Fund. To date, the project has required investments in the amount of $167 000.

Josée Fortin, Director General of Sherbrooke Innopole, Martin Chicoine, Director at ÉrabliTEK, and Danye Desrochers, Financial Advisor at Sherbrooke Innopole

The technology developed by ÉrabliTEK includes autonomous management modules for pumping stations and equipment rooms, tube monitoring, and leak management as well as a user-friendly management and control interface. This ensures real-time monitoring of the maple grove.

The ÉrabliTEK system provides maple syrup producers with numerous benefits: “Our system is revolutionizing the industry by controlling a number of factors affecting maple grove efficiency and profitability,” pointed out Martin Chicoine, Director at ÉrabliTEK. “Our turnkey technology results in significant time savings while reducing losses, because, among other things, it identifies the exact source of a problem. The interface we have designed is simple to master and easily accessible via the Internet – we have established agreements with Internet providers so that a network is accessible. The cost of the equipment is also very competitive.”

Thanks to these distinct advantages, ÉrabliTEK plans to make the most of a very interesting technological window in Canada and the United States, where the maple syrup production sector is beginning to move towards innovation. The rising trend in worldwide consumption is another factor impacting ÉrabliTEK’s growth potential.

To Gordon Harling, Director – Business Development for the Information and Communication Technologies and Micro-Nanotechnologies key sectors at Sherbrooke Innopole: “ICTs are a must in businesses; they constitute an ideal way to shift towards innovation. Sherbrooke Innopole is proud to support Sherbrooke companies like ÉrabliTEK, which has combined its expertise in the maple syrup production industry with leading-edge technology to benefit an industrial sector that is being compelled to modernize.”

This Sherbrooke business plans to progressively serve Québec, Ontario, New Brunswick, and the northeastern United States.