Experience that guides a path

His studies began at the English school The Mackay School, in the city of Viña del Mar (where he currently resides with his family), and at the University of Chile of Valparaíso, at the School of Law, he completed his higher studies, graduating from it in 1974.  Fried attended several marketing and after-sales courses.

Upon leaving college, Andrés dedicated himself to the family business as Commercial Manager of an importing company that distributed, throughout the nation and in Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina, products such as Sanyo electronics and Remington appliances, typewriters, sewing and shaving, as well as Remington brand weapons and ammunition. "Also at the same time I dedicated myself to developing in the commercial field a company of manufacture and distribution of suitcases and sports bags, (with the Head brand) throughout the country and of which we are partners," says Fried.

In the 90s, specifically from 1995, our professional entered fully into the security business, having as a priority the provision of services in this area, which for him would have a great future ahead, In addition, the margins of the electronics business were mainly declining. However, not only the economic factor motivated the creation of the company, the tastes and knowledge about security and the memories of having served in the military as a student - reservist -, prompted Fried along with his family to start with this dream.

The first company created in the security segment was CPS Seguridad Total Ltda, which was dedicated to physical security, as well as alarm monitoring, implementing two monitoring rooms, one in the headquarters of Viña del Mar and the other in the city of Iquique in northern Chile; from where they served the whole country taking advantage of previous knowledge about distribution throughout the nation. By that date, fried says, "there were no more than 20,000 monitored customers in the country, nor were there many companies professionalized in Integral Security."

In 1997, this company partnered with another private security company, starting a new project of the Carabineros de Chile, called Alfa 3, which consisted of the company filtering the alarm trigger calls and then transferring them to its  own computers that were inside the communication centers of the Carabineros de Chile.  Which lasted three years, helped Andrés and his partners to grow significantly in business.
  
Projects that benefited everyone

The following year, the development of the company and its recognition in the physical security industry became stronger and stronger, so that they were awarded the creation and implementation of the citizen security of Viña del Mar through its municipality. This operation consisted of the administration of the fleet of vehicles of the municipality dedicated to security; the installation of GPS and the control of its management through this system. "We also installed alarms in the main facilities and monitored them, we also managed the central telephone of the municipal security, coordinating with the Police and other emergency levels," explains Andrés.

By October 1999, ADT entered the country in order to carry out its expansion in Latin America and bought the client portfolio of CPS Seguridad Total Ltda., which created a condition of permanence, since the Chilean company with Andrés Fried became Branch Manager of ADT for a period of six months.

In 2000, due to the contractual ban on using the firm, Fried, a partner and his family, created First Security, a company that joined the ADT dealer program that lasted two years. During this period, First Security was contractually defined as a master dealer, being awarded for its sales volume and considered the largest of the program worldwide, having 20 offices in Chile and the same number in Argentina. Additionally, they carried out operations in Brazil, Spain; and in Peru, Costa Rica and the United States, they had been authorized to create their subsidiaries as a dealer, reaching only to constitute the companies, when the end of the dealer program arrived.

"Unfortunately, ADT's parent company, Tyco, had a great economic crisis, as a result of the fraudulent management of the company and therefore the complete dealer program ,  that is, worldwide, was unilaterally suspended in  2002, which meant we closed all our operations and faced an acute financial and human crisis within our company, the one we face together with our workers and facing the creditors." Comments Andrés.

The experience is not improvised

After this crisis and with the help of his family, his collaborators and executives, Fried began a new stage in the security market (only in Chile), taking advantage of his experience in the development of markets and products. "To meet these objectives, we generated a comprehensive security project of a professional nature, covering all areas of private security," he explains.

This project focused on the development of various security services divisions, which today place the company within the most representative companies of the Chilean private security market, distinguishing itself by having a more specialized product, with differentiated attention, and not of a massive nature; since, as Andrés comments, due to the high degree of insecurity and incipient violence that exists in Chile, and the sustained growth of crimes, First Security must provide personalized services that meet the needs of its clients, whether they are companies, institutions or families. 

Learning day by day

But Andrés is not only dedicated to the growth and development of his company, although he begins his workday at nine in the morning and ends at 8:45 at night, for him his family is also an important element both in his life and in the achievement of his goals and dreams.

27 years ago, Andrés married Ana María Grbic, a union from which his four sons, Geza, Yoza, Eitan and Yuri, were born.  "The names of my children are different, since my parents emigrated from Hungary.  Geza, his name was my grandfather, this is a typically Hungarian name and has no English translation. Yoza, is Joseph in Yugoslav. Eitan is a modern Jewish name, as we profess that religion and Yuri is George in Hungarian, Yugoslav and Russian."

The oldest of his children, with 25 years, is an industrial engineer with a master's degree in Business Engineering, currently deputy manager of operations of First Security, the second of 21 years, is in fourth of Commercial Engineering, the third of 18 years is studying the same career and the fourth of 16 years, he is in his junior year at The Mackay School.

"My family is the most important thing for me along with my work, without them I could not be happy," says Andrés, who also comments that they share a lot of time together and enjoy traveling together, although in the last four years this has been difficult. since each one has different schedules and obligations. Also this professional says: "sport is another of our hobbies, my wife and I try to accompany them when they participate in these activities, because our children are very good rugby players".

Challenges and objectives

For any professional there are challenges, objectives and goals that are intended to be met and carried out in the area that is performed and Andrés is no exception. For him, his main challenges are focused on various aspects such as technology, management and relationship with employees, constant updating and the incorporation of new trends into the company. Additionally, Fried believes that an important element within his role as Executive Vice President is to keep in direct contact with his collaborators as well as with customers, because at the end of everything, customers, both internal and external, "are the main asset of companies, and they must endure over time, which ultimately represents greater profitability for the company."

A region that grows but with difficulty

Several Latin American nations have suffered major economic crises such as the one that Argentina went through at the beginning of the XXI century, however at this moment the situation has improved, finding greater flows of capital and foreign investors, which in one way or another contribute to the development and growth of the countries.

For Andrés Fried, the Chilean security market needs medium-sized companies with expert personnel in consulting and installation, who provide personalized attention and who focus more on a comprehensive security advisory business than on a financial business, because although the economic situation of the region is taking some significant steps, the problem of drugs, corruption, the growth of crime and the inability of states to provide sufficient security and to stop this escalation of crime, are problems that have not diminished, and that encourage the creation of more private security companies.

Fried also recognizes that security in Chile has grown steadily since 1997. Last year this industry billed US $ 900.000000, growing about 20% compared to 2005 and it is possible that this year the same will happen.

It should be noted that despite the increase in the variables of electronic security and new technologies, the demand for human resources for security continues to grow in Chile. According to recent studies, 100,000 people currently work in the field of private security, representing 75 per cent of the security market in the country; and there are only 230,000 installations with alarms for 15,000,000 million inhabitants. However, according to what Andrés says, the country needs qualified labor in CCTV technicians, access controls and integration in general.

Regarding the new technologies offered, Chile is up to the needs of the market, although not many wireless equipment are used due to its high cost, but the issue of IP communications and image monitoring is already being explored.

Present and future

Nowadays in Chile the educational aspect and the training for security professionals and technicians are aspects that have improved especially in the issue of integration, although the offer of training and professionals in the periphery of the country continues to be insufficient.

Fried, who is also a founding partner of ALAS, Chile chapter, considers that the association is the right institution to carry out and lead the change in the country with respect to the education and training of technicians, so that they can be enabled by the supervisory bodies, as is the OS-10 department of the Carabineros de Chile.

"I have no doubt that the future of the private security industry in the country will be more demanding and greater professionalism will be required, and that ultimately the most serious companies with greater economic support must survive," says this professional when asked about the future of security in his country.

Andrés Fried and the two companies he has led have achieved wide recognition in their country, not only for being the first to have had monitoring rooms in provinces, but because they cared about meeting the security needs of their customers and compatriots. Our professional has traveled with his family and his collaborators a wide and long road with triumphs and defeats that have given them experience, recognition and joys, elements that today, are reflected in a leading company in the security market in Chile.