Arubu

Mobile Robot for Delivering Goods in Healthcare Facilities

By Idir Mahrouche

Cit des 32 logements Bat A Route des Aurs Technicum

Iheddaden Bjaa 06000 Algeria
Cell: (213) 557 86 82 05

Arubu : The Business Plan

Executive summary
Arubu is a business that will be established in 2015/2016, it focuses on involving
sophisticated technological advances into healthcare.
I currently hold a bachelor of science in electrical and electronic engineering from the
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of University MHamed BOUGARA
Boumerdes (Algeria). Also, I currently enrolled in a masters degree in control
engineering at the same institution. This is a formal qualification in the area of proposed
business products, in addition to a few online courses that I am attending in the field of
business and management at www.edx.com offered by prestigious American
universities.
The major reason behind my desire to establish the business is that my final year project
at college was about robotics, it was entitled Roadmap Methods for Mobile Robot Path
Planning and can be found at http://fr.scribd.com/doc/228806146/Fyp, and all the
research carried out when writing the report led me to the idea of developing an
autonomous mobile robot for delivering goods in healthcare facilities.
Nowadays, patients in hospitals and elderly houses complain from the lack of
communication between them and clinical staff, which systematically leads to a decrease
in the quality of the given healthcare. Moreover, these facilities and specifically in the
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region usually suffer from financial issues and low
government aids, which causes sometimes a delay in employees month salaries that are
often low comparing to the job they do.
This is where Arubu comes, it is an autonomous mobile robot for healthcare facilities
such as hospitals and elderly houses used for transporting and delivering meals,
laundry, drugs and documents etc., throughout the facility hallways. The robot
referred to as Arubu is fit with appropriate space to carry desired stuff to desired staff
or locations compensating the lack of nurse personnel and saving time for nurses in
carrying out activities more related to patients. Such robots can both save money for
hospitals, and time for clinical staff to spend it with patients instead of transporting
goods, which in fact translates to a better care and improved patient satisfaction. In the
future Arubu will hopefully expand its productivity not only to robots but also to all
electronic-related medical devices such as CAT scanners, MRIsetc. Moreover, the
health sector is clearly extendable to industrial one; such robots could be used in
factories as well.

Company description
Business Structure
Arubu will start as a sole proprietorship business-to-business (B2B) company run by
Idir Mahrouche, which might be expanded in the future to a joint-stock company having
me as its majority shareholder. The startup headquarters will be located at my home
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Arubu : The Business Plan

address as my family owns a garage of 140 m which is amply sufficient for its
launching.
Marketplace
The company will start marketing the products at private medical centers and hospitals
particularly in Algiers, Oran, Annaba, Stif and Constantine which are the major cities in
Algeria. Some of the well-known medical centers with high prestige are: Clinique el
Azhar (Dely-Ibrahim - Algiers), Clinique Ennadjah (Birkhadem Algiers), Clinique
d'hemodialyse Sonya, (Birkhadem Algiers), Clinique Chifa (Hydra- Algiers) - Clinique
Naoufel (Constantine) and Le Rameau dOliver (Bjaa). After getting enough notoriety
with private medical centers, state-run hospitals and elderly houses will feel the
pressure to get equipped with our products, this will eventually lead to their
vulgarization all around Algeria and subsequently in Morocco, Tunisia and then all over
the Mena region.
Competitive advantage
Fortunately, we will not face any kind of local competition here in Algeria and not even
in North Africa. Arubu will be the first high-tech company in Algeria specialized in
robotics and healthcare. Besides to mastering the field of robotics, I am supported by
three of my fellow students in the field of computer and control engineering capable of
making breakthrough innovations. The production factory is located in Bjaa, an airport
and port city in northern Algeria that is a strategic location for eventual exportations of
company products to Europe and Middle East. Arubu robot is a highly visible investment
as it travels the halls, rides elevators and audibly speaks while performing its
tasks. Hospitals using Arubu products are serious about improving efficiency. They also
enhance their reputation as being on the leading edge of medical care.

Market analysis
Industry description and outlook
The role of electronic components, devices and products has been on a positive growth
path in the healthcare sector during the last decade. The influx of medical electronics
technology has reinforced the existing healthcare infrastructure in various ways right
from digitizing medical test, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to enhancing the
reach of healthcare through telemedicine and health IT. With the fast pace of growth in
this domain, need for a common platform where doctors, experts from technology
providing industries, key decision makers from various government bodies, academician
and other stake holders can together deliberate on the way forward, was recognized.
The medical electronics industry has witnessed double digit growth in recent years and
this growth trajectory is expected to continue due to the rising incidence of chronic
diseases, increased urbanization and a growing elderly population. As an illustrating
example, in 2010, the Indian medical electronics industry constituted sales of US
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Arubu : The Business Plan

$1Billion out of an approximately US $2.5Billion medical devices industry market of an
overall $50 billion healthcare market. Although available statistics project a growing and
improving healthcare infrastructure in the country, affordability and accessibility
barriers impede penetration of medical technology and equipment within vast majority
of the population. The current product affordability of medical technology is a major
barrier for the market to be able to achieve its anticipated potential growth. However,
prudent innovation methods can reduce manufacturing costs and eventually lower
market prices. Additionally, an increased focus and reliance on domestic manufacturing
of medical electronics, as opposed to the current dependence on the import market, will
also help to improve this overall condition.
The path current healthcare systems are heading down and are largely unsustainable
and we have no choice but to improve. The rapidly aging population and rising demand
for medical services contribute to soaring costs (56% of 2.6 trillion dollars of US federal
budget are spent annually for personnel) and ever more pronounced gaps in care.
Physician and nurse shortages only add to the challenge. The reality is that health
systems are struggling to develop care models that leverage care providers enabling
them to accommodate the expanding needs.
Gaps in care are also a serious health concern, especially for patients with chronic
conditions. Poor communication between patients and doctors, and the technology that
supports them, are both health and cost hazards. In order to overcome the challenges of
todays healthcare landscape, technology must help providers deliver more efficient and
effective care, reducing and preventing errors of omission and redundancy, both of
which hamper clinical operations. Medical technology must close the gaps in care and
connect patient care from the hospital to the home, all the while helping providers
simplify workflow, communicate more effectively and increase the efficiency of their
clinical teams.
Internationally speaking there exist companies in the medical electronics industry, but
only a few of them are focusing on robotics, here are the ten most prolific companies
according to Evaluate MedTech World Preview 2018:
1. Johnson & Johnson
2. Medtronic
3. Siemens
4. General Electric
5. Roche
6. Covidien
7. Abbott Laboratories
8. Philips
9. Stryker
10. Novartis
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Arubu : The Business Plan

Target market
As mentioned above, my main target customers are healthcare facilities such as
hospitals and elderly houses. Initial customers and my target for the first year will be
private medical centers in northern Algeria but not limited to it, as soon as the company
website is launched, my products could go worldwide and customers shall purchase the
different products online. Bellow you see marked the main hospitals in Algiers1:

Figure 1 Depicting different medical center in Algiers

I will approach my target market by calling on medical facilities in the area, introducing
myself, the company and my products and the services they offer, and asking if they
would like a free trial. Later on, after some sales on the country, I will develop a
marketing campaign in the entire Mena region.
Our customers must not to be individuals wishing to acquire our products unless
exceptional cases are judged by the marketing department, like for example, selling a
robot for educational purposes.
As mentioned above, there are no medical electronic industries in North Africa, this is
why I seek to implement a high-tech industry in this region, because I feel it is high time
to make our technological revolution in the region especially because we possess an
enormous potential of intelligent young people willing to work hard and innovate. As a
result, the market will be ours, and the whole market share will be monopolized by
Arubu unless a competitive company appears, and I think it will be the main advantage
of Arubu, to be a pioneer in high-tech, here in North Africa.
Gross margin target
The gross margin as defined in www.investopedia.com is a company's total sales
revenue minus its cost of goods sold, divided by the total sales revenue, expressed as a
percentage. The gross margin represents the percent of total sales revenue that the
company retains after incurring the direct costs associated with producing the goods
1

There are much more medical centers in Algiers than the one marked on the map. This is due to Google
maps search engine inefficiency.

Arubu : The Business Plan

and services sold by a company. The higher the percentage, the more the company
retains on each dollar of sales to service its other costs and obligations.

This number represents the proportion of each dollar of revenue that the company
retains as gross profit. For example, if a company's gross margin for the most recent
quarter was 35%, it would retain $0.35 from each dollar of revenue generated, to be put
towards paying off selling, general and administrative expenses, interest expenses and
distributions to shareholders. The levels of gross margin can vary drastically from one
industry to another depending on the business. For example, software companies will
generally have a much higher gross margin than a manufacturing firm.
For my case, I have calculated the estimated cost of electronic components to be
purchased roughly up to $ 4,100; they include the following list of items:
Toradex Nvidia Colibri module: $ 250
Arduino WiFi Shield (with Antenna) + USB Microcontroller Rev 3: $ 116.98
Jumpers: $ 5.59
Kondo KRS-6003HV ICS Servo Motor Red Version : $ 382.38
X2 Ultima Dual 200 Watt Battery Multi-Charger: $ 149.99
Structure: $ 500
Mimo Magic Monster 10.1" Touchscreen LCD Screen: $ 249.99
Maxbotix USB-ProxSonar-EZ4 Sonar Proximity Sensor X 15: $ 44.95 X 15
Miscellaneous2: $ 500.
The estimated tax for shipping the above components to Algeria is estimated to $ 20 per
item, summing up to $ 500. Thus, we obtain a COGS of approximately $ 3,600. We
estimate the cost of one unit to be around $ 6,000.
The cost of facility rent is null, however, factory utilities are estimated to $ 500.
Hence, the gross margin = $ 6,000 - $ 4,100 = $ 1,900

=:

The gross margin ration is then:

=0.32

This means that I would gain 0.32 cents for every dollar spent.

This item includes other components that might be needed in the future.

Arubu : The Business Plan

Competitive analysis
Market share
Despite the fact that the robotic healthcare industry is not yet well implemented in the
Mena region, only Saudi Arabia and Turkey have incorporated robotic technology into
hospitals, in addition to United Arab Emirates who have decided to finance projects of
hospital modernization by integrating robots into them. The providers of this technology
are western companies, no Mena company has yet started developing such robots (or
robots at all), and thats the objective I want to accomplish.
Henceforth, it is quite difficult to assess the market share that my company possesses. In
fact, it is sometimes hard to evaluate it even though the company is running.
S.W.O.T analysis
Strengths
Commitment
Experience in theory and practice in the field of electronics
Understanding of sustainability practices, and ability to implement these
Sales ability and good communication skills
Ability to work part-time while business is building
Weaknesses
Start-up business
Competition
Government disapproval in equipping with robots in hospitals
Lack of a reputation in comparison to our competitors (internationally speaking)
A limited financial base compared to the major players in the industry (internationally)
Opportunities
To personally move forward in my life
To be financed by government agency at 0% interest rate
Investing in high-tech industry
To employ others on contract
To diversify into other areas (telemedicine, surgeryetc)
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Arubu : The Business Plan

Threats
Limited fund
No commercial experience
Cost of material and manufacturing
Product substitution
Regulatory restrictions
Launching a startup in Algeria as a sole proprietorship is easy, and does not require
fancy formalities and regulations do not cost a big fortune. It goes under the name of
Entreprise unipersonnelle responsabilit limite (EURL), literally translated from
French to single-member limited liability company.
This is a LLC whose number of shareholders is limited to one. It encourages private
initiative of individual entrepreneurs for which it provides access to the same types of
activities that the SARL (multi-member limited liability company), including foreign
trade, while protecting their private property that remains independent of the Company.
It requires a share capital of 100,000.00 DZD (approximately $ 1,244).
According to Code des Socits (Legislation of companies), the Algerian law allows the
implementation of production units in any sector, including robotics and medical
technology industry, it comprises as well juridical maneuvers in case of company
bankruptcy, or change of field of work without alerting local agencies. In fact, 28 articles
(from Art. 564 to Art. 591) from Code des Socits deal with LLC legislation , and spans
all financially, judicially and ethically related regulations of launching a startup.

Organization and management

Organizational structure
At the beginning, everything will be managed by me, Idir Mahrouche, but eventually, as
the market broadens, I will get the help of my fellow student to assist me in the job, both
in marketing and production.
Idir Mahrouche
Chief Executive Officer

Achour Idoughi

Idir Mahrouche

Human resource
Department

Production Department

Khoudir Ziane
Marketing Department

Hicham Sadoun
Finance Department

Arubu : The Business Plan

Each one of us holds a bachelors degree in electrical and electronic engineering from
University MHamed BOUGARA Boumerdes and is presently pursuing masters degrees
in control engineering (Mahrouche, Sadoun and Idoughi) and in computer engineering
(Ziane).
Each and every one of us will be involved in producing robots, and this is due to our
background in the field of engineering, however assigning the people to the different
departments was not done randomly, rather, it was done after deep scrutiny of personal
skills and backgrounds. For instance, making Khoudir Ziane the head of the marketing
department is due to his great interpersonal skills and the experience he has had as a
marketing agent at Fekkerni a student company created under the frame of Injaz alarab: a managerial competition.
Many reasons are behind integrating this team into the company:

The trust I feel when working with them.

Their commitment and seriousness when working.
Their desire to be successful as a team

Ownership information
Arubu will be a single-member LLC (sole proprietorship), as the regulations differ from
country to country, talking about a C or S corporation is inappropriate, what it is to tell,
is that Arubu is an LLC company running under a specific legislation made by Algerian
authorities and can be found by clicking here, it is totally owned by Idir Mahrouche, but
is subject to a change if attractive financial offers will show up. I will be involved both in
managing the company and in production.
Curriculum Vitae
PERSONAL INFORMATION

Idir MAHROUCHE
Cit des 32 logements Route des Aurs Technicum Iheddaden Bjaia 06000
Algrie
+213 557 86 82 05
idir .mahrouche@gmail.com
Rastislav.karna (Skype)
Gender Male | Birthday 23/12/1993 | Nationality Algerian

Arubu : The Business Plan

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
From September 2014 to July
2016

From October 2011 to July 2014

Masters Degree in control engineering at the Institute of Electrical

and Electronic Engineering (ex-Inelec) at University MHamed
Bougara of Boumerdes.
Bachelors Degree in electrical and electronic engineering at the
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (ex-Inelec) at
University MHamed Bougara of Boumerdes.
Some of the courses : Linear Algebra, Differential Equations,
Signals and Systems, Control Process and Instrumentation,
Communication Principles, Digital Systems with VHDL
Internships:
From June 2012 to July 2012 at Cevital
A one month full-time internship about electrical engineering with introduction to automation and
control engineering.

In December 2013 at Algrie Telecom

A two-week full-time internship about electronics and communication engineering at the Algerian ISP
Algrie Telecom.

In September 2014 at Electromel

A two-week full-time internship about maintenance of electronic ballasts ( compact fluorescent bulbs)
PERSONAL SKILLS
Mother tongue(s)

Kabyle

Other language(s)

English

UNDERSTANDING

SPEAKING

WRITING

Listening

Reading

Spoken interaction

Spoken production

B2

B2

B2

B2

B2

Language certificate from university stating that the language of instruction is English

French

C2

C1

C1

C1

C1

Test de Connaissance du franais (TCF-SO) 555 points C1 level

Arabic

C2

C2

C2

C2

C2

All my education prior to university was carried out in Arabic as the language of instruction

Communication skills
Computer skills

Driving licence

Good communication skills gained through my interaction with fellow students and my teachers.
Good command of networks- Holding a CCNA 1
Good command of Microsoft Office tools ( Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Programming skills such as C, VHDL, Assembly language and HTML/CSS
Holding a car driving license B

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Presentations
Memberships
References

How to generate electricity by walking. Class presentation January 2012.

Inelectronics Student Club of Boumerdes University.
Letters of recommendation available

ANNEXES
Copies of degrees and language certificates.
Testimonial of internships.

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Arubu : The Business Plan

At the current state, the company does not possess a board of directors as its size does
not recommend having one; however, the CEO is Idir Mahrouche (wherein CEOs are part
of BODs).

Product description
Significance and Scientific & technical merit
The present idea consists of developing an autonomous mobile robot for healthcare
facilities such as hospitals and elderly houses used for transporting and delivering
meals, laundry, drugs and documents etc., throughout the facility hallways. The robot
referred to as Arubu is fit with appropriate space to carry desired stuff to desired staff
or locations compensating the lack of nurse personnel and saving time for nurses in
carrying out activities more related to patients. The robots software contains a twodimensional built-in map of all the facility making it able to discriminate between the
free space and obstacle space. Using an algorithm for static (e.g. walls) and dynamic (e.g.
humans) obstacle avoidance, the robot will be able to ovoid collision and safely navigate
in the facility.
Arubu has got an on-board camera used for the detection of moving obstacles
(particularly walking humans). It detects objects that move in the vicinity of the robot by
block-based motion estimation. In the method, an image is firstly divided into small
blocks, and then the motion of each block is searched by comparing two consecutive
images. If the motion between matching blocks is significantly large, the block in the
current image is classified as belonging to moving objects. In addition to the camera,
multiple ultra-sonic sensors are used for the detection of obstacles. If for example a
gurney is being pushed by somebody from the behind of the robot, the sensors
automatically detect it, and Arubu goes aside letting the way for the gurney to pass.
An interesting feature highlights this mobile robot is an Android-like operating system
installed in it, allowing a real-time remote connection between the hospital pharmacists
and the doctor in need for medications, for instance, without verbal communication. An
application is to be installed on a tablet that the chief physician holds, he inputs desired
drugs and quantities, as well as the location where they are to be delivered, and then it
instantly appears on the robots display screen via an intranet connection throughout
the hospital, which in turns alerts the hospitals pharmacist by making a sound notifying
an order from a doctor. After the pharmacist fills the robot with the indicated elements,
it will directly travel to the target destination without colliding with existing obstacles
no matter if they are static or dynamic. The robot communicates through a wireless
network with doors and elevators. After terminating the task assigned to it, Arubu goes
back to starting point: the hospital pharmacy.

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Arubu : The Business Plan

Using NVIDIA Tegra based Colibri module
Each and every autonomous mobile robots needs a computer module to be controlled,
the Tegra 2 will be programmed to be used for obstacle avoidance, speed regulation,
image processing and other tasks that are required for the robot to properly operate.

Figure 2 Explanatory diagram of Arubu

Commercial potential
Arubu works around the clock. It is a substitute for the labor needed to deliver
goods within the facility.
Clinical staff could spend more time with patients instead of transporting goods.
This translates to better care and improved patient satisfaction.
Injuries sustained while moving weighty loads are frequent. Employees often
express relief when they no longer have to transport them.
Since the project is still in the idea stage, before getting into implementation and
marketing, we will have to carry out some simulations on computer to obtain the most
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Arubu : The Business Plan

realizable prototype. After achieving this crucial step, we will have to launch the startup
as soon as we get the government approval and deal with legal issues. A few weeks later,
we will receive our electronic components and start implementing Arubu 1.0 as well as
developing the software. We will then get in touch with neighboring hospitals to do the
first tests, if everything goes as expected, we start marketing the first units. Later on, we
will get feedback from users and others professionals which will help us improving it,
and certainly introducing innovative features. The health sector is clearly extendable to
industrial one; such robots could be used in factories as well.
R&D department
In order to be successful in the technological field, a company has to have a strong R&D
department; the latter is comprised, in the meantime, within the production department.
Since we are still pursuing a masters degree, we are still in touch with professors and
doctors from our university whom had already expressed their joy and pleasure to assist
us in any issue that would occur. Therefore, we do not exclude involving interesting
teachers to join our R&D department. In fact, this can only have a positive outcome over
the company.

Marketing & Sales

At the beginning, I will go door by door and introduce the companys product. Having
already in my possession the list of all medical centers of Algeria in a booklet, I will
commence by big cities (Algiers, Annaba, Constantine, and Oran) and my hometown
(Bjaa). Soon I will launch my website www.arubu.com, which will be the main asset of
our company. I will then contact private television channels to make a documentary of
my product, in addition to audiovisual media, I will get in touch with national papers and
magazines in order to promote my product as well as possible. After getting enough
notoriety, the business should broaden and eventually, the company will be in need of
additional staff in order to successfully achieve its mission. Hence, an increase of our
human resources will be of utmost importance: Arubu will eventually recruit an
accountant, administrators and lead technicians.
Depending on prospective financial gains, and the company size, will eventually are need
a bigger space for the factory, therefore we will look for renting a place as being our
headquarters, and another as being the production factory. Now that the company is big
enough, envisaging having a representative agency all across the Mena region is logical,
we hence, will look forward independent representatives which will promote the
products and sell them.

Financial projections
We exceptionally have the chance to get a 0% bank loan reimbursable over 5 years in
Algeria thanks to ANSEJ, a national agency for funding youth projects. I recently checked
upon the local agency and got informed that I could get a 10,000,000 DZD (equivalent to
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Arubu : The Business Plan

$ 72,000) loan, which is a really large amount of money, besides, I already possess a
small amount for starting up. The figure bellow depicts a profit versus units sold graph
showing the breakeven point:

Figure 3 Graph shows Profit vs Units sold

The graph bellow depicts the startup progression over time (hypothetically speaking)

Figure 4 Startup progression over time

An explanatory video of Arubu is available at: http://youtu.be/RHY4jCEU0SU

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