This paper presents a competitive intelligence system developed for the entrepreneurs of the Brazilian woodworking machinery industry. The system, called MaqMad, was designed as a tool to support the enterprise decision-making and gathers information on the competitive and technological environment of the industry. The architecture of the system allows customizing the access to the information available concerning the particularities of each user. Unlike the original conceptions of IC, eminently intra-organizational, MaqMad was structured as an area of inter-organizational cooperation among companies that make up the industry, as well as suppliers and consumers of such equipment. Based on the characterization of technical and institutional aspects, the main limits of the system operation are presented and the possibilities of overcoming them.
competitive intelligence; MaqMad; woodworking machinery; benchmarking; technology; competitiveness
