São Paulo – Company Armtec, from the state of Ceará, specialized in robotics, is a success case among small companies that operate in the sector of oil and gas. Dedicating 80% of production to equipment for the sector, Armtec creates a new product every three months. This addition of opportunity and innovation makes revenues double each year. Now, the company should turn its attention to internationalisation of products, and the Arab market is one of its main targets.
Armtec was born five years ago with the support of Petrobras, as part of an incubator project under the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae). In 2008, revenues reached 850,000 Brazilian reals (US$ 497,000), and with the discoveries of the pre-salt layer, the growth could be even greater.
The company produces cranes and other products, like robots for fire control, equipment for evaluation of oil products, like asphalt, devices for gas measurement and is designing a submarine robot.
These products have been calling attention on the foreign market and, in 2010, the company should make its first export to Russia of a fire fighting robot. Regarding the Arab countries, Roberto Macedo, the company’s executive director, said that some have been seeking information regarding the company on its Internet page, among them Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Bahrain, Lebanon, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya and Syria. Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Syria, in fact, have also shown interest in the purchase of fire fighting robots.
The director reveals that the growth should be even greater in coming years due to investment in internationalisation. "We are going to focus on the Arab countries because they have a great capacity for investment in technology and are getting technically prepared to expand into other areas when there is no more oil. They are also known as good payers, which makes the business risk lower". Macedo said that the interest of the Arabs in Armtec began when the company entered the Petro Networks, in 2006. The Petro Networks are groups of companies that receive support from institutions like the National Service of Industrial Education (Senai), in ten Brazilian states.
The director also believes that Armtec may benefit from the exploration of oil in the pre-salt layer. One example the executive mentions is that of a 20 tonne offshore crane that Petrobras had already shown interest in. The organisation is studying the purchase of 200 units for 10 million Brazilian reals (US$ 5.8 million) each, by 2013. According to Macedo, with the great expansion of Petrobras production capacity due to the pre-salt layer, the sales possibilities are great, as at least one of these devices is necessary per exploration platform.
The winner of four awards for innovation granted by the Finep (Studies and Projects Funding Body), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Armtec was the first company in the state of Ceará and one of the first in Brazil to receive ISO 9000:2008 certification, for quality management systems.
Currently, the company works in development of a new technology for pumping units for artificial elevation of oil, used in wells that are not operating at full capacity. The project is supervised by the Petrobras and Petrogal, the Portuguese oil company. Macedo pointed out the importance of the Sebrae in the process for maturity in the Armtec management system and also company participation in Petro Networks. "Armtec would not have reached the point it reached, as a reference in the area of technological innovation and quality management without the Petro Networks".
The company, which currently counts on 31 employees, plans to reach 52 by June 2010, apart from that, it still has invitations to install units in Peru, Portugal and the United States.
*Translated by Mark Ament
