RiConnect Inc., a provider of cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS), has named Gold Procurement an agent in Angola, Central Africa.

RiConnect is committed to simplifying and digitalizing processes. It is renowned for improving compliance and traceability for equipment management, with ongoing digitalization being a key priority. Gold Procurement is a specialist maintenance, repair, and operational (MRO) supplier to the oil and gas industry. It has served this demanding marketplace for 10 years, over which time it has steadily grown to the point where it now enjoys considerable market share across the region. Gold Procurement will deliver a full SaaS offering to its customers.

The company, which has 17 employees, has established excellent relationships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) internationally. Its warehouse, located at Quifica, south of Luanda City, boasts 1,200 square feet, which is utilised for packing and storage. The facility also includes an expansive outdoor area that is fenced off and used for extra stockpiling; and lifting equipment up to 2t capacity.

Andre Pedro, business development manager at Gold Procurement, said: “Our global relationships allow us to take advantage of volume discounts and rebates, which we pass onto our esteemed clients to strengthen our position as a trusted supplier.

“As a new distributor for RiConnect, our clients have the opportunity to interlock their catalogue and non-catalogue items with RFID [radio frequency identification] chips. By moving to paperless systems, we can improve the accuracy of maintenance, safety checks, incident reports, and regulatory compliance, while supporting seamless information sharing.”

Today, SupraNano Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID chips can be pressure-fitted directly into steel or retrofitted to snatch blocks and other products using tags. SupraNano is subjected to rigorous temperature (-30 / +125 degrees C) and water ingress (6,000m subsea) tests, suiting chips to use in extreme environments. Further tests are based on the criteria of MIL-STD 810H (U.S. military standard); IP68 waterproof rating; IK10 impact testing; ATEX explosion-proof environmental testing; and CRES corrosion resistance.

The energy sector presents many compliance issues due to the variety of equipment used and the breadth of applications it is operated in. RiConnect meets these challenges with a Compliance Management System that can be applied across a myriad of products and applications. The system, which includes a user friendly offline function, is designed to assist organizations serving the oil and gas, offshore, and other industries, with regulatory requirements related to daily pre-use checks, periodic inspections, regular maintenance, and calibration.

Rob Whitehurst-Maiden, sales manager at RiConnect, said: “Gold Procurement is the latest in an ever-growing group of regional partners that are delivering our SaaS solutions to the point of use. We have welcomed their adoption of our CTSN [Compliance, Traceability, Status, Net Zero] concept; they have become established cornerstones, as we simplify and digitalize the processes around compliance and traceability for equipment management.”

Gold Procurement’s Pedro added: “We know that asset and stock management are moving to digital — and we are glad to be a step ahead of our competitors.”