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LANDMARKS<br />
ODFJELL QUARTERLY magazine<br />
12<br />
Bjørn Hilmar Baug, Odd Jarle Pollen and Andreas Haukaas in use case discussions for the Chartering processes<br />
New ICT platform for <strong>Odfjell</strong> Tankers<br />
By Einar Øye<br />
On Monday November 14th, <strong>Odfjell</strong> Tankers<br />
kicked off the construction phase of the<br />
on-going project aiming to deliver a new<br />
ICT platform for <strong>Odfjell</strong> Tankers. Equivalent<br />
to the TMS project within <strong>Odfjell</strong> Terminals,<br />
the basic idea of this initiative is to provide<br />
one common software solution to support<br />
<strong>Odfjell</strong>’s commercial shipping activities<br />
onshore as well as on board the vessels.<br />
Improving support for all work processes<br />
Currently, there are different ICT tools used<br />
for chartering, operations, demurrage, etc.<br />
The tools were developed by <strong>Odfjell</strong> Tankers to<br />
target the specific needs within a department<br />
or a group of users. As the tools maintain<br />
their own “silos” of information, the ability to<br />
share and reuse this information efficiently,<br />
is limited.<br />
The new ICT shipping platform will provide<br />
a fully integrated solution with possibilities<br />
to automate routine tasks, streamline<br />
communication between departments,<br />
increase productivity, and support decision<br />
making. However, implementing a new system<br />
will not necessarily guarantee improvements.<br />
To be successful, we also need to see if we<br />
can improve the work processes, and the way<br />
we interact with the system. For instance, by<br />
always seeking to capture information at the<br />
source (e.g. on board a ship), it’s possible to<br />
start reusing the information in successive<br />
steps throughout the work process.<br />
<strong>Odfjell</strong> Tankers’ Senior Vice President, Morten<br />
Nystad, says: – The purpose of this project,<br />
first and foremost, is to improve the logistical<br />
services provided to our clients as well as<br />
increasing the efficiency of our operations.<br />
The success of the project will be greatly<br />
dependent on the ownership of the business.<br />
At <strong>Odfjell</strong> Tankers, we are building a strong<br />
project team to meet this challenge and are<br />
looking forward to building the solution in<br />
partnership with ICT and Veson Nautical.<br />
IMOS - the new system<br />
This autumn, we signed a contract with<br />
Veson Nautical for the purchase of their IMOS<br />
system. IMOS will replace the current stack<br />
of tools used for chartering, voyage management<br />
and demurrage. In addition to replacing<br />
OTIS, Odysseus, PreCalc, etc., Veson will also<br />
provide an on board software called Veslink<br />
to support an efficient information exchange<br />
between ships and shore-based personnel.<br />
Basically, we will establish two «main pillars»<br />
for support of the global <strong>Odfjell</strong> network:<br />
1) The support for the shipping processes<br />
will be delivered mainly through the<br />
IMOS and Veslink software.<br />
2) The decision support is planned to<br />
be obtained by establishing a data<br />
warehouse.<br />
In addition, interfaces will be established<br />
to external service providers to enable<br />
efficient exchange of business transaction<br />
data and documents. Communication and<br />
collaboration will be supported by the<br />
Microsoft Office tools as used today.<br />
Tests and training<br />
As we have just started the construction<br />
phase, we expect to use 2012 to configure<br />
and test the system thoroughly to ensure that<br />
IMOS can provide the best possible support<br />
for the work processes. We expect to go “live”<br />
in early 2013.<br />
The plan is to implement IMOS to the shore<br />
www.odfjell.com
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