Yards Moving Forward - GL Group

“Home Please, James!”
Modular fleet management makes light work of resource planning.
Just in time for the leading Hamburg fair “Shipbuilding,
Machinery & Marine Technology (SMM)”, Germanischer
Lloyd is presenting a new and comprehensive fleet management
program. “GL ShipManager,” says Wolfhard Sengler,
Director of Information Technology and Organization, “is a
synergetic supplement to “fleet online”. The intermeshing of
the two systems permits an optimum planning of operative
sequences with class-relevant or statutory surveys, which
reduces costs and achieves greater transparency.”
If you rest, you rust:
SAMS grows into “GL ShipManager”
Previously known as the “Ship Administration Management
System”, a suite which is now being used on 250 ships worldwide
to ensure plain sailing through the efficient planning
and controlling of operational sequences, SAMS has now
leapt into a new dimension of service, thanks to an intelligent
link-up with the successful GL software tool “fleet online”.
“Simplifying and, wherever possible, automating the administrative
work in operating a ship was the original idea by the
GL subsidiary Ms Logistik Systeme GmbH,” says Managing
Director Heiko Hofmann, under whose leadership the further
extension of the software is now being pushed forward. The
“Ship Administration Management System” (SAMS) with
modules for “Crew Management”, “Technical Management”
and “Ship Management”, augmented by open interfaces,
proved compelling by virtue of its many and varied possibilities
for application. These modules simplified the operative
planning processes of the shipping company, automated the
administrative activities needed for day-to-day ship operations
and provided a secure method of data exchange. All this
was done by utilizing modern communication channels:
Internet, satellite or even telephone lines. The program compresses
the individual data packages as efficiently as possible,
so that the transmission costs are kept low.
In their new form of the “GL ShipManager”, (page 26) the
proven software modules are now appearing in a user-friendly
office suite with web-based user interface. Now, any inter-
24 nonstop 3/2006
net-enabled PC can be used to work on the system, without
the need to install additional software, licences etc.
In addition to the improved ease of use, the new package supports
the quality standard of the shipping company, cuts the
running costs of fleet management, offers an economical
form of data exchange between ship’s officers and the shipping
company’s management, and reduces the workload for
standardized management sequences. What is more, it also
offers a system integrity that, in combination with “fleet
online”, provides a comprehensive picture of the operative,
classificatory and statutory requirements applying during the
life-cycle of a ship. Introduced in 1999, the software tool “fleet
online” is now being used by over 729 shipping companies
operating more than 3,000 ships, to obtain an exact overview
of the classificatory und statutory requirements of their fleets.
Not only does this tool signal a need for action in good time,
it also supports the planning, ordering and monitoring of
classificatory and statutory surveys. Survey reports on the
condition of the ship are then provided, together with automatic
generation of the due dates for class renewal.
Ideally, “GL ShipManager” should be implemented during the
construction phase of the ship. All of the applicable components
are defined in the “Planned Maintenance System”
(PMS) module and permanently stored in the ship-specific
database. Even for ships already under way, the necessary
data for the technical documentation can be entered later,
whereby the shipping company should ensure that all the
relevant future actions are included, such as the ordering of
lubricants or the replacement of defective machinery components.
However, before things progress this far, the master of a vessel
equipped with the GL ShipManager will be pleased at the
convenience offered for each port call by the new and extensive
“Port Clearance Module”. With just a few mouse-clicks, it
supplies all the applicable port-related information, such as
charts, overviews and texts on the screen – not to forget some
hot tips for shore leave. ■ OM
For further information: Wolfhard Sengler, Director Informationstechnology and Organisation,
Phone: +49 40 36149-9052, wolfhard.sengler@gl-group.com