“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. “<strong>GL</strong> 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 “<strong>GL</strong> 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 <strong>GL</strong> software tool “fleet online”. “Simplifying and, wherever possible, automating the administrative work in operating a ship was the original idea by the <strong>GL</strong> 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 “<strong>GL</strong> 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, “<strong>GL</strong> 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 <strong>GL</strong> 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
Alfred Hartmann, shipowner from Leer SOFTWARE “SAMS – the All-Inclusive Carefree Package” The Hartmann shipping company in Leer uses the high-performance software for its entire fleet. Hartmann is a young and innovative shipping company based in the North German town of Leer. To ensure optimized management of the rapidly growing fleet, “which above all means faster and more precise administrative operations,” as Managing Director Dietrich Schulz puts it, the company has been using the SAMS (Ship Administration Management System) since 2004 – a comprehensive software suite developed by Ms Logistik Systeme in Rostock. nonstop 3/2006 25
Change language