20 November 2001
ShipServ increases TradeNet network completing further integrations and continues to bring new customers
* ShipServ has completed new integrations with Buyers and Suppliers - 8 shipowners are now integrated as well as suppliers MAN B&W and Fuji Trading (Kobe)
* Further integration work with both Buyers and Suppliers underway - 4 shipowner and 6 big supplier integrations are in hand
* 650 vessels are now able to use the ShipServ network
* ShipServ launches Supplier Starter Pack for small / medium sized suppliers
ShipServ, with more working integrations than any other ship supply management company, has signed contracts with 4 further ship owners / managers - Green Management A/S, Anders Utkilen A/S and Seatrans A/S, all from Bergen, as well as a major UK ship manager, bringing the number of contracted vessels to nearly 650. In consequence ShipServ has increased its lead with three of the leading UK ship managers and four Norwegian owners / managers as customers.
With these new contracts ShipServ has completed or is in the process of completing integrations with ship management software from ShipNet, Logimatic, BASS, and Xantic (AMOS for Windows). Additionally, Danaos has built an MTML adapter, which will enable ShipServ to integrate with mutual customers.
To date ShipServ has eight shipowners integrated with a further three to be completed - many more than any other Ship Supply Management provider.
Commenting on the continued progress in building up a network of buyers and suppliers, Michael Hanghoej, VP of Professional Services at ShipServ, said:
“We are developing a really strong integration track record. Once we have completed the first working integration to a particular ship management software provider, we find that we can complete further implementations with the same software within two to four days.”
Supplier integration is more challenging because of the wider range of software involved (mostly in-house systems) used by suppliers. ShipServ has recently completed integrating with MAN B&W’s own system, 4 months since the contract was announced in June, making MAN B&W the first supplier to be fully integrated with ShipServ. Fuji Trading (Kobe), the leading Japanese marine supplier, has also just been fully integrated.
ShipServ’s strong base in the world’s reefer shipping sector (clients: Lauritzen, IUM, Hoegh, Vroon, Norbulk and Green Management) is driving integration with e4marine in order to connect Unitor to ShipServ’s network. This integration is under way and is being tested by the two companies. Further leading suppliers in the marine engine, paint (Hempel) and pharmaceutical (Lagaay) sectors are in the process of being integrated.
Those ship managers and suppliers which are not yet integrated are using ShipServ’s hosted applications, WebBuyer and WebSupplier, to trade across ShipServ TradeNet.
ShipServ has processed orders for over 400 suppliers in the past twelve months. To speed up the process further ShipServ is now providing a Supplier Starter Pack to enable the smaller supplier to start trading. This will be available at a price of $545 for members of IMPA and ISSA and $695 for non-members. The package includes advice on how a company can get started in e-commerce, membership of TradeNet and 40 free transactions. Mark Holford, VP of marketing of ShipServ said:
“We want to encourage the smaller suppliers to dip their toes in the e-commerce water”.
At the Seatrade conference at Europort last week, Gregor Ross, former Head of Strategic Planning at Setfair, said that most e-procurement companies had not seen that integrating buyers’ and suppliers’ existing software would be the key to success. Setfair themselves had realised this too late.
ShipServ foresaw this from the outset. It was the main driver behind their development of MTML (Marine trading Mark-up Language in association with IMPA (International Marine Purchasing Association). This language allows one party to create a standard document that then can be understood by another. This standard is now in the custody of MeCA (the Maritime e-Commerce Association).
In another move aimed to help suppliers, ShipServ is integrating its requisition generator, ShipLink, for use on board ships with the IMPA (International Marine Purchasing Association) and ISSA (International Ship Suppliers Association) catalogues enabling items to be added directly into a requisition list.
A version of the ShipLink software will be bundled for free with the next CD editions of the IMPA and ISSA catalogues. This will enable the master or chief engineer to use the tool to create and send requisitions. It will be a simple task to upgrade this to full electronic usage with ShipServ’s other tools. In the meantime it will enable ship’s crews to speed up the process of providing onboard requisitions. In addition, Lagaay (marine pharmaceutical supplies) will become the first supplier to create catalogues individually customised for each ship and directly accessible with ShipLink. Other suppliers are very interested in following Lagaay’s lead.