Nautical Systems (NS) is one of the specialized software programs being implemented throughout the SAAM Towage fleet. As part of the Tripanko project, HS primarily manages vessel maintenance and purchasing processes.

Here we share with you the progress we have made to date on implementation:

At a corporate level, we have created and standardized maintenance, purchasing, inventory, master data and IT processes. We have also defined the strategy for releasing purchase orders, aligned with Spend Control Tower –which is our order review methodology- and formulated a plan with 210 NS standard accounts for the entire fleet.

We also hired the company UNILINK to standardize descriptions of commonly purchased items prior to importing to NS in order to improve supplier communication and thereby optimize supply chain processes.

In addition, we published our second technical newsletter and have finalized “Train the Trainers” sessions with participants from all countries and trained the NS System Administrator.

In terms of uploading data to the system, data from 29 tugs from our fleets in Panama, Canada and Mexico have been submitted.

For both NS and Helm, we will use SAP PI as the middleware for transporting data from one system to another. This will centralize all interactions between the different interfaces in the countries where the project will be implemented. SAP PI will also transform the data so it can be integrated into the destination ERP.

Because training is also key to taking maximum advantage of this tool, the Moodle platform will house the Corporate Academy containing courses, tutorials and user booklets for NS and Helm.

In order to optimize use of both software programs on board tugs, we have set an IT standard of equipping each tug with a portable computer and an industrial tablet.