Boosting Efficiency: How Mobile Apps Improve Ship-Shore Work Processes

 

[By Johannes Hapke, Business Analyst Manager at BASS Software Ltd.]

In the complex world of maritime operations, the pursuit of efficiency can be a daunting task. Vessel crew and shore staff are often swamped with paperwork, are forced to rely on different reporting means and struggle to combine effectively information from various sources into one system.

Such error-prone methods can fall short of the rapid decision-making required in today's maritime landscape and often result in stressed crew and shore staff struggling to complete assigned tasks in the given time frame.

What’s the solution? Mobile apps. These digital tools solve critical challenges that directly impact the bottom line, cost, and efficiency of operations.

By equipping crew and shore staff with purpose-built apps, you gain the significant benefits of efficient communication and data exchange.

Improving Maritime Work Processes

The priority is to reduce downtime, enhance safety, and ultimately boost overall operational efficiency. How can mobile apps improve and simplify your complex office and vessel work processes?

• Mobile apps significantly simplify tasks such as reporting equipment malfunctions or conducting inspections. Crew members can easily document their work in an instant using an app. Depending on the features available, this can also trigger automated push notifications to the relevant personnel both on board and ashore.
• Managing inventory and supplies efficiently is essential to control costs and ensure smooth operations. Here too, mobile apps are crucial. They can help streamline inventory management by providing on-the-go visibility into stock levels, reducing the risk of shortages or overstocking.
• Inefficiencies in processes, such as dry-docking or other larger vessel projects, can lead to insufficient transparency and increased operational costs. Mobile apps can optimize operational processes by providing tracking, monitoring and reporting in the palm of your hand, enabling more efficient project execution and resource allocation.

One of the primary advantages of using mobile apps also is that you gain access to critical fleet data on the move. This empowers seafarers and ship managers with up-to-date information, allowing them to make informed decisions swiftly. BASSnet, for example, provides important safety and quality, permit to work, crew self-service, and inventory apps to access information on the go, allowing users to instantly access crucial information, execute work effectively, and facilitate collaboration between office and crew.

Facilitating Crew Empowerment & Two-Way Communication

Mobile apps can significantly drive crew empowerment for self-service. Intuitive and easy to use, they encourage crew to become more personally involved in updating their information and uploading important documents themselves.

This has the additional benefit of reducing the office workload to manually transfer documentation into the system. Instead, the office need merely approve the details provided.

Crew and office can also access vessel information, schedules, and checklists quickly, anywhere and anytime to stay informed.

In addition, miscommunication can cause costly delays and errors. However, mobile apps ensure both crew and shore staff are in communication to make informed decisions and take necessary actions promptly. The apps facilitate secure and efficient two-way communication between shore staff and crew. By functioning as a communication channel, they can also push important information to the crew via their mobile device.

Making the Complex Simple for a Full-Digital Reporting Advantage

The maritime industry is one of the most complex and highly regulated in the world, often requiring extensive paperwork that is susceptible to errors, time-consuming to collect and retrieve and requires significant storage.

One of the most significant benefits of adopting mobile apps is the ease of transitioning to full-digital reporting. The apps can give easy access to advanced ERP systems such as BASSnet, for example, by lowering the threshold to use the system and facilitate quick, easy reporting. Such advanced systems can be broken down to be more digestible, encouraging end-users to adopt the system more easily.

As the apps are intuitive, users will also need minimal training.

With user-friendly and intuitive mobile apps, reporting processes can be seamless, accurate, and efficient:

• It’s far easier to retrieve important information digitally in an instant when you have mobile apps that are part of a larger maritime ERP software system.
• The ability to collect, analyze, and share critical data quickly using your mobile device not only reduces administrative burdens but improves regulatory compliance.
• As mobile apps provide quick access to essential data, crew members and shore staff can make informed decisions regardless of their location to proactively ensure vessel safety and reliability.

Mobile Apps: Enabling a Multi-Platform Digital Environment for Maritime

The maritime industry is undergoing a profound transformation through digitalization. Mobile apps are becoming more and more an integral part of this shift.

These apps are highly powerful and flexible tools to report information effectively and access essential ship data in the palm of your hand. Using mobile apps, it’s far easier to keep ship owners, managers, and crew on track with fleet management needs anytime and anywhere.

Location is no longer an impediment to smooth, safe and efficient ship management. The shift towards full-digital reporting using multi-platform systems that incorporate mobile apps promise to greatly enhance operations and work processes.

As a leader in maritime software and technology, BASSnet is committed to harnessing the power of mobile apps to continue revolutionizing maritime work processes. Click here to learn more.