Three Ways to Increase Efficiency of Shipping Businesses

In an operations business environment subject to sudden disruptions resulting from rapid and unpredictable market changes, reliable information and data are the most important assets to ensure smooth transitions and workflows. Having immediate access to the most current and up-to-date information and mastering how to utilize information allows operations to conduct business with greater efficiency and make hard and fast decisions with greater certainty and confidence. Q88’s Voyage Management System (Q88VMS) helps shipping companies manage information essential to running their operations and commercial team.

Here are three ways that Q88VMS helps one work smarter:

Optimize Fleet Operations

Data-intensive processes support the administrative functions that underpin operations, but many shipping companies continue to lag behind the curve when it comes to using information to maximize efficiency. The Q88VMS platform lets you better use the complex information and achieve better control over the many moving parts that govern shipping operations.

• Voyages – Allows tracking of all commercial information from voyage evaluation throughout execution and financial reports, from chartering to operations, post fixture, and accounting. 
• Invoices – Tracks invoices, balances, and partial payments, and is compliant with accounting standards and bespoke integration with standard accounting systems.
• Filing - Auto file documents into the corresponding voyage folders for easy retrieval and reference. 
• Powerful analytics - Generate reports at “higher” analytic levels and compare your fleet and operations to the competition and the market at large. 
• Integrate – Seamlessly integrate to technical management, accounting, internal database(s), weather routing, and more. 

Obtain Commercial Advantage

Using a Voyage Management System after you fix a ship is one thing, but having the ability to share operational data and commercial insights with the chartering side of your business is another. Typically, the data within an organization is not easily shared, and chartering teams (front-of-house teams) use numerous sources to help them collect information to track supply trends, AIS data, ship-specific data, calculations, etc. 

With Q88VMS, not only can you track your fleet's position, TCE performance, monitor cargoes, and fixtures, but you can compare your fleet and operations to the competition and the market at large. Q88VMS customers are guaranteed to be able to track supply trends over time by analyzing data based on geographic criteria combined with vessel-specific data, further aiding you to make more informed, intelligent, and efficient business decisions that will help you maintain a competitive edge.

Centralize and Automate in the Cloud

Today, the shipping industry accepts that information is power. It is also known that information is complex; it must be error-free and must be immediately accessible. Q88VMS is a modular system that centralizes data and combines it with a set of comprehensive tools, all in the cloud, enabling you to run your fleet better. Q88’s software is built to operate online with an authentic cloud architecture and works seamlessly with existing systems and requires no additional resources to drain the bottom line. Get full access to all the functions on desktop, laptop, or mobile device, whenever you work.

Q88 LLC has been a maritime tech innovator for 20 years and providing the right software solution is another example of our commitment to providing the shipping industry with the tools they need for maximizing efficiency and profitability.

Visit Q88VMS online to learn more and book a demonstration.

This article is sponsored by Q88 LLC.