BASSnet-2-2009

2.2009

news @ BASSnet

global leadeRs invest in

integRated softwaRe solutions new Kl office

bassnet 2.6 sneaK peeK

suppoRt aRound the clocK

BASS’ new Kuala Lumpur office has everything the company needs to better serve its rapidly growing client list.

BASSnet 2.6 will offer data analysis and benchmarking tools in order to help companies make their operations leaner and meaner.

Customers demand fast, reliable and efficient problem-solving solutions. Thanks to the 24x7 global support team, their wish is BASS’ command.

NEw BASS CUStOmErS – 007 tO prESENt “BASS’ new deals and contract extensions for over 250 ship installations across two continents builds on the company’s global leader position in the ship management software industry” Sovereign Ship Management Ltd BASS customer since 2009

Eitzen Maritime Services BASS customer since 2009

Nordic Maritime Services AS BASS customer since 2008

Marine Logistic Solution LLC BASS customer since 2008

Star Maritime Services BASS customer since 2007

Deep Offshore Technology Co. BASS customer since 2008

SAL BASS customer since 2008

“K” Line Ship Management Co BASS customer since 2003 (expanded contract in 2009)

Far East Ship Management Ltd BASS customer since 2008

Stella Marine Services GmbH & Co KG BASS customer since 2008

Titan Resources Management (S) Pte. Ltd. BASS customer since 2008

DS Tankers GmbH & Co. KG BASS customer since 2008

Bumi Armada Navigation Sdn Bhd BASS customer since 2008

Schiffahrtskontor Altes Land (SAL) BASS customer since 2008

Intra Oil Services Berhad BASS customer since 2008

MST Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition und Transport GmbH BASS customer since 2008

A sampling of some of BASS’ RIGELsince Schiffahrts new contracts theGmbH end& Co KG BASS customer since 2009 of 2008.

Lamnalco Group BASS customer since 2008

National Shipping & Investment Co. BASS customer since 2007

Alam Maritim (M) Sdn Bhd BASS customer since 2008

FAL Group BASS customer since 2008

Pioneer Ship Management Services LLC BASS customer since 2008

NYK Shipmanagement Pte Ltd BASS customer since 2001 (expanded contract in 2007 & 2008)

Tanjung Kapal Services Sdn Bhd BASS customer since 2007

CoVer story

Global leaders invest in integrated software solutions Times have changed. A decade ago, most first-time buyers of fleet management software purchased “best of breed” software and matched disparate pieces together.

Now, as many mature buyers – including a number of the industry’s global leaders – are making management software purchases the second time around, they know what they want – and what to avoid. For them, single integrated solutions residing on one database are everything.

At present, the fleet management software market can be broken down into two distinct groups – first-time purchasers and mature buyers. First-time buyers aren’t always exactly sure what they need and tend to go for what seems to be sufficient functionality and sometimes the cheapest option.

“While they may think that there’s money to be saved by purchasing a less comprehensive system, initial software investments are only a fraction of the total investment and ROI equation,” says Haakon Dalan, BASS General Manager of Product Management. “It makes sense for them to look at those who have gone through the same process before, and see what criteria they use when purchasing new fleet management software the second time around.”

A sizable portion of the second-time buyers are based in Europe – including many of the largest shipowners and ship managers in the industry. While this group has had solutions in place since the 1990s, it often equates to different software systems for different areas of operation. Now they’re looking to make the right choice by going with a single database concept and integrated solution that does exactly what

June 2009

they need it to do. And they’re willing to pay a little bit extra initially in order to get a good return in the subsequent years.

the bass advantage

Over the past six to eight months – from SMM in Hamburg in September 2008 through to Sea Asia and the present – BASS has noticed an increased interest from established and reputable companies seeking one integrated solution covering all areas of their operations.

BASS Managing Director Per Steinar Upsaker isn’t short of reasons why this trend has been set into motion.

“Shipowners and ship managers are looking to streamline and increase transparency in operations, and even go beyond regulatory compliance to drive business improvements and integrate long-lasting solutions into an overall IT strategy – all in a package where the cost of investment renders high returns and benefits,” he says. “BASSnet software gives these companies a basis for analysis and decision support that they haven’t had before in an up-to-date technology solution that will stand the test of time.”

not onlY heaRsaY

BASS isn’t just making note of what people say at maritime exhibitions in order to claim that this trend exists – the proof is in the contracts.

In addition to NYK Shipmanagement (see page 2), another leading shipowner and operator with 150 vessels is looking to consolidate from a mix of in-house and software applications from external vendors into one complete, integrated solution.

After requesting information from 20 software vendors in 2008 to get an overview of the market, the shipowner invited six of these into a tender process consisting of about 800 explicit requirements. After reviewing responses, three companies were invited to Rotterdam to conduct a two-day workshop demo.

In the end, the shipowner and operator selected BASS – citing its complete, integrated suite with a comprehensive database, the modern technology framework and platform, and its user-friendly interface making it easy for seafarers to learn and adopt. With the business case now board approved, the two companies are now in final contract negotiations, with completion expected by early summer.

You may think that all of these positives mean that this leading shipowner will really feel the purchase in its pocketbook, but that’s far from the case. “In fact, according to the comprehensive business case that they have carried out, the company will get a return on its investment in less than three years. And they see the solution itself running for at least 10 or more years,” says Dalan.

An illustration of the reception area in BASS’ new Kuala Lumpur office and the KL cityscene seen through the office windows.

Per Steinar Upsaker Managing Director and CEO, BASS

Office with a view The cover story in this issue of news@ BASSnet is about world-leading shipowners and ship managers making the right software investment choices the second time around. As we’ve now become a global leader in our own right, the time has come for us to invest in a larger office space in Kuala Lumpur to better serve our rapidly growing customer list.

Our significant growth over the last few years is exemplified by our large market share increases in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. This growth has continued even in the difficult times of late. While the global economic crisis hasn’t been kind to the shipping industry, one thing that has come from it is that shipowners and ship managers are starting to pay even closer attention to utilising all of the information that already exists in the organisation in order to make operations as cost effective and efficient as possible. To do this, they turn to BASSnet fleet management software.

We’ve noted this change – during the past six months, we have increased staff in our Kuala Lumpur office from 65 to more than 80, and we have plans of further recruitment. Due to this, we are now moving from our current 6,000-square-foot office in KL to a 10,000-square-foot office in a newly renovated office building in the city.

The new facility has everything we need to help us keep moving upwards – it can accommodate up to 120 employees, has a conference room that can easily be converted to a 60-person training hall, proper storage space for IT equipment, and a larger server room that ensures continuous operations.

The full perimeter glass walls from our 19th floor location provide for a great view as well. Not only to the sights of Kuala Lumpur – but also for our future prospects.

BASSnet™ Modules

Customer Case

NYK Shipmanagement implements BASSnet across 80 vessels A year ago, NYK Shipmanagement Pte Ltd (NYKSM) were at a crossroads. They had been using BASS software for purchasing and accounting since 2001, but also employed maintenance software from another vendor.

After finding that a patchwork of applications makes it difficult to administrate and achieve benefits and synergies across the organisation and fleet, NYKSM decided to invest in a fully integrated software solution. The result: a contract for the implementation of BASSnet in their Singapore office and onboard 80 vessels, which is now underway.

Implementation of BASSnet’s Procurement and Maintenance modules in NYKSM’s office and two pilot vessels began already in October 2007 and was put into live operation in July 2008.

Workshops and test runs ensured that all work processes were mapped properly and fine tuned to take full advantage of BASSnet functionality. “Now NYK Shipmanagement uses BASSnet extensively for all of its office operations – from requisitions and purchase orders to vessel expense invoicing and corporate office procurement,” says BASS Project Manager Subu Iyer.

“NYK’s lengthy evaluations with the BASSnet solution convinced them both of the benefits they could reap along with the services that BASS can provide to meet the requirements of a large shipping organisation,” says BASS Key

facts & figuRes – nYK shipmanagement • Fleet: 200 ships (including crewing), with 110 vessels on technical ship management • Number of registered BASSnet users: About 400 users • Usage volume: The average number of process orders per ship is 400

June 2009

• Maintenance • Procurement • Operations • Document management • Safety management (SAFIR) • Risk management • Self assessment (TMSA) • Crew/HR management • Report Generator • Accounting • Payroll

Account Manager Mark Ravi. “They were impressed with the intuitive user interface and were pleased with the possibility of seamlessly integrating BASS safety and document management system modules in the future. The complete database covering all areas of fleet management creates transparency and visibility for their fleet managers to follow up reporting.”

Reducing manual data input

The second phase of implementation began in December 2008, with the database population and installation of BASSnet modules on 80 NYKSM vessels (60 vessels with the Maintenance module, and an additional 20 with the Procurement module). Implementation has been carried out on 12 vessels as of this writing, with the process to install on the remaining vessels running from now through the end of 2010.

“Due to the sheer size and volume of data that NYKSM is dealing with, they want systems that will help them reduce manual data input where possible and provide operational efficiencies,” says Subu Iyer. “Now they are also using BASS’ accounting module for all electronic banking and an OCR invoice scanning system to directly import invoice data into BASSnet.”

the advantages of integRation

Not only can NYKSM now keep better control of what they are spending, but also what they have in stock. “Since BASSnet is an integrated solution, NYKSM will now able to monitor inventory for their fleet in full,” says Ravi.

BASSnetTM is a modular software that enables you to build one, integrated solution covering all main areas of maritime operations. When modules are served by one central database you can enter data once and reuse it in one process after the other.

Bassnet 2.6 sNeaK PreVIeW

A window into the heart of the corporate engine When released, BASSnet 2.6 will offer data analysis and benchmarking tools in order to help companies make their operations leaner and meaner.

A consequence of the challenging global business environment at present is an increased focus on making operations more effective through activity optimisation and cost cutting.

This is especially true for organisations using any kind of ERP system.

Over the years, the BASSnet database has become increasingly more comprehensive and interwoven, covering a large swath of important business domains within the shipping and offshore industries. Although BASSnet systems come with many ready-made reports, the company regularly receives a substantial amount

of change requests from customers for new or enhanced reports.

“We realised that even if we made thousands of static reports, we would never be able to satisfy the potential for how data could be combined and displayed,” says BASS R&D General Manager Martin Bjoernebye. “This triggered us not only to create a flexible reporting facility to allow customers to create their very own reports targeting our system schema, but it also inspired us to focus on other ways of easily retrieving, linking, displaying and exporting relevant data from within the BASSnet products.” BASSnet 2.6 will also sport a KPI Dashboard which will provide a substantial selection of graphical indicators to illustrate how operations are progressing.

bassnet 2.6 data analYsis & benchmaRKing featuRes • Increased graphical data representation through sophisticated chart technology to show Key Performance Indicators (see graphic above) and drill-down statistics • Dynamic query dialogs tied to most of the major screens from which you can narrow down a dataset based on input criteria or filters • A bookmark feature to create a named set of search criteria you can easily recall and use to fetch data • Report filter naming, allowing you to tag a name to a combination of search criteria you have specified to run a report for easy retrieval and use later • Export of listed data to Excel in all screens • Possibility to create your own company and fleet reports, and distribute them throughout your company and across your fleet – so they can be run by users onboard and ashore

The BASSnet Report Generator in action.

June 2009

www.say.biz

Bass GLoBaL suPPort team

Support around the clock, around the world BASS’ commitment to its clients extends far beyond the initial step of purchasing BASSnet modules or a suite. The company also prides itself in providing software solutions that are backed by reliable and accessible customer service around the world, around the clock.

One member of the 24x7 global support team – KC Ong – takes us through a typical day and provides details from a recent support event below...

Equipped with Blackberry mobile phones, laptops and headsets, Ong and three other members of the BASS global support team provide 24-hour support, seven days a week throughout the year on a duty rotation plan. In order to avoid any potential operational hiccups, roster schedules are distributed to team members one month in advance and backup support staff members are on standby in the event that the member on duty is unable to monitor incoming support enquiries.

“Shipowners operate around the clock, around the world. Therefore our global support team is on standby around the clock as well, assisting any ship wherever it is and ensuring uninterrupted operations,” says BASS Services and Support General Manager Phan Loong-Fatt.

finding out the pRoblem When requests come in, finding out what the problem isn’t is vital in helping the support team find out what the problem actually is. “After receiving a new issue based on the customer’s description and error screen capture or log file, we need to identify whether the issue was caused by external factors such as hardware,

operating systems, network, firewalls or even the BASSnet modules themselves,” says Ong. “If the issue is caused by BASSnet software, we diagnose problems such as bugs, the deployment environment and/or if the user him or herself is using the software incorrectly. These issues are taken up internally to help make the software even better.”

Diagnosis is then analysed based on criticality levels, and from each level irrelevant events are filtered out, helping the team concentrate solely on those areas that are most likely to be the root cause of the problem.

in pRactice

How does such a plan play out in reality?

Let’s let Ong take us through an actual support request, this one from K-Line subsidiary Taiyo Nippon Kisen (TNKC) Manila: “I received a support phone call on Friday night from TNKC Manila’s Office & Vessel IT Administrator Raphael Formoso. He was onboard one of the TNKC Manila vessels in a Filipino port and was reportedly facing shipto-shore software replication problems with the BASS Replicator module. I suggested a few areas that he needed to look into in order to find out the cause(s) of the problem. However, the root cause was undetectable even though the customer checked the database connection, the shared drives, the BASS replicator configurations and the e-mail configurations as instructed.

“As the support consultant, the job doesn’t end here. After going through the necessary checks,

BASS global support team member KC Ong at work onboard a client vessel.

I keep notes of what have been done in the system, and track the problem further. It turned out that the workstation was infected by a virus and BASS Replicator failed to execute even after the virus was cleaned up. The virus had likely corrupted some of BASS Replicator’s required files.

“Therefore I provided Raphael a set of procedures to uninstall and reinstall the BASS Replicator. I received a support phone call from him the next day – he’s installed BASS Replicator successfully. We then go over the entire configuration of BASS Replicator over the phone. After a few rounds of tests and verifications, replication was re-implemented and solved successfully.”

Customers demand fast, reliable and efficient problem-solving solutions. Thanks to Ong and the other members of 24x7 global support team, their wish is BASS’ command.

June 2009

UpCOmING EvENtS nor-shipping 2009

bass customer forum 2009 – europe

date: October 2009 venue: Barcelona, Spain To register, send an e-mail to contact@bassnet.no or julie.wong@bassnet.no

“The Leading Maritime Event Week” date: June 9–12, 2009 venue: Norway Trade Fairs, Oslo Visit BASS at stand B03-22.

For more info, visit nor-shipping.no

Please visit www.bassnet.no for the latest details.

NeW Bass HeaD oFFICe

eVeNt reCaP

BASS has been considering the pros and cons of a relocation of the BASS head office for quite some time. Now the decision has been made that moving the BASS Group’s marketing operations, global sales, strategy work and HQ to Limassol, Cyprus would be favourable in order to further strengthen its European market focus and worldwide operations.

While the overall turnout at Sea Asia in Singapore from April 21–23 was obviously affected by the global economic downturn at present, BASS still noted a large turnout at its stand, with maritime companies showing a strong interest in integrated solutions.

- BASS offices - BASS events or trade shows where BASS will appear

In strategic move, BASS to Delegate numbers down, make Cyprus its new home but BASS interest up at Sea Asia

BASS’ considerable increase in its European and Middle East customer base over the last two years calls for expanded pre-sales and after-sales services in these regions. “Cyprus’ long-standing position as a major shipping centre with a vibrant presence of prominent and reputable shipowners and ship managers makes it an attractive base for BASS’ further expansion and business growth,” says BASS Managing Director and CEO Per Steinar Upsaker.

“The majority of those coming by our stand were struggling with different systems residing on disparate databases, different technology platforms and with different user interfaces,” says BASS R&D General Manager Martin Bjørnebye. “Those that saw demos of our BASSnet solutions seemed genuinely impressed. A well integrated suite seems to be a very attractive offering in the market.”

Cyprus’ European location, EU member status, and ease of travel to the Middle East offers the benefit of unrestricted and secure access to both markets. A decrease in travel time for BASS Group executives, who need to cover a wide geographical area, will also help increase business volume further.

“We see long-term benefits with the move, and no material short-term disadvantages,” says Upsaker.

Limassol, Cyprus.

Europe/Americas: BASS AS Lysaker Torg 8, P.O. Box 68, 1324 Lysaker, Norway • Tel: +47 67 10 55 20 • Fax: +47 67 10 55 16 Asia/Pacific: BASS Sdn Bhd 19th Floor Menara Atlan • 161B Jalan Ampang • 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia • Tel: +603 2173 6488 • Fax: +603 2173 6499 • Support tel: +603 2173 6422 HQ: BASS Software Ltd. Atalanti House, 6th Floor • 203 Christodoulou Chatzipavlou • 3035 Limassol,Cyprus contact@bassnet.no • www.bassnet.no

June 2009