Page 56: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2002)

E-Commerce parts will cost the company money. In all likelihood, when the purchasing manager finds someone who can get what he/she needs — he/she won't both- er to shop around for a better price.

The search and the subsequent order- ing process takes place with costly phone calls and faxes. The resulting records might consist of some files with copies of the orders.

Standards Adopted

With a web-based application, howev- er, the process is faster, easier and more efficient. The applications vary, but most use an adaptation of the standard language for Internet trading (called

Extensible Markup Language or XML) called Marine Text Markup Language or

MTML, developed and maintained by the Maritime e-Commerce Association (MeCA). The association says that

MTML is simple to use and is open to any maritime company that wants to conduct e-commerce.

The ship's master can create his for- matted requisition on board then send it via the Internet via satellite while under- way or via phone lines when ashore. If prepared in advance, it takes only a few seconds to submit (which is critical when considering phone charges). The purchasing manager receives it almost instantly, and since the purchasing office uses the same format, he can selectively review and approve each line item. The requisition can then be submitted as a request for quotation (RFQ) to one or multiple suppliers. The suppliers who receive the RFQ can quote their avail- ability and prices. The purchasing man- ager can select which items he will buy and return it as an order. Then the sup- plier, in turn, can confirm the order and submit the shipping details.

The transaction can be integrated with both the buyer and seller's in-house sys- tems; the transaction data can be useful later on, too. If a company has four ves- sels, the data can be easily compared to see if one vessel is using more engine parts for example, or more lubricants, which might indicate the need for an overhaul or replacement.

Some ship owners have just one or two vessels and do the management themselves. Other companies are larger, or provide management services to vari- ous owners. Eventually, maritime busi- nesses need to automate their functions.

There are various software packages that shipping companies can use to man- age their operations. This can include crew assignments and personnel records, payroll, schedules, maintenance and repair, record keeping, purchasing, chartering and more.

For example, Xantic has agreements with portals so that purchase orders cre- ated with its AMOS system can be sub- mitted to suppliers directly. "As a result of the partnership between Xantic and the portals owners, users onboard vessels running the

AMOS software AMOS M&P will be able to send a requisition to their onshore office, from where the M&P system automatically sends the request for a quote a spare part through to an E- procurement portal. From here, informa- tion from vendors (prices, delivery times, part numbers, etc.) will be fed automatically back into the AMOS

M&P system. This information can then

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Maritime Reporter & Engineering News

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