Maritime service setup sets sail with IFS systems

SMIT’s ICT manager, Ruud van Oers, says the project will span its Harbour Towage, Terminals, Salvage, and Transport & Heavy Lift businesses, initially providing access for 175 users, but expanding to 500. Phase One will implement financials, sales order processing, and project registration, he says. Subsequently, SMIT intends to add components to replace it legacy systems for maintenance, purchasing, tendering, and CRM (customer relationship management). Interestingly, van Oers says the pace of replacement will be determined by the end users. New components will only be added when initial systems have been approved. “The end users will vary from ex-seafaring people to business end users and managers. The software needs to fit this variety of users as regards to ease of use, user interface, and report options,” he says. “There’s little support left on our current, 10-year-old software and a lot of functionality is added using Excel or Access,” he explains. “I often compare it with a car: when a car is 10 years old, parts become rare and difficult to obtain. “Starting January 2009, all support on our old software will be stopped… [IFS] proved early in the process that they have extensive knowledge of our business processes, and subsequently showed, with their component-based software, how to translate these processes into a software system.