Navigating Challenges: MariApps’ Vision for Empowering the Shipping Industry with Maritime ERP
The impact of ERP on Maritime Operation: Shipping is considered to be the backbone of globalization and international trade, as 90 percent of the world trade is carried out by ships. According to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund, the total tonnage of sea transport is expected to grow to twice its value by 2030.
However, despite this tremendous potential for growth, the shipping industry can still run into troubled waters while adopting technology for the daunting task of shipping management. Challenges concerning ship/shore connectivity and communication, voyage management, integration of dependent modules and migration of data from legacy software, further increase uncertainties and frequently disrupt shipping operations.
Moreover, with the growing competitive pressure and increased consolidation in shipping leading to larger fleets, ship managers are now in need of integrated maritime ERP solutions that can support ship-shore communication and data mining for improved decision-making, thereby maximizing uptime and ensuring that ships are well-maintained across the entire fleet. Turning these challenges into opportunities, Singapore headquartered MariApps Marine Solutions endeavors to meet these demands and empower the shipping industry with advanced maritime applications.
MariApps: Pioneering Digital Transformation in Maritime Since 2014
Since its inception in 2014, MariApps has been focused on providing end-to-end digital solutions to ship-owning and ship management companies around the world. With offices in India, Germany, and Cyprus, MariApps is a Microsoft Gold Certified Development Partner and has also been certified by Deloitte with ISAE 3402 Type 2 certification for enterprise standard development and operating framework readiness to deliver systems. Through its collaboration with more than 15 leading companies around the world, the company deploys continuous R&D processes to cater to fully integrated marine solutions that are built on innovative technologies and hosted on mobile as well as web platforms. “MariApps has created history in this segment by being the first of its kind to introduce mobile applications for the shipping world,” affirms Sankar Ragavan, CEO, MariApps Marine Solutions. “Leveraging the technical expertise of our talented pool of mobile developers, we have built marine applications that can run on various mobile platforms such as Android, Windows and iOS, thereby equipping customers with the power to take decisions anywhere and anytime,” he goes on to elaborate. MariApps’ expansive portfolio of offerings includes Marine Application Development, Mobile Application Development, Project Management and IT consulting, Business Intelligence and MariApps Innovation Hub.
Accelerating Ship Management Operations with Maritime ERP
Today’s growing businesses demand solutions that are designed with a fresh approach to existing IT systems, to bring tangible operational efficiencies to their users. With cost savings and efficiency gains being the primary criteria while selecting a solution, organizations are in need of technology partners that can understand their exact requirements and deliver quality systems with more promptness. Meeting this need, MariApps leverages the opportunity to develop applications for the non IT familiar shipping industry, to bring its flagship product – MariApps PAL. As a complete marine ERP suite that is targeted at ship managers and ship owners, MariApps PAL is a web-based, Cloud supported, Mobile compliant maritime ERP framework that covers all functionalities of ship management operations including Crewing, Accounts, Purchase, Planned Maintenance, Payroll, Voyage, Insurance, Dry-dock and New Building. With customizable dashboards, mobile applications, fleet management and well-integrated ship owning and ship management modules; MariApps flagship product smartPAL facilitates mobile ship owners and managers with critical data in real-time, thereby improving the efficiency, decision-making processes and the operational performance of their management teams’ worldwide operations.
Furthermore, MariApps also caters to Fleet Management with Live Fleet, a module exclusively designed to help ship-owners access all the vessel information in real-time. This module facilitates ship owners with all the key parameters associated with vessel tracking, such as voyage and performance information, tracking of vessel position, and the speed of the vessel at any moment, on mobile and web portals. Live fleet also acts as a single point of data access for the owners, allowing them to make faster decisions and eliminating the maintenance requirement of various spreadsheets, thereby saving time and money for its users.
Future Engagements
Despite a recent entry into the market, MariApps Marine Solutions has carved a niche space in this maritime domain, owing to its adept development team and associations with various industry and technology partners around the world. Through its alliance with Hamburg-based Bernhard Schulte group, the company has also gained extensive traditional knowledge and a technical edge in developing maritime ERP solutions for the shipping industry. Leveraging this expertise, MariApps is currently engaged in developing services for the cruising and offshore industries. The company is also set to launch an upgraded version of its standard maritime ERP product, PAL 4, to provide its clientele with the most modern experience in shipping and digital solutions, in the coming year. MariApps also hopes to incorporate elements from rapidly growing technology segments such as Big Data and analytics, IoT, and Smart Shipping into its MariApps Innovation hub to bring productivity gains to its clientele in the upcoming future.
