Smooth sailing with Mavim
Mavim SIS optimizes the availability of information that exists in hard-copy and digital handbooks in a user-friendly intranet solution.
Rotterdam, 07 July 2007 
Transporting fuel and petrochemical products by ship puts specific demands on both fleet and crew. Maintaining various handbooks and manuals is crucial. Mavim SIS optimizes the availability of information that exists in hard-copy and digital handbooks in a user-friendly intranet solution. Time-consuming updates and risks of mistakes are now a thing of the past.The Verenigde Tankrederij (VT), located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, has for more than 70 years been one of the largest barge operators on the European inland waterways. The ultramodern fleet consists of 29 ships with capacities between 250 and 9,200 tons, and is run by a staff of more than 200. VT supplies (sea)ships in Rotterdam harbor with fuel oils and lubricants, and transports chemical products across the European inland waterways. Transportation of these products is subject to strict legal (safety) rules so VT manages an ISO-certified quality assurance system that in most cases far exceeds the legal requirements. VT has its own ‘industry plus’ CAO (collective labor agreement) for its staff, and the quality system pays special attention to dealing with order processing and safety rules.
Wim van Putten, Marine Superintendent and Quality, Safety & Environment Controller, says, “To ensure that everybody knows exactly what they have to comply with, VT has a number of manuals: The company handbook and the fleet handbook for more general guidelines, and the job charts with specific client instructions and regulations.
In the interest of safety and quality, this information, of course, has to be kept up to date. Until now, this was a grueling and time-consuming chore, with documents in Word and in hard copy. Logging into our server via a cell phone was expensive and differences in settings contributed, sometimes, to deviations in the layout causing lack of unity.
Last month, we became ISO-14001 certified, and this occasion prompted us to also solve the problems with updating manuals once and for all. The availability of UMTS, which allows us to send large files fast and inexpensively, and Mavim SIS as a maintenance tool helped tremendously. Mavim SIS offers us the desired intranet solution with a clear structure, simple navigation and a search function. The users are ushered through the information via text and charts, and are automatically informed of any changes.
Mavim convinced us with the quality of their recommendations and the user friendliness of the application. It is now being filled with the various manuals. To roll it out to our ships, we will be working with a number of links on a task sheet. Because of the expense, Internet access from the ships via UMTS is limited to the business applications, such as Mavim SIS and our ERP system, Navision, containing e.g. load and discharge equipment data, ship specifications, and water levels. Because of the immediate availability of the latest data and requirements, especially pertaining to clients, we can continue to improve our services. We expect to maintain and expand our leading position in the future.”
