Under the 3-year deal, the Containerships Group is now using the IAS web-based software and communications platform to track and control container M&R and gate in/out events across a network of more than 25 depots in Scandinavia, the Baltic, north Europe and the Mediterranean.
Business at Containerships has expanded considerably over the last three years, including the 2009 acquisition of Contaz Maritime & Trade S.A, a specialist in the north Europe, Mediterranean and North African trades. 'With our container fleet doubling in size as a result of growth and acquisition, we needed to streamline our M&R processes,' said Tomi Invenius, Container Fleet Manager at Containerships. 'IAS offered a fast and proven route to implement a comprehensive M&R control system and automate communications and data flow with our depots.''
IAS EquipmentRepair is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that facilitates the container M&R approval process, allowing equipment owners to automate depot communications, track, control and reduce M&R costs and increase productivity and efficiency. EquipmentRepair 3.0, delivering improved data accuracy and process management, was released last year as a major upgrade of the most widely-used M&R application in the industry.
In the demanding short sea trades, where containers may incur depot activity up to five times a year, keeping firm track on repairs and gate events plays an important role in controlling equipment costs and availability. 'The IAS system allows us to capture all of our M&R data on a single database accessed by users based in various Containerships offices,' noted Invenius. 'It provides good visibility and instant statistics to help us manage our fleet proactively.'
Invenius said that the new system allows Containerships to analyse details and trends, including specific repair issues by batch of containers, and establish where it might be spending more money on repairs with a particular container type or design. This information can be used to identify improvements to the company's container designs that will reduce future repair costs.'
''Automation of the M&R process has made communications easier and freed up management time,' said Invenius. As repair authorisations are more rapid, Containerships also expects to improve container turnaround time and boost fleet utilisation.''
"We are very pleased to have entered into a long-term relationship with Containerships and couldn't be happier with how the launch went. The team at Containerships were live and managing M&R activity within 16 days of kick-off," said Douglas Owen, General Manager, EMEA for IAS. 'With the signing of Containerships we have another great example of a carrier which has closely evaluated the build-versus-buy equation and concluded that IAS provides the most complete, easily deployed and integration-ready M&R solution available today."
