With digital technology permeating every sphere of our existence, the shipping industry is not far behind. When it comes to exploring options for digital maritime solutions, there may arise a confusion on whether use of a seafarer planning software is necessitated.
The reason there has been a shift towards the adoption of seafarer planning softwares over the conventional scenario planning practices is because – existing practices to map out strategic plans and scenarios is just a unilateral graphical representation of projecting current trends to a later date. This is a flawed approach as it fails to take into account other important qualitative factors.
Seafarer Planning Software for Scenario Planning for Ships
In addition to easing the process of overall ship management, a seafarer planning software taps into an industry-specific need of providing the following in a more technologically conducive manner.
- Vessel management systems
- Crew management systems (includes crew document management, estimation of work and rest hours on board as well as measurement of crew efficiency)
- Management systems for payroll
- Stores and Supplies Procurement systems
- Systems for maintenance management
- Systems for management of safety and quality
What to expect from a Seafarer Planning Software?
There are several use cases for an effective Seafarer Planning Software to facilitate and ease operations as well as ensure a thorough scenario planning for ships. A few of these include:
Overall Planning
- The use of a seafarer planning software permits players in the shipping industry to ideate, prepare and plan in a flexible manner for their long-term
- It also allows for the consideration of all the risks to expect and prepare for over the upcoming period
- Risk identification grants the shipping company to take action beforehand to mitigate avoidable risks and protect from their negative impact
Seafarer Planning
- With the use of a seafarer planning software, it becomes easier for shipping companies to maintain a database of seafarers and easily select seafarers with the right experience and competencies to man their vessels
- Another use of seafarer planning is to determine for the future by estimating how many seafaring professionals would be anticipated to hold a required position
Scenario planning for ships is an imperative part of adopting the technologically advanced practices of today for research and strategic planning purposes to project and estimate the transformations to expect in the field, keep a tab on certain aspects of everyday operations and to foresee trends and human capital requirements for future requirements
