6

By facilitating client-vendor information exchange, eliminating data entry mistakes, and improving supplier selection, BASSnet’s Supplier Link simplifies and streamlines the purchasing process.

Thanks to BASS’ Services and Support team, ship management company EMS’ disparate HR system setup is now a thing of the past.

The spring 2009 Customer Forum in Kuala Lumpur was a prime venue to exchange ideas, gather feedback, and show off BASSnet features.

A GLOBAL LEADERBASS TRIUMPHS IN STOLT’S WORLDWIDE TENDER PROCESS

STREAMLINING PURCHASINGA BETTER BOTTOM LINE BUILDING RELATIONSHIP

news @ BASSnet3.2009

October 20092

With a new contract with Petra Perdana’s wholly-owned subsidiary and fleet management company Intra Oil Services Berhad (“Intra Oil”), BASS is building upon its dominant posi-tion in the Malaysian offshore market. The deal calls for the installation of BASSnet fleet man-agement systems and solutions on 18 anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels.

In 2008, Petra Perdana made the decision to install an integrated set of BASSnet procurement, crewing, operations, maintenance and safety management modules for its vessels in order to improve efficiency and results. With increasing competitiveness in the global upstream oil and gas industry, the company recognised the need for an efficient solution to enhance its offshore vessel operations.

“Development expertise, commitment to strong customer support and growing product lines gave us confidence in BASS as a reliable vendor and a long-term partner,” says Shamsul Saad, Petra Perdana and Intra Oil Executive Director.

“Their global presence and established track record in servicing some of the world’s leading shipowners and ship management companies was the determining factor that made our choice of a reliable and stable integrated solution provider a simple one.”

He also sees Intra Oil’s BASSnet investment as a strategic approach towards satisfying customer needs in the current competitive and challeng-ing times. “Charterers expect shipowners to be increasingly efficient in their operations with regard to cost control. The integrated BASSnet ap-plications do exactly that, directly benefitting both shipowners and charterers,” he added.

“Petra Perdana’s choice of BASSnet software gives Intra Oil the basis for decision support and analysis they previously lacked in a modern technology solution that will stand the test of time,” says BASS Managing Director Per Steinar Upsaker.

IMPLEMENTATION IS WELL UNDERWAY The initial stage of project planning has com-menced, with the next few phases expected to be carried out through the end of 2009. Implementation of the crewing, procurement, maintenance, safety management and document management solutions are currently underway at Intra Oil headquarters and fleet. Installation of the BASSnet fleet management systems on all vessels is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.

GLOBAL REACH, LOCAL KNOWLEDGE BASS regional manager Mark Ravi’s accumula-tion of Southeast Asia market knowledge and understanding has assisted the company’s ascent to a leader position in Malaysia and beyond. “The global ship management software market is growing steadily, with customers more open than ever to adopting information technology in increasing ways,” says Mark. “BASS’ first mover position in developing fleet management solutions based on Microsoft .NET technol-ogy gives us the competitive advantage to tap regional shipping markets.”

Delivering on customer needs – year after year This news@BASSnet issue coincides with our autumn Customer Forum in Barce-lona, which follows on the heels of our successful seminar in Kuala Lumpur in May covered on the back page of this newsletter. These forums provide an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and gather constructive feedback from shipping professionals and key management executives, along with an opportunity to show our customers the latest BASSnet features, our product road map and product benefits in detail in person.

We take pride in listening to and delivering on customer needs year after year, and this is reflected in our track record of BASSnet feature additions and product expansion. The reason we’re actually able to carry this out, however, has a lot to do with our his-tory and work behind the scenes.

BASSnet™ Fleet Management Systems is based on BASS’ earlier generation of software from the mid-90s – but rebuilt and refined from scratch on the modern and future-proof Microsoft.NET technol-ogy platform. On top of this, customer feedback confirms that it is extensive in functionality and well thought through in business logic.

Though BASSnet is built on Microsoft’s .NET technology, our application is matured through actual use by a range of large, reputable shipping companies worldwide over the last five years. No other shipping software companies have a similar track record on Microsoft.NET. Still, BASSnet is evolving – and includes a database structure that allows us to add features quickly. Our developers don’t have to worry about accounting for com-patibility between our software and differ-ent operating systems and hardware – the .NET technology already takes care of this.

Our future-proof platform, database struc-ture, and mature and well-tested function-ality allow us to not only listen to the needs of customers, but also do something about them and deliver proven solutions. BASS developers can then use their time in the most valuable way possible – satisfying BASSnet users. As an example of this, BASSnet 2.6 will be released later this year with more than 300 change requests included.

BASSnet™ Modules• Maintenance

• Procurement• Operations

• Document management• Safety management (SAFIR)

• Risk management• Self assessment (TMSA)

• Crew/HR management• Report Generator

• Accounting• Payroll

Petra Perdana installs BASSnet on AHTS vessels

Per Steinar Upsaker Managing Director and CEO, BASS

CUSTOMER CASE

The Petra Adventurer.

2010200920082007

BASSnet development on Microsoft .NETyear by year

‘06‘05

‘02

– Commence .NET development

– Maintenance– Procurement– Documents

– Document Management– Operations

– SAFIR– Risk Management– Self Assessment– Report Generator

– Crew/ HR Management– Payroll– Forecasting– KPI Dashboard– Reviews & Improvements

– Financials– Dry-docking and projects– Process management– Environmental accounting– Warehouse– CBM

October 2009

Ship management company EMS previously had four disparate HR systems up and run-ning with no central overview of crew quali-fications, training and competence. Thanks to BASS’ Services and Support team, this setup is now a thing of the past.

The implementation of BASSnet software solutions in May 2009 helped EMS optimise and streamline their HR and payroll processes efficiently. While the process was far from sim-ple, it was carried out smoothly thanks to the well-defined framework and criteria that EMS drew up, along with the competence of BASS service staff.

“EMS was looking to populate and consolidate all four proprietary systems into one centrally located server. The objective here was to make it possible for an administrator to take full data maintenance responsibility and have integrated access to all crewing office information,” says BASS Project Manager Low Aik Boon.

Additionally, the system was to help the organi-sation adhere to the strict Tanker Management Self Assessment (TMSA) requirements set by the OCIMF (Oil Companies International Ma-rine Forum) and register the various qualifica-tions, competence and training of EMS’ 8,000 crew members so that it is accessible to the crewing master.

“We find it invaluable to have all of our HR, payroll and crewing information accessible in one place. Not only does it make our work easier, it also helps us to maximise our profit and performance potential,” says EMS Project Manager Htunn Lynn.

GETTING TO WORK After providing a template to EMS with the crewing software structure, the two companies worked together to extract all of the data into the new template. “While a few data entry errors were found with our data checking tool during the migration process, our team was quick to fix the discrepancies and file a report to EMS,” says BASS Services and Support General Manager Wong Nyuk-Lan.

As the first phase of the project is now com-plete, EMS is now working with BASS to take the project to the next level by improv-ing its overall HR and payroll systems in or-der to recruit, retain and develop a good mix of talent among crew members. Therefore, the decision has been made to implement BASSnet HR Manager.

HR Manager is a more flexible, time-saving and powerful solution than what EMS has at present, and seamlessly incorporates recruit-ment, competence and training modules. The web-based solution’s interface provides an employee “self-service” function with comprehensive reports integrated into the payroll and budget modules. “BASSnet HR Manager’s strong reporting system with alert features will help EMS managers make informed decisions and HR administrative tasks simpler,” says Aik Boon.

3

BASSnet HR MANAGER ADVANTAGES FOR EMS

• Costandtimesavings.

• HR data and information available onlineatalltimesforallcrewmemberstoupdatetheirpersonalinformation.

• Bymakingqualificationsforallcrewmembersavailable,crew managers can monitor, select and retain the best crew.ThisinformationnotonlyhelpsmanagementcompanieslikeEMSmanageandstreamlinecrewingoperations,butalsoattract new employees and retain existing ones.

• New releasesareaddedonthenewHRmanage-mentandpayrollsystemwhensub-modules–suchasTrainingandCompetence–are made available.

• Providesemployeeswith information on the courses /training programmesthatareavailableataspecificgiventime.Thesystemalsoshowsthecourseactivitythatacrewmemberhasattendedintheuserprofile.Ifcrewarelackinginaparticularskill,thenthevesselmanagercanproposecourseactivi-ties.

BASS streamlining adds to EMS’ bottom line CUSTOMER PROJECT

BASSnetTM is a modular software that enables you to build one,

integrated solution covering all main areas of maritime operations.

When modules are served by one central database you can enter

data once and reuse it in one process after the other.

October 2009 43

SUPPLIERLINK MAIN FEATURES• Easy transfer of quotation requestsfrompurchasingsystem

• Direct update of supplier quotesinthepurchasingsystembasedonthequotations received from sup-pliers

• Track allpreviousquotation requests andquota-tionsinthearchive

• Integration with BASSnet Procurement tofacilitateexchange of informationbetweenthepurchasing system and supplier

• RFQs generatedin“clean”MicrosoftExcelspread-sheetswithout the use of macros.Manymailserverstodayreject documents with macrosforfear of virus attack

BASSnet’s SupplierLink software tool facilitates client-vendor information ex-change for quotation requests and supplier quotes, eliminates mistakes associated with the manual generation of requests and quotes, and improves supplier selection with straightforward and competitive tendering. In short, the purchasing process is simplified and streamlined.

One of the areas in which shipowners and ship managers have great possibilities for improvement is in the administration and execution of sending out quotation requests and gathering supplier quotes. If the process is streamlined, not only does it decrease the man hours needed to carry it out, but it also can make it easier to get improved price quotes and strengthen relationships with suppliers.

RFQs DONE RIGHT While new requests for quotations (RFQs) can be easily created in SupplierLink, benefits truly come to the fore when utilising existing requests through the product’s RFQ Manager. Requests can be found in the purchasing system and then converted into macro-free Excel spreadsheets, which detail data including requisition number, vessel, buyer, currency, and required items and quantities. RFQ Manager allows users to choose which requests to e-mail to the suppliers, and then automatically opens the user’s default e-mail client and sends the requests on.

When suppliers open the spreadsheets, they en-ter quotation details, delivery information, dis-counts and then e-mail these quotes back to the user. Users can, at the click of a button, import these quotes back into BASSnet Procurement,

where supplier comparisons can be quickly car-ried out and the right supplier selected.

“There may be a number of reasons why certain suppliers are chosen – all from price to delivery time or a combination of factors. The integration between SupplierLink and BASSnet Procurement makes it easier not only to get quotation requests out to a greater number of suppliers, but also allows you to easily com-pare all of the quotes once they are received,” says Rajesh Purkar, BASS Product Manager.

ACCURACY, TRANSPARENCY & TIME SAVINGS SupplierLink eliminates user manual data entry, which is beneficial in a number of ways. “Data entry can be cumbersome and error prone,” says Purkar. “In addition, it takes up shipowner/ship manager resources that can be better utilised on more relevant tasks.”

The SupplierLink tool also stores previous quotation requests in the archive folder for future reference, which can be restored to their original location whenever required.

Modernising the purchasing process

www.say.biz

PRODUCT UPDATE

BASSnetProcurement

SupplierLink

BASSnet™ FleetManagement Systems

October 20095

After a broad tender process involving all of the foremost fleet management software com-panies, chemical and edible oils transport heavyweight Stolt Tankers B.V. recently came to the same conclusion as shipping industry leaders NYK Ship Management, “K” Line and CMA CGM: they chose to install the integrated BASSnet suite on their 76 vessels and 4 satellite offices.

The deal represents a milestone for BASS, as the company triumphed at the end of Stolt Tank-ers’ comprehensive, worldwide tender phase – which spanned for a full six months. First, Stolt reviewed information from 12 software vendors in 2008 to get an overview of the market, and thereafter invited six of these into a tender process consisting of about 800 explicit require-ments. After the answers to these questions were analysed, Stolt pared the list down to three vendors, who were then involved in a two-day workshop which included in-depth presentations of the complete solutions.

“It was a difficult choice, but in the end our decision fell on BASSnet due to its complete functionality, superior technological platform and intuitive user interface. It has one of the most comprehensive databases in the industry – enabling us to view and analyse our operations from different angles for improved decision support and performance. We intend to use it as a master database for Stolt Tankers,” says Stolt-Nielsen CIO Peter Koenders.

“The fact that BASSnet is fully developed on up-to-date technology – Microsoft.NET – was important to Stolt. It provides us with a platform for the future so that we can avoid repeating such projects across the fleet later on. Another area in which BASS greatly differentiated itself from its competitors was human resources man-agement,” says Stolt Tankers’ Business Process

In Stolt Tankers’ extensive tender process, BASS takes it all

“BASS’ new deals and contract extensions for over 250 ship

installations across two continents builds on the

company’s global leader position in the ship

management

software industry”

A sampling of some of BASS’ new contracts since the end

of 2008.

Manager Jose Milhazes, citing BASSnet’s new HR Manager module. The BASSnet HR Manager solution is web-based and built to meet the challenges and unique requirements of crew and payroll management in today’s shipping environment.

BASS will now assist Stolt Tankers with the conversion of 76 vessel databases from a mix of in-house and competing systems to a full BASSnet 2.6 suite. Implementation is sched-uled to begin in September 2009, with a fleet rollout in January 2010 and complete imple-mentation expected by 2011.

TENDER PROCESS TYPICAL OF SECOND-TIME BUYERS “We are extremely proud to come out as the winner in this qualification process,” says BASS CEO Per Steinar Upsaker. “A tender process that builds on the shipowner’s own business process mapping and real-world user cases is typical of second-time buyers. They know all about the limitations of best-of-breed, stand-alone applications and are looking to in-crease transparency and streamline operations. These buyers go beyond regulatory compliance in order to drive business improvements, obtain

ROI, and look for an up-to-date technology solution that will stand the test of time.”

BASS is quick to point out that shipowners not only improve day-to-day operations with their solution, but also financial returns. “According to the comprehensive business case that Stolt has carried out, the company will get signifi-cant returns on its investment. And they see the solution itself running for at least 10 or more years,” says BASS head of product manage-ment, Haakon Dalan. “The process Stolt car-ried out here represents a very strong return on investment for most shipowners.”

INSPIRATION AND MOTIVATION One needn’t worry that the gaining of such a large contract will make BASS rest on its lau-rels. Quite the opposite, in fact. “While we’re all very proud of this achievement, we will not become complacent. Rather, the tender process that we’ve gone through and the contract that we’ve won will help give us the inspiration, motivation and confidence to continuously improve our products and services, and add new modules to the BASSnet suite,” concludes Upsaker.

Request for Information (RFI)

Request for Proposal (RFP)

Two-day workshop

800 explicitrequirements

Vendor responsereview

BASS triumphed at the end of Stolt Tankers’ comprehensive, six-month worldwide tender phase.

COVER STORY

October 2009 6

Following the recent decision of Mr Phan Loong Fatt to take early retirement, BASS is pleased to announce that Ms Wong Nyuk Lan has been promoted to BASS’ Services & Support General Manager.

With close to 9 years of project management and consulting experience at BASS, Nyuk Lan is the perfect choice to head up the group. “This is a tremendous opportunity for me to add value to the growth of the company and I look forward to a productive year,” she says.

While Phan Loong Fatt will now be leaving the company – and working life – he will surely not be forgotten. “Phan has played a vital role in building BASS up to one of the shipping software market leaders. We wish him the very best in his retirement,” says BASS Managing Director Per Steinar Upsaker.

KUALA LUMPUR CUSTOMER FORUM 2009

Sharing views, building relationshipsWith close to 40 global shipping and offshore customers such as CMA CGM, Wilhelmsen Ship Management, Bumi Armada, Petra Perdana, “K” Line and TMT in attendance, BASS’ spring 2009 customer forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was a prime venue to exchange ideas, gather feedback and show off BASSnet’s latest features.

“It’s just as important to exchange ideas and gather customer opinions of the BASSnet suite as it is to show off our product benefits,” says Jaume Mortensen, BASS General Manager of Product Sales and Channel Management. “These forums provide a real opportunity for two-way communication, and help us build stronger bonds with our customers.”

Workshops carried out from May 12–13 included demonstrations from BASS’ product experts, as well as spontaneous question-and-answer sessions. And as the sessions included both current and potential customers, the first-hand view of BASSnet’s interface, features and user-friendliness was invaluable. “Malaysian offshore companies TH Technologies and JRI Resources are in the midst of evaluating our integrated software solutions, so it was a pleas-ure giving them a closer look at the BASSnet module system,” Mortensen says.

The forum also enabled customers to par-ticipate in discussions about the direction of BASSnet Fleet Management Systems and at the same time learn how to fully utilise the enhanced features to streamline business proc-esses.

The sessions weren’t limited to the classroom, however. Drink and dinner receptions pro-vided the opportunity for old and new business contacts to get to know each other better and converse about the issues facing the maritime industry at present. “It’s even more important for us to talk now with the challenges at hand,” says Mortensen. “The transparency that BASS-

net provides can help companies maximise profitability – something that’s needed more than ever.”

Upcoming EventsBASS CUSTOMER FORUM 2009 – EUROPE Date:October5–6,2009Venue:HotelAvenidaPalace–Barcelona,Spain

ASIA PACIFIC MARITIME 2010Date:March24–26,2010Venue:SingaporeExpoVisitBASSatStand3G24

SEA JAPAN 2010Date:April21–23,2010Venue:TokyoBigSightExhibitionCentre,JapanVisitBASSatStandK20

POSIDONIA Date:June7–11,2010Venue:HellenikonExhibitionCentre,Athens

SMM HAMBURGDate:September7–10,2010Venue:InternationalTradeFair,Hamburg

Pleasevisitwww.bassnet.noforthelatestdetails.

New head of Services & Support

MANAGEMENT TEAM CHANGE

BASS offices BASS events or trade shows where BASS will appear

Europe/Americas: BASS AS Lysaker Torg 8, P.O. Box 68, 1324 Lysaker, Norway • Tel: +47 67 10 55 20 • Fax: +47 67 10 55 16

Asia/Pacific: BASS Sdn Bhd 19th Floor Menara Atlan • 161B Jalan Ampang • 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia • Tel: +603 2173 6488 • Fax: +603 2173 6499 • Support tel: +603 2173 6422

HQ: BASS Software Ltd. Atalanti House, 6th Floor • 203 Christodoulou Chatzipavlou • 3035 Limassol, Cyprus

New BASS Services & Support General Manager Wong Nyuk Lan.