Tanker owner-operator AET brought bunkering activities previously handled through email, spreadsheets and SharePoint into IMOS in a project completed in one month, according to a Veson Nautical account published by Hellenic Shipping News. The account said the change consolidated bunkering information and improved workflow efficiency, visibility and the experience of users, with strong take-up among operational teams.
Joey Chua, AET’s Head of Business Improvement, discussed the initiative during a client panel at Veson’s Singapore Summit. He advocated tackling a clearly defined operational problem rather than attempting a wholesale replacement of systems. The bunkering project was presented as an example of how a focused improvement could deliver benefits quickly and build staff confidence in subsequent technology changes.
The panel also included Michelle Gonzalez, Senior General Manager of Shipping Business and Operations at Vale, and Lingga Widastri, President Director at PT Chandra Shipping International. Gonzalez described how Vale’s mine-to-customer chain had accumulated systems that did not always produce consistent information, while individual parts of the business pursued their own targets. Bringing port-to-client operational data into a common view had reduced calls and emails and helped teams understand changes in costs, according to the account.
For PT Chandra Shipping, which handles Chandra Asri Group cargo while expanding its third-party business, Widastri outlined a consistent commercial approach. Voyages are assessed against utilisation, cost and service regardless of whether the customer is internal or external. She also stressed that information about brokers, charterers and agents needed to be accessible across the organisation rather than held by individual employees.
The speakers identified working practices and change management as greater obstacles to digital collaboration than technology itself. Widastri warned that continued reliance on personal spreadsheets could undermine a shared platform. Gonzalez favoured disciplined procedures and refresher training to prevent processes drifting over time, while Chua emphasised familiar workflows and user-focused design. The supplier-authored account also highlighted trust in external partnerships and better connections between commercial, operational and vessel information as important to faster decision-making.