Martin Hagberg,
Support Manager BackgroundFor the maritime industry, navigation in different lanes is today a highly critical and vulnerable part of the maritime transport industry's activities. The requirements for safe navigation have also been increasing, not least because of the increased size of vessels and that traffic in many of the ocean's shipping lanes has become more intense. Classical charts on paper have today often been replaced by electronic charts, along with satellite positioning of ships and radar for safer and easier navigation. These new digital tools for modern shipping are an absolute necessity for safe transport through shipping channels. At the same time dependency on these systems demands excellent system support.
"We provide electronic chart and navigation systems with both hardware and software for navigation" says Martin Hagberg, Support Manager at Transas. ChallengeTo provide an effective support system for maritime navigation systems, accessible via Web browser, day or night, 365 days a year.
The very high demands for safety at sea also means that the support of navigation systems must maintain the same high quality. Therein lies a major challenge. The support should be given to many different professionals involved in the navigation of vessels. Whether staff are out at sea on the bridge of an oil tanker or an ocean-going container ship, or as decision makers in a shipping office, Transas must be able to provide instant online support if an acute failure occurs or when someone has queries regarding the use of electronic navigation systems. The technical support that Transas offers therefore spans a wide range of areas and the questions may involve anything from broken hardware to problems with software or help on how to use certain features. SolutionTo get a more secure and time efficient support system Transas has introduced the SupportCenter platform. Instead of dealing with a single case of multiple parallel systems, as in the past, now with SupportCenter they have a Case Management System that makes it simple and easy to follow each case status. The solution is very flexible as each case is given a unique ID number which allows easy tracking. One challenge in the project has been to find a system that can seamlessly handle cases even when the work takes place over different time zones or in different geographic locations. The vessels should always be confident that Transas can provide support wherever in the world the ships are and regardless of what time of day a question arises. 
A major advantage of our new SupportCenter Plus system is that it keeps track of all open cases so that our support staff can always follow up with ongoing notes and, if necessary, leave matters to the next office, regardless of what time zone you are in' says Martin Hagberg. The implementation of SupportCenter Plus was in collaboration with UDK, who have extensive experience in systems for case management and support assistance. "For us SupportCenter was an entirely new platform and so we needed a reliable partner to integrate it with our other systems. This partner we found in UDK" said Martin Hagberg.
Fredrik Grönlund, About UDK CompanyUDK is a growing IT company with over 60 consultants throughout Sweden, from the north to the south, and our headquarters is located in Umeå. Customers can be found in a variety of industries operate within system development, ERP systems, information logistics, security and IT management.The core values are qualifications, experience, personality and innovation. The employees at UDK, share a common goal - to always help our customers run their business to success. ResultFredrik Grönlund from UDK confirms that the cooperation worked very well and that Transas have a sustainable support system. "Transas now have a file system where they can monitor all cases with clear traceability. Therefore it became easier for them to follow the status of each case and how it's handled" says Fredrik Grönlund. For Transas SupportCenter Plus has also meant a whole new way of working. Now the entire support organisation can be involved in each case which gives a faster response, so that each case can be handled more efficiently. Martin Hagberg adds that monitoring and evaluation has also been improved with the new system. "The fact that each case will have its own ID number means we can follow everything automatically and get statistics on all aspects of each case", explains Martin Hagberg.
Transas new SupportCenter system for case management of maritime navigation systems provides a more stable system of support and so contributes to safer shipping. Safe and accessible support where the management of each case can be followed continuously. |
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Transas is a world leader in the maritime industry for electronic systems navigation. The company was founded in 1990 and currently has over 1,500 employees and a network of partners in more than 110 countries. The core offering from Transas consists of a type-approved navigation system with electronic charts for larger commercial vessels.
