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Moran Towing Corporation
Connecticut-based Moran Towing Corporation, which was founded over 150 years ago, is a major corporate provider of maritime services. The company currently owns and operates over 100 tugs and 36 barges
with a focus on ship docking and harbor services; marine transportation of petroleum and dry bulk products; contract and specialty towing; and environmental services.
In 2006, Moran Towing’s Dry Bulk Division, which operates a fleet of 17 dry bulk barges, and its Petroleum Division, which operates 10 tank barges through Moran’s Tank Barge subsidiary, began reviewing software packages to replace their existing systems. Their goals were to create a consolidated approach to marine transportation activities by unifying chartering and operations and linking into the back office Microsoft Navision accounting software. The company conducted an extensive search, interviewing more than 30 vendors, and narrowed the field to six software providers.
Moran Moves Forward with IMOS
“We selected Veson Nautical because we were convinced that IMOS would greatly increase the productivity and efficiency of our transportation group,” explained Bruce Richards, Vice President of Marine Operations for Moran Towing. “Generating reports, pulling data together from disparate spreadsheets, cutting out redundant data, have always been cumbersome and time consuming. We really needed a solution that could integrate all our processes and turn reporting into a ‘one click’ operation. IMOS gave us that solution.”
The Benefits of IMOS for Barge Operations
Using the Operations Module, Moran can produce laytime calculations much faster than before, because the port activity data transfers directly into the laytime statement. Moran has been able to eliminate spreadsheets and significantly reduce the amount of manual rekeying. IMOS Bunker Management helps Moran plan and track the use of fuels in environmentally restricted regions.
Veson Nautical’s software was designed to address the specific requirements of barge companies, such as the need to make last minute changes on shorter voyages. Moran has benefited greatly from the Vessel Schedule, the front-end to the Operations module for accessing and updating vessel and voyage information. The module also produces invoices and reports and provides the ability to view and track voyages easily. Moran Towing staff can now conduct analysis on the tonnage moved per customer and determine which voyage to conduct next based on projected profitability.
Finally, Veson Nautical created a customized program within the Accounting Module that integrates seamlessly with Moran’s existing document management and accounting system.
IMOS Integrates with Moran’s Existing Systems
“Our ability to integrate IMOS with our SharePoint document management system and Navision accounting system was a big selling point five years ago and it continues to be critical,” said John Tavares, Manager, Business Applications. Some of the newest IMOS solutions further strengthen the link between Moran’s voyage management operations and accounting system.
New Solutions: Creating an Electronic Audit Trail
Today IMOS provides enhanced cash management benefits to Moran through its integration with a custom web application that runs off SharePoint. This custom web application allows Moran to electronically code invoices by type of voyage, vendor terms, etc.
Voyage and non-voyage related invoices are scanned, coded, approved and automatically transferred into Navision and IMOS6 at the same time. This integrated IMOS implementation not only eliminates the inefficient rekeying of information, it gives Moran a sophisticated electronic audit trail and the ability to attach supplemental documentation as PDFs.
Continuous Benefits
“Across the organization, we are focused on accurately tracking our expenses, managing our cash flow, and minimizing lost income. With IMOS we can quickly and easily generate highly customized reports that give us great insight into our operation, help us focus on any problems, and quickly correct any errors. We are very confident that IMOS has produced a great ROI for Moran.” said Brendan Collins, Manager of Moran Dry Bulk Operations.
Realizing the Promise of the Paperless Office
One of Moran’s key goals was to provide greater visibility and insight into their profit & loss on specific voyages. IMOS is able to connect to Moran’s invoice creation tool and preview the document in PDF Format. IMOS is also able to import and export a PDF attachment via XML transfer. This allows the user to work more efficiently in one system rather than accessing data in two places.
