Embracing digital platforms to manage port calls and associated payments could significantly boost transparency, ship operator profits and employee productivity.
When looking for operational savings, ship operators naturally focus on the day-to-day running costs, seeking to reduce time in port, fuel spend or crewing costs to optimise their P&L. An area that is often overlooked is that of digital optimisation on shore, which can not only deliver cost savings but also reduce the administrative burden on staff, thereby allowing employees to be more efficient.
This is particularly true for disbursements, where using digital platforms to simplify tasks such as agent selection, proforma and final disbursement accounts review and the approval process can all be automated.
Today’s digital platforms are quite complex and integrate automation to help companies sift through reams of port data to find cost savings and ensure compliance with ever-shifting regulations.
Disbursement accounts (DA) and payments can be streamlined and documents and data across different countries and jurisdictions can be managed in a single platform.
Efficient operations
The reduction in time spent on daily tasks can be significant. Data gathered from users of Marcura’s DA-Desk platform demonstrates that many ship operators have been able to manage up to 50% more vessels, simply because they no longer have to manually process the DA paperwork and related communications.
In fact, when using a digital platform such as DA-Desk, the average user spends only 9 to 11 minutes per port call on key tasks. When compared to the average timeline of 2-3 hours per port call when done manually, this translates to significant time savings as well as a reduction in work hours spent on repetitive tasks. Furthermore, users report an average reduction of $570 per port call on proforma discrepancies and $175 in Final DA credit notes. The combined savings of lower operating costs and time gained across multiple port calls is likely to significantly support a company’s bottom line.
The perfect fit
As most operators know, vetting suppliers is key to ensure quality control. This ethos also applies to software providers, where there is a spectrum of services on offer. While working with emerging suppliers may be the right fit for some ship operators, many benefit from partnering with well-established brands that not only offer peace of mind from an after-sales perspective but can also leverage their wide reach to deliver customer benefits.
For example, by making payments for customers to the value of $12bn a year, DA-Desk can offer its users preferential exchange rates and very limited transactional charges. In most instances, as payments are made in local currency, there are no disputes about rates and the port agent receives exactly what was requested, making the transaction extremely smooth.
As it handles more than 200,000 port calls per year, DA-Desk can pass on supplier discounts to customers that not only benefit large organisations but also operators whose vessels call at a port just a few times a year. In fact, in 2023, DA-Desk customers were able to enjoy a total of $30m in supplier discounts, meaning that each customer saved an average of around $4,000 per port call when utilising a contract.
As these transactions were tracked on the platform, customers were able to see that there were no commissions taken, meaning that they were able to enjoy all negotiated savings.
Human expertise remains vital
While technology can increase organisational efficiency, it is vital that critical thinking is not removed from the process – particularly with regard to financial transactions and associated liabilities. While AI is certainly a game changer in terms of time and costs, it is no match for human expertise, which can move beyond programming to look at the bigger picture. Ship operators would be best served by a mixture of the two, where basic tasks are automated, but the overall output is still subject to scrutiny.
The DA validation engine (DAVE) is an ideal model for such a hybrid system, where powerful scanning technology minimises human error by accurately validating costs, but specialist screening teams do multiple manual checks. This is particularly beneficial when preventing fraud. For example, the system will automatically scan the invoices for the tonnage of the vessel, match it to official records, and use AIS tracking to ensure that any dues are applied to the right vessel. These reports will then be checked by the screening team who will also double-check to ensure that all applicable rotation and frequency discounts have been applied before authorising payment of Light Dues.
Digital future on the horizon
There can be no doubt as to the benefits of embracing digital platforms, providing that the necessary checks and balances are in place to verify outputs. For ship operators whose vessels make hundreds of port visits around the globe, relieving teams of the burden of massive administrative processes and complex calculations to process port payments could reinvigorate the workplace.
By freeing up employees to focus on the strategic objectives of the organisation, not only could employees become more efficient and have higher morale, but the increased transparency is likely to impact the global supply chain positively.
If you’d like to find out how DA-Desk can help you automate your port cost management processes in one easy platform, contact us here.
Read our our recent post on the best questions to ask when you choose a disbursement accounting automation partner.
