Data Insights and Machine Learning Take Charge of the Maritime Sales Process

AALBORG, DENMARK, June 15, 2021.

While the maritime industry has been hesitant engaging in use of data insight and machine learning, the table is now about to turn. Today, an increasing number of maritime companies actively use data insights to improve sales, supply chain activities, and increase revenues – among these the worlds’ largest ship supplier, Wrist Ship Supply.

The need for efficiency in the maritime sector has led companies to actively use data as a measure to optimize the supply chain. This has paved the way for new ship supply services centered around data insights and machine learning to increase top and bottom-line figures.

According to the leading data and analytics firm, GateHouse Maritime, data insights can make a noticeable difference in the maritime sector. With a combination of historic and real-time ocean data, machine learning, and smart algorithms, maritime supply companies can predict vessel destinations and arrivals with high precision.

Traditionally, vessel tracking has been a time consuming, manual process characterized by imprecise predictions and uncertainty. But today, the process can be automated and turn large amounts of data into tangible leads and sales:

– With the help of data insights, it is possible to predict arrivals several days in advance with almost 100 percent accuracy. This allows maritime supply companies to obtain an obvious competitive advantage, as they can operate proactively and sell services to potential customers days before a given vessel calls into port, says CEO at GateHouse, Maritime, Martin Dommerby Kristiansen.

Data analytics strengthen the world’s largest ship supplier

Four years ago, the world’s largest ship supplier, Wrist Ship Supply, realized a strategy that would integrate data analytics in numerous business areas. The global ship supplier is a full-service provider, providing service for marine, offshore and navy operations, such as supplying consumables, handling of owners’ goods and spare parts storage and forwarding.

Today, Wrist Ship Supply works strategically with data analytics and business intelligence to improve internal processes and increase value for customers:

– In recent years, we have experienced an increasing pull from the market and as a market leader within ship supply, we feel obliged to take part in the digital transformation. Data analysis has proven to be a cornerstone and a very important tool for measuring and improving performances across our own as well as customers’ supply chain. Now, our business model is infused with data analytics and business intelligence that strengthen efficiency and reliability in both internal and external operations, explains Business Analysis Director at Wrist Ship Supply, Birthe Boysen.

For Birthe Boysen and Wrist Ship Supply, data analytics has especially proven its worth within sales:

– It is crucial for us to know where potential customer vessels are heading and when they arrive in different ports. This allows us to coordinate our sales efforts and establish contact in advance. Not only does this make us more efficient, but it also creates value for customers, because all service activities can be planned several days ahead of arrival.

While the data-driven sales approach has increased the focus on KPIs, it has also become an important part of budgeting. Therefore, it has been a key priority for Wrist Ship Supply to be able to navigate in the ocean of available data:

– We have an almost endless amount of data available, and it easily becomes exhausting to keep track of numbers and figures. Therefore, we prioritize to make sure that both internal and external stakeholders can make sense of the conclusions in our data insights. If employees or customers cannot fathom the overall lines in our data results, it will be difficult to use analytics in any way, Nadia Hay Kragholm, Senior Business Analyst in Wrist remarks.

According to Martin Dommerby Kristiansen, data insight has the potential to transform the entire maritime industry because efficiency has never been more important:

– The maritime industry is indeed reliant on efficiency across the value chain. Recently, we have seen how a vessel stuck in the Suez Canal for only a few days can impact not only the maritime industry, but the entire transportation and logistics sector. This goes to show how important data insight and analytics can prove to be for companies that wish to operate proactively and minimize disorder in the supply chain.