IMOS - Workflows

End-to-End Workflow

The following diagram shows the main components of the Veson IMOS Platform (IMOS) and their functions and interactions. One of the biggest benefits of the Veson IMOS Platform is that it integrates the activities of all marine departments, reducing the double-entry of data and streamlining work processes. A contract created in Chartering is the basis for a voyage flowing through Operations. This information is also visible in the Trading module as part of the company's overall position. Invoices and financial data flow from Operations to Financials.

The Veson IMOS Platform is made up of:

Core Solutions

The Veson IMOS Platform shipping workflow is made up of the following core modules and their workspaces.

Chartering

Members of a Chartering department use the Chartering module to create and analyze Estimates, COAs, Cargoes, Voyage Fixtures, and Time Charters that may result in the scheduling of voyages. Chartering includes a full range of core analytical tools, including Estimates, the Cargo Schedule, Scheduling, and Time Charter Out Estimates, to help Chartering teams make informed decisions and maximize profits.

Operations

Operations managers use the Operations module to manage day-to-day operations, from fleet and vessel scheduling to voyage management and monitoring. They can quickly access schedules and voyage details, evaluate choices, and make more informed decisions in a constantly changing environment.

Operations managers can create the Freight Invoices and other types of invoices related to the voyage and might also be responsible for demurrage and laytime calculations. If so, they have a link to the Laytime Calculation form in the Operations module center.

Financials

Financial data from Operations are all pulled into the Financials module for the Accounting department. The Veson IMOS Platform (IMOS) can accommodate different approval processes, such as having one person approve invoices and another either release it to third-party accounting software or code it to go to a specific General Ledger account. Once a transaction is posted, some companies use another approval process after IMOS. Reports can be run for audit checking. This comprehensive module enables Accounting departments to perform accurate and efficient billing, tracking, processing, and auditing of financial transactions.

Analytics

In the Analytics module, you can run, design, and share reports based on Veson IMOS Platform data. With Microsoft Power BI, you can also work with business intelligence dashboards.

Data Center

In the Data Center, you can enter and update the data used throughout the Veson IMOS Platform (IMOS). Quick links include the records for your master data, along with Distances, items related to messages and configuration, custom data points (elements), and Security. Term lists, many already populated, appear in the Data Center. Most of the data only need to be entered once for use by all users and then needs only occasional updating.

One individual, perhaps an Operations Supervisor or an IT person, should be responsible for updating the Data Center, acting as a gatekeeper and managing the data. Alternatively, each side of the Data Center (Operations and IT) could have its own Administrator. It is important not to have too many people with access, or duplicate records can be entered, resulting in not only confusion but also errors in transactions and accounting.

Industry Solutions

The following add-on solutions require additional licensing. To implement them for your organization, contact Veson Nautical Support.

Barging

The Barging module is a set of features that configures the Veson IMOS Platform (IMOS) to support the workflows particular to the barging business. Since barging involves many short, quick voyages with multiple boats or barges, this is a much different approach to moving cargo than the typical single vessel voyage workflow.

The Barging module adds support for:

Boats: Boats are represented as vessels with Type Code Boat.
Barges: Barges are represented as vessels with Type Code Barge.
Tows: A Tow is a combination of one boat and one or more barges that are working as a unit. A tow goes on a voyage, not an individual boat or barge. Tows are represented as vessels with Type Code Tow.
Equipment Contracts: Equipment Contracts support boats and barges. There are two types: Equipment TC contracts and Equipment Spot contracts. Separate pricing for boats and barges is supported.

Berth Scheduling

The Berth Scheduling module streamlines the berth scheduling process, offering users a simple, visual workspace from which to manage all berth and vessel data – helping to optimize berth management, improve user workflow, and enhance data accuracy and tracking.

Bunkering

The Bunkering module adds support for a centralized department for bunker procurement. The workflow between voyage Operators, vessels (via Voyage Reporting), and the Bunker Department is managed electronically, ensuring rapid response times, and procurement details are tracked in a centralized database for accurate reporting and analysis of performance.

If you have the Operations module but have not purchased the separate Bunkering module, you can still manage bunker planning, lifting, and invoicing data in the Voyage Manager. For more information, see Voyage Bunkers.

Claims

With the Claims module, you can manage both Demurrage Claims and other types of Claims. This module supports the business needs of marine Demurrage Specialists, enabling them to determine the amount of demurrage to be charged, and to negotiate with the other parties. It also includes tools to track and improve Claims performance and limit Demurrage exposure to loss. In addition to the Laytime Calculator, it has workflow management tools: an overview of estimated, pending, and active demurrage claims on the Claim List, as well as a Time Bar Task List.

Lightering

The Lightering module enables you to manage lightering and reverse lightering contracts end-to-end, providing visibility into all of the service and support operations.

LNG

For non-LNG trades, changes in fuel and cargo quantities onboard are typically independent of one another. For LNG voyages, however, one of the fuels on board is also the cargo. Fuel transactions affect cargo quantities and vice versa.

The LNG module supports LNG shipping and trading workflows by linking LNG fuel and cargo tracking to help users calculate boil-off. In the Veson IMOS Platform (IMOS), LNG is entered as both a cargo and a fuel, and any changes to LNG (fuel) or LNG (cargo) quantities are updated in both.

Pooling

The Pooling module offers an integrated solution for pool operators to effectively manage their pools. The focus of the Pooling module provides pool operators with tools to calculate vessel and voyage contributions to a pool, perform Pooling Distribution calculation, book actual Pooling Cash Distributions, share voyage results with partners, and access reports detailing the historic performance of a pool.

The foundation of the Pooling module is a pool contribution system based on Vessel Points assignment and real-time linking to actual Voyage P&L data from the Operations module. Vessels can be added to and removed from the pool without any restrictions, and, through the linking with the Operations module, all Off Hire is taken into consideration.

Schedule Optimizer

The Veson IMOS Platform (IMOS) Schedule Optimizer is a proprietary algorithm, built on top of the Scheduling workspace, designed to optimize a voyage schedule for either of the following two variables:

Percent of laycans met for cargoes in the book
TCE of the voyage scenario

The optimizer can be used either from the Scheduling workspace, ideal for a voyage-centric workflow, or from the Cargo Book workspace, ideal for a cargo-centric workflow.

The Schedule Optimizer is beneficial for Schedulers, Freight Traders, Charterers, Operators, and Managers at organizations that manage high volumes of often similar voyages.

Trading & Risk

The Trading & Risk module provides Trading desk functionality to record and settle Paper Trades. It also provides marine trade organizations a comprehensive view of physical and derivative contracts and net exposure, to support better trading decisions. With Trading & Risk, you can:

Monitor and manage risk across Vessel Type, Contract type, Trade Area, and Counterparty.
Quickly evaluate your exposure to market fluctuations and the impact of new deals on the position and profitability of your Trade Book.
Better aggregate contracts in your portfolio and match them to trades for hedging purposes.

Shipping risk managers can use Trading & Risk for portfolio management and risk hedging for both freight and bunkers. Freight and freight derivative traders can use it in trading for profit.

People who work at a Trading desk or are part of a Portfolio or Risk Management team use the Trading & Risk module to manage physical freight commitments, Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs), and options in one integrated system. The Portfolio Management team looks at the values of all trades and uses the Veson IMOS Platform to compare what was committed to the cost, to determine if the company is making or losing money. For companies that subscribe, market information comes daily in from the Baltic Exchange as an XML feed.

The Trading & Risk module enables you to:

Enter into Paper Trades. These can be automatically marked-to-market using Market Data feeds and can be invoiced and settled within the system.
Manage your positions from both Physical and Paper Trades. You can view the overall position of your portfolio to identify risk and take appropriate steps to mitigate it.
Mark to Market your positions, showing you the value of your trades, and create reports.

Voyage Reporting

Voyage Reporting standardizes voyage communications to help you collect and analyze current positions and other critical voyage data.

Data Solutions

APIs

The APIs module provides a standard set of web services, implemented as a set of RESTful interfaces, that allow external systems to retrieve information and submit Voyage Reporting form XML. The available endpoints and the actions available are documented at https://api.veslink.com/Help.

Data Lake

The Veson IMOS Platform (IMOS) Data Lake is a highly scalable cloud solution that delivers a holistic view of a client's data in an easy-to-consume format.

It is intended for Business/Data Analysts, Project Managers, Heads of IT, or anyone who is responsible for leveraging vast quantities of historical data to recommend justifiable courses of action to maximize performance in the present.

Integrations

Integrations enable you to build specific, bi-directional connections between the Veson IMOS Platform (IMOS) and your internal systems.