1. This year has seen the launch of a
new membership package that is
available to both the 45,000 plus
suppliers who are registered with ShipServ
and any new suppliers who would like to
join.
If a supplier now becomes a ShipServ
Member, they receive access to ALL our
core products
This includes a Premium Profile with the
ability to add online catalogues, unlimited
order management, E-invoicing, a new
RFQ Filter that allows suppliers to choose
to receive RFQs that are only relevant to
them and the ability to control their brand
through their own brand verification page,
which means it is easier for maritime buyers
to find authorized distributors.
ShipServ wants to bring more value and
ultimately more business to its members so
we have combined all of our core prod-
ucts into one complete Membership pack-
age for suppliers, so that they get the best
opportunity to raise brand awareness, gen-
erate new leads and handle orders from all
ShipServ buyers in the most efficient way.
As part of this move, we are introducing
a new pricing set-up that will be linked di-
rectly to the value ShipServ brings a sup-
plier – so that they are only charged for
business as and when they receive it – mak-
ing it easy for them to see and measure the
exact value they get as a ShipServ Member.
Suppliers that are not members will still
be able to trade for free with all our buyers
through our StartSupplier solution.
If one of your suppliers has any questions
about ShipServ Membership they can con-
tact our Membership hotline on +44 203
111 9700
CONNECT
ShipServ
September 2013 Issue 5
ShipServ is delighted to announce the
release of ShipServ Onboard 2013
including the print edition, formerly
known as Mariner’s Annual, and the Digital
CD version that now includes electronic
supplier catalogs in its brand new catalog
viewer.
The combination of the Print Edition
and CD allows crew onboard to source
and specify the exact part required, create
a requisition and send ashore.
The ShipServ Onboard print edition is
now in its 56th
edition and includes ap-
proximately 500 manufacturers, distribu-
tors, chandlers and service providers list-
ed in over 1300 pages of information.
The CD version now contains the Ship-
Cat Catalog Viewer, which allows crew
to instantly access over 40 electronic sup-
plier catalogs provided additionally by
print edition advertisers with the ability to
drill down by product or to carry out text
searches on all catalogs simultaneously.
For the first time, the IMPA Marine
Stores Guide 6th
Edition is also included
on the CD and this can be accessed by
any company with a valid IMPA Data Li-
cense.
“We have now increased exposure for
our advertisers who formerly viewed us
as primarily a print publication with the
Catalog function on the CD. We expect
the number of electronic catalogs to ex-
pand dramatically in the 2014 edition,”
said Don Staffin, Senior Vice President of
ShipServ.
All the sponsored content and advertis-
ing from the 2013 edition is also available
on ShipServ Pages and an iPad or iPhone
version of the print edition is also now
available at www.shipserv.com/help/sso
Latest news and exclusive features for our
shipowners, shipyards and shipmanagers
New Membership package for suppliers
ShipServ Onboard 2013 released

2. ShipServ is continuing to work with
Eye-share to allow shipowners and
shipmanagers, who use ShipServ
TradeNet, the ability to receive, process
and approve invoices and ultimately to save
both time and money.
With the ShipServ e-Invoicing service, in-
voices are sent from suppliers through the
TradeNet platform and can be processed
directly into the Eye-share Invoice solution
to speed up the workflow and approval
process.
ShipServ and Eye-share will be hosting
two seminars in the Netherlands on the 8th
and 10th
of October seminar in Rotterdam
and Groningen to provide further informa-
tion about the latest developments in the
purchase-to-pay process.
A number of shipowners and managers
are using the e-Invoicingsolution from
ShipServ to receive invoices in their eye-
share Invoice solution including Seatrans,
Utkilen and Wilson Shipmanagement and
the advantages of using both ShipServ and
Eye-share Invoice in tandem include:
Eye-share Invoice lets you access and ap-
prove invoices from anywhere, work tasks
are easier and faster to complete.
Save time by reducing manual work and
automate repeated task with seamless inte-
gration between ShipServ and Eye-Share
Invoice
Distribution, collection routines, remind-
ers and matching invoices to purchase
orders are all automated tasks within eye-
share Invoice.
Better traceability with the electronic ar-
chive and invoice activity log
The ShipServ e-invoicing solution is now
used by ten shipowners and shipmanagers
with thousands of invoices sent monthly
through ShipServ TradeNet over 25 signed
up suppliers.
To find out more about the ShipServ
e-invoicing solution visit: http://www.
shipserv.com/info/save-time-and-money-
with-tradenet/e-invoicing-for-buyers/.
If you are interested in attending the
seminar in the Netherlands contact afos-
seng@shipserv.com
September 2013 2
C
an you answer the following
questions?
How many suppliers respond to our•
RFQs and how long does it take
them?
Are we always delivering spares and•
stores on time during port calls?
Do we ask for at least three quotes•
per PO?
Do we receive enough quotes on our•
RFQ’s to make sure we are able to
source in a timely manner?
Are our suppliers responding in a•
timely fashion or are we creating
problems by asking for too rapid a
response to RFQs?
Are we using the right suppliers? Do•
they respond at all?
Do we take advantage of the latest•
tools in our supply process – are we
using e-commerce and to what ex-
tent?
How are we doing compared to the•
rest of the industry?
ShipServ has been making available the
data that answers questions like this for the
last 11 years.
We call it our Key Performance Indicator
(KPI) dashboard and you should receive
your KPIs by email every quarter:
Used properly it can be really help to
improve any company’s ship supply op-
erations, as well as relationships with your
supplier partners.
The table to the right is a snapshot of the
ShipServ KPI Dashboard, which shows
several important data elements:
E-Enablement Status: this figure is
the percentage of POs the company sent
through TradeNet compare with the esti-
mated total no. of PO per vessel per year
as reported by the shipowner/manager.
Useful in seeing progress on getting elec-
tronic trading going with your suppliers.
Supplier Response Rate: this figure is
the percentage of supplier responses to
all RFQs divided by the number of RFQs
themselves. The number may be below
100% because
Invited suppliers may not stock the items
requested or supply the requested ports.
The RFQs have too short a response time
due toinsufficient information, or the fact
that the RFQ was sent over weekend, or the
supplier is simply too busy etc.
RFQ to PO Ratio: Shows the ratio of
the RFQs issued in the period compared to
the number of POs issued in the period.
Ship owners will need to drill into the data
to find the balance between on-contract
and off-contract transactions. This will en-
sure sufficient RFQs are sent out.
Run Rate: The annualized number of
POs per vessel sent via TradeNet. This
number is the annual projection of your
current POs sent over TradeNet
Line Items per PO: As with the re-
Ensuring you get the most out of KPIs
E-invoicing partners to hold Dutch seminars

3. sponse percentages, the absolute number
for this KPI is less important than the im-
provement over time. However, this can
have as large an impact as unit prices for
the lower value items because each PO car-
ries a fixed overhead cost (including han-
dling the invoice), believed to be between
$50 and $150 for each PO.
B e n c h m a r k i n g
KPIs are very helpful, but they have an im-
portant limitation – they operate in a vacu-
um. Benchmarking compares the perform-
ance of a company (i.e., its KPIs) against
those of similar organizations or internally
between business units.
It’s a useful tool that can help make a com-
pany more competitive while providing an
objective picture of the business’ strengths
and weaknesses.
In the table above right we have expanded
the KPI Dashboard to include industry av-
erages (using example data only). What we
can see from this data is:
- FleetCo is at a high level of e-enable-
ment, but there’s still room for improve-
ment. Why are the remaining 24% of sup-
plier still not trading electronically?
- The supplier response rate is close to the
average, but still way below what is achiev-
able by best in class.
- The percentage of one day turnaround
for quotes is just below the average, but
again way below best in class.
-The RFQ to PO rate is slightly below the
average.
-The number of Line items per PO is
fairly low leading to the issue of more POs
than average.
The data for this type of benchmarking
is based on transactions from almost 8,000
vessels in the period.
KPIs and benchmark statistics like these
help identify and correct weaknesses in
critical business processes before they are
noticed.
Over the next few issues of Connect, we’re
going to be investigating several different
aspects of our KPI and benchmarking data
to show how they can improve business
processes and overall performance.
In our next column, we’re going to spend
some time analysing the importance of
understanding RFQ response rates, but be-
fore then here are some questions for you
to think about:
Do you know how many responses•
you get to your RFQs compared to
the number of RFQs you issue? Is it
a low response rate or a high one?
How do you establish what is low/•
high?
If you think your response rate is•
low, why is it? Are you sending your
RFQs to the right suppliers, ones
who can provide the equipment you
need in the places you need it?
Are you truly being “fair”? – i.e. do•
not actually favour certain suppliers
despite the results of the quote phase
(and, btw, if that’s the case why not
enter a contract and stop RFQ’ing!).
Are your deadlines for quote sub-•
mission reasonable? Or are they too
short?
Is the data you provide on your RFQ•
insufficient or inaccurate such that it
prevents a supplier from responding
appropriately?
By knowing your RFQ response rate, you
will be in a much better position to improve
the rate because you’ll be able to analyze
exactly where the problem lies. And better
rates of response hold out the prospect of
better prices.
September 2013 3
Improvements to WebReporter and Transaction Monitor
Over the last few months ShipServ
has improved the usability and
features of its two business
intelligence tools – Transaction Monitor
and WebReporter to ensure you can access
your key data in a user friendly format.
Our new WebReporter interface pro-
vides you with key business intelligence
on all your transactions through ShipServ
As in the previous version you will
be able to run seven standard reports:
Purchase Orders by Supplier, Purchase
Orders by Vessel, Transactions by Sup-
plier, Transactions by Vessel, Supplier
Analysis, All RFQs, All POs.
We have also improved the user inter-
face of Transaction Monitor and we are
delighted to unveil a new filter that now
allows you to search by Buyer Contact
Name.
We have also improved the efficiency
of Transaction Monitor by archiving
transactions that are older than two years
old. These can now be found under the
Transaction Monitor tab but are only
available as read-only.
If you have any questions about
WebReporter or Transaction Monitor,
contact us on support@shipserv.com.

4. MLC (2006): What you really need to know?
September 2013 4
The MLC is now in force and we are
being asked lots of more and more
detailed questions by operators and
flag states.
Obviously, different operators will have
differing challenges and MLC compliance
will be different on a cruise ship to a bulk
carrier.
But, overall, the new convention neces-
sitates a huge culture change in how we
manage people and look after their needs
in our industry.
Here are some things that need to be
looked at and taken into account by opera-
tors:
Food Preparation / Galley Cleanliness
This is a huge area of concern, and in my
opinion the Masters / Superintendents still
do not take this seriously enough.
This is a high risk area both from the
health perspective and PSC problems yet
it is, if not simple, fairly low cost to ensure
compliance.
The cooks are often not trained properly
even to the very basic standards. A com-
pany approached Lloyd’s Register the other
day to see if we wished to work together
(not sure that we can) but they are perfectly
correct that there is a big issue in this area.
I expect that they will be very busy in the
next 6 months when vessels get detained.
You may remember that when a vessel gets
detained for Fire/Safety issues they often
must go through training before the de-
tention lifted, well this is where these guys
hope to cash in through training crew from
detained vessels.
Purchasing Food
This is another area that is often poorly
overseen on board. It is often not easy
to return goods (or so the chandler will
tell you) but as can be seen from the lat-
est issues with refrigerated containers, the
claims are spiralling due to lack of control
through the full supply chain.
Food delivered to vessels is often too
ripe to last the voyage - frozen food espe-
cially; meat is well below the temperature
allowed; and the ordering is not controlled
properly usually due to the poor on board
stock control including regard for “use by”
dates. Cooks must be trained in creating
effective menus and think about food for
more than one day at a time. Poor ordering
either creates excess cost to the company
or a poor standard of food on board.
Managing Agents keeping the allot-
ments / pay remittance for excessive
time
Whilst non-payment of wages is not a
big issue, late payment by manning agents
after the Owners have deposited the cash
is a problem.
Just think, a large manning agent may
have 1000 – 2000 seafarers on vessels
at any time, if we take an average allot-
ment of US$500 per month then this is
US$500,000 to US$1,000,000 sent each
month by the Owners. If the manning
agent delays the payment 2 weeks then just
think of the interest they gain…..
Hours of work and rest
A lot has been written about this but it
is still a big issue. The whole area of work
and rest creates difficulties – balancing ad-
equate rest with compliance to ensure that
shipboard management can control this
area. This may require the industry chang-
ing its whole approach to people manage-
ment and working culture.
Internet on board for crew use
The interesting point has been made by
the crew themselves is that whilst they
want internet on board so that they can
contact their families they are not sure that
“full internet access” at all times is a good
idea. They have seen on the few ships that
have this that there is then no personal
contact between the seafarers as they are
all in their cabins and always on the com-
puter (sounds much like William my teen-
age son!).
Officer / Crew Certificates
Someone should develop a good system
and sell to the Flags to get everything in
the same format, probably a “pipe dream”
but it would bring this area into the 20th
century (I know we are in the 21st Century
but shipping is that far behind in some ar-
eas!).
Tony is Lloyd’s Register’s Marine
BusinessManagerSEEurope&EMEA
Regional Marine Consultancy Manag-
er – based in Piraeus he is also Lloyd’s
Register’s lead manager on MLC relat-
ed services and global delivery. Lloyd’s
Register has now completed more than
1,000 MLC related inspections for the
international shipping industry.
With the MLC (2006) Convention now in force and vessels actively being detained, Capt.
Tony Field, Lloyd’s Register, looks at some key areas requiring attention for purchasing
managers and technical superintendents.
Galley cleanliness is a big area
of concern for owners

5. Social Media: Has Shipping missed the boat?
Are you using two or more different
purchasing systems, or same pur-
chasing system but with more than
one installation for your fleet?
This situation can arise either as a result
of acquisition of new ships or due to tran-
sitioning from an old to a new purchasing
system. ShipServ can help present a single
interface to your suppliers with our User-
Based Redirect (UBR) module.
To implement UBR, multiple different
installations of ShipServ MTMLink-FX
communication software are set up on your
network, each handling a different system
but running under one TradeNet ID with
different MTMLlink FX users.
However, when the transaction reaches
TradeNet, the supplier will only see a sin-
gle TradeNet ID. Furthermore, supplier re-
sponses will automatically be routed to the
user who has initiated
the transaction.
This helps keep your
changes transparent to
both suppliers and us-
ers and helps simplify
their handling of your
account.
The diagram right il-
lustrates a two system
implementation for a
shipping company.
If you have any fur-
ther questions, then
please contact support
@shipserv.com
September 2013 5
Solve multiple system problems with UBR
Does Social media really work in
the shipping industry? Do Likes,
Followers, Fans convert into real
dollars?
These were some of the most heard ques-
tions around the bars, exhibition halls, and
conference venues this year as sceptics
maintained that social media held little
value for a people-based industry such as
Shipping.
ShipServ’s 2012 Internet and Social Media
Use in Shipping survey of leading shipping
companies and major suppliers showed a
continued general trend of increased social
media usage but there were still doubts
over its effectiveness from senior manage-
ment.
Leading Mar-
ketingconsultan-
cy Stark Moore
Macmillan has
now published a
full blown report
into the social
media trends in
Shipping and at
first glance the
sceptics look to
have won the argument.
Its “Missing the Boat? A Comprehensive
Evaluation of Social Media for Maritime
Businesses” report investigates current
trends in social media and just how mari-
time companies can use it to their benefit.
According to Stark Moore Macmillan the
number of maritime organisations on so-
cial platforms is still small with the majority
being publishers, journalists and non-com-
mercial entities.
Maritime companies have to add the intri-
cacies of the B2B maritime marketplace to
the equation when using social media such
as a far longer and more traditional sales
cycle, more difficult higher-value purchases
and the importance of reputation and ex-
pertise within the industry.
One of the key recommendations for
maritime companies involves using social
media not as a standalone tool that prom-
ises to grow your sales, but as part of an
integrated digital strategy that is closely
linked to the company’s sales goals.
As the report states: “It’s not fans, follow-
ers or retweets, but opportunities, leads and
sales conversions.”
The report concludes that there are ad-
vantages – both strategic and tactical -if
implemented as part of broader marketing
plan.
At a strategic level, it is digital not social
which is the trend with the most powerful
influence within the maritime industry.
Digital encompasses much more than so-
cial and it offers more opportunities to the
maritime industry.
It includes everything from changes to
navigation and communications, to crew
retention and welfare as well as new oppor-
tunities for suppliers. Social media is merely
the ‘tip of the iceberg’.
At a tactical level, social media can be a
good channel for maritime professionals
to research their customers, competitors as
well as enhancing their company’s reputa-
tion.
After all, as the report says B2B is an area
where reputation and developing relation-
ships plays an essential role and this is even
more evident in the maritime industry.
To order a copy of the full report and
get 50% off the price visit www.stark-
mooremacmillan.com/shipserv/miss-
ingthe-boat and use the discount code
‘shipserv2013′ in the order form.

6. As one of the first ship supply com-
panies to sign up with ShipServ at
the beginning of the last decade,
the Wilwel Group, consisting of The Wil-
liams & Wells Company & Alliance Supply
Management, has always been an innovator
and leader in the field.
Its Houston subsidiary Alliance Supply
Management has been targeting the off-
shore market since 2000 but the operation
outgrew its current premises and moved to
new facilities in the area in 2011.
“Despite the difficult shipping markets
since 2008 – we have still seen growth and
we just outgrew our previous facility, so it
made sense to move to a larger premises
where we could process orders more effi-
ciently, said Mark Pontiff, EVP and General
Manager of Alliance Supply Management.
The Wilwel group is a family-owned busi-
ness that has been providing ship supplies
to the marine industry since 1906 from its
office in New Jersey. The group has eight
offices around the world including Hong
Kong.
“The US Gulf is a great place to be for
the shipping industry particularly with the
explosion in the offshore/workboat market
and our new facility allows us to be respon-
sive to clients,” said Mr Pontiff.
IT and technology have always played an
integral part to the business- its in-house
software was developed back in the 1990s
to assist in the warehousing and logistics
process of ship supply.
“Clients have been impressed
with our technology but it’s important
that we always try to put into perspec-
tive their exact supply needs.”
With an emphasis on technology it was
no surprise that the senior management
of the Wilwel Group were quick to pick
up on e-commerce and signed up with
ShipServ in 2002 and it has now been rolled
out across the group including ASM.
“We saw an opportunity to process more
RFQs & Orders and we have now fully in-
tegrated ShipServ into our work flow and
it has definitely improved our cycle times,”
said Mr Pontiff.
E-commerce has helped us reduce
processing time and saves us directly input-
ting all quotes and order information into
our system.
Over the last ten years Wilwel and ASM
have both seen buyers become more famil-
iar with the benefits of e-commerce and in
particular how they can reduce transaction
inefficiencies that come with manual typ-
ing,
“Tracking and tracing of information
flow is vitally important to both us and our
clients so more and more buyers will look
to use it. As users get more experienced in
the benefits of ecommerce then hopefully
issues such as data quality will be improved
along the way,” said Mr Pontiff.
Keeping ahead of the game
Factfile:
Company Name: Alliance
Supply Management
ShipServ Categories: Ship
Chandlery, Mooring Ropes, Wires
& Cables, Pneumatic tools and
Safety
Website: www.wilwel.com
Trade with Alliance Supply
Management TNID: 51545
Connect speaks to US Gulf ship supplier, Alliance Supply Management about their new
facility in Houston and how they have been using technology for over ten years
September 2013 6
ASM opened its new facility in Houston in 2011 to deal with increasing
demand from the offshore market in the region.
Tracking and tracing of informa-
tion is vitally important to both us
and our clients

7. Moving around a company shows
a great deal of versatility and Eu-
gene has now had three different
roles in her seven years at ShipServ.
As one of the first employees in the Ma-
nila office when it opened in 2006, Eugene
began life in the company as the first Cus-
tomer Service Manager for the Customer
Service Centre (SC) in Manila.
But she was no stranger to the shipping
business as she had previously worked for
Aboitiz Jebsen, the Philippines-based Ship
Manager including a period of time in the
purchasing department.
Eugene next spent time as Marketing
Campaigns manager, running a number of
different campaigns to both suppliers and
buyers and overseeing the validation of
suppliers on ShipServ Pages.
Her current role which she took up in
2011 is that of a Senior Manager for the
Service Delivery Centre where she leads
and manages a team of 16 dedicated and
committed Service Delivery Executives.
“The Service Delivery Centre, provides
first to second level of customer support
to the ShipServ client base – both maritime
buyers and suppliers,” said Eugene.
As part of the Global Service Deliv-
ery Team, her team are at the forefront
of delivering quality service and support
and most importantly, customer happi-
ness throughout the life cycle of a client in
ShipServ from pre-sales, implementation
and post sales.
“My favourite part of this role is being
part of the solution (to a problem) and the
never-ending learning process. We all learn
something new with each new customer is-
sue or concern raised.”
Bill Gates (of Microsoft) was telling the
truth when he said that “Your most un-
happy customers are your greatest source
of learning.”
You ask anyone from the team, and I’m
pretty sure that everyone from the Serv-
ice Delivery Team can resonate with Bill
Gates.
Away from ShipsServ, Eugene is a mem-
ber of Toastmasters International, where
she enjoys delivering speeches and pres-
entations. She also enjoys singing and ball-
room dancing as well as doing yoga and tai
chi.
Major buyer clients to sign up to ShipServ this year include AET, BeltShip Management, Socatra, Hornbeck, Atlantic Towing,
and APL with over 200 vessels in total. Major suppliers that have gone live with integrations include Rolls-Royce and
Scandia
September 2013 7
Under the Spotlight: Eugene Loreitzo
Senior Manager, Global Service Delivery
Welcome to our new clients
Contact US
AsiaPacific
support@shipserv.com
Phone: +852 2501 9222
Support hours:
0900-1800 Hong Kong
0100-1000 GMT
Americas
support@shipserv.com
Phone: +1 732 738 6500
Support hours:
0830-1700 US East Coast
1230-2100 GMT
Europe
support@shipserv.com
Phone: +45 33 32 31 20
Support hours:
0830-1700 CET(DK)
If you have any questions about the issues covered in this newsletter, please do not hesitate to contact your Service Delivery
Manager or our Customer Support Centre on the numbers above.
We welcome suggestions for the next ShipServ Connect please email us at connect@shipserv.com.
“ We each learn something new
with each new customer issue or
concern raised”