- Unlike “land-based” file-sharing solutions, Dualog Drive offers a data exchange service that meets the operating requirements of maritime shipping.
- Drive’s use cases are expanding for every shipping company that implements it.
- With Starlink, there’s an even greater need for a maritime-specific data management solution.
Managing large data transfers between offices and vessels (and the other way around) can be challenging. Traditional land-based file-sharing solutions such as email, Dropbox and OneDrive can be a pain since they are difficult to monitor and configure.
Most of the available solutions are not meant for maritime environments. There is no easy way to search for completed or failed transfers. You waste time looking for missing files and reporting to stakeholders.
There are ways to avoid this problem, like remoting in with TeamViewer, splitting large files and sending by email, or even transporting USB sticks by courier. But in today’s competitive shipping market, these methods can cost you both time and money.
This is why Dualog has designed Drive – a built-for-maritime data exchange solution far superior to anything else on the market.
In this article, we’ll look at five typical use cases where the power of a data exchange solution purpose-built for maritime shipping makes a difference.
5 use cases for simplified file sharing and data exchange in maritime shipping with Drive
Drive benefits every department and function within a shipping company – Operations, Safety, Technical, Crewing and IT.
Here are five use cases where Drive has proven useful for shipping companies like yours.
1) Distributing documents, technical circulars and certificates across the fleet
Using Drive, you can synchronise files or folders from any shore location or even SharePoint to an entire fleet or group of vessels. This is typically safety documentation (SMS), certificates, circulars, IT documentation, or any documentation that shore departments must share with their fleet.
Some examples are:
- Distributing and maintaining a repository of SMS documents to all ships, ensuring up-to-date safety documentation
- Distributing training materials across an entire fleet
- Syncing technical department library with the vessels, for example manuals
- Distributing documents from the HR department, for example company circulars or even town hall meeting recordings
With a single task configuration, your safety department can distribute large document libraries across hundreds of ships. With powerful grouping, intelligent folder automation and the use of ShipCodes, you can set up tasks even if you have multiple businesses, trading areas or ship types.
With flexible task setups and powerful automations, Dualog Drive simplifies data transfers in shipping environments.
2) Collecting images, video files and large-volume VDR data from ship to shore
It has been difficult for shipping IT to send large files from ship to shore. The process has involved manual operations, resulting in unreliable data delivery and increased work hours.
Drive makes it easy for officers to share large images and videos with the technical department during maintenance or surveys: They can simply be dropped into a folder, and the solution will handle the rest automatically.
Drive can also handle on-demand VDR data transfer. These files can be over 1 GB in size and have previously been transferred through an agent once the ship gets into port. With Drive’s smart data compression methods, you can transfer VDR data files at the speed of Starlink – but without using up more data volume than is necessary.
3) Transferring business-critical PMS data
In recent years, there has been an increase in the transfer of critical data, such as Planned Maintenance System (PMS) data. Typically, this has been handled by sending updates via email. However, this method is not reliable. It requires many manual steps, putting the system at risk of being out-of-date.
Drive automates the transfer of PMS data between ships and shore to help keep your database in the best possible condition.
4) Software updates and patches
When you use outdated software, you put your productivity and security at risk. Drive allows Vessel IT Managers to maintain a centralised IT workspace from the comfort of their desks.
Whenever a new software version is available, Vessel IT can upload it to the designated folder. Drive will then send the update or patch to the vessel, group of vessels or the entire fleet. From the Dualog Portal, you can monitor the status of file delivery.
5) Moving IoT and sensor data to cloud storage for further analytics
There has been an increase in demand for moving IoT and sensor data, other analytics data, log files or application data directly to cloud-storage solutions.
With Drive, your vessel IT department can automatically send IoT data and other analytics data from your fleet directly to Amazon S3 cloud storage. AWS S3 has many benefits for shipping companies. It’s scalable, robust and easy to access. This allows you to efficiently manage and analyse your vessel’s IoT and sensor data, so you can make better decisions and have more efficient operations.
Dualog’s customers are saving time and money with Drive
Currently, more than 1,200 Drive installations are up and running across our customer base. The business value of using an efficient and reliable data exchange solution has become obvious for these shipping companies.
Thomas Dinter, IT Manager at TB Marine Shipmanagement:
“We’ve freed up a lot of time with Dualog Drive, which improves productivity and cuts costs. Previously, when we sent files via email, the recipients had to manually check the email and download attachments. Thanks to Drive, they now get a message saying the file they need is in the folder.”
Read more: File transfer and data sharing in TB Marine Shipmanagement
Louis Liu, IT Manager at MOL Chemical Tankers:
“We calculated ROI with the business department during project implementation, and the results were impressive. It turns out we save 186 man-hours per month!”
Read more: MOL Chemical Tankers save 200 man-hours a month with Drive
Has Starlink eliminated the need for a maritime-specific data exchange solution like Drive?
Starlink provides maritime vessels with high-speed, low-latency internet access. This enables shipping companies to exchange a much larger volume of data. However, you still need a powerful tool for data management. The reason?
A data exchange solution like Drive helps you use bandwidth as efficiently as possible. As a result, your shipping company can fully benefit from Starlink’s advantages.
With Starlink, data transfer volume has skyrocketed. That’s why you need a purpose-built data management tool to avoid inefficient bandwidth usage and increased manual labour – particularly when you transfer data and documents in complex file structures.
Move from “land-based” file sharing solutions to data exchange purpose-built for maritime shipping
Drive is designed specifically to automate and speed up the exchange of data and documents between ships and shore. It keeps your fleet’s IT systems up-to-date at all times and saves time and frustration for both your vessel IT and your crews at sea.
Do you need to synchronise an extensive library of technical documentation? Distribute software updates and training materials? Collect large video files? Easy as a breeze. Drive makes file-sharing simple and efficient for all departments involved.
You can replace manual and email-based processes and workarounds with automated and hands-off solutions. As a result, you’ll have more time to optimise and scale your business.
