When the COVID-19 pandemic struck at the beginning of this year, postponing a business-critical Terminal Operating System (TOS) upgrade at APM Terminals Los Angeles was merely not an alternative. Forced to implement the job from another location, the business’s worldwide TOS application group has actually considering that altered its method completely.
APM Terminals is presenting Navis N4 to every one of its terminals internationally, with the objective of having one standard TOS by the end of 2021. “Adopting a standardized TOS globally brings numerous long-term advantages,” states Patrick Heilig, in charge of the worldwide TOS application group.
“For example, it enables the sharing of best practises for improved efficiency; the development of in-house expertise that understands our customers and our business; centralized monitoring and support; and faster, a cost-effective global development of front-end applications for customers.”
Image Credits: apmterminals.com
In- residence application group
Having its very own internal TOS application group is one-of-a-kind in the market, enabling discoverings from each application to be passed onto the following. For instance, the movement from a Navis Legacy system to N4 at APM Terminals Port Elizabeth in August in 2014, gained from a previous job with the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Malaysia.
“As this is a joint venture terminal, we were able to learn from PTP and put clear service level agreements into place to mitigate risk,” statesHeilig “We also established clear processes to communicate transparently about the project.” The result was that the application at APM Terminals Port Elizabeth was among the business’s most effective yet.
Remote working
When COVID-19 hit, the group assessed forthcoming jobs and also determined one that was service vital– an innovation job at the business’s Los Angeles incurable. Due to take a trip limitations, lockdowns, and also physical distancing limitations, the group had no option yet to go on and also transform procedures based upon 100% remote working.
24-hour assistance
“The team had become comfortable with face-to-face communications and having the global team on site also puts the local team at ease,” discussesMr Heilig “Working remotely however, we realised that we could actually offer improved service and continuity. Because our global TOS team are located around the world in different time zones, we could offer support 24 hours per day. The team also had more working hours available as there was no time spent travelling to the location and adapting to local time zones. This also contributes to a significant cost saving.”
The absence of in person interaction additionally concentrated the group’s interaction initiatives– something that according to Heilig is, “just as important as the project management and technical implementation. Managing the expectations of stakeholders is half the battle.”
Version upgrades perfect prospect for remote application
Learnings from this experience will certainly be put on upcoming jobs, consisting of significant variation upgrades throughout the business’s profile and also transitioning from Argos to Navis in the business’s Spanish terminals. “Major version upgrades are a great candidate for remote implementation as it requires a small amount of reconfiguration and limited training,” states Heilig.
“For the Spanish terminals a much bigger transition is involved requiring extensive training. But we’re now confident that there are large parts of the project that will now be implemented remotely.”
Reference: apmterminals.com
