WPNL 202202

Digitalisation
Optimisation before
transformation
According to Van den Boom, optimisation
is the first step before the shipping industry
can transform. Digitalisation is a huge
enabler in this process and ultimately also
ensures that you can sail more efficiently,
run more efficient operations and do more
with fewer people. The latter is actually
where our real story begins, explains
Van den Boom: ‘Asset technologies are
becoming more complex while more and
more people in the field do not have the
knowledge or training to deal with this
complex technology. The generation that is
now entering the market is also much less
loyal to an employer. As a result,
knowledge does not stay within the
company and is not enhanced.’
Digitalisation offers a valuable input here,
thinks Van den Boom. ‘The efficiency of an
organisation is determined by the efficiency
of knowledge transfer within certain
knowledge domains. We are used to
transferring knowledge from one person to
another. Digitalisation ensures that this
knowledge becomes ‘fluid’. You then have
instant access to information and are no
longer dependent on a specialist.’
Smart Vessel Optimizer
A few years ago, together with his former
employer Schneider Electric, Van den
Boom was given the opportunity to run a
pilot with a Dutch shipyard. This
immediately produced a number of
interesting insights for that shipyard. Van
den Boom: ‘We concluded, for instance,
that the operational profile did not match
the technical design of the vessel. This
caused more wear and tear. In the end, we
created a return of investment of one
month for this party.’
This pilot project further aroused his
interest in the maritime world.
Van den Boom founded TechBinder,
together with the former service manager
of the shipyard. The company is supported
by Schneider Electric, among others. The
piece of technology that was developed for
the shipyard was further fine-tuned and is
now marketed under the name Smart
Vessel Optimizer. A vessel is not
fundamentally designed to be digital.
Moreover, every vessel is different ‘under
the bonnet’. A somewhat complex vessel
can already have 300 different systems
integrated on board, all producing their
own data/signals and speaking their own
‘language’. The signals are often lost or
stored in a log file in the system of the asset
itself and are difficult to retrieve. Often,
these log files are only called upon and
analysed after an incident.
Van den Boom: ‘That’s regrettable, because
Smart Vessel Optimizer makes it relatively
easy to retrieve these signals (live) ashore.
‘This way you can always monitor the
condition of your asset and react sooner
based on trending. It is also possible to
perform remote troubleshooting and
instantly solve a failing asset much more
often. This benefits the availability of your
‘A vessel is just a
floating machine. A
production machine
contains generators,
engines, valves, et
cetera - all the things
that you also encounter
on an average vessel’
vessel, and the cost of repairs. As a vessel
owner or operations manager, you want to
own the data streams. You can use it for
your own benefit but you can also tune the
whole value chain, such as service
providers, insurers and the shipyard to
what you are doing.’
Faster decision making
‘Because a selection of all available data
points are now brought to shore in a
structured way, you can start making
combinations and sharing insights with
people who can then do their work more
efficiently and faster,’ Van den Boom
explains. ‘He tells of a customer who used
to call all the vessels every morning to ask
what they were doing, what their ETA was,
how much cargo they were taking, etcetera.
‘That is a time-consuming activity for both
the captain and the company. Based on just
a few data points, we were able to present
this information in a live dashboard and
only the salient issues of the day were
highlighted. This brought enormous
efficiency to both operations and also
avoided a lot of miscommunication,’ says
Van den Boom. By only highlighting the
things that stand out, you can create a
much better overview with fewer people.
A good data system also works in such a
way that the more information you put
into it, the smarter it becomes for an
operation. Van den Boom: ‘We can map
out in great detail where optimisations can
be made and how they contribute to your
business model. You can only create that
kind of insight by monitoring in detail and
in a structured way over time.’ Another
advantage of the system is that connections
can be made between assets. He mentions
the example where TechBinder traced the
rootcause of a high energy consumption of
a vessel. It turned out to be a leak in the air
system that caused the compressor motor
to be urged to increase its pressure every
15 minutes.
Cyber security
TechBinder develops purely in a functional
area. They set up the infrastructure, the
data belongs to the customer. The
customer determines who sees what and
who does not. The back-end of the tool is
heavily tested and scalable technology that
is also used by the industry. Van den Boom:
‘For us, it is a strategic consideration to
take that industrial technology, which is
already 40 years old and was designed for
this purpose only. You can’t actually do
that yourself. It also offers advantages in
terms of Cyber Security, then you know as
a small company that you’re in the right
place. All our systems are continuously
monitored and proactive action is taken
when a suspicious situation arises. In
addition, it is only possible to retrieve data,
you can never access a PLC or modify
anything on the vessel.
Progressive shipping
company
But is the maritime market ready for this
now? Van den Boom: ‘Yes indeed! The way
the maritime market should look at it is
that this technology simply changes the
rules of the game. If you do it right, you
can gain an enormous (competitive)
advantage. It does require a completely
different set of skills and insight within the
organisation. Van den Boom has noticed
that the people on board often get excited
to get started. Many captains want to sail
more sustainably, for example by getting
the best setup between engine power and
pitch, but do not have the proper
information to do so. ‘We use people’s
creativity to look for the optimum. They
are all professionals who want to do their
jobs properly. With this information, they
can also steer more actively in that
direction.’
Fortunately, there are already more and
more initiatives taken and maritime players
are warming up to digitalisation. ÈTA
Shipping in Leeuwarden is one of them.
They are building up a shipping company
from scratch and have a number of new
ways of looking at things. The company is
going to be set up digitally from the ground
up and will be building modularly. Van den
Boom: ‘We are going to take care of the
complete digitalisation for them. Because
they do not have any vessels yet, we can
Shared experiences
also be involved in the design of the vessels.
ÈTA Shipping focuses on short sea and
large transport. Eventually, they will also
start transporting wind turbine blades.’
Future vision
In principle, TechBinder focuses on
shipyards, shipping companies and OEMs,
the parties that supply components,
although the service providers can also
benefit. In doing so, the start-up has an
ambitious goal: in four years, they want to
have their service implemented on at least
1,000 vessels worldwide. •
Flexible, modular systems
TechBinder has designed the Smart Vessel
Optimizer system in such a way that it can
be gradually expanded. At this moment the
system can talk to 600 different types of
PLCs. These are computers that control
assets. The smallest system consists of a
box of 47 x 54 x 23 centimetres and can
extract 50 measurement values from up to
3 systems. For example, for measuring fuel,
speed and location. It is aimed at retrieving
data for OEMs or on inland vessels. Van
den Boom: ‘With the largest system, you
can extract infinite systems and measured
values. We see these more often
implemented in seagoing vessels and larger
vessels.’ The company Reikon links a small
version to their ballast water treatment
systems. The company will provide remote
support and will take steps in a digital
transformation internally to maintain their
systems more efficiently, but also use it to
automate the Ballast Water Treatment
Book, a report that is still processed
manually. TechBinder also cooperates with
parties such as the Maritime Data
Company. Based on the API provided by
TechBinder, they are now processing very
detailed financial performance of a ship in
a financial graph.
Currently, the quantity of signals allows the
system to still sends all signals to shore via
satellite. ‘Eventually, you also want to
enable intelligence on board to analyse the
assets on site. We are prepared for that,’
adds Van den Boom. •
11 NOVEMBER 2022
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