SIS News 2007 - 1st Edition - Star Information Systems

SIS customer Farstad Shipping featured this
startling picture in its 2005 annual report.
Offshore rig and offshore supply operators
like Farstad put the highest demands on
their systems and suppliers.
PHOTO: ROBERT DALEN
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Leader: Serving you for decades 2
Singapore Customer Forum 2
SIS in Russia 3
Computer-Based Training Launched 3
Electronic Invoicing: Lessons Learned 4
SIS Customer Competition 4
SIS at major exhibitions in 2007 4
NEWS
0 1 : 2 0 0 7 FLEET MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
SIS: A Natural Offshore Partner
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I’ve used many systems in my
career, and – in my opinion – SIS is
the best.
JURIS BUSS, OCEAN RIG
With its roots in Norway's oil boom
of the 70s, SIS was designed for the
shipping industry but first employed
by offshore operators. And today,
offshore users still prefer us.
Frigstad Offshore, SIS's most recent offshore
customer, explained why they
chose SIS in a press release in
December 2006: “SIS…has a good
portfolio of rig customers, and we
have already seen – by the speed with
which they have gotten the system up
and running in our offices – how quick
and service-oriented they are.”
SIS's offshore customers include
companies like Ocean Rig and Petrojarl.
SIS also provides systems for offshore
suppliers like Farstad Shipping,
Standard Drilling and Prosafe Ltd.
According to one of SIS's founders, Jan
Kalland, the offshore connection is
natural. SIS's first product development
occurred when Norway's offshore
market was in its earliest stages.
The aim was to develop systems for
shipowners, including offshore supply,
but the first customers ready to take
the systems onboard
were drilling rigs.
Juris Buss of Ocean Rig
has been working in
the field for over three
decades, and manages
the company's use of
SIS's software. “I've
used many systems in
my career, and – in my
opinion – SIS is the
best. It is the most
user-friendly. And every
time we have a problem,
we've gotten good
support and – when we
requested it – tailormade
solutions from
them,” says Juris Buss.
Juris Buss says Ocean Rig uses SIS's
maintenance systems just like a shipping
company, “except we have much more
machinery and more complicated
equipment on our rigs. In addition to
marine systems, we have drilling and
subsea.” For example, Ocean Rig has
developed a highly complex online
condition monitoring system that
integrates SIS solutions to reduce
maintenance costs on the 6 positional
thrusters on its rigs.
Says SIS's Kalland: “Offshore companies
make up perhaps 10 per cent of our
customers. We have found our products
to be powerful and flexible enough for
both shipping and offshore clients. The
offshore sector is particularly advanced
on the safety side, which has surely
benefitted our products and thereby
our shipping customers.”
SIS has won its offshore customers
thanks to word-of-mouth and references
from offshore and offshore supply
companies. As so many have already
figured out, SIS's software for the
shipping industry is practically madeto-order
for the offshore industry.
www.sismarine.com

Serving you for decades
On 11 August this year, Star Information
Systems will officially be 10 years old.
We will celebrate, but – more importantly
– we will continue to provide customers
with reliable and effective solutions for
the long-term.
When we entered the market ten years
ago, we succeeded and flourished
because our technology was attractive
to the demanding shipping and offshore
markets and because we were fortunate
enough to develop our products together
with future customers and partners.
That focus remains: Listen to your
customers and give them what they
desire.
We've grown for ten years on this
philosophy. New products, customers
and employees are the measure of our
success. Now we are among the main
players for maritime software. We are
the clear leader among Norwegian
shipowners, our home market, and
business abroad is expanding rapidly.
To our customers, SIS's products are
vital tools to control costs and maintain
profitability. Offshore customers like
those profiled in the cover story (Ocean
Rig, PetroJarl and Frigstad, for example)
work only with the best and most
reliable suppliers. They have learned to
rely on us to serve them over ten years
and to count on us for years to come.
SIS will pass two critical milestones this
year: 100 business customers and 1000
vessel installations. We will continue to
grow in 2007, hire more employees
and attract new international partners.
This story has just begun.
Per Anders Koien
Managing Director & CEO
Star Information Systems
Singapore Customer Forum:
On location in an expanding market
A packed house at SIS's
recent customer forum in
Singapore is further
evidence of strong and
growing demand in Asia.
Current and potential SIS
customers like Farstad Shipping,
ASP Ship Management, Svitzer-
Wijsmuller Marine, OSM Ship
Management, Wallenius Ship
Management and Norgas Asia
crowded into the seminar room
at a hotel in central Singapore
on 30 November last year.
Jan Kalland presented the strengths of Star IPS, SIS's intelligent solution for
onboard maintenance and information management.
Their aim: Learn more about SIS, its integrated ship, rig and fleet management solutions and its
services and ambitions at the Singapore premises of Star Information Systems Pte Ltd – a company
established in August last year. The manager, Einar Langø, and his colleague there, Espen Spernaes,
joined SIS Marketing Manager Jan Kalland and Sales Manager Tarald Høy to welcome the 50+ attendees.
The rapid program included a quick presentation of the SIS concept, the Star Information and
Planning System and docking module (both new), as well as its electronic purchasing solution, SIS
Commerce.
SIS is investing heavily to build up its service offerings in Singapore to correspond with the strong
market growth in the region. One new customer thankful for the increased presence in Singapore
was Frigstad Offshore, which has contracted SIS to supply it with systems that will support its S/S
Frigstad Oslo – the world's most powerful rig, currently under construction in China – and other rigs
under management (see article on front cover).
Singapore is growing due both to its attractiveness as a stop-over on sailing routes between the
Middle East and the Far East and its efforts to attract more maritime business. Singapore's port is
the busiest in the world, both in total and in containers handled, and the busiest bunker port. Its
registered fleet is the world's fourth largest and its government has pushed through favorable tax
regimes and large-scale R&D funds.
“We have a strong focus on customer service. Part of this means being where our customers need us.
Frigstad Offshore is only one of many new customers that will choose us because we are present
in Singapore. This is a market where we are committed to growth,” said Langø.
“Norgas Carriers has worked with SIS for many years. Now we are growing very fast in
Singapore, expanding from five to eleven vessels under management here. We are
happy to see that SIS has established itself here, and look forward to growing together
with them,” says Naveen Kumar, Senior Superintendent, Norgas Carriers
“We've been working with SIS for the past year and we are highly satisfied with the
products we use, such as the Star Planned Maintenance System. We look forward to
using CD-based computer based training to increase onboard utilization and achieve
concrete operational improvements,” says Captain Thet Oo Maung, Marine Manager of
ASP Ship Management Singapore
“I came to this seminar to learn more about Star Information Systems. It is very
interesting to see that this provider opens an office in Singapore. We own and manage
a number of oil tankers from here, and have high demands for performance. We look
forward to learning more about SIS's products and systems,” says Tajul Islam Bhuniyan,
Technical Superintendant of Hong Lam Marine Pte Ltd.

SIS in Russia
Russian shipowner Neva Shipping Company will roll-out SIS's maintenance system to
replace homemade solutions that were struggling to keep up with the pace of change.
“Neva Shipping Company decided last year to invest in an out-of-house software suite to manage
maintenance. It was considered too costly to develop standard solutions in-house when these can
be reliably acquired from specialized suppliers,” said Igor Ramazanov of Neva Shipping.
Neva Shipping Company, based in St. Petersburg, Russia, owns 97 sea- and river-going vessels, and
is part of a broader organization that owns ports and shipyards. Its vessels operate in Russian
waterways and in the Baltic, Northern, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas.
Neva Shipping has chosen to install SIS’s Information
& Planning System (Star IPS) on five newbuilt vessels.
SIS was chosen among four short-listed companies
and Russia-based rivals after Neva Shipping visited a
SIS reference customer, Wallenius Lines, in Stockholm,
said Ramazanov.
,,
customer in Stockholm.
SIS was chosen...after Neva
Shipping visited a SIS reference
“SIS got our attention first because of their reputation and appropriateness of their products. The
final decision, though, was based upon our observations and talks with Wallenius Lines, where we
could see the software operating successfully in a real environment similar to our own,” said
Ramazanov.
Neva Shipping brings special requirements to SIS,
including two language functionality (English and
Russian) in some operations, a function to monitor
steel thickness and a customized project management
system. Ramazanov said SIS will support its
operations via remote access and telephone, and
some site visits.
Pautov Vecheslav (right) is Chief Financial Officer in Neva
Shipping Company. Igor M. Ramazanov (left) is a Project
Manager.
Neva Shipping owns over 80 river- and sea-going bulkers operating in Russia and throughout Europe.
Computer-Based Training
Program Launched
Screenshots from the CBT program.
SIS has developed a new Computer-
Based Training (CBT) program for Star
IPS that was recently presented at a SIS
User Conference in Barcelona. The
program features the familiar IPS user
interface, and gives users an excellent
introduction to Star IPS.
A few features of the
Computer-Based Training program:
· Introduction to Star IPS
· An overview of how Star IPS works
within the company organisation
· Guidance through important
functionalities in Star IPS
· Easy distribution for training aboard
vessels
· Possibility for tailoring to individual
company needs
Contact the Sales office for more
details sales@sismarine.com

Competition – Crossword
SIS News readers are encouraged to fill out the crossword and send it in to SIS in
Oslo. Correctly filled out puzzles will be entered into a drawing for a free iPod!
Best of luck!
Horizontal
1 Distress call
2 Gas (coolant)
3 Vessel contract
4 Unit of pressure
5 Yngve Carstensen (anagram)
6 International organization
Vertical
1 …of Life at Sea (SOLAS)
7 Country
8 Sales/marketing tool
9 Type of maintenance
SIS exhibitions (first half of 2007)
Digital Ship Scandinavia 2007:
March 20-21 in Oslo
Sea Asia 2007:
April 2-4 in Singapore
Nor-Shipping 2007:
June 12-15 in Oslo
SIS NEWS
– the corporate newsletter from Star Information Systems
Publisher
Star Information Systems AS
Stortorvet 5
0155 Oslo
Norway
Editorial office
Telephone: + 47 22 47 69 10
Facsimile: + 47 22 47 69 19
sales@sismarine.com
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2
3
6
Editor-in-Chief
Jan Kalland
jan.kalland@sismarine.com
Managing Editors
BLUE International Communication
Editorial production
& graphic design
BLUE International Communication
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4 9
8 5
Anna Cederholm and Camilla Ekholm of
Wallenius Marine presented the company's
experience with conversion to electronic
invoicing at SIS's User Conference in
Barcelona last October.
Copy and fax your answer
to Jan Kalland on fax no.
+47 22 47 69 19 by 5th
March 2007.
Name: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Company: . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
E-mail: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tel.no: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SIS NEWS is published quarterly.
The opinions expressed in this
newsletter are those of the
authors or persons interviewed
and do not necessarily reflect the
view of the editors or Star
Information Systems.
www.sismarine.com
All rights reserved. 2007
Electronic Invoicing: Lessons Learned
A Wallenius Marine presentation during a
recent SIS User Conference in Barcelona
highlighted the benefits, and challenges,
of electronic commerce.
Wallenius Marine gets a pile of paper invoices
every day. Anna Cederholm, Purchasing manager
at Wallenius Marine, says the company sought
to receive more invoices electronically in 2004.
“We discovered that 50 per cent of our invoices
came from only 15 suppliers, so it seemed
feasible that we could get them to work
electronically with us,” she said.
Wallenius Marine sent letters to its suppliers
asking which of them could begin working
electronically. “It felt like we were early out
asking for this kind of thing. Fortunately, two of
our major suppliers could start sending us
electronic invoices immediately.”
Since then, the number of suppliers using
electronic invoicing has grown, and the way
Wallenius Marine handles the invoices has
changed. “Our approach to begin with was to
go exclusively electronic, but we decided to
scan paper invoices from approx. 50 suppliers
as well. In that way, we are working towards
eliminating paper invoices and have all inovices
processed in one system,” says Cederholm.
Cederholm says that the qualitative response is
one of saving a tremendous amount of time.
Using Star CPS and SIS Commerce together with
a system for electronic invoice processing
allows the company to archive and compare
orders with invoices automatically. “Star CPS
and SIS Commerce are well-adapted to
electronic invoicing. We got solid assistance
from SIS during the project. We're on our way
to running smoothly with more and more
suppliers,” says Cederholm.
Singapore Office
Star Information Systems Pte Ltd
6 Shenton Way #06-01
SINGAPORE 068813
Tel: +65 62 43 10 09
singapore@sismarine.com
,,
Star CPS and SIS
Commerce are
well-adapted to
electronic invoicing.
ANNA CEDERHOLM,
PURCHASING MANAGER,
WALLENIUS MARINE
Star Information Systems
Global Network
denmark@sismarine.com
dubai@sismarine.com
brazil@sismarine.com
canada@sismarine.com
uk@sismarine.com
benelux@sismarine.com
australia@sismarine.com
www.sismarine.com