Thome Ship Management has been awarded a grant by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. The grant will help fund the development of a smart digital e-marketplace platform to create an ecosystem that will benefit the whole maritime supply chain and foster lasting partnerships between suppliers and the platform’s consortia members.

The new platform will streamline often very cumbersome procedures and protocols by creating a digital marketplace where suppliers and purchasers will have full transparency.

“The aim of this project is to create an Amazon-like marketplace where ship operators will have access to fair pricing with good geographical coverage of supply. A consortium of maritime businesses has negotiated contracts with key suppliers covering the main supply essentials to enable a global fleet to operate more efficiently. Suppliers will not have to waste time sending out quotes as pricing will be standardised across different sectors creating value driven stock keeping and ease of handling. The platform will use the latest technology to create intuitive functionality and will include reporting systems using AI analytics so suppliers and ship operators can work more efficiently and seamlessly together,” said Peter Schellenberger VP Supply Chain Thome Ship Management.

The platform will make it much easier for ship managers and owners to plan, manage, deliver, and report on key projects on time and within budget as it will remove many of the current pain points by providing stakeholders with a complete end-to-end solution.

Commenting on the award, Kenneth Lim, Assistant Chief Executive (Industry), MPA said, “We fully support this project in modernising and automating the ship supplies value chain process that fosters trust and transparency between suppliers and purchasers. There is great momentum in digitalising and using technologies such as 3D printing and drone deliveries. Given Singapore’s role as a hub port and bunkering hub, MPA will continue to support companies uncover and unlock the potentials in digitalisation to optimise this value chain and strengthen the wider supply ecosystem.”