FOCUS ON THE NETHERLANDS
ShipSupport ONE-STOP-SHOP FOR SHIP PARTS IN THE CONSUMER MARKET IT IS CUSTOMARY TO BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT PRICES, DELIVERY TIMES, AND SHIPPING COSTS. THIS HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE IN THE SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY, WHERE companies can be less forthcoming with this information. But no more. ShipSupport provides a platform for shipowners to order their spare parts directly at the source.
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ntil recently, shipbuilders and owners in need of parts for their vessels usually had to approach different suppliers. There is now an easier and less time-consuming option, thanks to ShipSupport. Customers can order all desired parts via this platform, upon which the relevant suppliers send them to a central distribution centre, which in turn delivers the complete order to the requested location in the world. ShipSupport is an initiative of Maaike de Rover. While working for shipbuilding company Royal IHC, she realised there could be an easier way to source ship parts. “I was working in the service division for ship maintenance. I noticed that building ships is a different discipline than providing service”, she recalls. “Shipyards are a closed and conservative market. You can spend ages looking for the right part. At the same time, it is a gigantic market. Worldwide, it costs about EUR 30 billion in parts to keep all vessels of approximately 30,000 owners in operation. Because this mega-market is so fragmented, I decided to set up a digital platform to make ordering parts easier and more transparent. IHC gave me the green light for this, which ultimately led to ShipSupport.”
Growing confidence Ms De Rover is now Managing Director of the platform, which took almost two years to build. It was launched in November 2018 and according to the founder, it was an exciting time as the phenomenon of digitisation in the maritime world is still in its infancy. “However, the interest in the platform is steadily increasing”, states Ms De Rover. “There are currently 65 suppliers affiliated with the platform,
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with a combined portfolio of more than one million parts. In addition, more than 250 customers from 62 countries are placing an increasing number of orders for parts via ShipSupport.” Just over a year and a half since the launch, confidence is growing, says Ms De Rover. “This growth was only possible because of our very dedicated team that is fully committed to making this platform a success. We employ seventeen staff members, including seasoned maritime professionals, but also people with experience in E-commerce or from other industries ranging from education to telecom. This interesting mix is what makes us so successful.”
Top tier brands According to Ms De Rover, ShipSupport is unique in its kind. While technically seen the digital platform could be replicated by others, what sets ShipSupport apart is transparency in prices and the supply of product numbers and corresponding information. “Books can be traced on the basis of their unique ISBN number. We have adopted a similar practice for the parts on our platform”, comments Ms De Rover. “Rather than put our own ShipSupport number on a part, we use only the numbers of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and provide all information about the product. The products vary from nuts and bolts costing just a few euros to, for example, cutter heads that cost EUR 70,000 each. With us, it is all about top tier brands and we show all OEM information. Everything is as transparent as possible.”
Photos courtesy of ShipSupport.
Photo courtesy of Bianca de Bie.
Because the mega-market for ship parts is so fragmented, Maaike de Rover set up a digital platform to make ordering parts easier and more transparent.
s u p e r ya ch t-i n d u s tr y. co m
18-06-20 11:10
