Karl, Thank you for the opportunity to review your piece which I thought was amazingly comprehensive considering that it was as a result of a phone conversation! I could hear you clattering away as I spoke - this has got to be a gift and you certainly have it! I hope you don't mind my small changes which, for simplicity, I have included in a copy of your piece - enclosed herewith. I hope to see you soon. Best regards, Richard PS : In reply to your question, I am the Manager - Marine Data Systems for Lloyd's Register, reporting directly to the Marine Director (Mr. Alan Gavin). SUBHEAD Lloyd's Register ClassDirect LIVE IMAGE: LRsurveyplan.jpg Lloyd's Register's ClassDirect LIVE service, providing online access to survey information, was a finalist in the Seatrade awards "Innovation in maritime e-commerce" this year. The system now has over 3,500 users worldwide, from 850 companies managing over 12,500 vessels. All of LR's largest 200 clients are subscribers. It is even beginning to be used onboard the vessels, LR says. The LR system is extremely straightforward, in terms of how it is absolutely clear what it does, how it works and what it is designed for; a repository of survey and classification information accessible over the internet - free of charge. Users can review the survey status of all LR-classed vessels within their entire shipping fleet on a single screen. The display has a traffic light colour coding system, indicating whether vessels have surveys due over the next 6 months, or whether any surveys are overdue. By clicking on the ship name, users can drill down further to obtain a 5-yr survey planner, listing each individual survey requirement. From this, complete master lists can be obtained, as well as details of any conditions of class. For an annual subscription of £750, the premium CDLive EXTRA service also provides the survey history and defect history for the life of the vessel. LR is currently engaged in refining the service and making more information available. "There are a lot of new developments currently being progressed," says LR's Richard Neasham. "Our objective is to make more of our archive information available to surveyors around the world as well as customer users. Functions that were previously fragmented are being brought together” The system is leading to a great deal of transformation of LR's internal operations. "I think the previous way of doing things was very paper burdened," he comments. "We are finding more opportunities to reduce the paperwork burden for our clients." Through its development of the system, LR has found out a great deal about what customers actually want, he says, as well as changing the way LR functions internally. "The system doesn't discriminate about where our client is or in which capacity our users function," says Mr Neasham. "It could be the chief executive officer, an engineer onboard the ship or a naval architect. What's important to us is that we're reaching out to all areas in the organisation." LR is proud of the fact that its system has been a web-based service right from the start, never a software system. A current project will increase the amount of information which can be accessed over the system, including manuals, structural plans and machinery arrangements. This is a direct response to feedback from users. Another project is increasing the amount of freely available information, including details of new and forthcoming legislation, type approved products and services. SUBHEAD Onboard usage Onboard usage of ClassDirect LIVE has proven particularly popular with cruise ship companies, many of which have already sunk investment into unlimited usage internet satellite connections for their passengers. "They have realised that the internet can also provide enormous benefit to the ship's operational staff," comments Mr. Neasham. When available onboard vessels, the system enables engineering staff at the shipping company and technical staff onboard to work together to ensure all the necessary preparation takes place, to ensure compliance with all the regulations. Some shipping companies expect the entire maintenance function to be managed from onboard, so if the onboard crew can gain access to all of the up to date survey data, this can offer great advantage, Mr Neasham says. Onboard access to survey data is also proving helpful to owner operators of coastal vessels, where the owners often operate their entire business onboard, he says. "It cuts right across the spectrum of our clients, not just the top ten companies," he says. "We feel that our approach of creating transparency has made an enormous contribution to the improvement of quality in our fleet - and there's much more to come." END -----Original Message----- From: jeffery@thedigitalship.com [mailto:jeffery@thedigitalship.com] Sent: 24 October 2001 11:05 To: richard.neasham@lr.org Subject: lr piece, Digital Ship Hello Richard, I hope everything is going well! Here is the piece about LR I would like to put in our magazine.. please let me know if you have any comments! Also, if you have any suitable pictures or screenshots that would be great! What is your job title? Cheers Karl SUBHEAD Lloyd's Register ClassDIRECT IMAGE: LRsurveyplan.jpg Lloyd's Register's ClassDIRECT service, providing online access to survey information, was a finalist in the Seatrade awards "Innvoation in maritime e-commerce" this year. The system now has over 3,300 users worldwide, from 850 companies managing over 12,500 vessels. All of LR's largest 200 clients are subscribers. It is even beginning to be used onboard the vessels, LR says. The LR system is extremely straightforward, in terms of how it is absolutely clear what it does, how it works and what it is designed for; a repository of survey information accessible over the internet. Users can review the survey status of their entire shipping fleet on a single screen, including vessels not classified by LR if they have any. The display has a traffic light colour coding system, indicating whether vessels have surveys due over the next 6 months, surveys due and surveys overdue. By clicking on the ship name, users can drill down further, and find out about specific details about survey planning for that particular vessel, including the survey history and defect history, for the life of the vessel. LR is currently engaged in refining the service and making more information avaialble. "There's a lot of new developments currently being progressed," says LR's Richard Neasham. "Its making more of our archive information available to surveyors around the world and customer users. Functions that were previously fragmented have been brought together.” The system is leading to a great deal of transformation of LR's internal operations. "I think the previous way of doing things was very paper burdened," he comments. "We have found many ways to reduce paperwork from our clients." Through its development of the system, LR has found out a great deal about what its customers actually want, he says, as well as changing the way LR functions internally. "The system doesn't discriminate about where our client is and what capacity he functions," says Mr Neasham. "It could be the chief executive officer, an engineer onboard the ship or a naval architect. It doesn't matter to us, because what's important is that we're reaching out to all areas in the organisation." LR is proud of the fact that its system has been a web-based service right from the start, never a software system. A current project is increasing the amount of information which can be accessed over the system, including manuals, structural plans and machinery arrangements. LR often receives requests from customers to upload various different information. A ClassDirect LIVE EXTRA service provides further information, charged at $1,000 per year per ship, provides additional information, including damages, defects, incidents. Another project is increasing the amount of freely available information, including about new legislation, up and coming legislation, type approved products and services. RulesCALC is a development about to hit the streets, connecting shipbuilding to the classification societies. "Its main use will be in shipyard design and also by design consultancies and also our own plan approval offices," says Mr Neasham. SUBHEAD Onboard usage Onboard usage of the ClassDIRECT system has proven particularly popular with cruise ship companies, many of which have already sunk investment into unlimited usage internet satellite connections for their passengers. "They have realised that the internet can also benefit the crew in their offices," he says. When available onboard vessels, the system enables engineering staff at the shipping company and technical staff onboard to work together to ensure all the necessary preparation takes place, to ensure compliance with all the regulations. Some shipping companies expect the entire maintenance function to be managed from onboard, so if the onboard crew can gain access to all of the up to date survey data this can be very helpful, Mr Neasham says. Onboard access to survey data is also proving helpful to owner operators of coastal vessels, where the owners often operate their entire business onboard, he says. "It cuts right across the spectrum of our clients, not just the top ten companies," he says.