F.H. Bertling IMOS Case Study

About

Founded in 1865, F. H. Bertling is a Hamburg-based multi-modal transportation company with a chartering division that moves large volumes of commodities around the world. Currently, a fleet of 17 open-hatch, box-shaped vessels transports materials such as wood pulp, steel, fertilizer, sulfur, grain, and coal, as well as industrial plant components and piping systems for the oil industry.

Company Type

Vessel Owner-Operator

Industry

Dry Bulk

Products Used

The Challenge

Needed faster decisions, accurate data, and cost visibility across global operations

The Solution

Implemented IMOS (Operations + Financials) for real-time insights and scenario modeling

Key Results

Instant decisions
Historical benchmarking
Improved cost monitoring
Streamlined financial processes

IMOS Enables Immediate Decisions and Long-term Planning

Bertling managers needed to capture more accurate information in all locations, look at multiple cargo and voyage scenarios, and generate sophisticated reports to facilitate centralized decision-making. After evaluating several enterprise-wide solutions, Bertling chose to adopt the full suite of Integrated Maritime Operations System (IMOS) modules. The initial implementation was in 2006, and it has expanded to include more aspects of financial management.

“With IMOS, we have all our vessel movings and cargo information right in front of us. We know exactly where we stand and can instantly test various scenarios. Decisions that would have taken up to an hour can be made in minutes,” said Jens Axmann, Head of Operations.

“Equally important, IMOS gives us a longer-term view. The TCE and other reports we generate enable us to review data from this week, last week, or six months ago, and this allows us to constantly monitor our costs and efficiency,” continued Axmann.

“We have amassed a large database of voyages for each of our ships. If, for instance, we are making a decision that involves an unusual cargo or a port that we use less frequently, going back to earlier voyages is very helpful in gaining comparative data,” said Axmann.

Bertling rolls out IMOS Financials

Following over five years of success with the Operations module, Bertling went live with the Financials module: “We began with invoicing capabilities in our Singapore office, and then included all shipping offices. Based on the tremendous success we have had implementing IMOS in our voyage operations, we were ready to take our financial processes to the next level,” concluded Axmann.