For many people, May 2009 was not a particularly special month. Many will have already forgotten that the Dutch economy contracted by 4.5% compared to the previous year. The fact that passenger cars with trailers were first permitted to go 90 km/h on Dutch motorways has now become normal. In that month, a blade also broke off a wind turbine in Lelystad and landed on the motorway. (Fortunately, it did not cause any accidents).
However, another event from May 2009 has in fact stuck with me. After around six months of intensive contact between Romania and the Netherlands, May 2009 saw the release of MXSuite version 1.0 for the maritime sector.
This initial version was not nearly as extensive as today’s MXSuite, but it was adequate enough to help early MXSuite clients with a software solution for fleet management.
MXSuite version 1 featured the modules: Maintenance, Equipment, Inventory, Purchase, Certificates and Safety. With the exception of one pre-existing client, this was enough to switch over to MXSuite directly.
It was also significant that this marked the first reliable synchronisation between office and vessel. In the past, communication was manual and unidirectional, but MXSuite changed all of that for good. It offered fully automated database synchronisation, which communicated changes in the vessel to the office, and changes in the office to the vessel.
Now, ten years later, MXSuite has been further developed. It now features additional modules, such as Documents and Crewing. Other modules, such as Purchase, have undergone major changes. Synchronisation remains a reliable component – perhaps even the most important component in the entire MXSuite! Whether synchronisation is provided by FBB (fleet broadband), a VSAT, 3G, 4G or an email connection: it has proven itself a reliable component over these past ten years! And MXSuite is still the most user-friendly fleet management software package on the market. We live by our slogan: ‘Simplicity is key!’
How do we do it? By maintaining continuous contact with our clients and listening well to MXSuite users. After all, they are the ones continuously using MXSuite! This enables our clients to perform maintenance, place orders, renew certificates, etc., in a timely manner. But MXSuite does not only help with timely action – it also provides reporting. It can report on all possible data. For instance, a summary of tasks not completed on time, a summary of annual turnover by supplier or a report on hours worked by each crew member.
What can you expect from us over the next ten years? Exactly the same as what we have been doing for the past ten years: ensuring that you have a tool to manage your assets optimally. Because let’s be honest: we don’t want to see more blades falling off wind turbines, do we?
