Microsoft Power Apps Industry Story: Better port operations for a marine towing firm

Marine Towing of Tampa LLC was founded in October 1999 by a group of towing professionals. With a fleet of tugboats carrying out a complex schedule of jobs, the team needs full visibility over their scheduling, task assignments, and fleet management to provide trusted services to their clients.

As a Microsoft customer, Marine Towing of Tampa uses Dynamics 365 Business Central for their financial management. They have also invested in Microsoft Power Apps, and as their port operations grew more complex, they decided to invest in a Power Apps-based solution to streamline their work.

As their business and marketplace evolved, the team at Marine Towing of Tampa saw the need for a consolidated operational platform for scheduling and fleet management that would support their unique maritime requirements.

After consulting with Marine Towing of Tampa, our team proposed the development of a new scheduling application that would augment the core functions and data managed by Dynamics 365 Business Central.

As we will review in this article, the combined solution brings the strengths of Business Central together with specialized maritime capabilities to optimize routes and resource allocation, respond quickly to changing conditions and client needs, and deliver customized reports for better insights into fleet performance, resource use, and overall operational indicators.

A better approach to port operations

Marine Towing wanted to automate different parts of port operations, such as:

• Inbound and outbound scheduling
• Task assignment
• Real-time tracking
• Reporting
• Thorough record-keeping

After evaluating different approaches, the team agreed that a tablet app used by their schedule team could best meet their needs in the real world. With a user-friendly interface, the new app would allow the team to change schedules in real-time, allocate and manage tasks, and do more streamlined and accurate reporting using a dashboard panel.

Let’s look at the solution’s design and capabilities in more detail.

The application's comprehensive dashboard screens are one of its major features. These screens display up-to-date information on port operations and can track and adjust schedules in real time so employees are kept up to date and can respond quickly to changes or concerns.

The application includes dedicated screens for both inbound and outbound operations.

• Inbound screen: The inbound screen displays critical information related to incoming vessels, such as job type, tugboat assignments, vessel details, assigned agents, pilots, and multiple locations involved.
  

• Outbound Screen: This screen displays information about outgoing vessels. It has the same fields as the Inbound screen (Job Type, Tug Order, Vessel, Agent, Pilot, and Multiple Locations) but is for outbound operations.

Understanding the fields:

• Job Type: This indicates the nature of the task, such as loading, unloading, maintenance, etc.
• Tug Order: This shows the sequence or plan of tugboat assignments.
• Vessel: Details of the incoming vessel, including name, size, type, etc., are displayed.
• Agent: This field shows the assigned agent responsible for overseeing the inbound operations.
• Pilot: Information about the pilot navigating the incoming vessel is shown here.
• Multiple Locations: This feature indicates the various locations involved in the inbound operations, like the vessel's origin, docking point, etc.

Managers can schedule both inbound and outbound operations, as well as assign tugboats and define locations. Managers and dispatchers can also add memos for later reference, improving team communication and collaboration.

Automatic Log Generation:

The Power Apps solution automatically provides logs for each job, including information about the assigned tugboat, captain, and start and end locations. This feature provides thorough record-keeping from the start of the task till the end, which aids in accountability and analysis of previous operations.

Users can choose how frequently the dashboard refreshes with live data by visiting the configuration options page. Also, an auto-refresh function for automatic updates can be configured, providing a customizable user experience based on individual preferences.

The immediate impact of the new application was visible in the day-to-day operations of Marine Towing of Tampa. The app streamlines communications between team members at headquarters and the port. The details of these roles help explain more about the requirements that drove the app’s development.

Port Operations Manager:

Oversees daily port activities, manages the tugboat fleet, and ensures operational alignment with protocols.

Dispatcher:

Plans tugboat assignments, monitor ship movements and uses a tablet app for real-time tracking to ensure punctual task completion and synchronized workflows.

Boat Captain:

Leads on-water operations, steering the boat, ensuring safety, and managing maneuvers in compliance with regulations. The most communication of a captain is with the dispatcher to understand the assignments, discuss routes, etc.

Application Users (Port Staff):

At the port, the company relies on frontline staff with tablets who are responsible for ship tracking, data input, and tugboat task management. They contribute to operational efficiency through accurate data entry.

Management:

Oversees the entire operation using dashboards, customizing them for monitoring, implementing auto-refresh for frequent updates, and adding notes for future reference. Managers focus on ensuring a streamlined and well-functioning port operation.

Bottom Line

Power Apps has proved to be a capable platform for building solutions that improve Marine Towing’s business operations. The company is enjoying improved productivity and operating efficiency and continues to thrive in the competitive marine towing sector.

The application has also improved operational visibility, allowing for more informed and data-driven decision making.

…

Photo by Ronan Furuta on Unsplash