New times call for user-friendly and fast processes to implement new business solutions. Portchain’s BOE remote process to get started means that you can be planning in the cloud and generating impact in a few weeks. Portchain can deploy fully remotely if required, without any change to the overall timeline. This is a crucial factor for assuring a rapid implementation. In light of the above, clients often start planning their operations with Portchain’s user-friendly BOE within the first 4 to 6 weeks.

Pillars of Portchain’s user-friendly BOE delivery model

Portchain’s BOE’s user-friendly implementation process is impact-focused. Our team’s main goal is to deliver on the areas that matter the most to you. Whether that be cost, customer experience, or improved ways of working (e.g., more efficient planning). Our second principle is based on establishing a partnership relationship. We do not aim to be just a mere software provider. We want to help you refine your ways of working to allow new and more efficient forms of planning and collaboration. Furthermore, we will support you in your journey to lead the change through thoughtful engagement with key stakeholders. Last but not least, we provide a 24/7 responsive and personal support service that meets your needs.

“To ensure lasting change, we co-create an ambitious vision with our customers based on their specific needs, and move at pace to drive impact while providing ongoing long-term support“.

Toby Miller, Vice President of Customers in Portchain

BOE’s user-friendly implementation

Portchain’s user-friendly implementation of BOE provides its clients and stakeholders a clear baseline on how to implement the AI software. It is Portchain’s standard approach to create value for our customers. Our dedicated project management team will rapidly deploy our software solutions and support you in moving to your desired new ways of working. Through the implementation framework, Portchain’s team works collaboratively with our customers in:

1. Outlining a common approach to achieve optimization value.
2. Defining overall time frame.
3. Sharing objectives of each stage.

The next points will explain more specifically each step of the user-friendly BOE implementation.

Preparation: BOE kick-off

The first step of the user-friendly Portchain’s BOE implementation process is to prepare for a successful go-live and lay the foundation for future improvements. Usually, this stage takes up to 4-6 weeks, which include the following three activities in parallel. :

1. Configuration and training
2. Aspiration refinement
3. Workflow analysis.

Configuration and training

First, we ensure that the application is configured to the terminal’s specifics and that all users have the necessary training to use it effectively. Configuration is not only about representing the reality of the terminal in the software. It is also understanding your business rules and how you want to share your berth plans. Understanding your business rules allows us to configure the software in a way that will make your workflow as efficient as possible. Additionally, understanding what information you want to share with each stakeholder will help us configure all the right views for collaboration. 

Our training approach maximizes quick adoption through a series of one-on-one training sessions with power users (e.g., berth planners) and larger drop-in sessions for other stakeholders (e.g., read-only users of the application). We fit these around your schedule and provide several handy easy to use guides. We can run all of the training but are also happy to support you in introducing the application to colleagues through train-a-trainer sessions.  

Aspiration refinement

Afterwards, to ensure we target our support in the best possible way, we refine our understanding of your aspiration. We look to understand in more detail:

• What are your specific aspirations.
• If there are targets you have for these aspirations.
• Levers you have been looking at to realize these aspirations.
• Any potential blockers we should be aware of which might prevent you from realizing your aspirations.

Workflow analysis

A workflow analysis constitutes the last step of the kick-off as change management is an important aspect of our work. So to maximize the benefits and minimize any risk at go-live, we create a deeper understanding of the workflows and stakeholders involved. We combine this with our experience of best-in-class workflows to co-create something that works for your terminal.   

Post going live with BOE

After a successful going-live, we focus on helping to create value for your terminal. 

Foundation

The basis for an optimal plan includes:

1. Accurate and error-free.
2. Quick and easy to create.

Therefore we support the berth planning teams in both of these aspects. To improve planning accuracy we analyze the plan and provide several specific suggestions to create more accurate plans. Moreover, to improve planning efficiency we combine observations from joint planning sessions with backend analytics to identify ways to speed up the planning creation and sharing process. 

Optimization

For those terminals continuing their digitalization journey to optimization, a few steps remain. As we build a strong foundation, we also start to create value with you using our optimization capability. These sessions are extremely collaborative and impact-focused. There are three steps in this approach:

1. Clarified objectives and constraints.
2. Familiarization.
3. Value creation. 

The first step, clarifying objectives and constraints, is about tweaking our optimization algorithms to ensure they fully represent the rules that are used in everyday berth planning. We also use this step to share information on how our gang and crane optimizer works to create initial trust in the system. Secondly, we run familiarization sessions with the optimizer. This allows us to build confidence with the berth planning team, make slight tweaks as necessary, and build an agreed optimization workflow. Finally, we support the team to create business value by providing ongoing support. All in all, the exact format of this varies by the terminal and is tailored to each client’s specific needs.