Oldendorff Carriers cuts port costs through digitalisation

Oldendorff Carriers has streamlined its operations and lowered expenditures in harbours using a digital validation and payment system for disbursements accounts (DAs).

These accounts are the costs that arise to a cargo ship during its time in port and can become the second largest annual expense for a shipmanagement company if not planned and managed appropriately.

Oldendorff redesigned its proforma validation and DA payment workflow from the ground up using digital tools to cut waiting times, costs and administration.

“This has provided greater visibility of discrepancies at an earlier stage and enabled teams to dedicate more time to analysis, dispute resolution and cost optimisation activities,” said Oldendorff Carriers head of port DA, Kathrin Heiser.

The Hamburg, Germany-headquartered dry bulk shipping group is using Harbor Lab software to streamline port DAs and raise its cost controls.

“Digitalisation and platforms such as HarborLab, offering automated solutions and processes, will continue to change how our industry will operate in the future,” said Oldendorff Carriers managing director for operations, Sven Möller.

“It is reducing operational costs, improving efficiency and data quality, and gives our employees more time to concentrate on Oldendorff’s core business,” he said.

Harbor Lab automatically identifies discrepancies and incorrect invoices, saving money for Oldendorff, which uses the software for identifying differences between estimated disbursement costs and actual invoices.

Oldendorff’s dry bulk business includes 21 offices and eight transhipment facilities around the world and a workforce of over 4,500 employees.

Its fleet of around 780 operated ships have over 15,000 port calls in 127 countries and carry in total around 415M tonnes of cargo each year.