What is Ship Supplies Direct?
Ship Supplies Direct (SSD) is a digitally enabled end to end ship supplies supply-chain solutions provider. SSD focuses on supply chain innovations for the maritime sector through the strategic application of digital technology to improve efficiencies and raise profitability.
What services/products does Ship Supplies Direct provide?
The main belief that we have is that the ship supplies industry is rife with inefficiencies that can be resolved with the right application of digital technology. Our main focuses would be to develop 1) E-procurement systems, marketplaces, and 2) Smart Logistics capabilities, all in order to help ship-owners and ship-chandlers/suppliers save money, save time with no compromise on quality.
In cooperation with several ship-chandlers/suppliers in Singapore, as our first service offering, we have launched a digital marketplace which allows seafarers to purchase their own personal items as if they were on shore. Seafarers can now order their items on our marketplace, seeing the photos with descriptions, days before arriving at port and when they arrive, the items would be sent right onboard. We are able to deliver to vessels even if they are in anchorage and we have more than 8,000+ items available on our website.
Some ship-chandlers are working with us on this as they feel this is an extra service which is not part of their main business, so they outsource this to us. Seafarers like it because we have had a 100% fulfilment rate so far and they now have a say in the kind of supplies they can buy. Ship-owners see this as part of the welfare for their crew.
Who are our current and future customers?
Our current customers are seafarers who use our marketplace to choose the items they would like to purchase, like how they would use Amazon, except that we deliver to the vessel even if they are in anchorage. In the future, we would like to serve ship-owners and ship-chandlers to assist with coordination of deliveries with our smart logistics system which we would be launching soon.
Are we here to compete with traditional ship-chandlers/suppliers?
We are not. In fact, we heavily rely on existing ship-chandlers/suppliers as we do not possess any hard assets and we do not intend to own such assets. For our e-procurement system, our main focus is on inviting ship-suppliers to join our platform, to make it easier for clients on board vessels to purchase from them. With regards to smart logistics, we have developed software that would help consolidate supplies and deliver to the ships, so as to increase the productivity of the existing delivery assets. We firmly believe that we can create great value by ensuring lower error deliveries and better utilization of existing assets.
What are our plans going forward?
We are already in discussions with major stakeholders in the ship supplies chain, with the aim to improve efficiencies in delivery, reduce time wasted per delivery and increase number of trips a truck can do a day.
How to find out more and stay updated about Ship Supplies Direct?
Going forward, we would be sending out our very own monthly newsletter that aims to be a source of information about SSD’s developments, but also to reflect other news relating to technology in the maritime sector and seafarers related issues.
You can also reach us by visiting our company website at www.shipsuppliesdirect.com or email us at [email protected].