Polish maritime sector has traditionally relied on shipbuilding, sea transport, maritime engineering, fisheries and maritime energy. As the economy modernized, Business Shared Services (BSS) became an integral part of the sector in the northern part of Poland. Invest in Pomerania spoke to the directors of three Pomerania-based shared service centers: MacGregor, Ocean Network Express, Unifeeder, Maersk Drilling and DNV GL. Each of them provided great examples of modernization and digitization in the maritime industry in Pomerania that will shape the future of the local BSS sector.
Pomeranian maritime sector in brief
The maritime industry is one of the most dynamically developing sectors of the Pomeranian economy. Over the years, the Tricity shipyards have specialized in production of niche products, such as cable layers, heavy-lift jack-up, LNG-powered vessels, wind towers and arctic container ships. The yacht industry in Poland alone has the production potential of 22,000 yachts per year in the 6-9 meters’ category. With more than 40 companies in the region (Galeon, Admiral Boats, Conrad Shipyard, Sunreef Yachts, to name a few), Poland ranks second only to the US when it comes to manufacturing yachts in this category.
Tricity is also home to around 60 design offices, two R&D centers and classification societies such as DNV GL, Lloyds Register and American Bureau of Shipping. Advanced design projects are often carried out in local shipyards, demonstrating the sector’s vertical integration and maturity.
Both Pomeranian seaports have broken their yearly records in terms of cargo volumes (Gdańsk – 49.032 million tons, Gdynia – 23.491 million tons in 2018). The 20.7% annual growth YOY in 2018 – the highest among all Baltic ports – has made the Port of Gdańsk and Gdynia the biggest port hub in the Baltic Sea. The port’s development is further supported by continued investments in the road and rail network that allow faster transfer of cargo.
The Ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia are fast embracing digital technologies. As the result of the space3ac acceleration program for startups („Satellite technologies for intermodal transport”), the Pomeranian ports are now equipped with sensor/detector system for measuring noise, dust and fume emissions, automated billing system for fees levied in connection with water retention, or soil contamination identification system – to name the most recent advancements. The ports are a great example of how maritime and BSS sectors converge to create added value for the regional and national economy.
Unprecedented growth of the Business Services Sector
Tricity attracts global BSS projects because of its talented, well educated, highly qualified talent pool with good command of foreign languages. Currently, the BSS employs over 26,500 people and includes Shared Serve Centres for ‘in-house’ services, Business Processing Operations primarily servicing external clients, IT centers and R&D centers that include software development.
The processes supported span from IT, compliance, finance, financial crime to HR and recruitment. Increasingly, global corporations in the maritime sector are opening their support centers in Pomerania.
– We can talk about a growing trend, said Marcin Grzegory, deputy director at Invest in Pomerania, which supported Maersk Drilling’s recent new investment in Gdańsk. – Tricity naturally offers access to a big pool of maritime faculties’ graduates, but also traditionally numerous different pools of technologies, logistics, supply chain, engineering and others potentially useful for the constantly evolving maritime business. As an investment agency, we are aware of the opportunities and are able to match expectations and demand of our investors or even prepare custom-made offers for maritime companies.
Modern business services for the maritime sector
The centers in Tricity support back-office operations but also highly specialized maritime-specific processes. MacGregor’s local branch, for example, offers solutions and services for handling marine cargoes, vessel operations, offshore loads, crude or LNG transfer and offshore mooring. Their expert team in Gdańsk answers customer inquiries from the company’s 45 sales offices around the world and supports them in negotiations with clients – shipowners, ports and terminals.
– For MacGregor, implementing the philosophy of shared service centers means changing the center of gravity from the product (product-driven model) to functions (function-based model). After implementing the BSS philosophy, the organization structure was based on functions and functional teams responsible for one process, one task, which is then passed to another team – says Martin Due, Managing Director at MacGregor Denmark.
The Ocean Network Express (ONE) is yet another example. The result of a merger of three Japanese sea carriers (Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha), ONE is now the world’s sixth-biggest container shipping company. As part of the ongoing improvement process, the ONE’s office in Gdańsk assesses the quality of the group’s internal processes, detects best practices and optimizes the logistics flow. Specifically, it coordinates the information flow between ships and seaports, serving more than 10 ports – from Hamburg to Amsterdam. Additionally, the team in Gdańsk also supports container maintenance and repair processes.
DNV GL is a Norwegian classification company with a professional service center located in Gdynia. The company’s training system has benefited significantly since the implementation of the BSS model. The training covers various business areas supported by the company: oil and gas, business assurance, energy and digital solutions.
The whole training system consists of three parts: classroom (10%), learning through information exchange (20%) and on-the-job training (70%). The company also uses a simulator in Gdynia’s office, where over 4 thousand problematic situations can be tested. Interesting to note that DNV GL is the only classification society that has been issuing its certificates electronically using blockchain technology that ensures their credibility since 2017. Implementation of this system has removed an important obstacle since the certificates do not need to be sent by traditional mail anymore.
Another area where the BSS model has been used by DNV is a specialized information circuit. The company’s system DATE (Direct Access to Technical Experts) utilizes Artificial Intelligence to deliver information quickly. Getting a quick answer is often crucial in the maritime business, where halted cargo means a substantial loss of money.
Towards a more integrated maritime cluster
Further digitalization and automation of the maritime industry are inevitable. In Pomerania, the industry is increasingly relying on space technologies that allow detailed port monitoring amongst other security measures. The BSS sector opens opportunities for the marine industry related to automation, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, while integrated back-office processes enhance transparency and efficiency. Some of these solutions are already being implemented by Unifeeder in Gdynia and MacGregor in Gdańsk.
While no longer a major center for large scale shipbuilding, Pomerania is home to significant technical and design expertise, as well as medium-sized boatbuilding and component supply. It has two dynamically developing ports (comprising the biggest port hub in the Baltic) and offers world-class maritime education. It is evident that business services are a mutually reinforcing part of the sector, with a potential to help create a world-class cluster of maritime activities.
– Tricity was, is and will remain a port-centric economy, more and more becoming the sea gate not only to Poland but to the whole Central-Eastern Europe through its increasing importance in the high-end technologies and BSS universe, says Marcin Grzegory. – The project pipeline for BSS involved with maritime-related businesses indicates the future looking even brighter.
