BASSnet 2.11 Preview
BASSnet 2.11 will be released in the coming month and is set to be one of our biggest updates in terms of enhancements. As the scope of development is significant and wide-ranging, we have highlighted a few key changes and new features below that will create value for our customers and increase their efficiency.
Improved Processes & New Features
A slew of process improvements has been implemented across the board, driven by customer feedback, changes in industry regulations and by the experience and knowledge of our own in-house maritime professionals. Expand the topics below to see what is new and what has been changed in your area of interest:
In order to make the purchasing process more intuitive, for instance, we have decided to make draft requisitions from the vessel visible to office users on the Procurement Overview screen so that office users will be able to anticipate in advance requisitions that will be received in the coming days.
The supplier search on the Supplier Quotation screen has also been expanded with a host of new dimensions (which includes Port, Maker, Country, Rating, Lead Time, eCommerce and Trade Category) to allow for a wider and more diverse list of suppliers. In addition, a new configuration is available to preserve quotations received via electronic channels (e.g. eCommerce, WebRFQ, SupplierLink) from subsequent manual updates.
Additional features such as the new Purchase Planner widget, Shipment Overview widget and Inventory App complement the Procurement and Materials modules to provide faster and more direct access to completing everyday tasks.
HSEQ & Operations
As part of the new IMO electronic record books requirement, all electronic log records will now need to be verified. Only users assigned with the relevant access rights will be able to verify elog records in the system, and each activity for individual log entries will be recorded in our new extensive Audit Trail database.
We have also simplified the process of creating and managing checklists in the system. Customise the checklist items, sections and groups of which each checklist composes, and import/export checklists as required, all from a single location.
The Risk Assessment (RA) process, meanwhile, has been revamped together with enhanced features and screens. The Risk Assessment Overview screen, for example, will now include new columns to indicate whether a record is attached to a Permit to Work, Job Order or Scheduled Jobs. Furthermore, multiple permits to work can now be attached to an RA record.
Maintenance & Dry-Docking
We are proud to announce that BASSnet 2.11 will be able to integrate with Info Marine for the Vibration Monitoring reporting function to boost the reporting efficiency and condition-based maintenance (CBM) monitoring. Based on the measurements and results from Info Marine, the Scheduled Job would need to be verified along with an alternative schedule/CBM, and a Corrective Job Order will automatically be created, if the results are not acceptable following industry standards of vibration analysis (ISO 10816 and 14695). Reports retrieved from Info Marine will be attached in the Scheduled Job and/or Job Order.
We have also decided to really look into improving the workflow governing Routine Tasks. In summary, we have made it much easier to create a template and distribute to vessels, to track all your tasks, and to batch update multiple routine task records.
In the Projects module, we have enhanced the Progress Overview screen to provide more relevant information and make it easier to filter similar projects with the same customer. You can also directly access Job Orders that are not completed to Report Job Done.
Crew Management
As soon as you open BASSnet HR Manager 2.11, you will see the new World Map panel on the main page. Here, you will be able to display ports that are relevant to your organisation (customisable) and instantly view its details, such as port restrictions and requirements.
Searching for the right crew member to assign as reliever has never been easier with the new Smart Planning feature. Once you configure your preference of the Best Crew selection, the system will automatically propose a rotation on the Planning Overview screen based on your preferred setup, which you can then adjust by simply dragging and dropping.
The Travel module has also been significantly updated compared to the previous version. In addition to a redesigned layout of almost all the screens and an enhanced integration with ATPI CrewLink, the system will now automatically populate many of the travel information between one screen to the next so that you don’t have to fill in the same fields again. What’s more exciting is a new integration with BASSnet Procurement where creating new travel requests can now automatically create Purchase Orders!
Enhanced UI/UX Design
Design of a software’s user interface is important when it comes to a user’s experience in utilising the features provided. So in conjunction with the enhancements to our existing modules and the addition of several new features, we have also elevated our focus on the design aspect of our main user interface to improve the overall user journey.
That is why we have redesigned the BASSnet solutions to make them more personalised to each user.
Showing you only what YOU want to see
Widgets
With the introduction of Widgets, you can fully configure the main BASSnet screen to show you the information and links that you most often require.
For example, the My Favorites widget allows you to tag any screen in BASSnet as a ‘Favorite’ and it will be accessible directly from the main landing screen. We have also added a My Alerts widget to display a configurable list of user-specific alerts so that you are not inundated with irrelevant alerts that do not concern you.
Other similar widgets can be added to show, among others: your reminders, upcoming events or jobs, fleet compliance statuses, recent shipment records, or to simply present important and up-to-date data at your fingertips. The selection and configuration of the widgets will be saved for each individual user based on their preference for what they would like to see and do.
Shortcuts
In keeping with the same philosophy, we have also introduced Shortcuts. In BASSnet 2.11, you can create shortcuts to any record and it will be accessible within each module on the Shortcuts screen. Not only that, you can also create shortcuts for saved queries and filters so that you can directly generate the list of records that you want to see. Shortcuts that have been created can then be tagged as a ‘Favorite’ and will also be accessible from the My Favorites widget.
The main idea behind widgets and shortcuts is to easily get to where you want to go and perform what you need to do. Many existing screens are also given a facelift due to our continued adoption of the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) UI framework.
New Installation Technology
BASSnet 2.11 will be packaged in an MSIX kit, a modern Windows packaging and deployment technology. This format is known to be reliable (boasting a 99.96% success rate), and optimises the network bandwidth and disk space required to download and install the software. This will significantly reduce the time it takes to install and uninstall BASSnet.
Martin Bjornebye, Vice President of Research & Development at BASS explains, “With MSIX, Microsoft has combined all the best features of MSI, AppX and ClickOnce to offer a radically improved installation experience similar to the one you are used to on your mobile phones.”
After an initial installation, subsequent changes can be detected by BASSnet itself and be automatically applied. Behind the scenes, a sophisticated binary comparison will take place where only the bits that have changed are downloaded and applied. Depending on the changes, this can be very quickly done without any interception from IT personnel or users.
Harnessing the Power of BI Dashboard
BASSnet 2.11 will launch alongside our new BASSnet BI Dashboard. This tool leverages the flexibility and utility of Microsoft™ Power BI Embedded to provide you with an advanced statistical platform that allows for in-depth analyses and accurate reporting of your business and operational data, displayed in a user-curated dashboard. Using the BI Dashboard, you can dive even deeper into the statistics by drilling down to the individual transaction records.
We will be going further in-depth about the BI Dashboard in our next post, so stay tuned to this section of our website or follow us on any of our social media channels to catch all our latest updates.
More to come!
This of course is just a small teaser of what’s in store. When BASSnet 2.11 is released, you can grab a copy of our Release Notes to check out the full list of changes and enhancements in the suite. For more information on BASSnet 2.11 or any other feature, please contact us here.
We can’t wait to show it off to you!