Leif Byström, the recently installed president at Finnish ship equipment manufacturer MacGregor, sees the ongoing digital transformation at ships at sea as a huge opportunity for his company.
“The covid pandemic has demonstrated the value of having readily available ship performance information, with the resultant ability to maximise operational availability, efficiency and de-risk unstable logistics chains around vessels,” Byström says, explaining that this trend of enhancing the interface and collaboration between onboard crew and shore offices will continue.
“From an installed equipment perspective, remotely conducted pre-docking inspections and service support, smart parts that provide a real time status of condition and diagnostic self-help systems will increase,” Byström says.
Macgregor is preparing by increasingly collecting real time operational data from its equipment via its OnWatch Scout solution.
In parallel, it is digitising its installed base information into a platform called Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).
At MacGregor there’s a continued emphasis on environmental sustainability through further electrification of its cargo and load handling portfolio, with a focus on electric heavy lift and transloading cranes.
Moreover there’s a growing focus on refurbishing rather than replacing components, particularly those items with long lead times.
Byström also reveals in conversation with Maritime CEO the company is piloting the provision of remote service support where customers can work with product experts in a virtual way.
