Whether you are managing a marina, a boatyard, or a boat dealership company, you need to start leveling up your services. The marine industry is evolving, and your customers’ demands are changing. It is time you leverage technology such as a marine management system to improve your operations and future-proof your business.
With so many options available, you might find yourself struggling to determine which software is right for your company. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Hence, you must carefully evaluate if a specific software can meet your business’ needs and demands.
To help you with your search, here are some of the must-have features for your marina or ship management software.
1. Marina management
A large part of operating a marina is managing and maintaining your fleets. Hence, your vessel management software should give you a comprehensive overview of your fleet where you can track a specific ship or boat’s availability, status, and conditions.
Having a visual presentation of your marina shows you which docks are empty and which boats are available or not. Other functionalities include:
- Assigning customers to a specific boat or dock.
- Monitoring your vessels’ meter readings and fuel levels
- Organizing schedules
- Tracking customer reservations
2. Work Order Management
Maintenance management often requires a lot of paperwork. Using a marine management software, you can ditch paper and spreadsheets in managing maintenance tasks and processing work orders.
You can also create estimates and work orders in just a few clicks. It can store customer data, allowing you to review past transactions and billing information. Moreover, it provides you with customizable templates to generate reports and track work order status. This feature is crucial for an effective marine safety management system. It optimizes your maintenance management and ensures that you and your customers comply with marine safety rules and regulations.
Nonetheless, software can also do so much in maintaining your fleet. You also need to hire or partner with the right people who know how to handle boats and ships, such as experts with an industrial engineering degree.
3. Point of sale
Having a built-in point of sale in your marine management system makes it easier to centralize transaction records and data. It provides you with a single platform where your customers can complete purchases. It allows you to accept payments—whether in-person or online.
Aside from payments, a POS system can also help you in keeping track of your sales. You can use it to create invoices, manage orders, and generate receipts to your customers. You can also augment it with various physical components such as receipt printers, cash drawers, and barcode scanners.
By having such features, your marine management software becomes an all-in-one platform for your marina business needs. You can use it to optimize transactions and even leverage online transactions to keep your customers happy.
4. Inventory management
Boat parts can wear and tear over time. You need to ensure you always have some spare parts in hand to avoid unexpected delays, downtime, and accidents. Hence, another essential feature in a vessel safety management system is inventory or parts management.
Having this feature allows you to track your parts inventory, orders, and purchases. It tells you the stock level of certain parts so that you can avoid overstocking or understocking your inventory. Moreover, it can also help you create purchase orders of stocks that you don’t have and send it directly to your suppliers.
This feature can also be useful to those who are planning to sell boat parts online.
5. Mobile optimization
With over 92% of internet users preferring to use mobile devices to do transactions, mobile optimization is a critical feature in your marine management software. This allows you and your customers to access data and tools through smartphones or tablets.
If you want to enhance your flexibility, consider investing in a software with cloud access. It centralizes your software so you can access it from any devices connected to the internet. It even has no onsite server required.
Choosing the right software
There are many factors to consider when choosing the best software for your company. And while features play a critical role in its effectiveness, you must also make sure that it can accommodate your specific needs and demands. After all, every business is different. You would want software that can meet your standards.
Go ahead and explore your options. To start, you can get in touch with us for a free demo.
