Excellence in maritime software companies begins with relationships

David Levy
August 6, 2020

Many maritime software companies began at traditional shipping firms.  OrbitMI traces its origins to Stena Bulk.

 

One of the things we get asked often is about our Stena relationship.  We are proud of the relationship with Stena, which has long been known as one of the leading and most innovative shipping companies in the world. 

 

To understand the connection between OrbitMI and Stena today, learning how we got here will be helpful.

 

Several years ago, Stena Bulk had the foresight to invest in several digital transformation efforts to help them operate more efficiently, manage fewer systems, minimize human errors and leverage oceans of data.  The challenge was to effect transformation without disrupting everyday operations.  Working with a global team of developers, engineers at MIT and maritime and energy experts at Stena, their approach to innovation was to create a solution based on use-cases that deliver value in the short-term and enable digital transformation in the long-term.

 

The result of one initiative was an “operations platform” called "Orbit" meant to improve efficiency, make the company more agile, increase transparency with customers and enhance market intelligence.  Soon Orbit seamlessly integrated into everyday life at Stena Bluk as it drove transparency across functional silos and enabled teams to analyze data quickly and collaborate on decision making in real-time.  Since its debut, the platform has helped generate millions in new opportunities and cost savings, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by tens of thousands of metric tonnes.

 

In keeping with their innovative thinking, the Stena executives saw an opportunity to accelerate the transformation of the entire industry by offering Orbit to others.  So they embarked on a journey that led them to Stanford University where they were introduced to Ali Riaz. Stena and Ali embarked on designing a future in which Orbit could continue to both deliver value and evolve as a maritime innovation platform.  Ali utilized his experience in launching and growing software companies. Together they developed a playbook.

 

Soon enough the plan was clear:   Create a US-based company that will offer Orbit as a Software-as-a-Service platform to the entire maritime industry.  Ali Riaz would lead it.

 

OrbitMI spun off as a separate company in June, 2019.  Ali built an expert and well-seasoned operational team as well as a world-class advisory board that includes executives from the energy, insurance, shipping and software sectors.

 

Today, Stena Bulk is an investor in OrbitMI and sits on our board.  Like any early investor, Stena Bulk wants to see OrbitMI grow. 

 

Stena Bulk is also a customer of OrbitMI.  We treat all customer data with the highest levels of data security and compliance.  Stena Bulk has no access to anyone’s data but their own.   Likewise, your data, KPIs, intelligence, and workflows on the Orbit platform are yours alone and will never be shared with anyone else.  Other than those to whom you grant permission, no one will have access to it.

 

Orbit represents a real-life tested set of solutions with documented ROI that will, regardless of your current technology maturity, catapult to you a truly data-powered operations.

 

 

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