V.Group launches Fleet Cell of the Future

AUGUST 7, 2018 — The Fleet Cell is V.Group’s term for a small team of people responsible for managing ship operations for a group of vessels. Now, though, V.Group is redesigning and rethinking its traditional Fleet Cell model by launching the Fleet Cell of the Future, which it calls “a prototype for the future of technical management and marine support services.”

With a market-leading performance design and an open-plan layout based on the latest in ergonomic research, the Fleet Cell of the Future enables a shift away from single-user focus to full-team problem-solving, utilizing new ways of working that combining people and technologies.

V. Group says the Fleet Cell of the Future acts as a test bed for innovations, where the technical management team can measure operational, financial, and customer KPIs (key performance indicators) for the Fleet Cell and measure the effectiveness of new approaches and technology.

By adopting this new approach, V.Group says it has already seen significant improvements in the operational KPIs for procurement, certification, defect reporting and application of best working practices within an existing Fleet Cell of 17 vessels. There are more innovation initiatives in the pipeline, as well as an increased number of potential innovative partnerships.

Every aspect of the Fleet Cell of the Future project has been designed to ensure quicker communication and recall of data between the Fleet Cell and crew, as well as within the Fleet Cell itself.

“Digital transformation isn’t about giving everyone an iPad, putting a giant screen on a wall to make a room look like a NASA control room, or creating an app and saying job done,” says Jon Key, director of strategy, innovation and transformation at V.Group. “We’re looking at how people talk to each other, work together, and solve problems for our customers as a team. Little things, like stand-up meetings every day and giving everyone in the cell the permission – and responsibility – to solve problems, can have far more impact than a new piece of tech.

“It’s about changing our workflows and empowering everyone on the team to try new things and seeing if they make a difference to the results we deliver for our clients. There’s no end point to this – we’re embarking on an iterative process that will continually ensure that we’re adopting innovations in our Fleet Cell in a way that is creating value. This strategy also means that we maximize the value of any new technology we adopt – we don’t adopt new tech for its own sake, but only once it’s proven that it’s effective.”