Integration / Interfaces
Of upmost importance for any marine enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is the capability to interface with others systems, as this is an eventuality. As the norm in the marine-ERP space is the fact that these marine packages do not handle accounting, payroll, tax planning and other necessary functions. With this being the case, it is inevitable that there will be some type of interface that will pass information to other systems, and in some cases receive back data. Other cases when you might need an interface is when your base marine-ERP package does not contain the full specific functionality that you need, so you need to take this data and add value and use it in other systems.
Despite common perception in the industry, the integration of systems is much more than simply taking a file and passing it from one system to another. A true integration is able to predict and correct any issues that might potentially arise during the course of normal business (and not so normal business). It is this adaptation which is very important, as these interfaces are mission-critical and require the highest level of reliability and pre-emptive strategies. To achieve this objective, your interface design must take into account any and all plausible possibilities from the originating system and also take into account potential failure points in the receiving system. This leads to an interface with active management and the capability to adapt to your changing business requirements, all without going back to the developers to get a "fix".
Maritime Systems Consultling LLC has this experience having done multitudes of these interfaces for various clients for various systems. Some examples of integrations completed are as follows:
- NS5 to Oracle to NS5 - Multi-Directional Purchasing Interface
- NS5 to Oracle - Accounting Interface
- NS5 to ADP - Payroll Interface
- NS5 to Solomon - Accounting Interface
- NS5 to Peoplesoft - Crewing Interface
- NS5 to Peoplesoft - Accounting Interface
- NS5 to Millennium - Accounting Interface
- NS5 to VAI - Accounting Interface
- NS5 to OceanPay - Payroll Interface (OceanPay is a Debit Card which pays seaman)
- NS5 to ACH Banking System - Payroll Direct Deposit Interface
- NS5 to Union Reporting - For Contribution Reporting
- etc....
Although the list is impressive, what is truly impressive is the techniques that we have been able to develop and pass to our customers from these projects. It is this expience that allows our customers to get the right solution the first time that truly fits their needs, all without going down already unproven paths. This leads to a cost-effective and reliable interface.