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Volume 4, June 2006 |
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 In this months issue... |
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Dear Reader,
This issue has been timed to coincide with our 1st birthday as it was in June 2005 when we set sail with the launch of SRO Solutions. It really has been a fantastic year and we would like to thank every one of our customers for the business and support we have been so pleased to receive since day one. For the past year we have relished each and every challenge and hope you continue to allow us the opportunity to “add value to your software investments” and prove that we really do provide a more flexible, cost-effective & proactive solution for your various day-to-day ICT requirements.
Behind the scenes, we have been working hard to develop an independent and genuine alternative ship-to-shore data replication solution and now, after almost 12 months of research, testing and integration, we are pleased to announce the release of the SRO Data Replicator (SDR) – just imagine no more data collisions, no more frustrating system downtime, no more lengthy support issues caused by import/export errors – with the launch of the SDR, this vision becomes reality so please read more in the article below, visit our website or contact any of the team directly for more details.
In April this year it was great to have Joe King join the SRO team. We have all known and worked with Joe for many years and look forward to working with him again. Not only does he bring a wealth of marine engineering knowledge, he also has over six years AMOS experience working for Xantic and SpecTec and was therefore quickly up to speed with various ongoing database projects. So, if you have any similar requirements or plans for the future where Joe can assist, especially with regard to database construction, onboard implementation and training activities, just let us know.
The SRO training facility is now up and running and in May we completed 4 separate courses, for different European customers. Each course was slightly different and tailored to the exact needs of the delegates; we held one ‘Advanced plus PowerBuilder’ course in our own office, two ‘Admin’ courses at the customer’s offices and a fourth ‘User’ course at a local training centre where we can now train up to 8 delegates per course. There are further details on our website with a menu of topics to select from but, if you have any particular requirements, please let us know so that we can put together a bespoke training package just for you.
I hope you find the items below of interest and thank you once again for all your valued business and support received during our first year.
Best Regards,
Steve Driver
Director
SRO Solutions Ltd
"Adding Value to Your Software Investments"
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'SRO Data Replicator' (SDR) – the alternative replication tool |
Not only available for use over lower bandwidth dial-up connections such as Sat-B & GSM, SDR works efficiently with GPRS connections and is fully optimized for Inmarsat Fleet and & various VSAT protocols that are becoming more and more accessible to the shipping industry, offering a much more dependable and robust ‘session’ based replication solution.
Application independent, the SDR will revolutionise the use of all your SQL based systems, not only data but also file attachments and web pages, allowing you to manage remote vessel systems and laptops centrally from the office. Some of the many features include:-
 Bi-directional replication.- Data compression
- Data Slicing & fragmentation lets you provide only the data a site needs, minimizing network traffic.
- Dynamic bandwidth management to automatically manage network balancing.
- Collision Avoidance Methodology to manage collisions without system downtime
- Heterogeneous database support (Oracle, MS SQL, Sybase)
- Advanced scheduling
- Security & encryption
- Easy movement of data between sites & installations
- Powerful management & reporting tools
Not only is the SDR a genuine replication alternative for the many existing maritime client-server applications such as AMOS, it is also fully configured and integrated for the web-based MAXIMO Asset Management System by MRO Software, now available to the marine and shipping sector through SRO Solutions.
We believe it’s time for you to get a higher return on all your assets, to move from reactive caretaking to proactive management, enabling you to drive your business forward and not having to make operational sacrifices for the sake of IT efficiencies. That’s why we have put so much effort into the SDR, to provide an alternative and better replication method for your existing remote database systems as well as being ready, for the companies wanting to share the experience of over 300,000 worldwide users and take advantage of the latest technology, features & functionality provided by Maximo.
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In addition to the rmx2 data solution, we are now able to supply the full product range by Seawave-Rydex, offering reliable, low cost and integrated marine communication solutions, using state-of-the-art hardware and software.
 As easy-to-use as most land-based systems, SeaWave Integrator 4.0 and SeaWave NavSeries represent the latest innovations in marine communications hardware. The SeaWave Integrator 4.0 works with Iridium, Inmarsat and GSM and finds the least expensive way to route voice and data through either. The SeaWave NavSeries uses Web-based software so there is nothing to install. An inexpensive and easy to install communications system for a wide-variety of users, the SeaWave NavSeries uses Iridium and GSM for voice and data.
Value added products and services such as SeaWave STAR (ship tracking and reporting), SeaWave Remote Support (RMS), SeaWave Billing and mySeaWave Web portal add value to every dollar spent on communications.
Further product information is available at www.srosolutions.net and for more information about sSeawave, please visit www.seawave.com |
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 Some example bespoke reports produced in PowerBuilder and Crystal Reports, which we have delivered to various clients:-
- Accruals
- Budget
- Stock Usage and Value
- Work Order Analysis / Breakdown
- Interface Exceptions
We know just how frustrating it can be, to know you have the information in a system but not being able to extract it in a format that everyone can understand. For this reason, we specialise in providing a customised service for all your reporting requirements.
We can also provide you with quick and easy access to your data via MS Excel and MS Access, therefore allowing users to view live data but without the need for knowledge of the particular application. So for example, outstanding work orders, overdue purchase orders, surveys, budgetary information, etc can all be made visible via a simple spreadsheet, updated with live data literally at the ‘click of a button’
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Joe King joins the SRO team |
 Joe’s experience is predominantly within the Marine Industry, starting with a marine engineering cadetship with T& J Harrisons and subsequently serving twelve years at sea on various types of vessels from tankers to ferries.
On leaving his seagoing career he retrained in Instrumentation & Control engineering.
In 1999 Joe returned to the marine industry with SpecTec as an implementation engineer, progressing to project manager and more recently Senior Consultant.
During his time at Spectec Joe gained extensive experience onboard a wide range of vessels and offshore installations, implementing SpecTec’s AMOS system for numerous & varied international shipping companies and being involved with all aspects of these projects, including; consultation & database specification, database construction, data migration, onboard & office delivery and end-user training.
Joe joined SRO Solutions in April 2006.
In the real world, Joe enjoys mountain walking, fishing, Everton FC, being with his family and beer; these interests are in no particular order!
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 Based on our increasing Maximo knowledge and our general maintenance expertise, we have recently been involved in a new project at one of Toyota’s car plants here in the UK.
As with all such industries, maintenance is critical to the organisation and as Toyota constantly strive to improve efficiency & quality, therefore they have embarked on a maintenance & inventory improvement program using their existing Maximo systems.
One of the main objectives of this important project is for the management at Toyota to be able to readily identify and analyze the cost of all their maintenance activities. It is also envisaged that the results of the project will form the basis for future ongoing maintenance improvements, including regular evaluation of downtime and fault code analysis, making the way in the future for the other improvement techniques such as CBM, RCA & RCM.
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And don't forget :- |
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PAYGO - Pay-As-You-Go remote support for various 3rd party applications – no annual fees, just pay for what you need, when you need it, at a fair price.
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Travel & waiting time - we only charge at 50% of the agreed daily rate when our consultants have to travel and we never charge more than 8 hours travel per day regardless of the time in the air.
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UK BT land lines & mobiles - By switching your BT land line & UK mobiles to services provided by our partners at Ecocall Ltd, you can save up to 30% and receive only one single bill for all services in a format to suit you and manage your telecoms costs daily through your own secure access to an online billing system.
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Watch this space for more news in the near future, including; the latest in Database construction techniques, ship-to-shore replication, knowledge management and more...
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We are proud to be partners with these companies
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