An engine guy among software geeks

   Even in tech-happy San Francisco the annual “Dreamforce” conference that the software company Salesforce puts on is a big to-do. This year more than 150,000 people were expected to attend the September event, with 10 million joining online.
   Hotel space was so tight that the cruise ship Celebrity Infinity (dubbed the “Dreamboat” during the conference) docked on the San Francisco waterfront to provide an additional housing option for 1,100 attendees.
   In that ship’s engine room you’ll find a diesel engine made by Finland’s Wärtsilä used to generate power, in addition to the gas turbines the ship was originally equipped with and other Wärtsilä equipment.
   On stage at the conference, you could also hear Tomas Hakala, vice president of four-stroke engine services at Wärtsilä, discuss how his firm uses software and data to improve customer service and vessel performance.
   Instead of just using Salesforce’s products to look outward and manage sales and service, Hakala said Wärtsilä has created a “customer portal” where customers can see how their installations are configured, order parts, schedule service, perform technical self-service (some companies contract with Wärtsilä for maintenance, while others perform some or all maintenance with their own staff or third parties), make warranty claims, view technical bulletins, and make technical queries.
   Joel Book, principal of marketing insights at Salesforce, said Wärtsilä is one of the most innovative users of the company’s software.
   Founded in 1834, Wärtsilä is involved in three major businesses: marine solutions, power generation and services. Services were the largest generator of net revenue for Wärtsilä in 2014—about 41 percent compared with 36 percent for ship power and 24 percent for power plants.
   Marine solutions encompasses not just marine propulsion and power generation, but also scrubbers, ballast water treatment, waste heat recovery, automation, navigation and entertainment systems on ships.
   Wärtsilä notes that the world’s merchant fleet represents almost 80 percent of all the vessels ordered each year, and 85 percent will be powered by two-stroke engines with the remainder having four-stroke engines.
   Long a leader in the big two-stroke engines that power most containerships, tankers, and bulkers, Wärtsilä in January formed a joint venture, Winterthur Gas & Diesel, through which China State Shipbuilding Corp. took over 70 percent of that business.
   However, four-stroke engines are used to make auxillary power on large ships and for propulsion on everything from offshore-support vessels, like anchor-handling tugs to drill ships, which require constant adjustment to remain in position.
   In power generation, the company uses its expertise in four-stroke engines—which can be fueled by natural gas, light fuels or biofuels—to create systems to generate electricity for base loads, backup or peak shaving. Most of these are turnkey systems that Wärtsilä maintains and operates for its customers.
   The service division maintains Wärtsilä equipment and provides supplies that during the lifetime of equipment can equal the cost of the original purchase. Under the Winterthur joint venture, responsibility for servicing Wärtsilä’s two-stroke engines remains with Wärtsilä via its global service network.
   Hakala spoke to us about changes in the service business, and how Wärtsilä is moving from “condition-based maintenance” to “asset performance optimization.”
   Today’s engines and ships bristle with thousands of sensors, he said, and a large containership can produce 2.5 gigabytes of data every day—information from the engines, propulsion systems, and cargo on board—for example from refrigerated containers.
   This information can be combined with other information—about weather, currents, routing, the draft and trim of a ship—and be used to tweak engines so that fuel usage and maintenance costs are minimized.
   The increased quantities of data can be used to customize engine maintenance so it’s adjusted depending on factors such as where a vessel sails and the fuel it burns. Creation of environmental compliance areas (ECAs) in North American and Europe has created a new level of complexity for shipping, with more carriers switching fuels—burning low-sulfur fuel as they approach ports in ECA zones, or using it exclusively if they are coastal operators.
   Asset performance optimization means a customer might schedule maintenance sooner if it will reduce fuel usage, prevent damage, or lower operating costs for a carrier. Or a ship might postpone maintenance if it’s unnecessary. To reduce the time a ship is in port, a company might buy a set of extra parts that can be swapped out quickly so the ship can stick to its timetable. The parts can then be tuned at a shore-based facility, and installed on the same ship or a sister ship at a later date.
   Hakala said data can be used to improve the efficiency of fleets and reduce their environmental footprint, increase the reliability and availability of equipment, and improve safety.

This column was published in the November 2015 issue of American Shipper.