Business challenge

To manage and track around-the-clock transactions, Turbaduana Maritime Agency needed a business process management (BPM) solution running in a highly reliable IT environment.

Transformation

IBM Business Partner ne Digital created a unified BPM platform, using its Hybrid Cloud Express offering to deploy a VMware hosting environment running on IBM Cloud infrastructure.

Results

80% faster invoicing

with greater process transparency and improved efficiency

30% less IT spending

with significant savings on management and licensing

Improves availability and reliability

to keep up with around-the-clock business demands

Business challenge story

An industry with nonstop demands

To help customers successfully meet customs requirements for shipping cargo from Colombia to destinations worldwide, Turbaduana must manage, route and archive legal forms and documents for each vessel efficiently and quickly. “We have to have the correct information provided to the government within very tight deadlines,” says Turbaduana Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Luis Arango. “There are many risks involved, including a significant financial risk for not submitting customs information on time.”

Seeking an integrated BPM application, Turbaduana also required highly available—but easy to manage—hosting infrastructure. “We work with around 15 ships a week, so basically two ships every day, and they’re not on a 9 – 5 schedule,” says Arango. “We’re a 24x7 agency, so having highly reliable IT is what’s most important to us.”
 

“With our IBM Cloud solution from ne Digital, we’re confident that our IT platform is available at all times.”

—Luis Arango,Chief Executive Officer,Turbaduana Maritime Agency

Transformation story

Unified BPM in the cloud

IBM Business Partner ne Digital analyzed and documented Turbaduana’s critical processes with the IBM® Blueworks Live™ tool and worked with the company to incorporate its workflows into the IBM Business Process Manager Express platform. The Business Partner also integrated IBM Datacap software to trigger rules-based document capture processes; IBM Content Navigator software to provide a centralized environment for document creation, editing and review; IBM DB2® Workgroup Server Edition software to manage and store data; and IBM Watson® Analytics software to provide real-time data analysis and deliver key business insight.

To host the application, ne Digital used its Hybrid Cloud Express solution to quickly and easily deploy a VMware environment running on IBM Cloud bare metal server infrastructure. “Hybrid Cloud Express is a product we created that allows small and midsize businesses to have a VMware cluster with NSX networking up and running on IBM Cloud within 10 days,” explains Nicolas Echavarria, CEO for ne Digital. “This includes development, testing and production environments with all of the security and best practices from the IBM Cloud team and VMware blueprint. Turbaduana doesn’t have to worry about things like the underlying networking technicalities.”

Results story

Transparency, reliability and real cost savings

The cloud-based BPM solution provides Turbaduana with a unified platform for managing and tracking its import and export transactions, creating and accessing “digital trails” of documents and communications, and gaining valuable insight into its operations. With greater transparency and improved efficiency, the organization eliminates costly fines and bills for its services more quickly, reducing invoicing time by 80 percent.

Plus, with the Hybrid Cloud Express implementation, Turbaduana drives down IT infrastructure costs significantly while avoiding management and maintenance complexity. “There are savings around not having to maintain local infrastructure and huge savings around licensing, which add up to around USD 50,000 yearly for an organization like Turbaduana that has an annual IT infrastructure budget of roughly USD 150,000,” says Echavarria. “And with the environment we set up, their IT team simply accesses the VMware center to manage their workloads without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure.”

Most important, Turbaduana established an IT environment designed for the availability and reliability its around-the-clock business demands. “We’ve seen IT issues cost companies like ours millions of dollars,” says Arango. “In our industry, we can’t be without IT capabilities for even an hour. With our IBM Cloud solution from ne Digital, we’re confident that our IT platform is available at all times.”

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About Turbaduana Maritime Agency

Established in 1975 and headquartered in Medellín, Colombia, Turbaduana is a shipping and customs agency providing operational support for more than 6,000 cargo ships each year. The company helps the world’s leading fruit import and export brands—including Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole—navigate legal and operational requirements for moving cargo between Colombia’s largest ports and destinations in North America, Northern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Russia.

Solution components

  • Blueworks Live
  • Business Process Manager Express
  • DB2 Workgroup
  • Datacap on Cloud
  • Watson Analytics

Take the next step

To learn more about IBM Cloud solutions please contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit the following website: ibm.com/cloud

 

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