With business clients spanning across different industries in Hong Kong and China, other than our own proprietary ERP product AIMS, Fleet Management Systems (FMS), and as the distributor of Microsoft's Customer Relationship Management System (CRM), Armitage also provides tailor-made software solutions according to clients’ specific needs, including this 2-year long project for a dockyard facility.

The client of this project is mainly responsible on the design, procurement, maintenance and repair of sea vessels in the region, as well as managing related facilities such as lighthouses and buoys.

With helping to facilitate our client’s daily operation in mind, Armitage has to design for the customer from scratch a maintenance management system that includes 4 modules, namely, the Planned Maintenance System, the Inventory Management System, e-Quotation, and e-Purchase. The Planned Maintenance System possesses the ability to help in the maintenance of all vessels and its respective scheduling that includes workflow, related procurement, daily schedule arrangements, etc., whilst the Inventory Management System can assist our client on managing the spare parts and materials of vessels.

To streamline everything into one single platform so that all maintenance arrangements can be easily assessed instantly, various programming tools such as Java J2EE framework, JPA, and Microsoft SQL Server database management software were used for development. To start with, we have to firstly evaluate the existing system and decide which module is obsolete and which can be updated and used in the new version; add new up-to-date requirements, and integrate it with an online procurement system. With “Innovating Excellent User Experience” in mind, we have to design a contemporary yet easy-to-use user interface for our client and conduct repeated testings to ensure that there are no bug prior to installation. Because each stage is closely related and interlinked and failure of what seems to be an insignificant problem at the beginning could lead to countless complications afterwards, therefore meticulous planning must be made beforehand to ensure a smooth installation and operation of the system. 

After the system went live, we have to provide on-going maintenance support, monitor, and regular update and modify the system to ensure a smooth operation, as well as provide training for client’s staff from time to time.