Oldendorff Carriers has redesigned its port disbursement account process with HarborLab, giving its DA department earlier visibility of discrepancies and greater ownership of the workflow. The Streamline Port DA initiative puts process standardisation ahead of new technology, with further automation now being explored.
Oldendorff Carriers, which operates a fleet of about 800 bulk vessels and handles thousands of port calls each year, has redesigned how its disbursement account (DA) department validates proformas and processes payments.
The work, carried out with HarborLab under the Streamline Port DA initiative, began with the process itself rather than adding technology to existing workflows. The company said its previous model had fragmented workflows, limited visibility and extensive manual reconciliation, making it harder to identify discrepancies early.
The redesigned process covers proforma validation, DA approvals and discrepancy escalation. The aim is to give the DA team a consistent operating model that technology can support.
Kathrin Heiser, Desk Head Port D/A at Oldendorff Carriers, said the company had moved to a fully owned, end-to-end process within the DA department.
“This has provided greater visibility of discrepancies at an earlier stage and enabled teams to dedicate more time to analysis, dispute resolution, and cost optimization activities.”
According to the customer story, the new process has allowed discrepancies to be surfaced earlier, while staff have more time for analysis, dispute resolution and cost optimisation. Further process enhancements and automation are still being explored.
For Oldendorff, the project shows a route to maritime digitalisation. Rather than treating software as a replacement for an inefficient workflow, the company first standardised how the work is done, then used technology to support it.
Sven Möller, Managing Director Operations at Oldendorff Carriers, said: “It will reduce operational costs, improve efficiency and data quality, and give our employees more time to concentrate on Oldendorff’s core business.”
