Overview

The planned release of a new spreadsheet format for data submissions scheduled for launch in the second half of 2021 heralds an increased focus on account management for users of the BIMCO Shipping-KPI.

The BIMCO Shipping-KPI is developed for the industry and by the industry. Following the 2015 BIMCO take over of the platform, the primary focus has been on increasing usability of the system. Recently, this has resulted in the roll-out of the 2021 version including the shift in the benchmarking regime from rating to ranking.

Simultaneously, BIMCO and the KPI expert group have developed the cost performance categories allowing users to benchmark on cost indicators. Initially, this is only possible on ship-level, but as more data will be submitted, the intention is to allow benchmarking externally and on fleet level. The end goal for cost benchmarking is to investigate the correlation between cost and performance.

While it is a matter of time before the system will have sufficient data to allow effective cost benchmarking, BIMCO will work on the administrative burden of the system. This is a multi-stringed effort, and this newsletter will touch base on the following:

• Streamlining the annual subscription fee for non-BIMCO members
• Data submission using spreadsheet based on Comma Delimited Values (CSV format)

Annual subscription fee:

The Shipping-KPI platform was initially launched by InterManager in 2010. Since the BIMCO take over in 2015 – aside from a nominal set-up fee – the platform has been free of charge for full members of InterManager and BIMCO owner-members. Owners, being non-members, pay the annual subscription fee and an increased set-up fee. From 2021, July will be used for the annual invoicing of non-members. This will provide non-members a better forecast of the annual invoice.

As a token of gesture, non-members who have already paid the annual subscription in the recent 12-month period, will not be charged until July 2022. Should non-members change status to members, they will no longer be subject to the annual subscription fee.

Learn more on the Shipping-KPI pricing and BIMCO membership

Data submission using spreadsheets:

There are multiple means of submitting data in the Shipping-KPI platform – each serves as the recommended mean for different purposes and different company sizes.

• Manual data entry
• Submission using spreadsheets
• Submission using API

Manual data submission is recommended for setting up the fleet and getting started. By adding ships to the managed fleet directly in the system, users ensure that all registrations are in place. However, continuously inserting all performance indicators manually in the system may turn out to be a tedious process if the company manages more than a few ships.

For small and medium sized companies, we recommend submitting data using the spreadsheet option. There are minor but essential settings that need to be in place with the current spreadsheet setup using the CSV (Comma separated values) format, namely:

• Ensure that the system separators (Decimal and thousands separator) are suppressed for the benefit of the extracted document
• Fixed values need (Such as classification society and P&I club) to be aligned with the Shipping-KPI platform

The potential problem with fixed values can be ensured by only changing these meta data fields using manual data entry and then exporting the news data set. In the second half of this year, BIMCO will replace the current CSV format with the Excel Workbook (XLSX) format so that the data format will no longer be an issue.

Read more on data submissions using CSV spreadsheet

The final mean of data submission is by using API. This process requires some tailoring from the users but it will ensure a stable, continuous and effortless submission of data for management to make well-supported decisions.

To get started on API submission, have the company IT-department read the technical description
Source: BIMCO