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Inventory Locator Service Helps Make Buying, Selling Of Marine Parts More Efficient, Cost Effective A shipowner in Holland saved $27,000 when it bought a new bilge pump through Memphis, Tenn.- based Inventory Locator Service (ILS). Through its initial search, the shipowner discovered the bilge pump was no longer manufactured. A supplier in Europe quoted them $35,000 to build a new pump. After exhausting their normal sources of supply, the client sent a message broadcast on the ILS system and found a supplier in New York which had the pump on the shelf and for sale for $8,000, garnering the owner the previously mentioned savings. An ILS message broadcast and typical response. Savings such as this are not iso- lated incidents, and helps to point out the faster, more efficient and cost effective services of ILS, said Timbs Jones, ILS's manager, ma- rine industry marketing. "Our ser- vice typically pays for itself many times over, or our customers would not use it." ILS brings buyers and sellers of marine parts and services together on a worldwide basis using contem- porary technology. Suppliers of marine parts and equipment list their inventories on the ILS main- frame computer. ILS clients in need of equipment can then access the information using a personal com- puter with a modem from locations across the globe. ILS also provides computer software to make it easier to interact with the company's main- frame. Clients with access can search the data base for parts using a specific part or model number and description, such as VTR500 rotor. A typical search is completed in a matter of seconds, at which point a report is transmitted back to the inquirer's computer. A typical re- port includes a company's name, the items and quantity they have in inventory, the condition (new, used, etc.), and a telephone and fax num- ber. "It is important to emphasize that we play no role in the sales transac- tion," said Fred W. Meyer, ILS's president. "Therefore we have no conflict of interest in the sale." By paying a flat monthly fee, clients can access the information as often The ILS computer room as they wish. ILS began offering the service for the marine industry three years ago. It is based on a similar service devel- oped for the aviation industry in 1979, a service which currently lists information on more than 18 million parts and is accessed about 15,000 times daily. Marine suppliers list their inven- tories at no charge, and are required to update the information monthly to maintain accuracy. According to Mr. Jones, ILS gives suppliers the opportunity to expose their invento- ries to potential buyers around the world. ILS can help suppliers "open new markets and find more outlets for their products and services while at the same time, it hel] buyers locate additional supplier save time, and reduce communic tion costs. Participants include shipowner shipbuilders, operators, manager distributors, repair yards and orig nal equipment manufacturers. A cording to Mr. Jones, the data bas lists information on more than thre million line items, double the nun ber of items than listed just a yea ago. The number of ILS partic: pants has doubled in the past yeai as the company has, in addition t its U.S. sales force, opened an offic in Hong Kong and added represen You name it: we're building it, now. he Shipbuilders of Spain 100 Our current orderbook includes seven 125.000 DWT shuttle tankers, and the conversion of a conventional crude carrier into a shuttle tanker. All of them with the hull strength needed for continuous round-the-year operations in the extremely harsh conditions of the North Sea. Vessels have dynamic positioning, certified heliports, conventional or diesel electric propulsion, conventional bow loading or direct bottom loading. Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
