The Challenge of Damen: Delivering the Right Asset Information at the Right Time to the Right Person

Navigating Damen's Information Challenge

With over 12.5K employees in about 100 countries, Damen is one of the most successful Dutch shipbuilders. The company designs, builds, maintains, and repairs a wide range of ships for both the civilian and military markets. Each ship is an asset for Damen, composed of numerous sub-assets, from the navigation system to the engine.

Customers, partners, suppliers, and employees must have access to all available information about each of these hundreds of thousands of assets at any given time. The challenge that greatly determines Damen's operational and business success is therefore: How do we get the right information to the right person at the right time?

Every ship is an asset for Damen. And each asset is made up of a large number of sub-assets. These all come with a wealth of information about, for example, functions, user manuals, maintenance, and warranty. "To provide our customers with the best possible service, we need to be able to offer them quick and easy access to this versatile and often complex information", says Customer Experience Manager Mathilde Meeuwis of Damen.

At the same time, thousands of internal and external specialists work intensively together every day on the development, construction, and maintenance of Damen’s ships. These professionals also need access to, for example, construction drawings, engine specifications, or information about recent maintenance and parts delivery at any given moment.

"The more current and complete their information, the more effective the service and support, and the higher the quality of our service and support,” says Michel Brouerius van Nidek, Manager of E-Business Solutions. “However, the necessary information is located in a complex backend of various IT systems, platforms, and tools, spread worldwide across our own branches and external partners.”

“Moreover, owners, internal and external experts, and other stakeholders must also be able to communicate directly with each other,” continues Michel Brouerius van Nidek. “For example, with questions about the nature of malfunctions, the delivery of parts, or invoking a warranty. Naturally, you want to handle all these information requests as simply and user-friendly as possible.”

Purple Unity: The User-Friendly Asset Data Sharing Platform

Damen found the answer to its challenge in Purple Unity. Our innovative asset data sharing platform (a 'CRM for asset data') is specifically developed to bring together information from a large number of relevant data sources. Users can communicate directly with each other about this information and unlock and edit information in all connected systems.

Purple Unity is entirely built from a composable architecture. This modular approach to software development works with flexible individual components. These components of Purple Unity are specifically developed to quickly and securely communicate data with other components and with the numerous cloud services where organizations store and edit information.

"In the old situation, our portal retrieved all the necessary data directly from the various back-office systems," says Mathilde Meeuwis. "In many cases, however, you need a selection of different types of information: for example, information about a customer and a product. The complexity and the chance of conflicts at the backend quickly increase. This makes it more challenging to make the desired information available as quickly and completely as possible."

The API-first platform unlocks almost real-time data from, for example, Salesforce, SAP, IBM Maximo, or SharePoint, but also from many different ERPs, maintenance management systems, or the IT systems of, for example, maintenance services or sellers. Users who retrieve and share information via Purple Unity can also communicate directly with other stakeholders via the platform.

The platform also processes all new information directly back into all connected systems if desired. A powerful search engine ensures that every user can effortlessly find all relevant information. Thanks to Purple Unity, every user has access to all relevant information at any given time and can quickly and easily communicate with all stakeholders about it.

"We are continuously working to improve the service we provide to our customers," says Mathilde Meeuwis. "This means that we like to learn from the customer and their data and proactively translate the resulting insights into new services. Thanks to Purple Unity, we always have the right data directly available, and we can now always quickly and easily add new contact points. This way, we are now fully prepared for a future in which we can fully focus on our customer."

Purple Unity Gives Every User Access to Exactly the Right Information

Every user must have access to the right information at any given time. To make this possible, Purple Unity's powerful access management system regulates who, or which job profile, has access to which data. The system also supports complex situations, for example, when multiple internal or external employees collaborate on the same project.

• Authentication: Purple Unity checks (via a linked CIAM or Single Sign-On solution) whether logging-in users and accounts are indeed who they claim to be.

• Authorization: The platform only grants access to the information and services to which they are entitled based on their unique user profile.

• User Management: The platform ensures that the user experience is simple and effective, even in complex IT environments and configurations.

"We give all end users access to the desired data via our MyDamen platform," further explains Michel Brouerius van Nidek. "Purple Unity ensures that all desired data is available at the right time and that this data is only accessible to users who are authorized in the required manner. This way, the MyDamen platform offers every user an optimal experience."

Purple Unity ensures that all desired data is available at the right time and that this data is only accessible to users who are authorized in the required manner. This way, the MyDamen platform offers every user an optimal experience.

Michel Brouerius van NidekManager E-Business Solutions

Purple Unity Allows All Users to Communicate Efficiently with Each Other

The information shared via Purple Unity can naturally lead to new questions. A sales or service employee may want to know more about the operation of a specific part. A mechanic may want to know where and how to order a replacement for a broken part. An owner may want to know the possible cause of a defect.

That same owner may then want to immediately call a service mechanic or invoke Damen's warranty policy. The platform must also process this information in linked systems. Like any composable system, Purple Unity uses APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to exchange data internally and with external information sources.

Because Purple Unity not only needs to exchange information but also initiate actions in linked systems, the platform provides extra support in the form of a robust service bus and webhooks. For example, if the owner creates a case or warranty request, Purple Unity processes this information directly in every relevant data source.

This works in all linked systems, the MyDamen customer portal, or the Purple Unity platform itself. The Purple Unity platform automatically links this communication to the relevant asset profile. All Purple Unity-authorized users therefore have direct access to all relevant information and are immediately aware of the latest developments regarding the asset and related communication.

Purple Unity Allows Users to Easily Determine the Data Architecture

A luxury yacht is, of course, a very different asset than a ferry, frigate, patrol vessel, or crew tender. Each of these ships has a different construction, a different function, and therefore often a very different information need among users and involved professionals. To work efficiently, each asset profile must seamlessly match that specific information need.

With the ship as the central point, you can navigate to all relevant information from a large number of different sources as a user. At the same time, you also have access to related digital services. A clear information structure is of great importance here

Michel Brouerius van NidekManager of E-Business Solutions

"In the MyDamen customer portal, ships are logically very important," says Michel Brouerius van Nidek. "With the ship as the central point, you can navigate to all relevant information from a large number of different sources as a user. At the same time, you also have access to related digital services. A clear information structure is of great importance here."

Purple Unity therefore works with smart information blocks. Authorized users can easily compile the most practical and clear asset profile. In a similar simple way, they directly link all related assets to each other. For example, the profile of a complete ship and the installed engine.

This automatically creates a highly structured and clear database that is easy to search. Here too, Purple Unity ensures that all related information is accurately processed in the relevant profiles and linked systems. Authorized users can also manually process information in the profiles via the admin section if desired.

Purple Unity Provides Every User with a Suitable User Experience

Purple Unity is a very effective and user-friendly solution for sharing and editing asset information from an almost infinite number of sources on demand. But of course, Damen's customers also have high demands on the presentation of that information. And it is important that, for example, designers or mechanics can effortlessly absorb the information.

Here too, the use of a composable architecture proves its practical added value. "In that headless architecture, the system that manages the data is completely separate from the user-oriented front-end," says Mathilde Meeuwis. "This makes it possible to easily add a portal or other contact point without having to do anything to the complex back end."

In the headless architecture, the system that manages the data is completely separate from the user-oriented front-end, this makes it possible to easily add a portal or other contact point without having to do anything to the complex back end.

Mathilde MeeuwisCustomer Experience Manager

"Our MyDamen portal functions only as a 'digital pass-through' for the underlying data platform," continues Meeuwis. "In a similar way, we can quickly and easily add new contact points in the future. This continuously improves the customer experience, and we can quickly and effectively enrich that experience with new forms of service."

Thanks to Purple Unity, Damen Gets the Right Information to the Right Person at the Right Time

Damen is a very successful Dutch shipbuilder. The company designs, builds, maintains, and repairs a wide range of ships for both the civilian and military markets. Each ship is an asset for Damen, composed of numerous sub-assets: from the navigation system to the engine. To remain successful, it is essential for Damen to share this versatile and often complex information as quickly and completely as possible with every stakeholder. Whether they are customers, partners, suppliers, or their own employees.

Thanks to Purple Unity, Damen can bring together asset information from all relevant internal and data sources at any given time and offer it to every authorized user. Users can communicate directly with each other about this information and unlock and edit information in all connected systems. "We want to provide every customer with the best possible service and support throughout their entire customer journey," concludes Mathilde Meeuwis, Customer Experience Manager. "Now and in the future. With Purple Unity, we have laid a very solid foundation for this."