Cleaning up the world's waste is a highly regulated, data-driven business. Mopping up the collection of wastes, grey water, and used fuel from cruise ships, oil tankers and cargo carriers is an especially data- critical challenge. Waste recycling and disposal are governed by multiple international and regional regulations. So, waste recyclers need real-time data to stay on top of everything from types of wastes arriving in port to waste transport and ultimate disposal.
NetSuite customer Tratamiento Ecologico de Residuos S.A.DEC.V (TRAER) is a fast-growing marine waste recycling company that services big ships docking at any of 13 ports in Mexico and South America. This year alone, TRAER expects to service 800 ships. That means tracking a lot of data.
The information that TRAER needs to run its business effectively includes things such as the types of wastes and volume, ship's owner and origin, services and equipment used, and the ultimate destination for disposal or reuse. The data is needed to meet government and international regulations, as well as to forecast where equipment and other resources will be needed next, and react rapidly to accidents or unexpected changes -- such as if one of TRAER's transport partners brings a load of waste to a recycling plant that has already closed for the weekend.
Until a couple of years ago, TRAER relied on each of its locations to enter data on incoming ships and their requirements into a spreadsheet, which went to the central office in Mexico City. Since the spreadsheets were often formatted differently, and the systems weren't integrated, producing a company-wide report required days of manual work.
"It was difficult to get all of the information together to report on what was happening. Every port manager had a different system for taking the information," said TRAER's founder Alejandro Trillo. Trillo decided to standardize on NetSuite's cloud-based ERP software suite(opens in new tab), which enabled all data to be accessed from any location, and saves TRAER from having to maintain its own IT system. TRAER received financial help from NetSuite.org, as well as customization and implementation assistance from NetSoft, NetSuite's partner in Mexico.
Today TRAER has all its accounting systems(opens in new tab), CRM(opens in new tab), and compliance records on NetSuite, as well as real-time data on ship movements and waste processing. With both historical and real-time data in one system, Trillo can more easily project traffic and events and plan ahead. That will in turn enable TRAER to expand to new locations without worrying about software, hardware or data integration. What Trillo is proudest of, however, knows his business is contributing to cleaner ocean waters and shorelines.
"We recycled 40,000 tons of oil in the last four years, and something like 5,000 tons of garbage. That's a huge amount," he said. "If we hadn't recycled that, some of it could have ended up in the water or other places close to the ports. We're helping to protect the shorelines of Mexico."