LR’s digital network i4 Insight helps charterers, owners and operators gain actionable intelligence from their onboard and onshore systems.
Maritime is a fragmented industry, with lots of niche, bespoke digital solutions from different suppliers each focused on solving very specific problems. Making the most of these data tools to support effective decisions can be difficult – even for the shrewdest of shipowners and managers.
Built on a shared customer-centric vision of solving industry problems with integrated digital solutions – LR and i4 Insight are looking to aggregate silos across the industry by conquering the challenge of isolated and disconnected systems in maritime.
The challenge is how do you look at all facets of a company’s operations to make decisions more holistically, looking at the impact across the business and not just in isolation of a particular department.
Finding a better way to connect disparate systems to optimise the efficiency of shipping operations by allowing owners to better understand the ‘corollary effect’ of each and every decision is what spurred the creation of i4 Insight, a start-up that LR acquired.
Established in 2018 to provide intelligent insight into business operations, the Denver-based company, currently led by CEO Joel Meltzner, also has an office in Geneva.
“Though there are many companies offering solutions to very specific and unique problems facing the industry, none of them can supply a comprehensive, independent, hardware-neutral, format-agnostic, integrated and open answer to the industry’s needs for intelligent insight into their operations,” says Meltzner [pictured right].
No one company can be best in class in all areas of shipping, and therefore i4 created a partner network called the “i4 Alliance”. In combination with i4’s platform and proprietary software, best in class solution providers are integrated into a single web-based application providing un-paralleled insight into all aspects of your operations. The i4 Alliance includes software application providers, data providers as well as professional service providers.
“Details of these partnerships are imminent”, Meltzner adds.
"By aggregating siloed data and using analytics, this LR business can provide insights and outcomes to clients that will reduce their overall operational expenditures, maintain their individual competitive advantage and provide the transparency needed for environmental reporting” says LR Commercial Director for Marine and Offshore, Andy McKeran, stressing that digitalisation is changing the framework of traditional contracting within marine.