Cost Efficiency Measures In Maritime Electronic Communications

Abstract

According to maritime specialist opinions, costs reduction thanks to technological advances and higher security on Electronic Data Interchange is one of the effects of globalization (Salama Benazar, 2009). Globalization has also promote increase in commerce and maritime transport. A forecast ending in 2020 indicates that container trade is expected to be 287 million TEUs in 2016, and to exceed 371 million TEUs in 2020 (ISL, 2008) and if efficiency measures relating communications and paper transactions are not taken, understanding and higher costs problems will be unavoidable. Due to this, it is essential to reduce paper documents in order not only to safe costs, but because of organizational and operational purposes. These facts motivated the main purpose of this study, to identify the main international organizations that have taken measures standardizing terms and documents and promoting electronic communications in order to present cost efficiency measures. The results are: a) The main measures have been taken by the United Nations, with the syntax called EDIFACT; b) even though international organizations have established parameters to facilitate maritime communications, none of the specialists consulted knew about this work and some of them use standardized abbreviations not knowing its complete meaning; c) 81,25% of the sample considered that electronic communications through standardized documents and terms, reduce the operational costs of their companies because of Savings in paper and ink consumption; 75% because of Time delivery reduction; 43,75% because of Reduction of physical files, among others. The methodology used was a documental and a field study. Documental to collect information regarding international organizations in charge of standardizing electronic terms and documents, and a field study to collect specialists opinion about costs decrease for EDI use and their knowledge of standardized terms and documents established by those organizations for electronic communications.