All hands on tech
After 40 years mastering their craft, this maritime firm brought us to modernize tech and operations - proving expertise and automation makes perfect shipmates.
The opportunity that sailed our way
A global firm. A legacy of excellence. A fleet of spreadsheets.
For 40 years, this cargo surveying leader had built a reputation on precision and trust. But behind the scenes, operations hadn’t kept pace with their expertise & growth.
Spreadsheets multiplied. Tribal knowledge stayed in heads. Quotes took too long. And leadership couldn’t see the full picture fast enough.
They came to us for a clear-eyed assessment of their tools and workflows.
What started as a strategy engagement turned into a long-haul transformation, modernizing the way they quote, track, collaborate, and scale.
From Chaos to Clarity
Charting a new course
We didn’t just digitize processes, we decoded them first. Before we built anything, we listened deeply as transformational efforts need a proper plan, not a flag blowing in the wind.
From executives in office to surveyors boarding vessels in Brazil, we interviewed stakeholders at every level. No workflow too niche, no input too small.
Untangling the Workflows
We unpacked every process, handoff, and “that’s how it’s always been.” What worked stayed. What didn’t, became targets for automation, over a dozen in total, saving real time every week across roles.
The Quote & Job Management Machine
Quoting was like solving a Rubik’s Cube: job type, port, client, rate, arrival dates, availability - the permutations were endless. We built a data engine that accounted for every variable and turned it into a quoting system that runs in clicks, not hours.
Custom logic, simple quoting
To quote accurately, MARiTECH needed more than dropdowns and spreadsheets. We built a flexible rate manager that handles global, client-specific, and port-level pricing, all powered by Airtable’s API.
As Switchboard developer Gurbir Johal put it, “It gives them the simplicity to define a single rate for a job globally, or drill down to the port level, all filtered instantly behind the scenes.”
It’s complex logic, surfaced with clarity.
The Quote & Job Management Machine
Quoting was like solving a Rubik’s Cube: job type, port, client, rate, arrival dates, availability - the permutations were endless. We built a data engine that accounted for every variable and turned it into a quoting system that runs in clicks, not hours.
Training that crosses oceans
Global team? Global training.
We created custom guides for everyone - from client-facing account managers to surveyors boarding ships in Singapore. Everything was crystal clear, searchable, and built for real work.
We also mapped workflows in Miro - because having a visual reference is often the difference between “I think I get it” and “I’m on it.”
We then ran live Zoom sessions across continents. Created “train the trainer” programs so department leads could carry the torch. Built admin training for power users toself-manage. And recorded everything in Loom so new teammates could onboard with confidence - anytime, anywhere.
Set sail, stay steady
Once the system was ready, we made sure the go-live wasn’t a gamble.
We managed a clean cutover of data, prepped the team, and hit “launch” without fireworks - just quiet confidence. No last-minute scrambles, no mystery errors, no “we’ll fix it in post.”
Insights galore
Leadership finally got what they’d been missing: real-time visibility into jobs, revenue, availability, and team performance - surfaced through crisp dashboards, updated automatically, and accessible from anywhere.
Post-launch support
And we didn’t vanish the moment it went live.As adoption grew, small refinements emerged, opportunities to enhance what was working. Thanks to the flexibility of the setup, we could tweak, adjust, and improve on the fly.
Transformation with staying power
MARiTECH’s transition wasn’t just technical, it was generational. New leadership needed systems they could trust, teams needed tools they could adopt, and investors needed proof of progress. We delivered all three by pairing precision engineering with intentional change management.
“Helping a team evolve from a family business running on institutional knowledge to a data-driven operation ready for growth has been one of those relationships that reminds us why we got into this business.”
Expertise, Unlocked by Systems
Spreadsheets retired. Data centralized. People empowered.
Account managers now focus on clients, not copy-pasting cells. Surveyors share insight, not just information. Leadership steers the ship with insight, not merely instinct.
Their legacy remains - but now it scales. And with a solid foundation, we’ve now moved onto all of the opportunities & automation their new system unlocks like invoicing, vessel tracking, and more.
Untangle your ops. Scale with confidence.
From legacy systems to investor-ready infrastructure, we’ve done it before. Let’s talk about what transformation could look like for your team.
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