Case Studies

Smooth Seas Ahead: Cruise Line Transforms Data Accuracy

May 30, 2024

Better Data for More Strategic Inventory Management

Case Study – Tourism

Learn how a top cruise line uses More4apps to achieve fast, accurate data loading and superior inventory management.

About the Client

Our client is an international cruise line headquartered in the United States. With a fleet of 20+ ships, they serve millions of guests each year on trips that range from a few days to a full month.

The Expense of Manual Data Loading

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was difficult on the tourism and cruise industries. As the cruise industry rebounds, they are heavily scrutinizing every dollar. The goal is to find ways to reduce costs and decrease the debt they incurred in recent years.

For our client, inaccurate data in Oracle E-Business Suite was one issue keeping costs high. At the time, our client was manually inputting purchasing and receiving data. The process required extensive labor and led to frequent errors. As a result, the cruise line had incorrect data about received goods, causing them to understock or over-order materials regularly. They also had recurring issues closing out their books on time.

Improving Purchasing Processes with More4apps Tools

The cruise line needed software to help them add data about requisitions, POs, and receipts into their ERP system. They wanted something that would be fast and accurate. The cruise line’s parent company had two other brands already using More4apps tools. Our client was intrigued once they learned how More4apps helped those purchasing departments operate more efficiently and effectively.

Therefore, the cruise line selected several More4apps tools to replace their manual and repetitive processes for purchasing and receiving. With More4apps, the cruise line team members can download, edit, and upload data to Oracle E-Business Suite quickly and easily within an Excel spreadsheet.
Moreover, the cruise line’s first step in purchasing is a requisition. To accelerate this step, the client uses the More4apps Requisition Wizard from the EBS Toolbox to download existing requisitions, change the requesting info, and upload it to create new requisitions for their ships. In addition to being fast, this process decreases labor and reduces mistakes.

The PO Receiving Wizard is another tool they’ve adopted to increase data validity and reliability. With the PO Receiving Wizard, our client can rapidly create advance shipment notices (ANS) data in Oracle for large PO receipts.

The cruise line also uses our PO Wizard to download existing POs from one ship and edit them for the next. This step can significantly shorten the turnaround time on purchasing goods for their cruise ships.

Smooth Seas Ahead: Cruise Line Transforms Data Accuracy

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Superior Inventory Management with Time and Cost Savings

Choosing More4apps enabled the cruise line to meet its timeline and needs. The More4apps support team removed friction with the licensing approval process and helped our client rapidly implement our tools.

Because More4apps Excel spreadsheet-based software works out-of-the-box and requires minimal training, users can get to work immediately. With the flexibility and easy-to-use interface, our client did not need technical resources for customization.

With More4apps, data loading involves less labor, and the cruise line has better data accuracy and governance. They can copy and paste data from Excel spreadsheets that list the items delivered directly into the More4apps tool. This functionality allows users to upload data efficiently without errors, saving the company time and money.

The More4apps data pre-validation features have been especially valuable for ensuring data quality. The cruise line now has inventory data they can trust. Issues with under-ordering or over-stocking are much more rare. They can also close their books on time and with confidence.

Based on their success so far, the company plans to increase the usage of More4apps across the organization in the future.