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SystemShip Management & Maritime Compliance

IHM Maintenance

IHM maintenance that reads every delivered purchase line, chases the material declarations owed, screens each one against the thresholds and stops a prohibited part before it is fitted.

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The problem

Asbestos declared a day after the jointing sheet was delivered

Every spare part or store delivered to a ship can bring asbestos, lead, cadmium or mercury on board. Keeping each ship's inventory of hazardous materials current means reading thousands of purchase lines a month and chasing a material declaration and a supplier's declaration of conformity for the ones that matter. Then comes posting the few above threshold with a location before the next survey.

Most of it runs on a spreadsheet export and email. Declarations land after the part, so a prohibited item can be fitted before anyone reads its paper. Suppliers mark every material No with nothing behind it, locations are written as engine room, owed declarations pile up before the surveyor arrives, and a coordinator's judgment about one supplier lives only in their head.

Built forIHM managersTechnical superintendentsPurchasing managersShip managers

The Problem Today

Any spare part a ship buys can carry a hazardous material on board, and its declaration often arrives after the part.

0.1%
asbestos threshold for new inventory entries, IMO guidelines published

Sorted and chased by hand

  • PO lines
  • MDs, SDoCs
  • Chasers
  • Part I
  • The part lands before its paperA declaration can arrive after the item is on board
  • Declarations with nothing behindEvery material marked No, with no test basis

The Solution

  1. Each delivered line sortedLines needing no declaration set aside with the guideline's reason
  2. Suppliers asked in fieldsOne structured request per supplier for the declarations owed
  3. Screened against thresholdsAbove-threshold items drafted with their place on the ship
  4. A banned part stops for twoThe IHM manager decides; the superintendent co-signs after opening the evidence

Built-in controls

  • No one checks an entry or decision they made
  • Supplier and ship notes wait for a named reader
  • A prohibited material stops for two people

What You Get

The IHM manager signs Part I entries backed by a declaration and a location, and finds banned parts on board before the surveyor does.

  • Survey readiness played forwardOpen lines projected to the survey date, plan by plan
  • Supplier rulings become rulesProposed from past rulings, applied after a second person approves
  • The record goes with the shipPart I and its declarations bundled when a ship is sold
Features

IHM maintenance features, from the purchase export to a co-signed stop

The IHM manager, the technical superintendent and purchasing use them to keep each ship's Part I current from a month of deliveries.

demoSample data: the fleet, its suppliers and staff, and every figure on screen.

  1. 01Agent relay

    Monthly IHM pass run as a relay of agents, steered mid-run

    • One pass over the month's deliveries. The month's purchasing export is read in one pass, line by line, so the IHM manager works from a sorted month instead of a spreadsheet.
    • Steered in plain words. The IHM manager asks to re-send one ship's older lines or hold a supplier's request, and the plan changes in view, recorded under the manager's name.
  2. 02The month

    Every delivered purchase line sorted: set aside, owed, below or above

    • Lines set aside with the guideline's reason. Provisions, consumables, consumer goods and identical parts already declared are set aside line by line, each with its reason and paragraph.
    • Owed declarations counted by supplier. The IHM manager sees what is still owed, from how many suppliers and how much is past twenty business days, without opening an inbox.
    • Each number opens to its lines. A stream opens to its purchase lines, filtered by ship, supplier, category or reason, so a set-aside reason can be sample-checked.
  3. 03Above threshold

    Material declarations screened against the IMO threshold table

    • Each MD read against the thresholds. Declared masses are compared with the threshold for each material, so only the few above it reach Part I.
    • Prohibited materials stopped, never drafted. A material the rules forbid installing goes to a person, and no inventory entry is drafted for it.
  4. 04Supplier requests

    Supplier declaration requests in fixed fields, one per supplier

    • One request per supplier, all lines owed. Suppliers get a single structured request listing their open lines instead of a chain of emails, one part at a time.
    • Ageing in business days. Lines past twenty business days are counted, and purchasing takes over the chase at the escalation point.
    • Replies count through fields and signed files. Whatever a supplier types outside the fields waits for the IHM manager and changes nothing until read.
  5. 05Ship plan

    Hazardous items pinned on the ship's general arrangement, frame by frame

    • Each entry pinned where it sits. Part I entries land on the ship's own plan with deck and frame, which is how a surveyor asks to find them.
    • Declaration chain per item. Order, delivery, declaration, screening, location, decision and co-signature in one line, each step naming its agent or person.
  6. 06Ship's answer

    Chief engineer's answer in fixed fields: fitted, where, quarantined, tag

    • Location picked from the ship's plans. The chief engineer chooses the place from a list drawn from the ship's plans, so engine room alone is never an answer.
    • Notes held for the IHM manager. A note the chief engineer adds stays in the original words and holds the case open until the IHM manager reads it.
  7. 07The stop

    Prohibited part on board: three ways off the ship, played forward with costs

    • The rule and the case side by side. The declaration, the convention text and the chief engineer's answer sit beside the options, so the decision rests on the record.
    • Each option costed on stated assumptions. Freight, disposal, replacement price and whether the supplier accepts the credit are inputs the IHM manager can change.
  8. 08Survey rehearsal

    Class IHM survey rehearsed against the month's new entries

    • Read as the class surveyor will. New entries are compared with their declarations, locations and test reports before the renewal survey.
    • The agents' own slips corrected. A mass with a slipped decimal point is caught against its declaration and fixed, with the source cited.
    • Suspect declarations sent to a person. A supplier whose declarations say No to everything with no basis goes to the IHM manager, with past rulings beside it.
  9. 09Decided and co-signed

    Removal decided by the IHM manager and co-signed by the superintendent

    • Decision with reason code and words. The IHM manager picks the option and writes why; each option offers only its own reason code.
    • Co-sign after opening the evidence. The superintendent opens the declaration, the ship's answer and the credit request before co-signing removal and credit.
    • Credit and replacement asked for in fields. Once co-signed, the credit and a replacement with a signed MD and SDoC go to the supplier as structured requests, and its reply is screened like any declaration.

Who keeps the inventory of hazardous materials current, and what each gets

The IHM manager signs; the superintendent checks; purchasing chases; the ship manager owns the fleet's survey record.

IHM managers

Run the monthly pass, rule on what the agents cannot, sign Part I entries

  • Prohibited parts stopped before anyone fits them
  • Declarations owed, counted by supplier
  • Each survey rehearsed weeks ahead
Technical superintendents

Check entries against the ship and co-sign removals and supplier credits

  • Each item located to deck and frame
  • Evidence opened before co-signing
  • Rules approved before they apply
Purchasing managers

Own supplier terms, escalate silent suppliers and file supplier credits

  • Requests asked once, in fields
  • Suppliers past the escalation point
  • On-time and basis rates per supplier
Ship managers

Keep each managed ship's inventory ready for survey, sale and recycling

  • Survey readiness across the fleet
  • Sale packs released by two people
  • Audit trail with an evidence file
More screens

Part I, survey readiness, the supplier record and the audit trail

Where the IHM manager and the superintendent go after the stop is decided.

Part I, equipment and machineryThe bulk carrier's Part I with its existing entries; this pass adds none, because its one hazardous delivery leaves the ship. Six other ships have entries to sign.
Survey readinessEight lines still without a declaration before the renewal survey, three high-risk, and three follow-up plans projected to the survey date.
Supplier record and rules keptOn-time and basis-shown rates by supplier, and rules learned from rulings: one approved, two suggested by the agents and waiting.
Audit trailAgents and people on one trail, from the ship message to the co-signature, each line carrying its reason and kind of signature.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Five places the IHM pass reads before a line reaches Part I

Purchasing systemDelivered purchase order lines: part number, supplier, ship and date
Delivery papers and supplier portalMaterial declarations and SDoCs, wherever the supplier sent them
Email and structured requestsDeclarations sent by email, and replies to the agents' requests
Planned maintenance systemWork orders and locations used for each entry's place
The ship's answersFitted, quantity, place, quarantine and tag, in fixed fields

What happens to a prohibited part is decided by two named people

No inventory entry posted by an agentEntries are drafted; the IHM manager signs each and the superintendent checks it.
No call on a prohibited materialThe screening agent stops it; the IHM manager decides how it leaves and the superintendent co-signs.
No supplier called dishonestBlocking a supplier, reporting to flag or class, or listing it with the industry takes one person's reason and a second person's agreement.
No outside note read into the caseAgents leave supplier and ship notes unread; the IHM manager reads them, and the step they touch waits.

Seven agents read the month, and none posts an entry

From the purchase export to the survey rehearsal, each passes its result on or stops for a person.

Purchase order reader

Reads the delivered lines from the purchasing system: order, line, maker's part number, supplier, ship, date.

  • Changes no purchase order
Relevance sorter

Marks each line relevant or not with the reason and guideline paragraph, and treats any doubtful line as relevant.

  • Never marks a gasket, packing, insulation, cable or paint line as not relevant
Declaration matcher

Finds the MD and SDoC for each relevant line in the delivery papers, the supplier portal and email.

  • Accepts no MD for a different part number
Follow-up agent

Sends one structured request per supplier and structured messages to ships, and takes replies only from fields and files.

  • Keeps supplier free text out of its reading
Screening agent

Reads each MD against the threshold table and flags a missing basis, a wrong threshold or an unsigned SDoC.

  • Overrides no declared Yes
  • Decides nothing about a prohibited material
Inventory agent

Writes draft Part I entries with item, material, approximate quantity and location from plans and work orders.

  • Posts nothing without the designated person's signature and a check
Survey rehearsal

Reads the month's result as the class surveyor will at the next IHM survey.

  • Calls no supplier dishonest
  • Closes no point of its own without a citation

What IHM managers ask about IHM maintenance

What is IHM maintenance?

IHM maintenance is keeping a ship's inventory of hazardous materials current after the initial survey: reading what each delivery brought on board, collecting its declarations, and adding anything above threshold to Part I with its location. Here agents do the reading and chasing, and people sign the entries.

Which purchase lines need a material declaration?

Equipment, machinery spares, cables, valves, gaskets, packing, paints and insulation do. Provisions, documents, consumables used up in service, consumer goods and identical parts already declared do not; each set-aside line carries its reason and the guideline paragraph.

What happens when a declaration shows a prohibited material?

The line stops, and the ship is asked in fixed fields whether the item is fitted, where it is and whether it is quarantined. The IHM manager chooses how it leaves the ship and the technical superintendent co-signs after opening the evidence.

How are suppliers that do not answer handled?

Each gets one structured request listing all the lines owed, with reminders. Past the escalation point, purchasing takes over the chase.

Does a supplier's No on every material count as a declaration?

It is screened like any declaration, but a supplier who marks everything No with no basis is raised to the IHM manager. A rule asking for test reports applies only after a second person approves it.

Can the inventory travel with a ship that is sold?

Yes. Part I and the declarations behind it are bundled into a sale pack, released by two people.

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Bring last month's
purchase export.

Send one month of delivered purchase lines for a few ships, and we will sort, chase and screen them with you.

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