Marine lubricant supplier Gulf Marine and Workato recently shared how automating Gulf Marine’s order-to-payment process has improved the efficiency of its overall operations. This in turn can help the company complete timely delivery of marine lubricants to customers to avoid potential equipment damages:
By David Price, CEO of Gulf Marine and June Lee, General Manager of Workato Asia
As a vital cog in the machine of international trade, the maritime industry requires constant operational oversight to ensure the efficient running of vessels that support global relations. This highly dynamic sector, subject to rapid growth and geopolitical fluctuations, presents several challenges for businesses aiming to scale at a competitive pace.
At the heart of these scaling efforts lies a critical component: lubricant. Ensuring the timely delivery of these vital fluids is paramount for supply chain companies to support shipping operations. However, many in this sector still rely on traditional, manual processes for order placement, inventory tracking, and replenishment. These outdated methods can hinder the expedition of lubricant business operations and create bottlenecks in confirming deal quotations.
To address these challenges and drive efficiency, the maritime industry requires a significant upgrade in its workstreams.
The Challenges of a Complex Supply Chain
Given its intricate nature, the lubricant industry is highly susceptible to supply chain disruptions. Global events, including natural disasters and economic fluctuations, can significantly impact the availability of crucial raw materials like base oils and additives which are components necessary for producing various lubricants. Additionally, seasonal variations, economic cycles, and changes in shipping patterns can lead to unpredictable demand spikes and troughs, complicating the accurate forecast of inventory needs and pricing changes.
Furthermore, the maritime industry at large also faces various logistical challenges, including port congestion, vessel delays, and fluctuating freight costs. These can impact the timely essential planning for delivery of lubricants to vessels while also creating financial repercussions from extended port stays due to delays in refuelling and maintenance. As lubricants come in a wide variety of formulations tailored to specific applications as well, managing such complex permutations requires sophisticated inventory management systems and efficient end-to-end order fulfilment processes.
With the increasing focus on rapid growth in a rapidly expanding economy, companies in the lubricant supply chain must prioritise high standards of customer satisfaction and employee experience. To achieve this balance, implementing innovative solutions can help mitigate industry challenges and reduce service downtime.
Introducing Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is no longer a luxury but rather a business imperative. By embracing digital technologies, companies can improve their operational efficiency and enhance customer experiences to stay competitive in today’s fast-paced digital age.
Solutions such as automation are being integrated to help companies achieve tangible benefits such as cost savings, and improved turnover rates across numerous internal teams. By automating highly dynamic and manual processes such as barge planning or product pricing, businesses can streamline workflows, reduce application switching, and access critical data promptly, eliminating time-consuming manual tasks across disparate systems. This helps companies reduce manual efforts and improves both customers’ and employee’s experiences by accelerating service response times.
Automation ensures data accuracy and consistency across all enterprise applications and data integrations, reducing the risk of errors and minimising costly mistakes. By automating repetitive tasks, businesses can significantly reduce operational costs and improve overall efficiency. Furthermore, automation platforms help generate valuable data that can be analysed to predict trends, optimise processes, and offer insights for more informed decision-making processes.

David Price, CEO of Gulf Marine
Embracing Automation and the Pursuit of Efficiency
As automation reshapes the lubricant supply chain and shipping industry as a whole, it is essential to include it within workforce development. Automation isn’t about replacing workers – it is about empowering them to do more with less. By investing in employee training, companies can future-proof their workforce. With employees trained to utilise automation tools and data analysis techniques, companies can equip their workforce to streamline processes, identify opportunities for improvement, and make data-driven decisions that drive business growth.
By relieving employees of repetitive tasks, automation solutions allow workers to shift their focus to higher-level problem-solving and critical thinking. This enables them to address more complex industry challenges, such as optimising supply chain logistics, improving product quality, and developing innovative solutions to meet evolving customer needs. By fostering a culture of innovation and adaptability, businesses can empower their workforce to embrace change and drive continuous improvement.
Moreover, by orchestrating workstreams through automation, businesses can create a more responsive organisation. This enables them to quickly adapt to market shifts, customer demands, and unpredictable factors that could impact vessel delivery routes. For instance, Gulf Marine was able to streamline manual business processes by integrating Workato’s integration platform, saving more than 2,100 hours per month on activities such as pricing quotations and barge planning.
By building a strong foundation of automation and an appetite for implementing technological innovations, businesses like Gulf Marine can position themselves for success by becoming more agile and future-forward in this dynamic maritime industry.
Preparing for a New Horizon
Through leveraging automation and investing in employee training, maritime industry players can optimise their lubricant supply chain, reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and mitigate risks, positioning their businesses for long-term success in a dynamic and competitive market.
Collaborations with innovative technology solution providers can not only address pressing business priorities, but also enhance the overall competitiveness of businesses. This is vital as companies in the maritime industry seek to evolve to be future-ready, and automation continues to be a critical enabler of global supply chain resilience, empowering businesses to adapt to disruptions and optimise operations.
Photo credit: Gulf Marine
Published: 27 January, 2025