Helm Operations announced today that it has signed on barge fleeting and marine transportation company, Magnolia Fleet LLC to Helm CONNECT Preventive Maintenance. Magnolia Fleet operates 11 push boats, 2 fleets, and midstream fuel operations in New Orleans and Lake Charles.
“We switched over to Helm because it is the most user friendly vessel operations software program I have come across,” said John Stewart of Magnolia Fleet. “And I think we have demoed or used in combination all of them. My idea is if someone like myself, who is pretty good with excel spreadsheets, has problems with other competitors’ software, how the heck is a deckhand, tankerman, or wheel man going to figure it out? The answer is they are not and they are not going to use it. It's got to work and be simple and easy for these guys to use. We also chose Helm because they seem to have the best support.”
Ron deBruyne, CEO and Founder of Helm Operations said he was excited to be partnering with Magnolia Fleet. “We are inspired to work with leading companies like Magnolia who want to get ahead of their maintenance and compliance with Helm CONNECT.” deBruyne also mentioned he was pleased that Magnolia’s team reacted so positively to the simplicity of Helm CONNECT.
Helm CONNECT operatives intuitively because it was designed and developed through direct consultation with real life users. Workboat engineers, crew and shore-based personnel make Helm CONNECT the leader in easy to use preventative maintenance software. “We develop Helm CONNECT like Apple develops software,” said deBruyne. “If users can’t figure it out when we test it, we redesign it until they can.”
deBruyne expects lots of interest in Helm CONNECT because workboat companies are trying to innovate in order to proactively record maintenance as well as mitigate issues with present and new compliance regulations. “We keep hearing that they want something that’s easy to use to manage maintenance and close the loop on compliance. That’s what Helm CONNECT is all about.”
Helm will be offering free trials of Helm CONNECT starting April 15, 2015 at the Workboat Maintenance and Repair Conference & Expo in New Orleans.
