There’s no doubt the superyacht industry is booming, and during this growth period of the global fleet, demands on yacht service, maintenance and refit resources are increasing. To adapt, it will be imperative for the industry to revisit and revise practical working processes. This shift will be particularly important for companies reluctant to swap to more modern, efficient practices – ‘adapt or die’, as the saying goes.

With most yachts undergoing a shipyard maintenance period annually or biannually, substantial time and money are dedicated to the upkeep and preventative maintenance in their lifetime. Terms such as ‘lifecycle management’ – how to optimise each stage of a yacht’s life – will be increasingly heard in conversations as the industry searches for more pragmatic yacht-management practices.

Given the extensive material and personnel resource allocation for these projects, Pinpoint Works’ founder James Stockdale sums it up: “Seamless worklist management is critical to successful communication and collaboration between specialist teams. It’s become an essential commodity of the superyacht industry.”

So how can processes be improved to facilitate effective communication and collaboration during these refits and shipyard periods to optimise both the asset and our time?

Old ways of working with notepads, Excel sheets and email chains are still regularly being used because of a reluctance to move to more advanced systems. But, in this digital age, these methods are outdated, unprofessional and costly due to their inherent inefficiencies. Pinpoint Works was created to challenge these methods by improving communication and organisation of tasks through a simple and user-friendly platform – a true upgrade in worklist management for the yachting industry.

The chief officer on board 75m M/Y Huntress says of his experience with Pinpoint Works: “Pinpoint has been an absolute game-changer on board Huntress, and I believe it has revolutionised the yachting industry in terms of monitoring shipyard works, general ships’ maintenance and helping departments communicate efficiently and effectively on board.”

By using Pinpoint Works to define a detailed scope of works before a refit or general yard period, stakeholders can document, facilitate and coordinate the required work using a vessel’s GA (general arrangement), creating a real-time, interactive worklist. One simple platform replaces the historical ways
of working.

Adding photos, videos and documents help to clarify the detail with a precise location of works on the yacht’s unique GA, making it clear to contractors where they’re needed when on board. This scope of work can be used to source reliable cost comparisons between shipyards, allowing for better budgeting. Keeping communication open and transparent means that crew, management, owners, contractors and project managers can work together more efficiently.

Pinpoint Works has been adopted and implemented by more than 350 superyachts, hundreds of smaller pleasure yachts and dozens of companies within the superyacht industry, including some of the world's largest, most prestigious shipyards.

There are numerous benefits of having one place where everyone can see up-to-date information in real-time. However, the time/cost savings based on improved communication and fast implementation make using Pinpoint Works a worthy investment for captains, operational crew and project managers.

If you’re not already leveraging an intuitive digital solution to project manage your refits and shipyard periods, it’s time to get started. Pinpoint Works uses the latest technology in web and mobile apps and can be used during all lifecycles of a yacht: build, warranty, operation, refit, repaint and surveys.

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Pinpoint Works Ltd

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