The term ‘show me the worklist’ can instil a captain or refit manager with equal measures of anxiety or contentment, depending on the level of organisation. In many ways, the worklist is the backbone of a shipyard period and can make the difference concerning meeting budgets and tight deadlines. With extensive experience in the Spanish superyacht sector, Dani Puig, CEO of Yacht Work List, knows the traditional system and its weaknesses well.

“As the former technical director and quotations manager of a major refit facility, a vital lesson learnt was that, no matter the size of the superyacht, the worklist is the worklist. A 30-metre project has its complexities; in the same way, a 100m project has a different set of challenges. The length of the superyacht was not the most important issue; the key factor was always managing the worklist.”

The central role of the worklist, and the reliance across all departments on its use, can be undermined by inefficient sharing of data, highlighted by Puig’s experience.

“I would complete 500 quotes a year, and that means 500 worklists. Every time I would be on board a superyacht, it was frustrating to see how much time would be spent sharing worklists. Then, of course, each contractor has their own additions, and we start again. There was no continuity. It’s impossible to operate efficiently with contractors using different specifications for the same job!” 

The margins and deadlines are only becoming tighter, and the efficient flow of information is vital; as Puig highlights, the process of bringing this information together can often drive overall efficiency down even further.

“With a team of contractors, yacht and project managers and crew during a refit, everyone is taking pictures, making notes, but it  can then take weeks to bring this information together in an easily shareable and understandable way.”

As Puig highlights, there is a balance of hardware and software that needs to align with a great idea to get the system to function efficiently. 

“We had the idea to do it digitally in 2004, but there were no tablets on the market at this time; I remember in 2006, during a refit project, I was introduced to the HP tablet, and we all thought, wow this is the solution! It was so easy to take photos, upload notes... The digital dream was there, but there was no software!”

The use, for work purposes, of smartphones and tablets is now nearly ubiquitous across the industry, and nowhere more so than in a shipyard. The ability to take photos, record and share data on components and the status of various jobs in real-time, is key. A new leader in the software market, providing an effective platform that links across these devices, simplifying and condensing this flow of information, is a welcome addition. 

“The software that would become Yacht Work List has been in development since 2004, with the first prototype in 2014. Since then, we have been working with yacht managers, project managers and crew to finetune; we are excited to present it to the market.” 

Fortunately, it appears that the required technology has finally caught up with Puig’s idea for a digital platform from nearly two decades ago and, the culmination of his team's work will be live from 1 June 2021.

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