The Challenge: A "Black Hole" of Fleet-Wide Spending

Helios Maritime Group prided itself on operational excellence, but their procurement process was a major blind spot. With purchasing decisions split between vessels, superintendents, and their central office, there was no single source of truth.

“It was a black hole,” says Nikos Papadakis, Head of Procurement at Helios. “We were managing hundreds of RFQs through email. Quotes were compared manually in spreadsheets. We had no real-time visibility into our total spend with a given supplier across the fleet, so our negotiating power was weak. Worse, we were constantly surprised by expensive, last-minute purchases made by vessels from unapproved local vendors.”

This lack of control led to:

• Budget Overruns:

  High levels of "maverick spending" made it impossible to stick to OPEX budgets.

• Administrative Inefficiency:

  The procurement team spent more time chasing emails and updating spreadsheets than on strategic sourcing and negotiation.

• Lost Savings:

  Without consolidated data, they couldn't leverage their fleet's total purchasing volume to secure better prices from key suppliers.

The Solution: Gaining Control Through a Unified Platform

Helios sought a procurement system that could integrate deeply with their technical and financial operations. They chose PRIME Marine for its unified platform approach.

“The PRIME Marine demo was the turning point,” Mr. Papadakis recalls. “When we saw how a requisition from the PMS could trigger a fully trackable RFQ, and how all the quotes were automatically collated side-by-side for comparison—that was it. The spend analytics dashboard showed us the kind of fleet-wide visibility we had only dreamed of. We knew this was the tool that would give us back control.”

PRIME Marine's team worked closely with Helios to migrate their supplier data and configure the approval workflows to match their specific operational needs.

The Results: From Reactive Spending to Strategic Sourcing

Within the first year of using PRIME Marine’s Procurement module, Helios achieved remarkable results.

1. Centralized Control and Significant Cost Savings

   By forcing all requisitions through a single platform and comparing quotes transparently, Helios immediately began making smarter purchasing decisions. This combination led to a direct 12% reduction in their total procurement costs.

2. Elimination of Maverick Spending

   The implementation of structured, digital approval workflows meant that all purchases required sign-off from the correct authority. This virtually eliminated surprise purchases and resulted in a 90% reduction in off contract spending.

3. Streamlined Efficiency

   The automation of the RFQ and PO process freed up the procurement team from tedious administrative tasks. This 30% faster cycle time allowed them to focus on more strategic activities like new vendor evaluation and contract negotiation.