The Partnership: Peter Döhle and Tilla

Founded in 1956 and successfully operating for over 6 decades. Peter Döhle Group owns and manages a large fleet of containerships and bulk carriers; with more than 130 vessels being managed in Crew Management, and transporting cargo across the globe.

Founded in 2021, Tilla is a crew change management platform that digitises and automates the end to end crew change process, from planning to insights.

In 2021, Peter Döhle partnered with Tilla Technologies with the aim to optimise, modernise and have better control of all aspects of the crew change process with support of real-time data and powerful flight management capabilities. Tilla team worked closely with the Fleet Operators to understand their requirements and together, seamlessly integrated Tilla into Peter Döhle as the primary platform to perform crew changes. Tilla has now been rolled out across the entire Döhle Fleet, and is being used on daily basis to manage the crew changes.

The Challenge: Manual, time consuming flight booking and communication processes.

Manual flight booking processes

Before Tilla, the crew change process was time consuming with the Fleet Operators manually booking all aspects of the crew change. This included sending flight booking requests via email to travel agencies and waiting 1 hr on average and sometimes up to 3 hours or longer for a response. In order to ensure they acquired the flight with the optimal price and schedule, the Fleet Operators would contact other travel agents to compare options which added time as well. 

Complex communication  

The Fleet Operators coordinating crew changes at Peter Döhle have traditionally managed a complex web communication, relying heavily on email and phone interactions with various stakeholders and ever-shifting requirements across many different time zones. This communication process often required a lot of back and forth between Fleet Operator and external stakeholders which was also time consuming and highly unproductive. The dynamic nature of vessel planning, marked by frequent changes in berthing times and port schedules (sometimes up to five times a day), compelled a repetitive communication cycle, further elongating the crew change procedure.

The Solution: One platform for all aspects of crew changes, improving productivity, saving time and empowering Fleet Operators. 

Book, change and cancel flights in less than 5 minutes

Tilla empowers Fleet Operators with centralised control over crew changes. They can log in, select flights, and make real-time changes without navigating multiple travel agencies or waiting for responses. Automated crew information data transfer from the crewing system eliminates manual data entry, saving significant time. With a single click, Fleet Operators can now book, rebook and consequently issue the ticket, in less than 5 minutes.

91% time saved in waiting for responses

With the reduction of back-and-forth communication with travel agencies and other stakeholders, and the ability for Fleet Operators to book flights immediately, up to 91% of time is saved. There is much less email traffic with all crew change aspects on one platform, therefore the whole process is streamlined and ultimately more efficient.

Mobile accessibility enhancing Fleet Operators flexibility and quality of life

One of the biggest benefits about Tilla for Fleet Operators is that they can use Tilla from anywhere, remotely on their mobile. If they get a call from a seafarer, vessel management or port agent to reschedule their travel, they can immediately reebok the flights via Tilla on their mobile without having to wait for anyone. This gives Fleet Operators the flexibility they didn’t have before increasing their work-life balance and wellbeing. 

“Tilla is an excellent solution for crew changes. It enables me to quickly reserve flights without the assistance of a travel agency, and provides a transparent summary of each of my crew changes. The interface is easy to navigate, and has notably simplified my job” --G. Wykowska, Fleet Operator,

The Result: Optimised Crew Changes: Automated, Time-saving, Cost-efficient

Tilla has transformed Peter Döhle's crew change processes from manual to automated, allowing immediate flight booking management, saving up to 3 hours, and sometimes one day per booking, depending on the urgency of the situation. Fleet Operators no longer wait for travel agency responses, saving up to 91% in waiting time. Tilla reduces email traffic, granting Flight Operators full control over crew changes, with a broader flight selection for real-time cost-effective decisions.