-
Jade Software - Source: ONE News -
Watch Video
Christchurch based software company Jade entered the Middle East market this month after winning a contract to supply a port operating system in the United Arab Emirates.
The company will supply its Jade Master Terminal system to container terminal operator Gulftainer.
Jade's logistics software was launched internationally two years ago and is already in use at the port of Gdansk, Poland, which is soon expected to become the biggest port in Europe.
Jade CEO Craig Richardson says the supply contract with Gulftainer brings a lot of credibility to its product and sets a framework for it to expand into that region and other regions where it is focused.
"We set about establishing ourselves a footprint globally with this terminal operating system,and in order to a customer like Gulftainer, who are widely recognised at the top of their field in port operations, is quite significant for us," he says.
Richardson says its port terminal software is a shift in focus, with the core areas in its international markets now being logistics, investigations, financial services and later this year, its new storage and database technology.
Richardson says the last six months have been challenging for Jade due to a high New Zealand dollar and the impact of the economic downturn on sectors within which it operates, such as financial services.
However, he says the company's customers and potential customers are more upbeat, with budgets available, and it is starting to see a pick up in the logistics sector.
"Clearly we need to demonstrate that we can manage these smaller ports and then move into their larger ports, but it really does, from our perspective, sit us in a great position where we can work with these top-line operators in this sector," he says.
Richardson says local port operators were instrumental in the
design of its product and it has subsequently received a lot of
support from them.
