Neptune Terminals
Neptune Terminals
📌 Context
Neptune Terminals manages operations across multiple contractors who submit daily labour, equipment, and material (LEM) tickets via email. The process was highly manual — involving downloading attachments, sorting by vendor, and reconciling rates against contracts stored separately in Excel.
To streamline this workflow, an automated Ticket Processing & Rate Management System was conceptualized.
The Problem
The Problem
Neptune Terminals relied on manual email-based vendor ticket processing, fragmented spreadsheets, and inconsistent rate validation — leading to delays, data errors, and poor visibility for decision-makers. The challenge was to design a scalable system that automated ticket intake, standardized data across vendors, and streamlined rate approval while improving usability for both admins and field vendors.
The Challenges
Inconsistent Vendor Formats
Each vendor used a different LEM template, requiring vendor-specific parsing logic.
Manual Rate Reconciliation
Rates for job roles (e.g., Foreman, Trackman) were maintained separately and frequently changed.Disjointed Data Flow
Ticket data wasn’t easily comparable or reportable across vendors due to lack of integration.
Research and Discovery
Mindmapping, Key challenges indentified. Stakeholder meetings to identify facts
Ideation and Wireframing
Brainstorming Sessions & Wireframes / Flow Sketches
(Visual examples presented during ideation) and Findings.
Hi - Fi Prototype
Role-based dashboards (Admin, Vendor, Supervisor).
Drag-and-drop ticket upload with validation status.
Parsed labour/equipment/material data preview before submission.
Editable rate management screen synced with Excel (ST/OT/DT rates).
Reconciliation view with cost breakdowns, approvals, and export.
Impact
85% reduction in manual reconciliation time.
Eliminated data re-entry, ensuring one source of truth for rates and hours.
Design & Layout
I led the design of a scalable, vendor-agnostic platform that automated a manual, email-based ticket process into a unified, insight-driven system — centralizing ticket intake, rate validation, and reporting.
By combining modular vendor parsing, editable rate logic, and role-based dashboards, the solution improved efficiency, visibility, and scalability across teams.
Iterative Design
Iterative Design
1. Automated Email & File Handling
Script runs daily, downloads attachments from
lems@neptuneterminals.com, and classifies by vendor.
2. Data Translation Layer
Vendor-specific parsing scripts extract:
Labour Hours (Reg, OT, DT)
Equipment Usage
Material Costs
Stored in a central, queryable database.
3. Rate Management
ST/OT/DT rates referenced dynamically from Excel-based “Rate Sheet.”
Admins update rates outside the database to preserve agility.
4. Vendor & User Management
Controlled roles: Admin, Developer, Safety, Superuser — mapped to data access privileges.
Research-led scoping helped identify
automation priorities and maintain vendor inclusion.
We used research to decide what to automate first, and we made sure vendors stayed part of the process rather than being forced to change everything.
Excel-linked rate logic enabled agile maintenance outside rigid systems.
Using Excel as the source for rate data made the system flexible and easy to update — instead of locking the logic inside complex, rigid software.
Modular design thinking allowed
scalability across templates and vendors.
By designing the system in flexible building blocks, it could easily support different vendor formats and grow over time without major rework.
TAKEAWAYS
Neptune Terminals
📌 Context
Neptune Terminals manages operations across multiple contractors who submit daily labour, equipment, and material (LEM) tickets via email. The process was highly manual — involving downloading attachments, sorting by vendor, and reconciling rates against contracts stored separately in Excel.
To streamline this workflow, an automated Ticket Processing & Rate Management System was conceptualized.
The Problem
Neptune Terminals relied on manual email-based vendor ticket processing, fragmented spreadsheets, and inconsistent rate validation — leading to delays, data errors, and poor visibility for decision-makers. The challenge was to design a scalable system that automated ticket intake, standardized data across vendors, and streamlined rate approval while improving usability for both admins and field vendors.
The Challenges
Neptune Terminals relied on manual email-based vendor ticket processing, fragmented spreadsheets, and inconsistent rate validation — leading to delays, data errors, and poor visibility for decision-makers. The challenge was to design a scalable system that automated ticket intake, standardized data across vendors, and streamlined rate approval while improving usability for both admins and field vendors.
Research and Discovery
Mindmapping, Key challenges indentified. Stakeholder meetings to identify facts
Ideation and Wireframing
Brainstorming Sessions & Wireframes / Flow Sketches.
(Visual examples presented during ideation) and Findings.
Hi - Fi Prototype
Role-based dashboards (Admin, Vendor, Supervisor).
Drag-and-drop ticket upload with validation status.
Parsed labour/equipment/material data preview before submission.
Editable rate management screen synced with Excel (ST/OT/DT rates).
Reconciliation view with cost breakdowns, approvals, and export.
Impact
85% reduction in manual reconciliation time.
Eliminated data re-entry, ensuring one source of truth for rates and hours.
Design & Layout
I led the design of a scalable, vendor-agnostic platform that automated a manual, email-based ticket process into a unified, insight-driven system — centralizing ticket intake, rate validation, and reporting.
By combining modular vendor parsing, editable rate logic, and role-based dashboards, the solution improved efficiency, visibility, and scalability across teams.
Iterative Design
1. Automated Email & File Handling
Script runs daily, downloads attachments from
lems@neptuneterminals.com, and classifies by vendor.
2. Data Translation Layer
Vendor-specific parsing scripts extract:
Labour Hours (Reg, OT, DT)
Equipment Usage
Material Costs
Stored in a central, queryable database.
3. Rate Management
ST/OT/DT rates referenced dynamically from Excel-based “Rate Sheet.”
Admins update rates outside the database to preserve agility.
4. Vendor & User Management
Controlled roles: Admin, Developer, Safety, Superuser — mapped to data access privileges.
Research-led scoping helped identify automation priorities and maintain vendor inclusion.
We used research to decide what to automate first, and we made sure vendors stayed part of the process rather than being forced to change everything.
Excel-linked rate logic enabled agile maintenance outside rigid systems.
Using Excel as the source for rate data made the system flexible and easy to update — instead of locking the logic inside complex, rigid software.
Modular design thinking allowed scalability across templates and vendors.
By designing the system in flexible building blocks, it could easily support different vendor formats and grow over time without major rework.
TAKEAWAYS