Quick answer
A clear definition of what collaborative product development looks like.
A collaborative maritime software vendor is one whose product roadmap changes based on real customer feedback, not just support tickets that go unanswered. The clearest proof is a feature built for one customer's operational problem that later becomes standard for the whole platform, as happened when Güngen Maritime & Trading's need for remote purchase order approval became AMOS Web Approval.
Most procurement software evaluations focus on what’s on the feature list today. Fewer Procurement or Operations Managers ask what happens when that list doesn’t cover a problem specific to how their fleet actually works, because it will happen, usually within the first year.
The real test of a maritime software vendor isn’t whether they can demo every box you need ticked right now. It’s whether their roadmap can flex to solve the problem you haven’t hit yet, and whether customer feedback actually changes the product, or just gets logged and forgotten.
This article looks at what that looks like in practice, using a real example of a customer’s operational need becoming a standard feature used across the wider AMOS customer base.
The Everyday Procurement Problems Off-the-Shelf Software Doesn't Solve
Maritime procurement has a specific set of pressures that generic software rarely anticipates. Shore approvers travel constantly, and a purchase order sitting in a queue because an approver can’t get to a desktop isn’t a minor inconvenience, it delays parts, which delays maintenance, which puts a vessel at risk of downtime.
These are not new problems. Emergency buying driven by poor planning, inaccurate stock visibility across a fleet, weak spend control and supplier governance, these are long-standing realities of the industry, and a serious maritime procurement vendor should already understand them, not treat them as something to be discovered mid-implementation.
What has changed is the pressure sitting on top of them. Fleet operators are increasingly expected to demonstrate that their supply chain meets recognised ESG and supplier governance standards, not just manage purchase orders efficiently.
That shift changes what “procurement software” needs to do. A platform built only for the operational basics, purchase orders, stock, approvals, will eventually hit the limits of what today’s compliance expectations demand. The question worth asking before you commit is what happens when that expectation lands on your fleet, and whether your current system was built to handle it.
What Actually Happens When a Vendor Listens
There’s a meaningful difference between a vendor who logs feature requests and a vendor who builds a genuine collaboration into how the product develops.
AMOS is built on an open, API-first architecture specifically so it can extend and adapt without customers needing to replace the platform underneath. But the more telling sign of a collaborative vendor relationship isn’t architecture, it’s whether a specific customer’s operational problem has ever become a standard feature that benefits every other customer on the platform. That’s a different kind of proof than a roadmap slide.
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Structured support, proactive Customer Success and a committed partnership with SpecTec, built around your fleet and operational needs.
Case in Point: Güngen Maritime & Trading and AMOS Web Approval
Güngen Denizcilik ve Ticaret A.Ş. operates five high-specification Suezmax crude oil tankers entirely in-house, technical, commercial, crewing and quality all managed internally. With shore approvers often travelling, requisitions and purchase orders were getting stuck waiting for someone to log into the full AMOS client from a desktop, a real operational bottleneck on a fleet where procurement delays translate directly into maintenance risk.
Güngen didn’t just raise this as a support ticket. Over more than 20 years of partnership, the company became a key voice in defining what became AMOS Web Approval, a feature that lets requisitions and purchase orders be approved from any device, without logging into the full AMOS client at all.
That feature didn’t stay specific to Güngen. It’s now offered more widely across the SpecTec customer base, removing the same procurement bottleneck for any fleet with approvers who travel.
As Güngen’s Chief Operating Officer put it, the relationship has become one where SpecTec listens and builds alongside them, not just a system that runs their tankers. That’s the difference between a vendor and a genuine product partner: a specific, real operational problem became a capability that helps fleets far beyond the one that raised it.
Approvals could get stuck
AMOS Web Approval
Requisitions and purchase orders can be approved from any device.
Procurement keeps moving
A specific operational requirement became a capability offered more widely across the SpecTec customer base.
Why This Matters More as Procurement Gets More Complex
Procurement rarely gets simpler over time. Fleets grow, supplier governance expectations increase, ESG and spend reporting requirements tighten, and the operational reality of running procurement across a multi-vessel, multi-region fleet keeps shifting.
A vendor whose product only moves when a major version release happens will always be a step behind those changes. A vendor whose roadmap responds to what real procurement and operations teams are actually dealing with stays useful as the complexity increases, rather than becoming another system you have to work around.
Questions to Ask About a Vendor's Product Roadmap
Before committing to a procurement platform, it’s worth understanding how much influence customers genuinely have over what gets built next.
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Can you point to a feature that exists today because a specific customer needed it, and is it now used more broadly?
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How do customer requests actually reach your product team, and what happens to them after that?
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Is your platform built to extend through open integration, or does adding new capability mean replacing what we already use?
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Can I speak to a customer who has directly influenced your roadmap, not just used the finished product?
Ready to See What a Collaborative Roadmap Looks Like?
The strongest procurement software isn’t the one with the longest feature list on day one. It’s the one that keeps solving the problems your fleet runs into as they come up, because customers like you helped shape it.
If you’d like to see AMOS and our latest AI innovation, AMOS Procure Smart, in action, get in touch with our team for a walkthrough.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AMOS Web Approval?
AMOS Web Approval is a feature within SpecTec’s AMOS platform that lets shore-based approvers review and approve requisitions and purchase orders from any device, without logging into the full AMOS client. It was developed in direct response to an operational need identified by an AMOS customer, Güngen Maritime & Trading, whose approvers frequently travel.
How do I know if a maritime software vendor will actually act on customer feedback?
Ask the vendor directly: can they point to a specific feature that exists today because a customer requested it, and is that feature now used more broadly across their customer base? A vendor who can answer with a concrete example, rather than a general statement about “listening to customers,” has demonstrated it in practice.
Why does purchase order approval get delayed on ships with travelling approvers?
Purchase order delays typically happen when shore approval depends on an approver being at a desktop to access the full software client. If that approver is travelling, the requisition sits in the queue, which delays parts ordering, which in turn delays maintenance work and increases the risk of vessel downtime.
What does "open, API-first architecture" mean for a fleet using AMOS?
It means AMOS is built to connect with and extend through external systems and integrations, rather than requiring a full platform replacement each time an operational need arises.
Can a single customer's feature request become a standard product feature?
Yes. AMOS Web Approval is a documented example: a specific operational problem raised by Güngen Maritime & Trading, a six-vessel Suezmax tanker operator, became a feature now offered across the wider AMOS customer base. This is a stronger indicator of vendor responsiveness than a general roadmap promise.
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