What is Mainsail?

Mainsail is a terminal operating system (TOS) that helps marine terminals manage cargo, inventory, vessel activity, and gate operations from a single platform. Designed for container, RoRo, and general cargo, Mainsail provides real-time visibility, streamlined workflows, and integration with terminal technologies and business systems to improve operational efficiency.

See Mainsail in action

Built as a flexible platform, not just a product, Mainsail scales to remain in lockstep with terminals as their needs and requirements evolve.

Built to meet terminals where they are

Every terminal operates differently. Mainsail provides the flexibility to support the needs of marine terminals across different sizes, cargo types, and operating environments. Today, Mainsail supports terminal operations handling more than 20 million TEUs and 14 million gate transactions annually.

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Mainsail Enhancements

What do all of the enhancements and features introduced with the next generation of Mainsail mean for our customers?

Higher quality data:

Tideworks can generate better and more granular data for analytics, which can help you improve operational decision-making. Tideworks can now scale to handle larger loads and multiple terminals more efficiently, directly reducing expenses for customers with economies of scale.

Centralization:

By creating a proprietary billing engine separate from the TOS, Tideworks can now establish centralized management of billing contracts of rates, tariffs, invoicing, etc. to expand billing capabilities from the terminal to the corporate level.

Terminal automation:

Tideworks can simplify terminal automation for customers. This helps reduce integration complexity and improves support for different operating modes. Perhaps more importantly, Tideworks helps navigate the automation technology landscape and partnering with you to assess and prepare for introducing automation when and where it makes sense.

Flexibility:

Tideworks is now even more flexible with your requests to accommodate sudden changes you face from customers and other industry influences. As you face new and varied industry pressures and become more adaptable incorporating new features, Tideworks can offer even more timely and effective support, assisting in process improvement and strategizing future enhancements to meet your changing needs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What types of terminal operations can Mainsail support?

Mainsail is designed to support a wide range of marine terminal operations, including container, RoRo, general cargo, and multi-purpose facilities. The platform provides a unified operating environment for inventory, vessel activity, gate operations, and managing cargo movements. By supporting multiple cargo types and operational models within a single system, Mainsail helps terminals standardize processes, improve visibility, and scale as business requirements evolve.

How does Mainsail improve terminal productivity?

Mainsail helps terminals improve productivity by providing real-time visibility and control across gate, yard, and vessel operations. Automated workflows, configurable user experiences, and data validation tools reduce manual effort and help eliminate operational errors. With faster access to information and streamlined cargo processing, terminal teams can make better decisions, improve resource utilization, and increase throughput.

Can Mainsail integrate with our existing equipment and business systems?

Yes. Mainsail is designed to integrate with a broad range of operational and business technologies, including OCR systems, gate technologies, financial and accounting systems, graphical planning solutions such as Tideworks Spinnaker, and other terminal technologies. These integrations enable real-time information sharing across systems, helping terminals improve data accuracy, reduce duplicate data entry, and create a more connected operational environment.

What makes Mainsail different from other terminal operating systems?

Mainsail is purpose-built for marine terminal operations, combining vessel, yard, inventory, gate management, and cargo in a single platform. Its flexible architecture, configurable workflows, and broad integration capabilities enable terminals to adapt the system to their operational requirements while maintaining a centralized source of operational data and visibility.

How can Mainsail support terminal growth and modernization?

Mainsail helps terminals modernize at their own pace by providing a flexible foundation for new technologies, automation initiatives, and evolving business requirements. Through configurable workflows, open integration capabilities, and support for diverse operating models, Mainsail enables terminals to improve operational efficiency today while preparing for future growth and innovation.

How does Mainsail Billing automate terminal billing and invoicing?

Mainsail Billing captures billable terminal activity, including container moves, storage, RoRo handling, and value-added services, and uses configured billing rules to generate charges and invoices. Automated invoice generation helps reduce manual work and billing errors while giving teams greater visibility into charges and customer accounts.

Can Mainsail Billing integrate with our accounting or financial system?

Yes. Mainsail Billing integrates with accounting and financial systems to connect terminal billing with broader financial processes and reporting. This allows terminals to share billing and invoice information with their existing financial systems while managing operational billing within Mainsail Billing.

Can Mainsail Billing support different customer rates and tariffs?

Yes. Mainsail Billing supports flexible rates and tariffs based on cargo characteristics, customer agreements, and other configured billing criteria. Terminals can manage customer-specific rates, discounts, exemptions, free storage periods, and other negotiated terms while maintaining multiple rate structures to support changing commercial requirements.

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Mainsail™ takes efficiency to an entirely new level. It utilizes the latest technology to help terminal operators manage and access data they need faster and more easily than ever before. Mainsail is the next generation terminal operating system.