Astrium Services

CASE STUDY
Astrium Services
CMA CGM rely
on Astrium
Services’ XChange
to manage
broadband
satellite traffic
CMA CGM, one of the world’s leading shipping
companies, is among the first customers to use the
Astrium Services’ XChange platform
XChange enables the IT manager to control and configure
fixed and mobile satellite communications systems on
board. Ships like CMA CGM’s Magellan can become
virtual mobile offices complete with local area networks as
well as dynamic intranets for administration and crew.
Easy to install & configure
William Biegun, Navigation & Communication Engineer
at CMA CGM, supervised the installation of XChange on
the Magellan: “I was impressed by how straightforward it
was to install the hardware in the VSAT rack as well as to
connect with our onboard network. Our local IT network
is configured with static IP rather than DHCP so I was
expecting this to be much more complicated. Instead we
were able to configure the XChange box in a few clicks.”
Separate profiles for all users
CMA CGM works with Astrium Services’ Service Partner,
Marlink for ship-to-shore connection for both VSAT
and mobile satellite systems on board. With these two
systems, it was important to configure individual access
rights for all crew members to prevent heavy data bills
linked to the usage of Inmarsat FleetBroadband.
A profile was created for the VSAT and Inmarsat
FleetBroadband terminals, allocating administrator rights
to the captain as well as to the remaining staff according
to rank and requirement. “Configuration of XChange
is surprisingly easy and straight forward.,” added
William Biegun.
Simplified maintenance on a daily basis
With the system properly configured and all user profiles
in place, XChange can be left to manage the traffic
“on its own” – while automatically choosing the most
cost-effective communications channel. Any additional
Astrium Services – Business Communications
Email: asbc.customercare@astrium.eads.net
www.astriumservices.com
configuration required by the captain can be taken care of
easily and quickly, including adding/removing user profiles
or switching between the satellite systems on board.
“Even administering guest profiles is low-maintenance as
we have a set of DCHP addresses already created that
can be used at any time,” stated William Biegun.
Mr. Biegun and his team particularly appreciated the
hands-on nature of the Astrium Services team in ensuring
that XChange fully met their needs: “We were associated
in the early stages of the field tests and during the months
prior to installation worked closely with the Astrium
Services project managers. We feel that both the crew
and ship managers’ requests were taken on board and
that the end result is a platform which completely satisfies
all users.”
“With the launch of XChange, we created a tremendous
interest in the market – today we see indeed a very
promising pick up with our maritime customers, such as
CMA CGM. Developing and offering an all-in-one-platform
such as XChange is clearly a demand from the market
– and it’s exactly the customer need that drives Astrium
Services innovations!” notes Patrick Decool Director of
New Products, Astrium Services.
CMA CGM is the world’s third largest container shipping group
and number one in France. The company is headquartered in
Marseille (France), and operates out of over 650 offices and
agencies in more than 150 countries.
It is one of the first global shipping operators to control the
whole logistics chain integrating inland waterway transport and
railways, as well as port handling facilities and logistics on land.