Managing Data Between Departments
In YMS, most data such as —Tasks, Inventory, Equipment & Schedules —must be assigned to a Department. This is a required field and ensures clear ownership, accountability, and visibility across the data in YMS.
Some specialist modules (e.g., Beverages or Uniforms) are not departmentalised, since they are usually managed by a single department or a small group of users.
Assigning Data to Departments
The Department field is mandatory and is used to determine which department is responsible for managing the data.
Best Practice: Always assign data to the department that has overall responsibility for the data.
Tasks → Assign Tasks to the Department responsible for the successful completion of the Task even if they are not the Department to carry out the work.
Equipment → Assign to the Department responsible for cleaning, servicing, and maintaining the piece of equipment.
Inventory → Assign to the Department who will consume, manage the stock levels and order more of the Inventory.
Accessing Other Departments Data
User permissions determine whether crew can view or edit data that is not assigned to their department, specifically the Inter Departmental Access setting.
No Access → Users only see their own department’s data.
Read Only → Users can view but not edit other departments’ data.
Read Write → Users can view and edit data across all departments.
Best Practice: Always assign user permissions suitable for the Crew Members role & responsibilities.
Captains → Should have Read Write Access across the application so they can oversee all vessel operations.
Senior Crew → Depending on the vessel’s setup, Senior Crew and Heads of Department may have different access levels, with permissions tailored to their specific role and responsibilities.
Junior Crew → Typically should not have access to other Departments data.
Top Tip: Senior crew may only need to see other departments’ data occasionally. In these cases, it can be useful to keep their default setting as No Access (to avoid clutter in daily use) and switch permissions temporarily when they need full visibility across all departments.
Assigning Tasks to Other Departments
In some cases, tasks need to be carried out by crew outside the responsible department. For example, if fittings need to be replaced in the Interior, the physical work might be done by Deck or Engineering Department. However, the Interior Department is still responsible for ensuring the task is completed. For these examples we have created the “My Tasks“ Feature which allows Tasks to be assigned and visible to users other Departments regardless of users Inter Departmental Access Settings.
For more information see the My Tasks How to Guide.