Westshore Terminals moves up to 33 million tons of coal annually, coordinating train arrivals, vessel departures, product grades, and workforce logistics across a 24/7 operation. Precision in scheduling, data management, and labor planning is mission-critical.
The Problem
Westshore relied on a mix of legacy, internally built, and industry-specific tools that didn’t fully support its operational complexity.
Key challenges included:
Fragmented systems for train, vessel, and product tracking
Manual coordination of workforce schedules
Limited visibility into workforce management, payroll, and absences tracking
Difficulty surfacing dense operational data and policy configuration in usable ways
The Approach
Deep Operational Discovery
Conducted stakeholder interviews and cross-functional workshops to understand logistics workflows, coal grade handling, and workforce coordination. Mapped complex operational dependencies into structured product requirements.
Designing for Complexity
Created an intuitive Operations module to manage:
Train arrivals and departures
Vessel scheduling
Product tracking by coal grade
Mission-critical reporting
Workforce Management Integration
Designed a workforce module enabling:
Shift scheduling
Payroll tracking
Absence management
Replacement coordination
Modernizing the Experience
Designed responsive interfaces for use across devices
Structured dense data views for clarity and quick analysis
Established digital brand standards and a live component library
Created consistent UX patterns across applications
Validation & Adoption
Ran usability testing with operations, workforce, and payroll teams.
Partnered in training sessions and gathered ongoing feedback to refine day-to-day workflows.
Impact
Replaced fragmented legacy tools with a unified operational platform
Improved schedule visibility and real-time planning flexibility
Enabled more efficient workforce coordination
Delivered a consistent, scalable design system across applications