Email is everywhere. It’s quick, convenient, and everyone knows how to use it. But when it becomes the primary tool for managing complex, multi-step oil movements, things can get... messy.
What starts as simple mistakes can spiral fast. Here are a few common scenarios we see:
- Missing attachments for quality testing instructions causes miscommunications where testing is then conducted per terminal practice instead.
- Disorganized inboxes can result in lost or overlooked nominations which trigger delays, and even demurrage.
- Accidentally omitting key details for invoice submission, cost sharing, or update requirements can cause payment bottlenecks, or missed cost recovery opportunities.
These aren’t just annoyances, but real risks to timelines, margins, and trust in partnerships.
When you look beyond the convenience, email starts to show its cracks. Moving hydrocarbons is a high-value, time-sensitive process involving multiple stakeholders, constant updates, and critical data points that must be accurate from start to finish. Each data point also holds enormous insight potential.
Email simply wasn’t designed for that kind of work.
Why Email Can’t Keep Up
Below, we’ll explore three reasons why email-driven nomination workflows break down — and how moving to a centralized, structured platform can change everything.
1. Using Static Tools for a Dynamic Workflow
For many companies, nominations start with a saved Word, Excel or email template that gets filled out, attached and sent. At first glance, this feels like introducing structure. In reality, it locks the process into a rigid, manual pattern.
The problem? With these static avenues, every change means manual editing, updating multiple versions and hoping everyone is working from the latest copy. This slows everything down and increases the risk of human error. Without built-in validation, even a small oversight can lead to costly mistakes.
Why it happens: Email is linear, but nominations are dynamic. It’s hard to ensure everyone is looking at the same data source when that truth keeps shifting across email threads and attachments.
2. Trading Momentary Convenience for Insight Potential
Email works for sending instructions or conversations – but terrible for extracting trends, measuring performance, or identifying bottlenecks. Once messages are buried in inboxes, the only way to find insights is by digging through individual threads – one at a time.
The problem? Without a centralized repository of structured data, there’s no easy way to compare movements, spot recurring issues, or evaluate vendor performance. That means missed opportunities to optimize growth and reduce costs.
Why it happens: Email is built for communication, not analysis. Nominations hold rich, valuable data that needs to be measured, reviewed and improved over time, and email offers no straightforward way to make that happen.
3. Compromising Visibility Across Teams
The nomination lifecycle has multiple touchpoints across various teams. In an email-only world, visibility and progress updates are limited to whoever is on the CC line. If a scheduler or inspector is offline or on leave, updates get delayed and decisions stall.
The problem? Without a shared, real-time view of nomination status, teams waste time chasing updates, confirming details, and re-entering information that already exists elsewhere – just not where they can see it.
Why it happens: Email is private by design. Unless someone forwards the thread or remembers to CC all parties involved, information doesn’t automatically flow to the people who need it.
What a Strategic Workflow Looks Like
The alternative to email isn’t just going digital but creating an ecosystem that adequately reflects the reality of your day to day. An environment that flexes with your needs. A workspace that yields scalable, sustainable growth that is:
Dynamic and Adaptable – Changes update automatically for all stakeholders, with built-in validation to prevent common errors with a bird's eye view in one single location.
Searchable and Reportable – Every nomination and its history are stored in a structured format, making analytics and performance tracking easy.
Shared in Real-time – Teams keep the momentum going when everyone sees the same data at the same time, resulting in improved collaboration.
The Bottom Line
Email will always have a place in business communication — but it’s not a long-term solution for complex, high-stakes work like hydrocarbon nominations. As supply chains become faster, more interconnected, and more data-driven, the need for a shared, real-time, insight-rich platform becomes impossible to ignore.
Navarik Inspection was built for that reality. By moving away from static, email-based processes, you give your teams the tools they need to work faster, smarter, and with complete confidence in every decision.
Stop letting critical details get lost in the thread.
Reach out to our specialists and learn how to centralize your nominations today.
